I know this blog has traditionally been used to document my teaching, but starting tonight I want to also use it to document my learning. Tonight, for the better part of the night I learned how to create an animated .gif. After seeing several great examples on DS106 blog, I was intrigued by the haunting quality of this medium to see if I could do create one myself. So I did, what I do when I want to learn something new- I played and pushed the buttons and didn’t stop till I had at least a first step.
I am not sure if I did it right, and my final product is still rough and needs nuances and lots of work, but I think I now understand the basics. Here is what I did. Please let me know where I went down a wrong path or if there is an easier way to do this any of this:
I opened the new animated .gif in Preview and moved half the clips to Photoshop
I used about nine of them to create my first ever animated Gif! (Tutorial on youtube)
There are a lot of things wrong with it like the pixelated tiny size. It is moving too fast with too many frames, and not so haunting, but it is a first step. Now that I know what it takes to actually create one, I can focus on finding nuance and the right scene to play more careful attention to. Next time, I will work bigger and slower. Really looking at the piece as a photograoh that barely moves, not just a slowed down film clip. I am also interested in create a animated .gif of images I take myself. Lot’s to think about.
It feels good to start the night never having done a certain thing, and end the night having created something you never thought you could. This is the nature of learning online. Everything is possible if you dedicated the time and attention it needs to learn.
If I don’t get this reflection out of my system now, it may just die and rot inside me. Is this how students view mandatory reflective assignments? Do they view reflection as a chore? I have inflicted this task on myself, but I can imagine how much more angst ridden it would be had the choice to reflect been made by someone else.
You see! I have learned something from taking the time to reflect already, and I haven’t even started yet- reflection can be arduous and time consuming and not always feel right. On that note let’s get started:
About a week ago, I wrote my thoughts and description of the unit I worked on with my grade 8’s, but reports, laziness, and life have prevented me form writing the post for the grade 6 & 7 unit. I realized last time that I may need a more streamlined template when I go through the steps of the unit. I hope to find a comfortable template for these reflections that make them effective for me and you as the reader.
Let’s start with the cover sheet I gave to the kids:
I like using Pages, much more than word, because it gives the document a sense of vibrancy and color, but I still find the text stifling and unapproachable to the average 6th grade ESL kid. I need to work on using language they understand and still maintaining the formality of MYP. I simply embed these documents onto our class blog, so students can have instant and constant access. I do not feel, however, that anyone ever looked at it. I hope to work on making these sheets and accompanying checklist a bigger part of our unit in the future.
Another disappointment for me was not having the rubric ready before the task began. I think it is crucial that students have a copy of the rubric along side the unit overview. In addition to sharing the rubric before we begin, I am also playing with the idea of a more interactive video Unit Overview using glogster. (Maybe even a glogster rubric!) I want to make sure that students have a clear idea of expectations before they begin. Now that I have laid out the objectives, assessments, and criterion let me explain the gist of the unit.
We began by exploring the concept of storytelling. Why do we tell stories? We watched this video:
At the time, we watched this clip we didn’t have blogs and I was in Shanghai, but I would have liked to have done some reflection on the video to set the foundation of the unit. I am realizing that I do not like end of the unit summative reflections for the students or myself. Next time around, I want to have more frequent and shorter reflections on every step of the journey, as opposed to the end of the voyage recap.
Next, we started creating our own stories using Storybird. Because I am working with second language learners I wanted to have a tool that gave us images as a starting point to story creation. I realize now that the images shaped their stories more than I would have liked, but it was a much easier place to start than a blank page. Starting from nothing with limited language can be an intimidating process. Storybird made this much easier for sure.
I asked the student to pick 15 slides from the work desk and tell a story without any text at first. I wanted a beginning, middle, and an end. I told them to remember to have a visible problem in their slides that must be solved. Next the students added basic text to each slide to tell the story. We spent time talking about dialogue and adjectives. They were asked to add these devices into their growing stories.
Then I had them print their stories and paste them on to a large paper storyboard. The ideas was that the story at this point would become tangible. Something they could touch and literally walk upon and enter. I asked them to then think about what each slide sounded like. What could they smell, feel, touch, see etc…I told them to think about sensory language and how it would build their scenes. We also talked about sound effects they would be using in the podcast.
They added the sensory language to the storyboard and it was time to create a word document of the text- the script. They copied and pasted what they already had in Storybird into a document, while adding the new sensory language and descriptions of scenes form the paper storyboard. (Yes, these ESL kids were just as confused as you are about the difference between Storybird and storyboard.)We did a halfway point reflection at this stage.
Next we did a quick round of editing on google docs. They shared their stories with the class and me, and we made some basic edits for clarity. Next time around, however I will not help them so much with the editing. I think it is better to have authentic assessment of where they are now, so as to better monitor their growth. I was more worried about having “good” podcasts than truly assessing where each student was.
