Wednesday, December 12, 2012

And cut...

We wrapped up our PBL (Project Based Learning) video project today. And, to make matters worse, I was out of my classes today for a meeting.  After school, I returned to my room to find a room full of students who were finishing up on their projects. (I had offered them time to work in my room after school.) I am sure that I will be met with some excuses tomorrow, which is to be expected any time that a project is due. (At least this time, I won't have to hear about how every one's printer ran out of ink.)  This was such a bigger undertaking than I imagined it would be.  I have learned so much a long the way, but the results are amazing.  My students have become masters at circumlocution.  And while I know that grammar won't be perfect, I know that these guys have made some amazing memories and that they are very proud of the work that they have done.

Some things that I have learned:
1. Make them record their audio while getting the video.  It was so much more work for them to record narration over their videos.  We used Windows Live Movie Maker with flip cams or cell phones.  Some kids shot 25 or more video clips.  That's crazy!  They, then, had to edit all of that, then record over it.

2. Plan for a little more time for script writing.  I don't think that I stressed to them that they needed to be writing sentences that used the vocabulary.  While I think that they have done just fine, it would have alleviated some stress if I would have had them do a structured "rough draft".  However, does that work against the idea of PBL?

3. Encourage the use of students' devices.  I noticed that the groups who split up and used their phones to get video, were able to finish faster.  Bring Your Own Device has been so helpful with this project.  Students were able to use their phones for research, but also for audio and video.  As one student was putting video together in Movie Maker other group members were able to record audio clips with their phones.  Then, they could email the clips and put them into the project.  There are apps that allow the students to record the audio in a Movie Maker friendly format, or we would convert them.  When groups monopolized on all the technology that they had at hand, they were quickly successful.

4. Take a deep breath.  As always with technology, files get lost or computers won't load.  Some students aren't comfortable with technology and I have to be encouraging.  However, I found that I just had to take it in stride, smile and help.  When a student said, "I hate computers," I just had to keep going.  We all get frustrated from time to time, but that doesn't justify ignoring the potential that technology offers us.

I will be watching the videos in the next few days, and we will be posting them to Edmodo for our friends in France to watch.  I can't wait to see their comments.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Rewards!


This year, I have been struggling to motivate my level 1 students to do...anything outside of class.  They are great kids, but there are a few who are not the most dedicated of students.  After entering grades, I was saddened to see the number of students who had fallen below the D or F line.  We only had a few weeks before final exams, so I took drastic measures.  I had the students write a note to their parents telling them what their current grade was, what they had or had not been doing to earn that grade, what grade they would like to acheive and, finally, what measures they were going to take to get to that grade.  The students had two days to return the note to me signed by their parents.  Those who did not return a note...we called Mom and Dad, right there in class.  I was pleased to see that only a small handful of students didn't bring the note in, so I did not have to make very many phone calls.  And, those parents whom we called, they signed that note and sent it back the next day.  Out of all of my level 1 students, only one student didn't bring in that note.

That was two weeks ago.  After "the note", several students have really been working hard to improve.  I wanted my students to know that I have noticed their improved effort.  So, I made up little Grade Improvement Certificates. We applauded for each and every student who made any sort of improvement from .01% to 4% (That was my biggest improvement.) My "biggest jumpers" got a little extra reward. I made sure that I acknowledged the improved effort of each of these kids. It is sometimes hard to tell with high school kids, but some of those who rarely smile might have snuck in a little smirk today.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Thank Heaven for the Cloud

The filming is underway for our video project.  Since students are working in groups, they are all in different places of our "School Video" project.  There is such a learning curve with this project. Although I have offered the use of our FlipCams, many students are getting footage of our building with the Smart Phones.  I love that!  However, there has been the issue of how to get the video from the phone to the computer.  The best solution to the problem is one of my all time favorite apps: Dropbox.  The steps are simple, the students need to set up a Dropbox account. (I send them an invite through my account, so that I can get more space on my account.)  Then, on their phone, they download the app.  After they record their footage with their phone, they upload it to their Dropbox account.  When they are ready to put the video into the editing software (we are using Movie Maker), they download it to their computer from Dropbox.  This has worked wonderfully.  They are in groups of 4, so they tend to split up to get the footage.  It is taking them half the time to get all of the footage they need because two different people can record at the same time. I am also noticing that they are recording footage outside of the class period with their phones.  I've seen Band Concerts, Swim Meets and I know that more is to come.

They are continuing to converse with their new French friends via Edmodo.  They are asking questions and almost immediately getting answers.  They are learning so much about the French school experience...so much more than our textbook can give them.  Hats off to Edmodo!!!

In French 1, I did something different to review numbers today.  It was challenging, but it worked great.  It reminded me of how French 1 students are so much like Kindergartners.  I gave students a chart, which I got years ago from a French a book, that had numbered boxes from 1-300.   Before the lesson I had mapped out a picture made by coloring in the boxes. (It was just a smiley face).  Then, I typed up the numbers that would be colored in and cut them apart.  I gave each student at least one number, many of them had more, and they had to figure out how to say that number in French and say it to the class.  Everyone colored the numbers as they heard them.  Since most of the numbers were big numbers, it proved to be very challenging for them.  It was great listening practice, as well as practice for pronunciation.  It took about 15 minutes of class time.  There are lots of different ways to review numbers, but I think this one might be my new favorite.


