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wordsetc — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:02:13 +0000

Lesson Plans, Student Activities, Curriculum and Projects | Print |

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Written by John Churchman

Over the last several months, we have received increased email traffic regarding curriculum, lesson plans, student activities and projects that our readers can use to stimulate the interest and creativity of their students. Aside from several well-known websites and text books, these activities are left up to the creativity of the individual teachers, many of whom are new to the world of TV/Video/Film/Radio production. Beginning with our September issue, we will offer you increased content on these topics.

Video is an extremely powerful and sophisticated form of communication that has changed our culture and continues to have a profound effect on our society. Students’ choices in fashion, music, and behavior are heavily influenced by the personalities, advertisements, and information they see on television, at the movies, and online. The video medium has more impact on modern students than any other form of mass communication.

The potential to exploit this medium for educational benefit is immense.

When broken down, video is simply a communication medium used to inform, entertain, persuade, tell a story, and/or express oneself. The ability to communicate a message to an audience is one of the most important skills we teach our students. We strive to teach this skill through writing, projects, public speaking, drama, fine and performing arts. Adding video production to the list gives our students a new means of expression, employing the most powerful communication vehicle of their generation.

Today’s inexpensive digital camcorders, computers and even cell phones, give students video-capturing and video-editing capabilities that were available only to professionals a few years ago. Technically, editing video using today’s nonlinear editing systems available on low-end computers is simple and intuitive, yet it produces impressive results. (See Barry Britt’s articles on Editing on iMovie and MovieMaker ) Students feel empowered by their mastery of video and thoroughly enjoy having a new medium through which to communicate using images, music, narration, sound, text, and special effects.

Educationally, video production is a cross-curricular, collaborative experience that appeals to all types of learners and requires many different intelligences. By its nature, video production is cross curricular, combining writing, public speaking, acting, and aesthetic education with whatever subject matter your students are documenting. Video is produced in a collaborative environment, requiring students to be active, contributing, productive members of a video crew. Video production is sufficiently complicated and demanding to keep several students simultaneously involved, working in concert toward a common goal. Video production also appeals to many different types of learners and is made richer by the collaboration of students with varied intelligences. The students of a video crew must devote their various talents to the tasks of writing, storyboarding, directing, acting, capturing, editing, and distributing an idea on video. Your students will connect with the content material of their video on many different levels and in many different ways.

Video offers a rich array of communication possibilities for the students. The text of the script allows students to communicate through words, symbols, and metaphors. (See Christina Hamlett’s articles on Screenwriting) The visual aspects of video allow them to communicate through images, acting, costuming, and props. The auditory aspects allow them to communicate through music and sound effects. The combination of these three aspects provides limitless opportunities for student expression and message creation.

We hope that you will benefit from these articles and use them in your classrooms and studios. Of course, we would love to hear from you about your experiences. Please email us at johnc@buysvs.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and share your thoughts.
I thought the above had a lot to say for educators to plan and use the new technologies to enable kids to learn.

Needless to say I haven’t expired or disappeared. I have been busy with many different publishing areas and can’t find time to keep up with all of them.

Co-teaching, Team-teaching, Tag-teaching?

wordsetc — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:35:26 +0000

Some thoughts on co-teaching.

With the SAGE program where the state subsidizes teachers in a 16:1 situation, the term co-teaching has surfaced. Through discussions and meditation on the subject, I have a few thoughts that I am working around in my head.

Co-teaching is between two teachers as a marriage covenant is between two people. There must be a personal choice in the choosing of the partner and then a commitment to work together. Co-teaching involves, planning, gathering, researching, executing, evaluating, and celebrating together. A close look at strengths and weaknesses of each individual is needed and then planning to accentuate the strong traits and minimizing the weak ones. A good amount of forgiveness for missed communication, for failing to carry out the responsibilities, for not listening with a open ear is needed to make it work. It will take a lot of work to make the co part work. The two teachers can anticipate each others thoughts and have a common way of approaching discipline, grading, parent relations, and staff relations. The delivery of instruction is so seamless that the students and observers will not be able to identify lead teacher. I really don’t think co-teaching is happening in many classrooms.

