Video Challenge Finalist and Results

What do you do when your learners' work is too amazing to keep locked away on your classroom computers? You host a film festival, of course. This was my sixth year to host a district-wide video competition for middle school multimedia learners. It is always an exciting time for us, as we share our video challenge finalist with other schools in the district and a panel of guest and celebrity judges.

Without further ado, congratulations to our first place winners:

Music Video: North (Video 3) Marina Serdyuk's "Come Back to Me" by Tyler W.
Public Service Announcement: North (Video 1) "Teen Stress"
Silent Film West (Video 2) "Getting Closer" by Ernest L., Sameer I., and Aaron B.
Short Film West (Video 1) "A Different Corner" by Natalie A.
Stop Motion Animation West (Video 3) "Monster Under the Bed" by Carly D.

Enjoy all of the finalist videos below:

Thank you so much to everyone who participated and made this event possible. Yes, competition is fun, but we get so much more out of this event than just fun. Thanks to all of you, we get to experience

• Professional feedback
• An authentic audience
• Increased learner engagement
• Evaluation and reflection of course lesson design
• Opportunity to share our work and tell stories outside the walls of our classroom
• Recognition of our work and unique program from others outside of our own schools

To see even more great submissions that didn't make it to the finals, keep an eye out for a blog post later in the month. 

Which Challenge finalist was your favorite? Comment below.

Room 319 Happenings Feb.-April 2017

If you could turn your teacher into an alien without getting into trouble, would you? Well, that is exactly what we did in Multimedia this marking period through the magic of photo editing. Taking a short break from video, learners used the editing software tool Adobe Photoshop to edit images.  They learned about selection tools, quick-masking, compositing, and photo retouching. This lesson is always a favorite as learners easily see connections and how these skills can be apply to their own personal photography.

Another leaner experience this marking period was the creation of informational podcasts. I am always surprised at the number of learners who do not know what a podcast is or take advantage of this resource on their iPads.  Learners were given time to explore the wealth of audio blogging material available to them and a chance to create their own episode using the Opinion App. They covered a huge variety of topics including; history, self-improvement, sports, video games, movies, and art. Listen to Emily and Sadie's here.

Want to use the Opinion App for audio blogging in your class? Check out these tutorials: Quick 15 sec. video overview       Detailed tutorial

Every good videographer knows that understanding his equipment is important to the success of his project. Learners researched the operating procedures, functions, and features of our equipment. They then created product review/tutorial videos to share their learning with others. Check out Kiara and Raquel's tutorial here.

Even with all of this going on, we continued to produce our entertaining and informative WESTV broadcasts.  Enjoy show 4 and 5 below:

Now it is time to put all of the skills we have learned this year to the test through a district-wide video competition. Middle school learners from the entire district are gearing up to create some creative and entertaining entries for this year’s submissions. The categories will be music video, silent film, public service announcement, short film, and stop motion animation.  Subscribe to this blog, so you don’t miss the showcase video.

Can you guess this educator? Comment below.

Comment with your guess below.

Call for Film Festival Judges

We are looking for volunteer film industry professionals to judge our district wide video challenge. Learners from all Coppell Middle Schools are gearing up to create some creative and entertaining entries for this year’s submissions. The categories will be music video, silent film, public service announcement, short film, and stop motion animation.

Our showcase will be April 27th. The one hour long video showings will take place promptly at 7:40 am, 8:35 am, 9:35 pm, 12:30 pm, and 1:30 pm.  The judging is simple – you just have to select the video you think is the best for each category. Plus, we will provide popcorn! Interested film industry professionals that would like to judge for us and enjoy some fabulously entertaining videos, will only need to attend ONE of the five sessions listed above.

Film industry professionals interested in supporting future film makers and providing authentic feedback for their learning should email Mrs. Champagne at mchampagne@coppellisd.com.

Teacher Tech Tools in Under Two Minutes: Google Expeditions

Want to move your lesson to the redefinition level of the SAMR model? Try taking your learners on field trips to places that once seemed impossible.  I took my class to Lebanon this week thanks to the Google Expeditions app.  In virtual reality, we explored the home, school, and work environments of Syrian refugee children now living and working in Lebanon. The "Out of Syria, Back into School" expedition served as a perfect guiding activity for our current CBL project that is focusing on child labor and the Syrian refugee crisis.  I knew this expedition would help my learners connect to children living much different lives than them, but what surprised me was how much we learned about each other on the tour. The app provides the educator a script to lead participants through the journey with discussion questions that help connect learners to what they are seeing. We learned that we have first generation Americans in our class and students shared personal stories of friends and family members that can not go to school because they have to work.

The app has a robust library of expeditions. You can find something for every content area.  I'm really looking forward to leading my iExplore learners through the Career Expedition series.

To see a short (under two minutes) tutorial on how to use the Google Expeditions app, check out my video below.

See entire lesson plan here.

What is your favorite Google Expedition? Leave a comment below.

A Brief CBL Update

by Kaitlin T. and Carly D.

As many of you know, the sixth graders are hosting a movie and dance night to raise funds for UNICEF. The movies that will be shown are Sing, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Home Alone. There will be a raffle and simulations relating to the kids in Syria. The sixth graders are putting a lot of work into this event. Come support them and join the fun on March 31st.

Meanwhile, learners have been reflecting on why they believe the CBL: Impact project is important. After watching a Ted Talk video concerning Syrian refugees, students were challenged with explaining how they are connecting to the project. Sixth graders created an Impact wall to share their thoughts.

While Media learners created video reflections. See below.

Leave a comment to tell us how this project has IMPACTED you.

Teacher Tech Tools in Under Two Minutes #4-Classlink

Have you heard about Classlink yet? This is a “single sign-on” app that allows you to use one username and password to access everything you need. We have a wealth of technology tools available to us in this district. Using classlink can make navigating those tools simpler for  educators, learners, and parents. Watch this short video to learn more.

A Closer Look at CBL

Written by Kaitlin Tan

In our last blog post we introduced the learning design model, Challenged Based Learning. For those of you who need a basic introduction to CBL, it is a structured project that lets the learners decide what they want to learn. First, a big idea is proposed. Then, learners create a challenge and guiding questions to help them complete that challenge. After using guiding activities to answer those questions, they then suggest solutions.

Our Media B class is documenting the CBL project our Math classes are currently tackling. Their big idea is “Impact”. They have challenged themselves to make a global impact by bringing awareness and aid to the Syrian refugee crisis and child labor. On March 31st, the entire sixth grade, is hosting a dance. There will be a movie shown for all learners right after school, followed by a dance from 5:30-7:30. All proceeds will go to Unicef.

This impact CBL will take place throughout the rest of the school year. An ongoing documentary about the process is being made by Media B students. Keep a lookout for more news on this impactful CBL.