Mr Bass Online

Today was a day well spent with an awful lot of learning. I started the day at an METC Advisory Committee meeting in which we revisited the conference from last month. It was a good discussion which included ideas about virtual conferences and reflections on the conference.

Upon leaving that meeting I went to one of the elementary schools in our district because the Higher Education Channel was coming to our district to do a “Behind the Minds” filming of some of our students as they work on their films for our upcoming Film Festival. Since this was my brain child, I wanted to be there as students talked about their films and were interviewed for the show. Jennifer Young (another TIS) and I were there to supervise and help the students as they worked on their films. These were fifth grade students who had done a presentation earlier in the year in which they became a person who has had a profound affect on society and who stood for something great. Anne Frank, Jane Goodall were among the people they chose and they had footage of them acting the part of these figures. Now they were in the process of whittling down their films to meet our two minute guidelines. During their interviews they discussed problem solving, collaboration and storyboarding as they described the process. They used film terms and talked at great length about what they wanted to say through their films. The entire process was nothing short of awesome. Watching students talk about and reflect on their process was truly transformative and they were very eloquent in their discussions. Through the work of Jennifer Young (another TIS), the morning was a success.

Upon leaving the elementary school, I accompanied the film crew to one of our high schools where they interviewed two junior girls about a sociology project that they embarked on last semester. They too were eloquent in their discussion, but one thing they said really stuck with me. “In all of our other classes, we had to do PowerPoints.” While I’m not completely against PowerPoint, it was clear, when talking to these students, that PowerPoint is an overused presentation technique in their school. They relished the opportunity to do something more meaningful and, as I watched their video, I think they succeeded. Their video was compelling and far more intriguing than any PowerPoint that I’ve ever seen. When they were done, I was interviewed in regards to the details and origins of the Film Festival. It was a great day. Watching students grades 5 and 11 talk about their learning really made me proud of what we’ve done to facilitate the Film Festival in our district and making it about the celebration of student work. I guess more than anything, I’m continually impressed with the abilities of today’s students. The show should air in the next few weeks and will be available online. I’ll post again when it can be viewed.