Maniac Project Screencast

Screencasts are for teachers.

After creating one, I think screencasts are a great way to present assignments. It shows students exactly the process that they need to follow, reducing any confusion about programs or expectations. It’s more dynamic too- you’re not just talking at your students to give them the important information; they’re watching a video. It’s more environmentally friendly than 50 handouts as well.

I enjoyed creating this very much. It’s fun to make creative assignment, because you know your students will enjoy them more than book reports. I believe creative assignments use similar analytic skills to traditional ones, so you might as well make them interesting! The project I designed revolves around Jerry Spinelli’s great book Maniac Magee. I incorporated two fluencies- creative fluency and media fluency. The students will be using creative fluency by creating unique short story that asks them to add a story onto the end of the story. I’m asking them to mimic the style of Jerry Spinelli, because in this theoretical unit we’ll be studying Writing about Difference, and one of the things I’ll be asking my students to focus on is writing style. I’m asking them to create a story 500 words or longer that uses multiple characters and is engaging. They then record the story they wrote, which brings in the media fluency into play. They follow the directions into the video to properly record, add music, save, convert and send their recordings. I wanted to make sure I hit on five important factors in my rubric, and settled on Creativity (making sure the project is original), sound quality (testing for media fluency), performance (see if the students could read their stories aloud like a books-on-tape narrator), written story (checking to see if they edited effectively), and following instructions.

Creating the video itself was a surprisingly easy process. I used Quicktime player to record a screencast. After rehearsing it a few times, I gave it a go. I reviewed it, saved it, and that was that. Really simple. I used Quicktime because it was so easy. I decided to have them use Word and Garage Band for the same reason- ease of use.

I would absolutely use instructional videos in future for many assignments, especially longer ones that have multiple steps. I also think I’d use it for any tech-based assignments, to make sure they’re using the right programs. This is such a great idea that I would have never thought of as a useful teaching tool.

Task 5: Narrated Slideshows and Fair Use

 This project was difficult because of its imposed simplicity- keeping the story to less than 250 words was very hard! In order for it to still sounds natural, I cut the written version down to 240 words so I could still throw in natural phrasing while I was reading aloud. When I was writing the story, I drew a lot of inspiration from Storycorps’ projects, which I’ve listened to before and enjoy immensely. I tried to mimic the way they make the narrator personable right away. As for the pictures, I chose pictures from my own collection (all the ones I had from the trip of the group and Mr. Lewis) along with some pictures highlighting Lewis’ incredible role in the fight for civil rights: his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, him leading a group in the march to Selma. I wanted to make sure the audience knew his important role in that history. I enjoyed the beautiful images of the photobus projects. Those pictures truly tell a story without saying a word. I don’t think my project goes into depth as much as those do, but hopefully the pictures are still very interesting and provide important background information. I chose this music because I wanted the project to be lighthearted and enjoyable.

I enjoyed putting this project together because it involved reliving a great experience in my life. I was very invested in telling this story. The only frustrations were with technology- importing pictures, exporting the video with the right file type, creating audio tracks- the same things that have befallen me before. It took a few tries, but eventually I figured out how to get everything together in one place. I am just building my expertise, one frustrating technology block at a time.

I also chose not to share the project on youtube because I want to keep videos and images of my students off youtube as much as I can, especially because I can’t ask them if it’s ok for me to put them up (KIPP doesn’t have a blanket media release form, and even if they did, I don’t think I’d be covered by it). Even though Blogger is a public website, it’s much less likely they’ll be easily seen than if the video was on youtube. In my gut, it just seems like the right thing to do.

I think this would be an interesting project to do with students either as a presentation of a past experience or as a new assignment. What I mean by this is I could assign the students to tell a story from their lives and illustrate it with pictures (this would be ideal for a media studies class for students at any age) or, maybe for an activism, storytelling or journalism unit, sending students out to take pictures of something in their community and telling that story, similar to the photobus projects. This could build on several skills for students. Not only will it build media literacy through experience with recording and editing tools, but it exercises critical thinking, builds writing skills and seriously hones editing skills. Keeping a story concise is trickier than it seems, but teaches the students that less is more. I think some activities that would help scaffold this assignment would be writing the story before recording and creating a storyboard. I also think it would help students to listen to Storycorps and research famous photo essays (this would be especially useful in an activism unit).

