Learning Final Cut Pro X at ASTE 2014 with an amazing teacher, Mr. Larry Jordan!

This is a 4-minute long "trailer" for a documentary film about the George Gilson Middle School in Valdez, Alaska.
At the 2014 ASTE conference, I spent a fast-paced 6.5 hours with Mr. Larry Jordan learning some of the tools and tricks for Final Cut Pro X.  I chose this class because I am helping two local filmmakers in Valdez (SEED Media) to edit the footage they captured with students in the spring of 2013.  I set this documentary film project in motion in February 2013 when I realized that we had an amazing opportunity to film this school (built in 1965) and interview key community members before the school was torn down in June, 2013.  I organized funding for this project ($10,000 from sources including the City of Valdez, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, Copper Valley Telecom, and private donors) and helped with the logistics of six full days of filming with a small team of middle school students and SEED media filmmakers Thomas Tapp and Jorge Arcinega.  Last May, I purchased my own copy of Final Cut Pro X so that I could learn how to edit and create video pieces at a higher quality than iMovie projects.

Last week, this project was highly ranked for an Alaska Humanities Forum grant, but it did not receive funding due to a high volume of quality applications for the AKHF grants.  I am now searching for funding for the final editing phase of this project so that we can complete the film and have a "red carpet premier" event when the new middle school opens in early September, 2014.  Using Final Cut Pro X and the lessons I learned from Mr. Larry Jordan, I am doing some preliminary editing work and "scrubbing" the footage to find the best segments and quotes for the final movie.  When I am stuck, I can always refer to Mr. Jordan's extensive online collection of video tutorials about Final Cut Pro X.  I hope that ASTE continues to bring Mr. Jordan to this annual conference so that other educators can overcome the "intimidation factor" about using Final Cut Pro X and use this powerful program to teach students how to create high quality films.

Reading about teaching and brain research...

I love to read.  This is something that my kindergarten students know very well, because I read an average of 6 books a day out loud (with plenty of expression) at the beginning, middle and end of our days together.  I talk with my kindergarten students about my favorite books and my love of reading.  I get very excited when they read their favorite books to me and to each other.
During spring break, I had some time for professional reading.  I read The Future of the Mind by Michio Kaku and The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley.  Now, I am thoroughly enjoying Mission Possible by Eva Moskowitz and Arin Lavinia about the Success Academy schools in New York.
The book includes a DVD with lessons taught by Success Academy teachers.   Here's a taste of the book's message:  "Rigor is a mind-set and an attitude about kids and their capacity to think and solve problems.  It's a belief system.  It's the conviction that we're harming kids if we don't treat them as smart and thoughtful.  Everyone agrees that it's easier for very young children to learn a new language.  Well, we think they can learn everything more deeply and faster than our country seems to give them credit for.  People commonly think rigor is simply about the curriculum.  That's important, but what matters even more are the adults and the power of their instruction--and how effectively the teacher works to make the students think.  Rigor is a core value of ours.  We think it is important.  We believe in it for its own sake.  We think it improves our community and the world around us."
Here are some key ideas from the two books I read during spring break...
Michio Kaku's book gives a historical overview of brain research and major insights about brain functioning from the last few decades.  Then, he travels into the future with chapters on "telekinesis", "telepathy" and the question of whether we can "download" our consciousness and memories in a digital form that can be preserved and replayed on computers.  I was especially interested in the research being done on depression and other forms of mental disorders, since I know a number of people who deal with "seasonal affective disorder" or another form of depression.  On page 208, Dr. Helen Mayberg explains, "Depression 1.0 was psychotherapy--people arguing about whose fault it was.  Depression 2.0 was the idea that it's a chemical imbalance.  This is Depression 3.0.  What has captured everyone's imagination is that, by dissecting a complex behavior disorder into its component systems, you have a new way of thinking about it."  The Future of the Mind book gave me a great foundation for understanding the research findings that we will be hearing about from the Obama administration's BRAIN project (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) and the European Union's Human Brain Project.
The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley is based on extensive research about school performance as measured by the "PISA" test (Programme for International Student Assessment) developed by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)   To write this book, Amanda Ripley documented the experiences of 3 American students who chose to study in highly ranked "top education outcome" countries:  Finland, South Korea and Poland.  This book is a great "big picture" look at the issues facing educational reform in the US.  The message here is the same as the Mission Possible book--invest in teacher education programs and make sure that only the best and brightest are hired to teach in our schools.  This is a challenging reform to pass in our country, because we have had relatively low standards for teacher preparation and hiring for so many years.  We need to find a way to move away from "salary incentives based on test results" and towards the creation of teaching programs that replicate the success of the best schools in our nation as well as the best schools in other countries.