Next we were ready to record! We did a very basic “how to” lesson on Garageband and they were off. I am lucky to work at a 1:1 school, so the kids grabbed their laptops and scattered around our 8th grade lounge and empty rooms. Each one had a private place to sit and record. We discussed the differences between telling a story and reading one. We focused on the idea of intonation, expression etc…
The problem was that I still did not have a rubric at this time. I REALLY understand the value of knowing what I am assessing as I am going through the unit. Helps keep the unit grounded and goal oriented. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure there was a lot of learning going on, but I wasn’t sure how I could assess it all, or what was being learned exactly without the rubric to guide me. The whole concept of rubrics and their value is another post all together, so I will leave it at that for now.
The kids did a great job playing with music to create tension and suspense. They used pitch to change their voices for each character, and a few really got into the art of storytelling. Others were still too shy, embarrassed or lacked the confidence to really tell their stories. Overall, I was impressed with their dedication and enthusiasm for this last task.
Final step, we moved our podcats to iMovie so it would play nice with blogger, posted them along with the script for your listening and reading pleasure and wrote a final reflection on the whole experience and posted the whole lot on their blogs. The last step was asking the students to answer the unit questions: What is the difference between telling a story and reading one? in a short video reflection, also posted on their blog.
You can read the rubric below. It needs a lot of work I know, but it did the job for the first time out. Next time I will really spend more time exploring exactly what is being assessed and what that will look like. This time around, I got lost in the task. Don’t get me wrong it was very valuable. The question is how much of what they learned was intentional and documented? And does that matter? Here is the rubric I eventually shared with students.
Finally, I shared the rubric with each student through a Google Doc, so they could self-assess and help negotiate a final mark, based on my review. You can find all the podcasts, by clicking on the grade 6 and 7s in the sidebar of our class blog. I have posted a few examples below as well. Not necessarily the best, but examples of podcasts that showed effort.
I have been a huge fan of Jim Groom ever since the great Edupunk debates of 2008. As he so often reminds us, “Nobody blogs like the Bava! Nobody!” And man is he right. The quality of, frequency of, and intensity of his blogging is enough to leave any aspiring blogger’s mouth agape. The man lives and breaths blogging, and he is doing it a few years into the future. Whichever direction this whole thing is going, I am certain that Jim will be at the front of the line steering the ship.
I cannot count how many times following Jim and his band of Edupunks as they push the envelope, practice what they preach style of educating, has literally saved my stagnant network from the Edublogospshere mired in check out the latest tool retweets and false idol worship malaise that can be Edtech.
So when I saw that he is creating an online digital story telling course, my first thought was I have to be a part of this. I quickly started to doubt my digital merits, and thought twice about throwing my weight around with the big boys and girls. It didn’t take me long till I came around. We are here to learn right? All this talk about pushing ourselves and learning new things, and exploring new ideas, and working with new people, it’s all meaningless if we are not doing it ourselves. I could write about social networks, web 2.0, and the connected classroom till the cows come home, but I will not grow or learn until I step out my comfort zone and rub elbows with the Bava!
Identity, ego, love, self-loathing, acceptance, validation, who would have thought just be yourself could be so damn complicated. Yet, everyday we guide our students, our children, our friends to just be themselves and everything will be alright. Find your voice, express yourself, and all that other bullshit, when it reality, at least for me, everyday is much scarier than that.
I am a thirty six year old father of two beautiful girls, married to an amazing women who loves me more than I could ever imagine any one person could, I have a group of friends I have had since I was thirteen year olds, I have been living overseas- a dream of mine since childhood for over ten years doing work that I love, I have enough money to live a comfortable life, I go to bed every night awash in blessings I can never truly appreciate, I have hobbies that satiate my soul, my every experience is tainted with passion, and I ain’t bad lookin.’ I tell you all of this because despite this apparently successful life, I am often scared and feel utterly alone. I lose myself in unsubstantiated anxiety and need to be reminded that I matter. I want my voice to be validated and be told that I am unique and special and important. Sometimes the feeling is so strong that I feel I could disappear completely if I don’t speak up. I am sure there is a medical term for this condition. I am sure there is a series of lectures at a great many yoga hall and Zendo to help me get through my attachment to my ego, but like most things in my life I am working through it on my own.
Do I reek of insecurity? Am I a shallow egomaniac? Perhaps, but I am willing to bet no matter how you play your mask in the grand stage of life you feel the same way. John Spencer once wrote, and I am paraphrasing here that: he is a good teacher because he is broken not despite it, and I couldn’t agree more. I am tired of acting like needing to be accepted and loved is a weakness.
My journey, like all human trips has had its ups and downs. I will not go into the details here, wait for the book, but one thing that has persistently stayed with me,my entire life has been me. Yup the ole ego, the desperate clinging to me, myself, and I. Various Zen texts and Yoga T-shirts have advised me to let go of the self to truly connect to the greater universe, but no matter how I try here I am again. A fragile little boy wondering whose body I am walking in now.