Overall, the readings and videos from this week were incredibly illuminating. I had never heard of “Fair use” before. It turns out that it’s a useful concept for educators across all subjects. Although it’s true we are too litigious as a society, apparently teachers are protected when they use copywritten media resources, as long as they follow the loose guidelines of fair use. What I look away from the guidelines was: use media appropriately and cite when you can. I’m now going to be aware of this as a teacher. I think it made me more confident in using media as the helpful resource it was meant to be. However, some things remain foggy: for one, I didn’t find a universal guide to citing images. And for public domain images- do you not need to cite them? My feeling is no, but I want to be sure. These readings and videos gave me a good base of knowledge about fair use and copyright laws as a teacher, which was undeniably useful. But I also have many unanswered questions, some of which I hope will be answered by peers’ reflection posts.

This one time when... we met John Lewis

photo credits:

John Lewis March on Washington: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty

John Lewis Leads Marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama, March 7, 1965: The Birmingham News

Freedom Riders after the church siege in Birmingham: Johnson Publishing Company

Task 4: My Very Own Podcast

I loved this assignment. It was great to be able to make my own podcast based on a topic I actually wanted to learn more about. I chose to interview my friend Danny about being a USA soccer superfan during the World Cup. I interviewed him over Skype (he lives in New Orleans) and used Garage Band for the entire recording and editing process. I’m a big fan of This American Life and Radiolab, so it felt like I was making a show like those, which was fun AND motivating. Those shows are serious journalism, and sound high-quality, so I was hoping to imitate that in some way. I didn’t feel impeded by the open interpretation-ness of the assignment, I found it rather freeing, actually. I hope I met the criteria for “[podcast has] something new and interesting to say”. While I’m certainly not the first person to be talking about the world cup, I hope I did bring a new perspective.

I discovered so many new things. Firstly, Danny gets frustrated easily by my complete lack of knowledge. But mostly I learned about soccer- important players, greatest games and goals, the US’ surprise skill during this years’ world cup. My favorite thing I learned was about the player Zinadine Zidane. He became famous as an excellent player for Real Madrid and the French national team. During the 2006 world cup, an Italian player allegedly insulted Zidane’s mother and sister. Zidane put this jerky Italian in his place by headbutting him in the chest (!). What a rebel. He was welcomed back to France as a hero.

I enjoyed the editing process. It put me in full control of the podcast, and ensured that I was fully responsible for what it turned out to be. When we first started the interview, I planned to do a story about Danny’s involvement in a local soccer club league. But he was so much more excited talking about the world cup, and it came through in his answers. I decided during the editing process to focus on that instead.

I decided to include clips of soccer commentary during the podcast to give the entire thing a more authentic feel, and to demonstrate to listeners the fervor of soccer commentators (They’re the ones who yell “Gooooooooal” for hours). This was surprisingly easy to do, and since the clips were all on youtube, I can be sure they’re available to the public. I added music at the beginning and end of the interview as well, to provide some bookends to the project.

When thinking about using this as a teacher, I am excited about the possibilities this project has. You could provide students with a simple prompt (like “Pride”, “Struggle”, “Secrets”), possibly in conjuncture with a class book, and leave the project open ended. The software I used (Garage Band) was surprisingly easy (and FREE!), so I think students could maser it without becoming frustrated. I can see a few limitations- if the school did not have access to laptops or computers that have Garage Band installed (or laptops at all) then the assignment would have to be done completely outside of class, which makes me nervous (you can’t assume students have access to computers at home). I’d have to ensure that students could use school laptops before I develop the assignment. But that is the only drawback I can imagine, otherwise the project has so many possibilities that I am positive I’ll use it as a teacher!

Danny's teaching me...about the world cup.

I had a great interview with my friend Danny about what it's like to be a soccer superfan during the World Cup. Listen to our interview here

Task 3: creating your own really fake ad

        This turned out to be so much fun. I wanted to do a spoof on a typically “male” item, and I cannot imagine a more masculine ad than ads for pickup trucks. They always have a husky-voiced man talking about horsepower and towing capabilities and ram. They’re always in a desert or a forest or a construction site. So what did I decide to do? Make the girliest looking truck ad I possibly could. It was fun to go overboard, talking about manicures and selfies, adding heart clip art everywhere I could. The ad I made is excessive and obnoxious, but I think it works as a spoof. I used Picsart to make my ad, which was surprisingly easy once I got the hang of it. I think students would like to use this app not only for its ease of use but also its creative potential; there are so many different ways a student could use this app to create something that looks great.

        If I were to use an assignment like this, I’d go one of two ways. With younger students, we could use this activity if we were talking about persuasion or persuasive voice. I’d have them create ads to try and persuade their reader to buy something they invent- an introduction to ethos, logos, and pathos. For older students, I think it would work well in the context of exploring stereotypes or as a media analysis exercise. With the former, you could take a traditionally gendered ad and remake it as a nongenedered ad. With the latter option, it would work well as a spoof ad exercise. 

