Another school activity that worked really well!

[MisterLove]

As you all know, I'm a high school teacher and I'm always looking for new activities to keep my students (ages 16 - 19) motivated.

It's not easy! Those kids come from the local slums and they're the toughest students you can possibly imagine.

I've already told about my Android tablets (class saviors, I bought eight of them and I don't regret it at all, it was a great investment) and yesterday we did some creative writing. They watched seven movie clips (I used Nero Multimedia to make the DVD with the videos) and wrote a conclusion to those scenes.

Chosen movies were: The Ugly Truth, Prometheus, A History of Violence, Goldfinger, Hellraiser 1 (no gore, just the protagonist walking down a shadowy corridor), Mr Bean goes to school (always a favorite among these kids) and Warm Bodies.

They're mostly girls, so I was pretty sure they were going to love Warm Bodies and The Ugly Truth and they did!

The 90 minutes flew by, they practiced their writing skills and I was proud!

[Dreamer]

Ummmm....
Good for you and your students...?

That's great
mile:

[Eros]

O: I need you at my school!!!

[southbiochem]

Wow.....

you have DEDICATION written all over you.

I can't say I have met a single teacher who bought stuff like that just for the sake of teaching..

:eek:

many congratulations on your dedication to your students, sir

[MisterTinkles]

I would say America.........uh, excuse me.........The United States needs teachers like you, but they would just shit all over you, pay you badly, and the parents and school board would blame you for all their problems.

So, you are perfect where you are at.

[MisterTinkles]

Here is a future class project, for your consideration.

It involves teamwork, imagination, and determination.

Since you have Ipads, why not make a "statement" video that will be allowed to post on Youtube.
(make sure the school administration approves of this)

Here are the "rules":

*The theme or "story" has to be voted on by the entire class (using ballots, so nobody gets singled out for how they voted).
*The video has to be "clean"...no gore, bad language, or acts of illegal natures.
*The video has to be a specific length....usually 3-5 minutes.
*The video has to be done using a class democratic method, with you being the "tie breaker".
*The video has to be edited and produced with what available resources you have for the Ipads.


Everybody gets a job to do for the project:

Writing the story.
Acting the parts (if you have actors).
Narration of the story.
Lights and sound.
Cameraman.
Location Wrangler (good places to shoot).
Costume designer/maker (if needed).
Background designer (if needed).
Researcher (for anything historical, legal, etc...)

This is something that could be done as an extra-curricular activity, or as a complete semester project.


The goals:

To show how teamwork can be a very constructive thing.
To show that in a creation of something "big", everybody's part in it is very important.
To help students think "outside the box".
To help students realize there is more to life than just perceiving yourself as what you are.
To show others, just because you live in a "slum", doesn't mean you cant do great things.

AND

If it is put on Youtube, the students will have a history in video format, of them working together to create something they all had a voice in. And something to show their family, and for their own kids in the future.

Just a suggestion.

[partis]

Any teacher that includes mr bean is doing good job

[MisterTinkles]

Any teacher that includes mr bean is doing good job