I previously vented my frustrations about the losing so much time to preventable problems while doing my first video project, though despite these issues I decided to give it another go. I feel the project design is pretty strong, so I didn't want to just scrap it because of some technical issues. After today's "Grand Premiere" of student videos, I'm very glad I didn't give up on it.
Why did it go so much better this time around?
I'm not entirely sure, but I'm going to suggest it was mainly due to two factors:
- I was better able to anticipate where we'd run into problems. Last semester I was blind-sided several times leading to lots of scrambling and inefficiency. We ran into similar problems this time, but I already had a protocol in place for how to deal with these issues1.
- I had exemplars. I could point to some well-made videos from last semester to illustrate my expectations. More than anything, I was impressed by the overall increase of video quality this semester.
The Grand Premiere
I haven't always done a great job at championing my students' work. One thing I admire about Christian Long is how frequently he tells his students how awesome they are. (especially visible during the Alice Project & the 1984 project). I'm generally proud of my students, but I felt I needed to celebrate their work in a more special and obvious way.
Today I popped 12 bags of microwave popcorn during my prep and stitched together their finished video projects complete with introductory fanfare, the THX sound, an opening red curtain, and a fun intermission song. We spent about half the class simply watching each others' videos2.
The videos
Enough of me. More of them. Here are every one of my 2nd block's video projects. Feel free to leave comments on this post or on the the YouTube video pages. I'll be sure to share your comments (both praises & critiques) with my students.
(Update: This post has received a lot of attention by people doing Comments 4 Kids. While I'm grateful for that, unfortunately the kids really don't read this blog. My suggestion would be to leave comments on each video's YouTube page. That way the students are much more likely to see your comments. Thanks!)
Alkali Metals:
Alkaline-Earth Metals:
Transition Metals:
Metalloids & Semi-Conductors in Plain English:
Halogens:
Noble Gases:
________
- For a more detailed explanation, see my guest post over at the Free Tech 4 Teachers site. [↩]
- We later did, and are still doing, some self- and peer-assessments. [↩]
Overall fantastic job! I was very impressed with the creativity in each video. Having done similar video projects with my students (social studies documentaries http://folio.stonington.org/stand/) in the past I can appreciate how difficult it is to pull everything together and get it published on time. I especially enjoyed the fact that no two videos were alike. It is extraordinarily difficult to not subconsciously do something similar to what your classmates are doing when it comes to an open ended project such as this. Hope to see more in the future.
Nice! I found the Plain English video strangely hypnotic...
Metalloids & Semi-Conductors in Plain English:
I found this video very informing. I like the unique way of presenting 5 of the 7 metalloids. I learned something new today after watching this video, like we have poison in our body, WOW. Great video, and good job.
.-= David Mathis´s last blog ..Future Teachers Questionnaire Results! =-.
What an informative video! I agree with David Mathis, I did learn several new things after watching this video.
Nice Work!
.-= Tracy Alms´s last blog ..Comments4Kids =-.
Hi,
I am in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I watched the Halogens video. I thought you all did a fantastic job creating your video. I recently made a video for our class, and I had so much fun making it. I thought the sock puppets were a creative idea, and the video was very informative. I greatly enjoyed it.
Thanks,
Jamie Lynn Miller
.-= Jamie Lynn Miller´s last blog .. =-.
Transition Metals was an incredible clip! You all did a wonderful job on making the clay figures and telling about the different types of metals.
Hi! I'm in the EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. These are very creative videos! I watched the one about halogens. Who would have thought you could learn so much from sock puppets?! You guys seem like you're having fun with learning and that's what it's all about! Keep up the good work! 🙂
.-= Bliss Beasley´s last blog ..Homework March 7, 2010 =-.
I love the face on the banana! Oh and there's a cute montage at the end!
I couldn't hear anyone in the second video. :< It looks funny though.
Oh amazing! Stop frame animation! That takes a lot of work! Great job on that one! Lol, Iron's pet octopus.
Metalloids in plain English was a nice change from those large scientific words.
Haha sock puppets! It would be nice if they had some eyes drawn on them. 🙂
Glow sticks, I don't think I've ever seen a movie with those, very nice.
All of these videos were very creative! A great way to change up science class.
.-= Kayla´s last blog ..March 7 Assignments =-.
I am a student at the University of South Alabama, and I really enjoyed the video on alkali metals. I liked the props used that had the metal in it. Way a great way to learn.
Thank
Hi my name is Cuong Do. I watched the Alkali video for Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama.
Well... That was interesting. The voices lacked enthusiasm, however, they seemed to do what they were aiming to do. They wanted to inform and teach people about Alkali Metals. So well done on that, but work on selling it. Make it more exciting so that more people will be willing to watch it.
My name is Christie Odom, and I am in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at USA. I absolutely love the creativity in all of your videos. I specifically had to watch your noble gases video, which I found to be very informative. You all managed to find unique ways to show the noble gases and their abundance. I also love that you gave them specific names (Like Queen Helium). It really made things interesting and easy to remember. Great job!