        I think this kind of exercise is important because it is either introducing critical thinking skills or enhancing them. With activities like this, students are encouraged to dig deeper into what the ad is presenting; not just accepting the ad at face value. What is the subtext? What are they trying to tell you about yourself? Who is the target audience and why? It’s teaching them to analyze the media around them and this is one of the most valuable skills we can give our students, because it makes them into smarter consumers of media.

      The only drawbacks I can imagine are students who struggle to grasp the idea of subtext. It would be very important to do a lot of introduction to an assignment like this, giving context and maybe modeling the assignment beforehand, because it’s vital that students understand the concepts presented here. The relationship between analysis and creation is pivotal here because you need to use analysis to find the subtext in ads (whether it’s a spoof or not). When you’re creating your own, you need to create something that gets at a deeper meaning; that is open to analysis.

     I would love to use an assignment like this in my future classes. Because I have practiced it here, I would feel confident using this technology. I think this would be one of those assignments that would get my students talking, which is exactly what I want.

Spoof Ad

can't read it? Larger size here

Task 2: Ethnography reflection

I heard a statistic while listening to the radio- teenagers (I was one at the time) spend about 6 hours a day in front of a screen- a phone, TV or computer screen. When I heard that, I thought that was impossible. How could I be spending that much time doing anything? I didn’t even have enough time to sleep, eat, do my homework and get to class on time. How was I fitting six hours of screen time in? I started to keep track of it, and I figured out that I was looking at a screen for more like 7 hours a day. These days, it’s even higher- teenagers are spending 7 ½ hours a day consuming media, according to the Washington Post. 
      A media ethnography assignment give students a chance to reflect on their own use of and attachment to technology, and they could decide if their current habits are healthy or unhealthy. I would assign a media log, maybe for a few days to a week, and then have the students write a reflection paper on their media use. I would have students share their media logs with me (not with the class) so that way there is no incentive to hide habits from classmates’ judgments. I also might have them keep a tally for their most-visited websites- some might be surprised to discover that they check their facebook 16 times a day!     I’d want the students to reflect on their own habits and decide what about their media use was healthy or unhealthy. We could determine “healthy” and “unhealthy” as a class, bringing in ideas about internet addiction and compulsive behaviors, personal safety online, procrastination, and also how much time should be spent away from screens, for the sake of our health and wellbeing (eye strain, exercise, vitamin D!)    My evaluation of this assignment would be based on the quality of their log and their reflection. If the student writes genuinely about what they noticed about their media use, whether or not they decide they want to change anything about the way they use media, I would give that student a passing grade. But I think this assignment would be very interesting to students because it’s so relevant to them: they use media every day and everyone around them does also. It’s giving them a change to study themselves, and I think students would be engaged by that.
    The first step towards students being good critical thinkers, I believe, is by teaching them to notice what’s going on around them. This is one very interesting and engaging way to do that. I would absolutely do a media ethnography assignment with my students.

cited: Teens are spending more time consuming media, on mobile devices (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/postlive/teens-are-spending-more-time-consuming-media-on-mobile-devices/2013/03/12/309bb242-8689-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_story.html

Media Log: day 2

The good news is: I checked my phone less yesterday! The bad news: it was because I was too busy at work to even think about checking my phone. Progress? Not really. But I did leave my phone at home while I took the dog for his walks, which was actually very nice! I will continue to walk him without my phone. I was on craigslist for a long, long time today looking at houses- I would estimate an hour and a half. If I wasn't so anxious about finding an apartment, I wouldn't be this obsessed, but I think checking craigslist so frequently is somehow making me feel like I'm in control of this housing situation (when the reality is totally different).

Read for an hour yesterday, and I got another book that I'm excited to start. Starting to notice how much I look forward to reading before bed!

The main thing I'm taking away from today is that I want to start making small changes: leaving the phone at home is one example. Reading more often (not just before bed) is something I want to start planning into my day. And maybe I need to stop fooling myself about my housing situation: scrolling craigslist for two hours isn't the answer.

Media log: day 1

I am starting to notice my compulsive behaviors with my smartphone- and I don't like it. I check my phone immediately when I wake up, and right after I get back from taking the dog for a walk- right away it's email and facebook. At the moment, since I'm apartment hunting, i'm also on craigslist first thing. I'm also checking imgur and tumblr early in the morning and then on throughout the day. I tend to be on the web for long stretches; it's never a quick check of the weather, or one quick article, it's 2 to 3 hours on different websites.