Thursday, December 6, 2012

The Best Quote Ever

The last thing I heard today from a student was, "Thanks, Mme B, for making us do the best project ever!"

That made me smile!

Today the students finished up on their flipped lesson and I actually got a chance to watch a couple of them.  Wow!  These guys understand way more than I realized.  I was sitting at my computer, in an empty classroom, clapping.  That is how impressed I am with these video lessons.  They were so cute.  So many of the kids came in and immediately asked, "Did you watch our video?"  I felt so bad because I hadn't had a chance.  They turned out better than I even imagined that they would.  I plan to pick my top 5 and give out awards for my favs.  I think it is going to be a tough decision.

In other news, I had a parade of building and district administrators, and a State Representative come in today during Walk-Throughs.  It was a very nerving experience.  At the time of their visit we were writing the summary, together as a class, on the video lesson that was due today.  When we have video notes due, the students write the information in a large box on Cornell Style Notes.  In class, after we take our Notes Quiz, we,  with partners or together, write a 5 sentence summary about the information covered in the notes.  Today's topic: Stem Changing -er verbs (AKA-Snoopy Verbs).  It's a difficult topic to summarize in 5 sentences.  And wouldn't you know it, the first sentence, "Your chart is Poopy if you don't draw Snoopy."--I think you have to know French to understand what I mean by that, but I am not sure how much our admin enjoyed our summary.  I had a great review game planned for the remainder of the period, but, of course, they didn't stay for that part.  No one ever gets to see the stuff that I work really hard to prepare.  It is always that way.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

PBL Update

Today was day 5 of our PBL unit.  Today's main objective was for each group to create a flipped video lesson on one of the grammar concepts in the unit.  The concept that I chose was the past tense with object pronouns.  Prior to coming in to class, students were supposed to have researched, either with the textbook or the internet, the rules on the concept.  They were supposed to come in with Cornell Style notes completed on the topic.  I was so impressed because 100% of my students came in with the notes completed! (Huge Victory!!)  We spent the first 5 minutes of class taking a Notes Quiz in the same style that we do when a video lesson is due.  After they took the quiz, we discussed the answers.  That way, they could ask questions or I could clarify the grammar rules before they started on their lesson.  After that, they were on their way to video amazingness.  I was so impressed with what they created.  Some students used an empty classroom next door to project a Power Point, and taught through the slides.  Some groups did voice overs using SMART notebook software.  Some students taught using the white board, and some students used the small personal white boards and taught with those.  I haven't had a chance to watch all of them, and some groups still need to finish up tomorrow, but I was impressed with the creativity.  And, the conversations that I overheard were great.  To hear students engrossed in grammar rules is awesome.

On another note, our PD this year is to create a "BA" Unit that incorporates all of the Cs of Common Core.  I am planning on using my PBL for my unit.  While in our PD today, after school, I got the brilliant idea to submit my unit through a Wiki.  I have never created one before, but I have always wanted to do so.  I will continue to update it throughout the year.  I'll post that link when the time is right.

Tomorrow, French 1 has their last video lesson on the semester due.  Right now as I am blogging, they are hopefully watching the video. (I just checked Google Analytics and there was only 1 person on my site.)  I am hoping for an 85% average on this one.  (That is a little high...these kiddos aren't as motivated as my level 2 kiddos.)  I tweeted out a reminder, so we will see.  Tomorrow, we are going to play a review game using Todaysmeet.com.  I will let you know how that goes.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Here I go...

Lately, I have been finding these amazing blogs that people have been continuously updating.  I find myself enlightened by the thoughts that people share.  I thought, hey,  I have good ideas.  Maybe someone would like to read my great ideas.  I have three little kids and not a lot of time, but I would like to attempt to jot down the thoughts that I have for the classroom.  I wish I would have started last year, when I started to Flip  my classroom, but there is no better time than NOW!

Here is what is going on in my classroom at this point in time.

In French 2, we started a GIGANTIC PBL Unit (Project Based Learning).  I had been dwelling over the 4Cs of Common Core and I really wanted to have my students CREATE and COMMUNICATE with native French speakers in mind.  Last week, I handed my students a packet that consisted of a list of the objectives that they needed to know by the end of the "unit", as well as a list of three things that they needed to create.  They will need to create a practice activity for fellow classmates that involved the two verbs that I wanted them to learn, they need to create a video lesson that teaches how to use object pronouns in the past tense, and (the best of all) they will need to create a video that shows our school. They are learning vocabulary that has to do with school, so they will create a video to show French students what a typical American high school is like.  Their BIG question...What is the difference between a French high school and an American high school.  Their task...research and create.

The most exciting part of this... we have partnered with a class in Lille, France.  My students are communicating with these students to find out information about the French high school experience in order to compare it to their own.

Today is day 4 of the project and my kids are so excited about the opportunity to speak with the French students.  It is so exciting to see their excitement in class.  Yesterday, when they were posting on Edmodo and reading what the French kids had to say, they were giddy with enthusiasm.  It is so cool.

I will continue to post as we journey through the PBL.  It is so fun!