"Bananza!" Simple ways that I use technology daily and weekly in kindergarten

"Bananza!" is what we say when we get a great idea in my class (thanks to the book Monkey Ono by J.C. Phillipps)  Every day, I love taking photos of my kindergarten students and their work in class.  I don't have parent permissions to publish individual student photos at this point, so I'll just stick with the photos of their work.
Here are the simple technology tools that I use on a daily and weekly basis to support learning in my kindergarten classroom:

• A digital camera allows me to celebrate the students' work and to catch their projects before they are taken apart to create new projects.  The camera also allows me to celebrate friendships in our classroom.  I print out and put photos of friendships in our class photo book as well as putting some photos on the wall as a reminder of the important of friendships and "sticking with your buddy" (from the book Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann)  
• A digital video camera  allows me to film the students as they read independently (or do their best to recall the words from the story.)  My camera (Canon vixia HFR21) is not "top of the line" but it has worked well for several years.  It is important to have a tripod for stability and a good microphone for sound quality.  I experimented with the Canon camera microphone (not so good) and 2 cheap "lavalier" microphones (not good at all!)  I tried having the students use the video camera on my MacBook Pro with a USB headset microphone.  The students loved looking at themselves while they were reading, but the audio wasn't the best quality and the headset kept falling off.  Now, we are using a Shure headset microphone with the Canon camera.  Twice a year, I give families a DVD copy of their child reading (at Christmas and at the end of the year) as well as copies of the digital photos I have taken in class.  In addition to "celebrating our reading" videos, I have made 2 "backwards math videos" with the students in iMovie.  My students must think that I am crazy, because I encourage them to knock down their own block structures or mess up their pattern block designs. When this film footage is slowed down and run backwards, the students see themselves magically creating their towers and patterns out of chaos.  Very amusing...
• Color printers and copiers allow me to create beautiful books with the students.  We have 3 types of books that we create on a regular basis in our classroom.  We make birthday books for each student with pages that say, "I like (name of student who is having a birthday) because....."  The original pages are created with colored pencils and ball point pens, then the birthday book pages are copied in color so that the original can go home with the birthday student and the copied pages can go in our birthday book collection.  We also create "riddle books" with riddles that students create at home based on the letter of the week.  For our "student of the day" books, the students write down stories in a journal with help from their family at home.  Then, I use the color copier to make copies of these journal pages so that we have a back up copy if the journals are lost.
• in the future, I plan to use a digital voice recorder to capture audio of students reading books, telling stories or discussing their ideas.  

These technology tools are so simple, yet they allow me to celebrate the students' learning in the classroom and share their great work with their families...as well as preserve it for students and families to enjoy for years to come.

Thoughts about "Looping" next year

In February, I received this note at the end of the day from one of my kindergarten students. Translation: "I wanted to tell you how much I love the classroom."  At home, this student has a wonderful teacher/mom who has created a home environment where her daughter can freely practice her independent writing and reading. This student loves to write, and she has inspired her classmates to jump out of the nest and try their own wings as readers and writers.  I love being able to celebrate my kindergarten students' progress and provide the materials that they need to go further in this journey...
After receiving this "fan letter" from a student, I started to think about "looping" with my current class of 16 students.  In March, I learned that two of our 1st grade teachers requested transfers to different positions, so I proposed the "looping" idea to our principal and a few of my colleagues.  There are many important questions about this plan...such as whether I can quickly learn the 1st grade standards and curriculum so that I can guide my students and, more importantly, whether I am the "best fit" for some of my current students as they enter 1st grade.   I want the best for my students and their families, so I need to think carefully about this plan.  If my plan is approved, I need to have families think through this option carefully so that they are confident that their children are in the best learning and social environment.
I love my current job as a kindergarten teacher.  My classroom is large and bright.  I have studied the common core standards for kindergarten and Alaska's state standards for language arts and math (which are almost identical to the common core.)  Yet, there are some key reasons why I would like to "loop" with my students:

• We have created a community, with shared experiences and books that record these experiences
• We have special routines, including our "student of the day"journals, our "question of the day" with unifix cubes, our riddle books, birthday books, clean up songs and class mascots ("Gerald and Piggie" from Mo Willem's books)
• We have developed trust in each other, so we can share our ideas, inspire each other to try new things, and enjoy an environment of laughing and learning
• I have developed trust with my students' families, so that they are able to share ideas and concerns with me.  We can collaboratively celebrate successes and solve problems
• As a young student, I had the positive experience of having the same teacher for K/1st (Ms. Soo) as well as the same teacher for 4th-6th grade (Ms. Masuda)
• I have talked to four teachers who had positive experiences with "looping"and staying with the same class for 2 years
• I am a fast learner, and I can use my time over the summer to prepare how to teach "the daily 5" and the 1st grade math curriculum, as well as the FOSS science and the reading curriculum chosen by the district for next year...
• We can "hit the ground running" at the beginning of the year because we will already be comfortable with our daily routines and individual personalities
• My students who are more anxious (2 out of my 16 students) and less trusting of adults (3 out of my 16 students) will start the year with a teacher that they know and trust already

If it is best for me to remain as a kindergarten teacher, I will enjoy teaching a new group of kindergarten students about our special routines.  We will create books together and develop a close community of learners.   However, if it is possible for me to "loop" with my class,  I think that my students and I will be able to have a very successful year in 1st grade.