I also watch TV with every meal- a bad habit I'd like to get rid of. I'm starting to notice all kinds of bad habits.

Some good habits are in there too, though. I read the paper almost every day and I'm reading every night before bed. I'm trying to read more- once my work schedule calms down, I think I'll be able to. I listen to the radio for music and news: less screen time! 

My media usage has definitely gone up since I got a smartphone in January, and I want to rid myself of my compulsive need to check email and facebook when I wake up. I don't like it that I'm on a screen right away in the morning; I'm going to find a better way to start the day. 

Task 2: Log, or, I spend too much time on the internet!

Media Log

Time	Day 1	Day 2
5am-7am	SLEEP!	So Sleepy.
7am-9am	Wake up- check email, facebook and craigslist (while watching The Price is Right. Embarassing but true) 1 hr computer so far, ½ hour TV	Wake up! Check phone immediately after waking up- texts, emails, imgur. Took the dog for a long walk without the phone today which was a first! No more phones on walks.
10am-12pm	Spent time on blogger creating my blog for class, but took breaks on tumblr and imgur. 2 hrs computer.	Religiously checking craigslist. Doing homework for class. Also watching TV (Price is Right AGAIN). Also checking Imgur, Facebook, and Tumblr every so often.
12pm-2pm	Finished blog assignment! Visited Tumblr again, Pandora, blogger, email.	Time to run errands! Listening to the radio getting ready and in the car. Checking phone every so often.
2pm-4pm	Work! Checking phone every so often for texts	Work!
4pm-6pm	Work	Work
6pm-8pm	Work- got to watch a world cup game at work!	At work
8pm-10pm	work	Working
10pm-12am	work	Home! Checked email, took the dog for a walk without a phone again, read for an hour. Sleep!
12am-5am	Reading before bed. Currently “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed.

Task 1: Blog Basics

   Look! Look at what I did! I made a blog! But now what? What can I do to make sure this blog works for me? Our readings for this week gave me a lot of ideas, resources and perspectives on blogging and technology in the classroom.

   I enjoy journaling. I've kept a journal for a few years now as a way to reflect on problems I'm having, plan for the future, and get out frustrations. I've also used journaling as a TA to de-stress my freshman comp students around finals and prepare them for their sophomore year. The difference is that blogs, for the most part, are public. Other people read them. But they serve the same purposes: reflection, transparency, and a way to keep track of your life. So I think the best blogs are candid and personal, but public. 

   I would create writing assignments that blend creativity and creation of a personal voice. Maybe having students find a quote that is meaningful to them and writing about why. That way they're using search tools but also writing in a personal voice. Or maybe creating a prompt that has them reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses. This causes them to reflect, while also discovering (hopefully) that some of their strengths are important life skills (I strongly believe that kids are not told about different kinds of intelligences in school, but that's a discussion for another time)

   Assigning blog posts would improve computer literacy while still working on writing skills. This is becoming increasingly important because, as we learned from our readings, technology is only going to develop, and students who are computer literate are going to have an advantage. 

   As a teacher, I can see myself using blogs to track my own progress- reflect on best practices/failed assignments, create a professional portfolio, store documents for later use, or to follow other teaching blogs for ideas. I think it would be useful as a student resource- post lectures, homework assignments, links to useful websites. Maybe one day I'll become comfortable enough with them to be able to have students create their own blogs, but that day is far off. But it's not hopeless. 
   After reading these articles, it's becoming more and more apparent that it's evolve or die! Maybe not that dramatic, but it is extremely important that teachers become comfortable integrating technology into their classrooms, not only for the neat tricks you can do on a computer, but because technological equity, what Roblyer and Doering call "the digital divide"(p.20), is increasingly becoming an issue. Using email, word documents, and the internet are now basic skills for success, and it's important that students are familiar with these things. However, technology can make your life a lot easier as a teacher: smartboards, electronic portfolios, even open-source tech can improve your life. And in advanced classes, it would be fun to use student-led media, like podcasts or video editing, on large projects. 
   Right now, I'm not very comfortable using technology as a teacher. But now that I understand its importance and its potential, I'm much more determined to find ways technology can work for me and my students. And, per Shareski's advice, I am following a few teacher's blogs, and hopefully I'll pick up a thing or two. 

cited: Roblyer, M. D., and Aaron Herbert Doering. Integrating educational technology into teaching. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon Publishers, 2013. Print.

Welcome!

Welcome!

This blog will be documenting my journey to becoming a teacher. I'm not great with technology, but I am trying to change that! We'll see. 

Thanks for reading!