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.