.-= Christie Odom´s last blog ..Following the Blog of Dianna Krause- =-.
Good evening, I really enjoyed watching you guy’s video. I am a student at the university of South Alabama I am studying to be a history teacher. I really thought the video was unique and original. I love the faces you painted on the item and they were cute! I love the way you all showed your creative side. Great job on the videos! Keep up the good wok on all future endeavors.
My name is Ashley Johnson, and I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I love the creativity in all of your videos. Metalloids & Semi-Conductors in Plain English was a very informative video. I know know that we have poison in our body. That is something that I did not know. I think that these videos were great! Keep up the good work!
Hi, my name is Nichole Hassell and I am also in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. All of these videos are great and I loved how the Alkaline-Earth metals video was made like MTV cribs. However, it was kind of hard to hear but I enjoyed it anyway. Keep making science easy for us who struggle!
Hi my name is Anna, and I'm in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed the Alkali Metals video, it was very informative. I feel like the clarity of the speakers could have turned out a little better if the sound of the video had been muted, then the speakers added their audio on top of the video. This was a technique I first learned when I was in a video production class back in high school. By muting the sound on the video then recording over it, sounds that were unwanted such as crackling and background noise was taken out. I really liked the creativity used in the character building of potassium, sodium, and lithium. I learned some things about these elements that I didn't already know, and will enjoy watching your other students' videos too. Please feel free to check out my blog at dumasannamarieedm310.blogspot.com.
Hi, my name is Melissa and I am also in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. The Metalloids & Semi-Conductors in Plain English video was very informative. I think that is a fun way to learn about different elements. Keep up the good work.
Hi, my name is Allison and I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 as well. I really enjoyed watching your Halogens video. The voices made it very intriguing and fun. It looked like you had a lot of fun making the video. It was very informative and a new and interesting way to learn about science.
Thank you for sharing!
Allison Kirby
Hi, my name is Erin Knowles and I am in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class as well. I was assigned to watch the video about Halogens. I thought this was a very clever way to portray this information. I like that the video kept my attention and I actually learned a lot about halogens! Thank you for sharing.
Erin Knowles
Hi! I'm also from Dr. Strange's EDM 310 Class. I was assigned to watch the video about transition metals! What a great way to review or teach transition metals. I think that any project that allows students to be creative and do something different is a great way to learn. I have been a student for a long time now and I think that I would really retain the information if I did a project like this project! Keep up the good work!!!
Amar, Bryn, and Judeah,
My name is Jillian LeRouge. I am studying to become an elementary teacher at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class and was assigned to watch your video on Noble Gasses. Whenever someone is trying to remember facts, like the Periodic Table, using something creative, like your story, is a great way to remember otherwise forgetful information. From your video, I learned some history behind the science. You did a great job incorporating science, history, creative writing, art, technology, and team work all in one project. Your facts made your video interesting and your creativity made it memorable. Great Job!
For the students that made the video "Noble Gases" you should be very proud of yourselves. I have never thought about categorizing our gases into a kingdom like you did. I am sure you learned a lot from this project and can help other students remember the information as well. Keep up the great work!
I'm quite impressed with the response these are getting from South Alabama! If I may, I'd like to make a couple suggestions on the comments from the U. of S. A.:
1. It appears one of the goal of your comments is to provide the students with feedback on their work (correct?). Unfortunately, pretty much none of my students read this blog, so unfortunately they're not getting to hear from all of you directly. A better method would be to visit the YouTube page for the individual videos and leave comments there. It's much more likely the students who made these videos will check that site compared to this blog.
2. In general the comments being left by members of the EDM 310 class are pretty "light": They're essentially saying, "Good job! You did good work!" What I find valuable in comments is not just the "Good job!" comments, but also the more critical observations. There are some really good videos, but there's at least one that really failed at providing the audience with an in-depth knowledge of their family of elements. It's okay to be critical- just be nice about it. I request my students when commenting on things to give more depth than just the superficial pats-on-the-back that typically occur when comments are being required of them- I'd like for you to model this approach for my students as well.
Thanks for all the comments!
Great work! Love what you're students have produced here. I just finished up a video production project with my Social Studies students - check it out at my blog - would love to hear your feedback!
Mark Cline Lucey´s last blog post ..Students as Producers of Media, Not Just Consumers
Its fantastic as your other content : D, thanks for putting up. "Reason is the substance of the universe. The design of the world is absolutely rational." by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
That was an awesome job. Congratulations guys. Am sure this would be inspiring for everyone
Awesome work! Your students have a lot of potential!
They took very good step for video making, I am glad that students use their imagination and use that in good way.
Sean Costello´s last blog post ..UNSW MOOC Promo
As far as I'm concerned, all of your students are excellent with great potential and you really did a good job.