Reflections on the Fifth Grade Movie Project

I have been so impressed with the fifth grade movie work this year. We haven't had enough time together, and I've had to rush them a lot, but many have chosen to come in early or during recess, and their hard work really shows. (Wish I could show some here, but a) didn't do permission slips and b) didn't have time for them to cite their image sources)

A couple more new things I tried this year (in addition to the new planning elements):
1) Incorporating real video with the zooming and panning of still images
Most video sharing sites are blocked at school, and it can be incredibly time-consuming to find the right bit of video within a longer clip, so I told students that all they had to do was write me a note or email requesting a particular kind of video clip (eg. someone making sushi, golden retrievers fetching, Ozzy Osbourne playing Crazy Train) and I would get it for them. This turned out, not surprisingly, to be a lot of work, but so worth it. It brought a whole new element into the project--both technically and artistically. It was too bad that only about 20% of kids opted to use video, but if everyone had I don't think I would have been able to collect it all.

This brings up the question of sustainability in designing a technology curriculum. I can't count on other teachers wanting to spend 8 hours a week at home doing prep work for a particular project, which makes the project not duplicatable at that level. If I want to share this work out in a way that others can try it, it also has to work without these elements. In this case I think it does, but I also thought the movies that mixed video and still images with voice-over were much more effective.

Here's the example I made for them. Some of the still images and the music are copyrighted, but I'm claiming fair use here:


2) Having kids take control of recording their voice-overs.
We use the built-in iMac microphones, which are nondirectional and record all ambient sound, which doesn't work well in a collaborative classroom setting. In the past, I've had kids come up during recess to record voice-overs for their movies, but since they get only 20 minutes a day for recess and they understandably value this time a lot, and I have 120-150 fifth graders, this meant not very many kids got to record. This year, I started out having kids record during class and I would get the room quiet for each student before they started recording, but it didn't take long for me to realize that they were capable of doing that for themselves. It was so satisfying to hear kids independently calling out "quiet on the set!" before and "clear!" after recording, and negotiating with each other so that everyone had a chance to record. I'm considering using this strategy in combination with a good usb mic next year.

How this project will evolve next school year depends on whether I'm able to have the fifth grade for the whole year. It was such a disappointment to have to rush this project and not to get to the "I Have a Dream" GarageBand remix project. Another semester would allow us to reflect and talk more about what we're learning, to collaborate and share work in progress, and to do research, which (in addition to its inherent value) would give kids more possibilties when choosing topics.

Testing and Technology, or, Neglect vs Scrutiny

I know many teachers who feel overwhelmed by the pressure they feel from their administrators to do more than they feel capable of doing, and anxious about the amount of scrutiny they are under. I have nearly the opposite situation: I get virtually no outside pressure, evaluation, or feedback. Fortunately, I set my own bar high and reflect on my practice and all that, but I'm sure I could do even more and do it better if I had another pair of eyes on me occasionally, noticing areas for improvement that I don't notice myself. Of course I would take neglect over scrutiny any day, but I'm always in favor of moderation.

Aside from the fact that I have a proven record and am trusted by my administrators, I suppose a major reason for the lack of attention paid to my curriculum and teaching is that my subject is not tested. I have often thought that the day they start standardized-testing my subject is the day I retire, but I don't expect that day to come until after the day that they impose more specific standards and ensure that every school has access to the same level of technology, which is a day I don't expect to come soon.

Even then, I expect the technology would change faster than the testing companies could keep up with it. I can imagine a test asking kids to identify the cpu or a floppy disk, for example. Other potential obstacles include the fact that so much that students do with technology is creative and untestable in any standardized way (or should be, anyway); and the fact that we want the use of technology to be integrated into other subjects--ideally, reading comprehension tests would include an online element, where students must navigate a website, glean information from it, evaluate it for reliability, and post a comment, for example.

Would identifying the usb port be on a separate test? What about changing page layout from portrait to landscape? Or centering a title? Emailing an attachment? Resizing an image? Creating a pdf? Staying safe online? Printing via keyboard shortcut, file menu, or toolbar? Embedding a video on your blog? I got an email this week from Atomic Learning advertising a "Tech Skills Assessment" based on ISTE NETS-S 2007 that can be completed in a single class period. I don't want to use it, but sure would be curious to see it.

What a fortuitous segue this will make to my next post: Benchmarks and Standards!