There was a time when I drown out his voice in alcohol and self-destruction. But after ten years+ of trying to silence the scrawny eight year old from my photo albums, I am proud to say he appears to have made it. These days I find it easier to listen to him when he speaks, or allow him to sing when he needs to, I encourage him to take over, you may have met him as he often Tweets. I ask his advice and let him father my children and teach my students. He doesn’t have all the answers and is often confounded by the simplest emotions, but he tries hard and seems to live life with an enthusiasm I sometimes find embarrassing. He is gaining confidence and is finding his voice, but he still likes to be told he is special. He likes it when people read his words and agree or disagree, he doesn’t care as long as he is heard. He likes it when people listen to his music or admire his photos. He likes it when people enter his head and look out through his eyes, because when they….. you, are in here it doesn’t feel so alone. And really do we need art for anything more than passageways into each others souls?
Don’t get me wrong! I will do this, everything I do, because I have no choice. The voice inside my head simply needs escape; it has for as long as I can remember, but I am not embarrassed to admit that I like to be recognized, I need to be heard, I want to be loved. I want to blow up my ego to the point of not needing it anymore, but in the meantime an award saying that people value the randomness of my spirit and that it is relevant to them, or that my words have meaning in some small way in this vast lonely universe will be just fine.
I have so many more stories to share about this topic, but I will save them for the book. There has been much talk about awards, and pandering, and ego and validation, and….and….and….At the end of the day, all this award will prove is that I have the loudest echo in the chamber, or wait:
Will it somehow prove that a lone voice, different than all the rest, a voice of honest raw practicality, the voice of a true artist, a sage, a shaman if you will, has entered the conversation…..That must be my out of control ego again. Quick, let him hit publish and see how many retweets he gets, how many comments, how many votes he garners from this ploy. Wait he? Is that the little boy, my ego, is he me? Told you this is complicated
Talk amongst yourselves, we’ll be out on the stoop admiring the tree in front of the house. It brings us peace and quiets the noise in our head a few seconds every night.
This post is dedicated to the memory of Elliot Smith.
I recently had a great experience skyping into a grade three class at @gcouros’s school in Canada to answer a few questions about Islam. You can read about the logistics on George’s blog. I wanted to share my thoughts on the event here.
After speaking with the class around eleven PM last night, this morning I woke up to the following email from the classroom teacher, and rather than send my response to her in private, in the spirit of openness and sharing I have decided to post it here. My response comes after her email, which you can read below:
Hi Jabiz,
I just wanted to thank you again personally for Skyping with our class this morning. It was a very powerful experience and they learned a lot about the Muslim culture, country of Indonesia, and an important celebration of Ramadan and Eid-El-Fitr. I realize there is a big time difference between us and I really appreciate you connecting with us late on a Friday night. It was a very authentic and powerful experience for our students, as well as for me as a teacher. We have now used a thumbtack on our world map to indicate where you are and remember the connection we have with you, both through your commenting on our blog post, as well as Skype conversation!
George is sharing his passion with us and is teaching us how technology is a great medium in connecting with others. As I have just returned to school after a leave, I was quite apprehensive about the technology of our Smart Boards, new classroom blogs, etc. This truly has proven what can be done and the connections that can be made around the world. It is amazing and I am so proud and excited to be a part of it. Again, thank you.
Let me start by saying it really is my pleasure and I enjoy doing it. I was home, sadly to say wasn’t doing much else, and really had a great time doing it. It’s funny, once you open yourself up to these opportunities the more you will find will come your way. I have Skyped into classes all over the world from grade three to university courses, and each time it is different, but just as exciting. I am not sure why students get so excited by having someone else come into their classrooms, but we should take advantage of this enthusiasm and open our classrooms up to as many people as we can, people who can bring fresh insights and different perspectives. I am by no means an expert on anything really, but I feel that I have a voice and that my ideas are valuable. I see my world view as unique and feel that sharing it with others can bring value not only to them, but for me as well. This sense of appreciation for one’s own voice is at the heart of blogging and online life. This is what I hope to foster in my students. It is something to discuss with your kids as well. What are they experts in? How could they share their knowledge with others? I hope they can see that someday, I will need them to help and teach me and my kids. They are teachers and we are learners too.
I understand how one can be apprehensive and doubt the value of all this openness and sharing. But as I am sure you have sensed from George, this is just what we do. There is a new class of teacher, and we have knocked down the walls of classrooms down and are looking for any opportunity to teach and learn from as many people as we can. We are interconnected. We share knowledge, information, and resources fluidly and easily. We meet in person, we skype into classrooms. A class across the world has some questions about (insert topic) and we feel we have something to say we make the connections. This technology and these connections need not always be more complicated than that, as you have just seen from our Skype call. I hope this experience has shown you how easy it can be to join us. Just value your voice and build the connections. You are lucky to have such a passionate and connected administrator. Often times it is teachers who are pulling a school forward, but you have an administration who is there to help you. Take advantage. Your kids will thank you for it.
The next step of course is to connect students with students, but this often takes more time and planning, but once you are open to the idea of a classroom that shares their ideas with the world through blogs and Skype, the opportunities become easier and easier to find. Remind the kids that if they ever have any questions about Indonesia, they now have a person they know here that can help them out. We have some great podcasts for them to listen to and we would love comments as well. Good luck and stay in touch.