I propose that the optimum of co-teaching is not necessary to deliver quality instruction. I think Team teaching is just as valid. The ultimate evaluation of a successful model will be the quality and quantity of student learning. If students excel, what does it matter if the teachers are co-teaching or team-teaching?

My definition of team teaching is when two or more teachers are working together efficiently. They have common goal and produce game plans to reach the goal. Not everyone will do the same route or play in the same quarter of the game, just as in a football team. However they will plan, discuss, and find consensus in how to manage and deliver instruction. If one person on the team is particularly good at explaining math concepts, that should be the person explaining math concepts. If one team member is a dramatic reader, this is the person to do the read-aloud and entice the kids to read in a similar manner. When a team member is technology interested, that person should take the lead in using the computer or software to benefit the instruction of the students. The non-lead teacher is assisting struggling students and is always present and working with students just not in the leaders chair, not taking over the lead at any time. This is the kind of structure I see in many successful learning classrooms.

Another term that defines a classroom with multiple teachers is tag teaching. Like the game of tag, if you are not being pursued, you may take a rest and even tune out the other players in the game. You are really only active when “it” is focused on you or you are “it.” In the classrooms this is evident if one teacher is sitting at the computer, out of the room, or not involved with students while the second teacher is instructing. I have often felt that I was a tag teacher as a literacy coach coming in to demonstrate, model, or share. The teachers run to the office, the bathroom (this may be necessary at times) or use this time to catch up on reading their e-mail, or grading papers. I understand the ability to do two things at one time. They can listen-in to me and still do something else, but this is a clear picture of tag teaching. The classrooms where the teacher remains a part of the group, the discussion, the learning is where I see students grow, participate, and accepting the instruction as important.

What is your term to describe your group of teachers that deliver instruction to your students? Is it co-teaching, team-teaching, or tag-teaching?

I would love to hear your comments.

Interesting slide show on Cognitively Guided Instruction.

wordsetc — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:06:24 +0000

[slideshare id=42812&doc=cognitively-guided-instruction-cgi-11187&w=425]

Internet use safety for students

wordsetc — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:39:14 +0000

I found two sources that look promising as resources to use with middle-high school students.
http://www.safeteens.com and http://www.staysafe.org/teens

If you know of more please add them to the discussion. This is an area that requires all of our attention NOW.
I shudder when I see what some students are doing on line. They have no understanding of the dangers. Parents are not as savy as the students and don’t know what to do. We need to lead the forces in finding the safety zone for these young people to interact online and be safe.

A new research tool

wordsetc — Fri, 25 May 2007 17:52:08 +0000

In reading Steve Dembo’s blog http://www.denblogs.com/digital_passports/2007/05/kartoo_map_out_.html I found the Kartoo.com site. It is interesting and provides yet another tool to help students navigate the ocean of information. I always worry about the little storm clouds on the horizon when I send kids out on the WEB. Do they have the skills they need? Who knows where they will land if a storm suddenly appears. Please take a few minutes and try this one. It has potential. http://www.kartoo.com

Summarizing And… presentation

wordsetc — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:55:08 +0000

How to Beat the Time Trap

wordsetc — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 04:46:04 +0000

As the first day of school is looming right around the corner, I become aware of the crunch on my available time to do all the things I would like to do before the official starting bell. Hence when I was cleaning out files of the last 30 years and came across a list of 14 ways to Beat the time Trap listed by my administrator so long ago, I realized that they were valid today and I needed to review them. I will share them with you as well and maybe one will help you find a few minutes each day that would be lost without the awareness.

