Whew... lots going on this week. Lala is feeling much better but I'm counting the days until my husband arrives to start his vacation with us. Finding time to carve out to read and reflect has been d-i-fficult as a single parent. :) So, I have to admit that our middle school team has done a digital storytelling project (about our town's history) for the last 6 years and I have distanced myself from it...mainly because I have been uncomfortable with the technology and with being in front of the camera myself. I honestly have been reluctant to subject my students to an experience that would have really stressed me out at that age. However, I am in love with Lee Kolbert's Science in Plain English projects. My daughter did something like this for her final elementary school GT project, except that they wrote "rock" songs to do the explaining and they turned out suberbly! One of the things that I really like it that it allows students to use their own "voice" (to use an english term) to explain. Using the "In Plain English" format gets them to really think about what they know and have learned and how to combine it with images that help to explain without overwhelming.
I posted a while ago about multimedia education and some research being done by Daniel T. Willingham. One of the ideas from his research that resonated with me was that just because a lesson has pictures or other media to supplement the words it does not always make the lesson more effective. Willingham goes on to talk about how the more you know and understand about a topic the more meaningful a more visually complex multimedia task or "lesson" will be for a learner. Working with middle school students, some of whom my class is the first real science class they have had, I've been really thinking about how my students are really "novice" science learners. This is where Commoncraft's "In Plain English" format really makes sense to me. It keeps it simple-stupid! Great for middle schoolers and other novices! ;)
So, I'm inspired to try the same type of thing with my students. I can check out a classroom set of Flip video cameras OR... applying what I learned in tech camp: I'd like to try using Photostory 3 to make a narrated slideshow in the "Plain English" style. Perhaps giving the kids a choice about which medium they'd like to create with. I played with Photostory 3 at tech camp. We made a video about germs in a middle school- I didn't bring my computer on vacation... borrowing my dad's (thanks dad!) or I would share. I'm going to try with my daughter to play more with some of the pics she's been taking on vacation. I'll post if and when that happens.
Also, we've been geocaching here and it is really fun! I may even make my 9 week elective class about geocaching! Watching my daughter teach her grandparents how to use their GPS today was priceless!
Check out what geocaching is if you don't already know.
I think that is a great idea about geocaching and your elective class. How fun!!! I am just at the baby steps of getting into it, and I keep thinking about how fun it would be to incorporate this into our classrooms. I would love to keep track of your blogging if you choose to go this route with that class. Good luck!
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