My job as a Technology Integration Specialist has taken me into some wonderful classrooms, blessed by provocative and dedicated teachers.  It pains me to say this is a rare occurrence.  Going into classrooms, no, but encountering a truly innovative teacher, far less often then I would like to speak of.  No names are required, but to preach and praise these amazing teachers does not happen nearly enough.  This is the only positive spin I can put on the solemn reality that many ‘teachers’ either don’t understand what it is to teach or are blind to the fact that I am talking about them.  Think… think hard, about the last time you felt good about what happened in your classroom.  If the first thought that comes to mind is that finals week has started, there is a very seriously problem.

How do we change this mindset?  I am not an expert by any means.  I can only call upon personal experience.  I felt that, while I was in the classroom, I did a fairly good job of reaching out to my students in an attempt to keep mathematics as engaging as possible.  I have learned now, this probably wasn’t the case.  What changes would I make?  What support would I want?  How could I grow as a teacher in an effort to better my students and not just myself?  If you have the answer, be prepared to make millions.  I don’t think I am unique in having these thoughts, but I fear there are far too many who don’t.   Finding a reflective teacher can sometimes be a chore, but ask the great ones what makes them great.  Again, I have no basis to claim this other than personal observation and discussion.  It all begins with reflection.

Understanding that you probably can’t do it all alone is another key.  Who out there really compliments you, both personally and professionally?  Too many times we find ourselves on an island, whether it be as a teacher, or department, or school.  I promise things are much easier, much more rewarding, and ultimately much more effective when built through collaboration.  I am lucky enough to be part of a department that embodies this characteristic.  Am I the strongest member of my team?  The answer is yes, and no.  Speaking with elementary students or elementary teachers, for that matter, is like Greek, not understandable and increasingly tedious.  Am I capable?  Absolutely because I am equipped with four or five people who can brilliantly weave their way through every facet of the elementary setting.  This is only one example, but if given the time I could recite example after example of how I have benefited by working in a team setting, and where the team has benefited from what I have to offer.  You are not alone in this.

As teachers, a byproduct of our message is accountably.  The word may never be uttered, but if you have ever asked your students to return homework or a permission slip, than you are ultimately teaching accountability.  We ask for/require it nearly everyday, and yet we as practitioners do not live by the same rules.  The benefit to living on the proverbial island is that we are only accountable to ourselves.  It is understandable that people would enjoy living this lifestyle; hard to screw up, especially with the warm blanket of tenure.  Even if it is not required, become accountable to someone, only your students will benefit.

If you take nothing from this, please just note I think we can all be great.  We can all learn to be reflective, collaborative and accountable, but as someone much smarter than I once said.  ‘You can be anything you want; nine times out of ten you just have to work stupid hard to get there.’  Look to your neighbor, they may be already.

– Christian Goodrich

Develop proficiency with the tools of technology

In many cases, one of the main goals that teachers had when they started their film festival projects was to get students familiar with the tools of technology.  Focusing on the tools is a starting point in many cases, but once we got beyond how to edit video and where to begin a project, we started to focus more on the evaluating the sources that were found.  The process became as important as the final product.  We looked at the literary skills that were involved in working through the problems, evaluating possible solutions and working together to become creators rather than simply consumers of information.

Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally

One of the biggest successes of the film festival process was the collaborative nature of the work. While some were individual submissions, the vast majority were done as a group.  They worked thorough many problems and found solutions that were acceptable for all involved.  Additionally, many came away with a new understanding of the possibilities of working together.  When talking with students about what they learned, they weren’t just focused on their own part of the project.  They were learning from each other and, in many cases, stopped relying on their teachers as the sole people with the correct answers.

Design and share information for global communities that have a variety of purposes

Students who participated in the film festival were creating content that would be viewed by a greater audience.  The students were expanding their realm and evaluating the purpose of their films and the response their films would have on the audience both in the festival and later online as they were archived in a gallery.

Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneously presented information

Again, because of the nature of this project, information came from internet sites, databases, books, video, interviews, etc.  This proved to be beneficial for teachers as they asked their students to evaluate the reliability of the informaiton they found as they worked through their research process. Then, in most cases, students took that information and created their own meaning from it.  This new meaning resulted in a transformational experience in which students were not simply consumers of the information, but made it relevant to their own world and work.  Through those projects, students had a far deeper understanding of the material, had exercised their higher-order thinking skills, and created a relevant product that they were proud of.  One example of this is “The Great Car Robbery” created by a group of high school students who were studying the Niobe Myth.

Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts

One of the things that we’ve asked some of the students to do is to reflect on the experience.  We’ve gotten a variety of responses but mostly, because of our medium, students talked about the challenges of technology and  video editing.  However, when pushed, those who’s projects were of high quality realized that they learned a great deal through their projects that had nothing to do with the technical process of making the video.  They were working with concepts, solving problems and working together as they analyzed and reconstituted the information in a meaningful format.

Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by complex environments

Probably one of the biggest questions that students and teachers had when working with the materials had to do with copywrite and fair use.  Because the films that would be shown at the festival would also be shown on the Higher Educagtion Channel, we worked to compile a list of resources teachers could use that wouldn’t violate copywrite.  This was tough for many teachers who believe in and use fair use in their classrooms.  However, it was a great opportunity to model real world methods and have conversations about the implications of using the work of others.  This is something that we’re still trying to work out right now.  One of the things that I hope to accomplish this year is to provide other ways to find music, pictures and video for use in films.  I’m not sure what this will look like, but I want to show students that there are a number of places that provide royalty-free materials that we can use.  This was a learning experience for both student and teacher.  Truly, some didn’t think it was worth it.  However, I think it’s important to model ethical use of information as we work with students.  The film festival was a great vehicle to do just that.

I’ve been meaning to write about the Film Festival for awhile now and just haven’t made myself do it.  Looking at the NCTE Framework as a tool to think through the process and the projects provides some insight into how effective it might be in the classroom.  There are many changes that will be made this year and the framework will help to work through some of the issues that might be important.

Site to come soon, check back — http://notk12onlineconference.org/

Molebash.com — This is his homepage and shows his work with Bernie Dodge

Webinquiry.org — Describes his projects in detail

Valley of the Shadow — Primary source database of the Civil War based on the work by the Virginia Center for Digital History

Overall the day was well worth my time and got me thinking about inquiry based projects in our district.  One thing that Molebash has done is brought together four levels of inquiry.  I’m not big on categorizing projects based on such little criteria, but I did find it interesting.

I spent a good bit of the day looking at the Valley of the Shadow site and reading through the letters that Civil War soldiers to their families.  Very interesting and very moving.  I’ve always been intriqued by the Civil War, but through these primary sources I got a new look at the history behind it.  Enjoy.

Oh well, Amy Tan is about to begin speaking. At least I’m still able to get online with my phone.

See pictures @ http://www.powerfulnews.blogspot.com/