1. Keep a “to do” list, updating daily and marking for priorities.

2. Plan for a week or several days work at one time with just daily reviews.

3. Set deadlines for yourself and monitor your successes.

4. Use wait time for mental planning, reading, updating your palm, calendar, or visioning.

5. Keep some kind of paper or electronic tool to jot down notes whenever and wherever you are.

6. Evaluate yourself – am I procrastinating and why?

7. Unpleasant tasks may be more acceptable if broken down into smaller step-tasks.

8. Immediately throw away what you don’t need. (this is my personal downfall and why I still have 30 years of accumulation to sort through).

9. Everything needs to have a home. (Another major problem when I have so much stuff covering so much territory, I think I need a ten story building covering half a city block to begin to sort the piles.)

10.Listen carefully. Ask direct questions to clarify any confusion immediately.

11. Know thyself and do your most important work at your peak creative time. And don’t forget to write it down or record it someplace so that you don’t have to recreate the thoughts.

12. Ask help from someone you consider an expert in the area you have a question.

13. Arrive at work early to take advantage of the quiet time needed to get ready for your day.

14. Read your email, answer your phone messages as soon as possible. (This was my addition to the list because 30 years ago we did not have email to worry about.)

UnitedStreaming

wordsetc — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 23:55:55 +0000

Fairview has been using UnitedStreaming an awesome resource for videos for the last two years. Now that UnitedStreaming is adding components and additional resources we need to help each other find ways to effectively use this resource. At our in-service we went through some basics. Part of our group investigated some additional features such as embedding videos in PowerPoints. The comment area of this webpage will allow us to share some of our ideas.

If you have difficulty using any part of UnitedStreaming, please let me know. I may not have the answer but I do have resources to get an answer.

I am looking for 15 comments by December 15th as to one thing you did as a follow-up to our workshop together.

On-the-Move #6

wordsetc — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 23:51:12 +0000

Words-on-the-move #6

The strategy is Comparing word meaning as found in Intervention Strategies to Follow Informal Reading Inventory Assessment by JoAnne Schudt Caldwell and Lauren Leslie.

They stress the importance of helping students grow their vocabulary by keeping it grounded in what they are currently studying in context. Understanding how things are alike is a basic way we as learners handle new words, new concepts and integrate it into our bank of understanding. This is the basis for this strategy.

Choose two words from a discussion, a text, from a day’s work, wherever…

Write the two words on the board. Ask students how the words are alike and list those under the two words.

An example of what we mean.

Place on the board hungry and heavy

Students add- Both have two syllables

Both start and end with the same letter

Both can describe something, maybe someone who likes to eat.

They go together. If you’re always hungry you’ll get heavy.

You can be both. You can be hungry and you can be heavy.

The Writing Strategy is straight from an article in The Writer November 2006. The title is The Power of Personal Writing by Christina Baldwin.

The article advocates the idea of meaning and story telling in writing personal journals. This is an activity that requires time away from the tv, gameboys, etc. It requires reflection and creativity.

I would like to quote a few lines from the article.

“Writing organizes the mind and the actions that lead from the mind. Over time, the decisions and choices we make in the rush of the moment are informed by the self-knowledge our story gives us. We learn that if we have practiced articulating our story, if we have honored the path to this moment by writing it down, the choices we make are congruent with who we say we are. This is one of the primary promises of story: It was true in oral form and remains even more true in written form. For in writing we live life twice: once in the experience, and again in recording and reflecting upon our experience.”

The poem for this podcast is Thanksgiving from The Goof Who Invented Homework and Other School Poems by Kalli Dakos

The podcast I want to recommend is from the Dana Radio Series called Gray Matters. You subscribe or give it a trial run from itunes

Time to sign off and give my thanks to The Discovery Educational Network for the support and encouragement that they provide me. Sometimes I just need an extra push to keep going.

The music is from Blake Emmy.

On-the-Move #6

wordsetc — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:46:01 +0000

podcast address.

http://podcasts.milwaukee.k12.wi.us

Go under the Fairview heading to find my podcasts.