Week 12

Filming Process—From a teacher’s perspective

Allowing your students to express themselves through film, is a fun and exciting way for students to convey their thoughts. It gives the students a chance to be creative and see how much time, work, and effort it takes to actually make a commercial or general film. I had the chance as a student to use film for many of my own projects when I was a high school student. I was generally a shy, quiet type in the classroom, but the minute I was in front of the camera, my true colors shined through. From my experiences with using film, I believe it gives chances for all the students to stand out, a time to shine J

As a teacher it is important to let your students know the process of what it takes to create videos, from the storyboard to the finish polished product. Videos generally tend to be a group projects, it allows students to see their role in film and come together to form their ideas on how they see the film working! Group work is a vital part of education, as in life and secondary schools many things are done in groups. It is challenging creating something and seeing eye to eye with group members on how to make the finished product. Being able to work together in harmony and listening to each other’s thoughts openly and will be the most powerful part of a filming process in the classroom. I would love to bring film into my classroom, but I will have to be creative when incorporating it into a math curriculum.

Reading – Splicing Video in the Writing Process

There is a lengthy process when it comes to creating videos. It is an amazing process that will allow students to take a topic and learn it inside out when creating their own video from beginning to end. No matter what the topic may be, from history to math. The students get the opportunities to produce films in their eyes. Producing a film the students must work in groups and come to a common ground, learn about the subject together, create a script, a storyboard, and agree on how to present the subject as a team. The entire process forces the students to understand the content and how to create a finished project that shows what they have learned.
The production aspect of video making is the crucial part of video making. Some students are very serious about the way characters must act, and some students were not made to act. Creating videos are serious business! It is a great way for students to learn how multi-task, learn how to do things outside of their comfort zones, and step up to the plate when call upon. As teacher, this is a fun project to give to your students; much more is learned than just learning about the content of the videos. It is an energizing way to let your students express themselves. Most importantly the students learn how to create a script to get the whole project working to begin with. Learning how to writing scripts, working in teams, and learning how to create a finished project is what is taken home at the end of the day.

Week 11

Movie Making

I had a wonderful time with my group creating this video. The overall process was very simple; the only difficult part was creating the overall general idea of the way to present. When I was younger I used to make videos all the time! I have become very savvy and comfortable using video cameras, but not some much on the editing side. The ease of editing your own movies at home has changed a lot in the past 10 years!
Max helped the group create the wonderful idea of what our commercial was going to be based on. We wanted to go with funny in the overall presentation of our commercial. You will just have to wait and see what it is all about, not that you have not seen the storyboard.
Completing the storyboard before filming defiantly eased the overall process of filming. We knew exactly what needed to be done! As a group we finished a lot faster than anticipated! It was fun, easy, and problem free!
I am excited to edit the video in class next week, as I have never used a program on the computer to edit my videos. When I was younger, we used the old school way of rewinding, trying to get to that perfect point of where to record. I am grateful to be learning how to use this program, as it will help me in the future, especially the near future. For one of our group projects we are planning on making a video as part of a presentation!
Overall, this was a fun and excellent learning experience!

Copyright Articles

As a teacher it is imperative to set a good example for your students. Teachers can set a tone of what appropriate uses of technology are and can have lasting, positive effects on their students. I believe new teachers can bring, add, and teach other teachers how to properly set an example and educate our students to use technology mature manner. Technology and education has a long way to go as far as curriculum and importance goes.
As school needs to take the necessary precautions to protects themselves as well as their students when it some to copyright laws. There are many different sites to help students and teachers to keep themselves well informed and safe from copyright laws! The following websites can help anyone keep themselves out of trouble:
Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use & Software Industry and Information Association
One important way that will be a very powerful tool as an educator, is asking permission to use the different resources and having a confirmed copy that what was used is acceptable. Here is a copy of the form that will be very useful to teachers:

Sample Copyright Permission Request Template

Dear [Name],
I am a student/staff at [name of school]. I would like to use [specific description of the material] in the following manner [specific description of how the material will be used]. Do you hold the copyright on this material? If you hold the copyright, may I have your permission to use your material in this way? If you grant permission to copy this material, I will properly reference your ownership by [describe how ownership will be referenced]. I need to have your answer by [date].
Sincerely,
[Name]

The copyright Quiz, was quite the challenge, I felt as if I knew nothing. Reading the articles helped to understand some of the important laws; however, I still have a long way to go as far as understanding what is right and wrong. I may even be breaking some of these rules! The overall importance of learning about copyrights is to give credit where credit is due and protect others work. Knowing the laws will only empower your students, the school you work for, and your community!

Week 10

Three Websites designed and created by educators:

http://teachers.sduhsd.net/jpatterson/

This is a link to a teacher that I had when I was a student at La Costa Canyon High School. His page is simple and concise, which is what I like about his site. He clearly states the exactly what is expected in his classroom and posts the homework for as well.

http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/jmachado/mywebquest/index.htm

This is a web quest put together by another teacher that I during my high school years. It is interesting to see who has been keeping up to date with technology and creating inclusive projects for their students. Times have changed since I have been a student! So, should have the curriculum in schools!

http://teachers.eusd.k12.ca.us/clivingston/

And this is another teacher’s webpage, whose class I was enrolled in. I took this teacher’s class when I was in 5^th grade. It amazes me to see who has come up to date by providing websites for their students and parents. Her page helps both the students and parents know what is going on in the classroom and how to best guide the students to success.

For this weeks assignment we had to create our own WebPages, which was quiet the challenge. The basics of putting the pages together were simple and easy to use. Thank you for showing uses all the secrets that Google has to offer! The difficult part was making up all the aspects that were required to complete the project, especially homework/calendar of events! I am not that creative when it comes to making stuff up! So, I kept everything very generalized. This was my first experience writing a syllabus, and attempting to think about what I would like my students and parents to know! Hope you enjoy the site.

The article about electronic editing hit home for me. I feel that this is a very new and important way for students, teachers, and peers should use. This program is available in Microsoft Word, under tools à Track Changes. When the student who wrote the paper submits the paper to for editing, the paper is returned with suggested changes. This way the student can see where their changes need to be made, as well as frequent editing needed. My boyfriend will actually use this when editing my own papers. This has been helping me immensely, especially since I have been out of school for so long. This would be an amazing way for education to go; the students will get more out of writing using a program like this!

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