The Passion Project: A CBL Reflection Part 1

The Passion Project: A CBL Reflection Part 1

By Monica Champagne

“Definition of passion: a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something”-Merriam-Webster. Isn’t that how every teacher wants their learners to feel when they walk in the classroom?

The concept goes by many names, Passion Project, Independent Study, or Genius Hour and I’ve used them all. This year, I added a new title to our Passion project, Challenge-Based Learning. I must say, when this new initiative was proposed to our staff this year, it took me a while to wrap my brain around the idea. However, I love a good challenge and trying new things in my classes in hopes to inspire greatness in my learners.

Our Passion Project assignment has looked different from year to year and subject to subject, but never have I left it as open-ended and learner-led as it will be this year. I simply proposed the Big Idea of “Passion” to my learners and really have no preconceived expectations of where they will take it from there. Let me tell you, as an educator, that can be a scary place to be. Randy Pausch said it best,  “You obviously don't know where the bar should be, and you're only going to do a disservice by putting it anywhere”. With his motivation leading the charge, so begins our adventure. You can view the lesson here. This lesson is a collaboration of many CISD educators including Sunny Richardson, Blended Learning Specialist and Science Instructional Coach, Nicky Fryman, Teen Leadership, and iExplore educators, Katrina Messer, Kim Goodman, and Lisa Pehl.

At this point, we are only about half way through with this year-long exploration journey. Keep following to see how this lesson evolves and learner solutions to the challenge they created.

In what ways has Genius Hour encouraged creativity in your classroom? Leave a comment below.

Teacher Tech Tools in Under Two Minutes #2

Making Your Updates Stand Out in Schoology

Written by: Monica Champagne

Just as I have learned so much from my colleagues, I am often asked technology questions that I can answer in just a few minutes to make life easier for other educators.  This week's Teacher Tech Tools in Under Two Minutes shows you how to make your updates stand out by pinning them to the top of your learners windows.

Here is Teacher Tech Tools in Under Two Minutes Lesson #2-  Fun Schoology Announcement Features

Teacher Tech Tools in Under Two Minutes #1

Creating Grading Groups in Schoology to Differentiate Learning
Written by Monica Champagne

I know it can sometimes be hard to find time to participate in PD, even as much as educators love learning. However, I have learned as much from collaborating with my colleagues over the years as I have from formal professional development sessions. The quote above really hit home for me and has inspired me to give back to others during this holiday season. This post is dedicated to my weekly teacher tech tips video series. Each of these videos will teach you something new to use with your classes in less than two minutes! My first series will highlight some of the lesser known Schoology gems.

Here is Teacher Tech Tools in Under Two Minutes Lesson #1- Creating Grading Groups in Schoology to Differentiate Learning.

Room 319 Happenings Oct. - Nov. 2016

Hitting the Ground Running
Written by Natalie Adams

A famous quote by Calvin Coolidge reads, “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.” This marking period, both Media A and B have progressed amazingly in preparation for our first show of WESTV.

This year, our school administration has introduced “challenge-based learning,” essentially allowing students to create assignments and lessons for themselves. When first proposed with this idea, many students (including myself) were confused as to how CBL could be incorporated into a Multimedia class without changing our curriculum completely; but after much discussion, we came to a conclusion: we can academically challenge ourselves and weave CBL into our segments by having themed shows.

The first themed show of the year, cooperation, has already been put into action. Media A kids have mastered the art of script writing, storyboarding, and complex Adobe Premiere Pro skills, like using green screens, cut-aways, and lower thirds. Media B has been hard at work at creating their segments, whilst also completing their Take Care of Texas contest submissions (which were finally mailed last week!). Although Media B has grown used to the WESTV process, we are continuing to grow and improve it, as we grow and improve as people and multimedia students.
Our first show will be aired on November 30th, and attached to the next blog post. Stay tuned to find out more about what the Media kids are up to!

Watch Take Care of Texas Videos Below:

Room 319 Happenings Aug.-Sept. 2016

How Do You Learn Multimedia?

Written by Natalie Adams

A question wondered by many, but an answer only few will discover. This year, the 138 learners enrolled in Media A will come to experience the joys (and hardships!) of CMSW’s multimedia program. From assembling clips to searching the web for sound effects, these kids are going to learn everything they need to know to prepare themselves for Media B.

Starting off, Media A has been studying the different types of shots and angles that are used every day in the multimedia world. Instead of completing a worksheet, Media A was faced with a different challenge: create a video demonstrating every single shot and angle that they had learned. Along with applying their newly learned script writing and story boarding skills, this assignment has been a great way to expose these kids to the inner workings of media and WESTV, two things they will become extremely accustomed with by the end of this year. See Emily's project below.

On the other hand, our hard-working, nine-person team known as Media B has been leading the charge by creating procedures videos for Media A to demonstrate the proper guidelines of our classroom, and setting the “stage” for a successful year and program design for WESTV. View their videos below:

Our biggest project this six weeks has been the overall layout of our show, and the approach we are going to take this year. We have been gifted with a handful of great actors, animators, camera people, and editors, which has been a huge help when it comes to creating our new intro.

Media B WESTV Leaders

In conclusion, although it has only been six weeks, our media kids are hitting the ground running, expanding their knowledge in multimedia and working towards improving and preparing for our upcoming shows. Armed with high-quality technology and software, along with an amazing teacher, we’re going to prove that West truly is the best.

Room 319 Happenings Jan. -Mar 2016

Second semester always poses new challenges for the WESTV staff. Many learners often start to experience the idea road block in their segment planning path.  Like any good journalist, we are always asking ourselves questions like, "What do our viewers want to see?", "What stories should we tell?", and "How can we get more leads?" Well, I would like to use this blog an an avenue for leads.  Feel free to comment below with your story ideas.  Do you know something interesting going on in our community? Is there a learner at our school doing something amazing that we should be shouting about from the roof tops? Do you know about any upcoming school events we should be advertising? If so, leave us a comment.

One place we find inspiration and motivation is through the district's high school news program KCBY. In January, all eighth grade Media learners went to the high school for an inside look at the program and studio.

New Tech's NT Fuze also provided mentors by sending one of their seniors and former WESTV staffer, Jeremy C. to our Media classes. He spent all day with us and visited with each learner about their Challenge projects.  He was full of great advice and my learners experienced many "Ah ha" moments that day.

Media B learner's and all CMSW 7th graders experienced a first hand account of seeing Multimedia professionals at work during a field trip to Gemmy Industries. Seeing ways to apply their love of art and video to a career generated great enthusiasm for many of the Media learners. Check out this video to learn more about the trip.

We felt so blessed to have so many mentors investing in our learning that we decided to pass down some of the love and partner with Mrs. Donohue's sixth grade social studies learners. We helped them complete a video perspective project on the Industrial Revolution.  See some of the finished projects here.

Next, we dove into the world of animation.  Check out this Stop Motion Padlet to see the assignment and learner's creations.

Another highlight of the semester was receiving brand new Canon Vixia cameras for our program. Learners created tutorial/review videos of their new camcorder. Click to view.

...And of course, all along the way, we continued to produce our show.  Here is the link to WESTV in case you missed a show or two.

The last three months have been a great Multimedia learning journey. Wish us luck as we move into the CISD Video Challenge experience! Details to come.