Videographers at Work!

My kids are having sooo much fun with the “Cool With School Rules!” project based unit!!  Read this post to learn how this all got started!!

The next phase of the project was to  prepare some type of media that could be placed on the school’s webpage.  The students’ minds automatically went to video.  So  . . .  video it was!!  Now, if I’m being completely honest, my video skills are NOT the best; however, I am up for the challenge to learn with my students!  The equipment that I had to use was an iPhone.

How did we do this?  It was quite fun!

cooperative learning, project based learning
Students engage in discourse about the keeping our school safe.

 

The same student expert groups prepared scripts about their topic and practiced.  Once they felt their work was ready, we had a sharing day.  All the student groups had an opportunity to share their “skit” with the class, gain feedback, and were able to rework the skit to perfection.  The students developed a lot of soft skills working together: critical thinking, problem solving, collaborating, and social emotional as well as the academic: literacy, math, and technology were a big focus!

Once the students had their work ready to videotape, other students took turns helping with the video process or my husband would come in and help with some “onsite” out of the classroom video work.  Getting the videos recorded took quite a while. Why?  Even though the students thought their group was ready, when videotaping, they would realize they needed more practice.  This was a great learning moment for the students – the self reflective piece to presenting your BEST work!  AMAZING!!  I didn’t even have to say anything about that.

Students developed soft and academic skills.

Once the videos were recorded I spent time piecing and editing the videos for the students using iMovie.  This would have been a great piece for the students to do; however, I really needed an extra set of hands to do this in the classroom with the students.  I was looking for a program that the students could use on their chrome books to edit the video, but this was taking a lot of research time AND I had no funding to purchase the items I did find.  So . . .  I edited the movies and then the students watched their video.  I had my husband work with each group to ensure the video was the way they wanted it to run.  If they wanted to make a change, the students then made the changes to their video.  I wanted the kids to really OWN their work.

The videos turned out great!!!  This project based unit provided many learning opportunities for the students – ones that they would not have received in a traditional classroom setting.

We had a “movie premier” day and enjoyed some popcorn and drinks while watching our own movies!!  The families loved this event!

So . . . go ahead and grab your bag of popcorn, hop on over to my class website to view the student made videos!!

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Annette Durbin

Annette has been an educator for more than 30 years working in the PK-6 elementary classroom, K-12 multi-language learner instructional specialist, district leadership, university professor, as well as a mentor for teachers nationwide. A National Board Certificated Teacher, Annette focuses her research on accelerating learning and advancing achievement, personalizing instruction, technology, and leadership in the education field.

This Post Has 8 Comments

  2. Stephanie July 14, 2018 Reply

    I’m a middle school social studies teacher and I’m always looking for new ways to bring technology and new strategies into the classroom. Great post!

    1. Annette Durbin July 14, 2018 Reply

      Hello Stephanie, the kids love to create with video. My 3rd and 4th graders were even taking over the “videographer” job when we pulled the green screen out later in the school year. The kids wrote and videotaped plays about the Matanuska Colony Project. Tons of meaningful application and learning! Thanks for sharing!! Let me know if you try the videotaping and/or have any questions. ~ Annette

      P.S. If you have iOS devices, “Clips” is a great app for videotaping.

  3. Kelli July 13, 2018 Reply

    What a great project! My son is in college for teaching. I’m going to show him this project.

    1. Annette Durbin July 13, 2018 Reply

      Thanks, Kelli!! I’m excited for your son and his decision to become a teacher. The field is changing and we need innovative teachers to be thinking how they can make an impact on education!! Exciting times!!! ~ Annette

  4. Mary July 12, 2018 Reply

    I teach fourth and fifth graders with learning disabilities, and I think they would really be interested in this project. I love how cross-curricular it is! I can only imagine how many academic and social skills the students acquired and used through participating in this useful project. Great post!

    1. Annette Durbin July 12, 2018 Reply

      Hello, Mary!! I love how the project based learning unit allowed ALL my students to learn and experience new skills. It was great to see the kids develop self confidence and support each other – regardless of learning challenges. It was certainly a WIN-WIN! Thanks for sharing! ~ Annette

    1. Annette Durbin July 12, 2018 Reply

      Thanks, Tonya!! Yes, those real-life experiences as sooo meaningful. These kiddos really took their job seriously. It was a lot of fun to watch them learn and grow some new skills. Thanks for your comments.
      ~Annette

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