Turning Up the Volume on Student Voice & Choice: Social Justice & MediaProduction

The media is the message & the signal is coming in loud and clear. Our teens are responding. They are the voice of a new generation. Theirs is a world where critical thinking and 21st century citizenship are valued.

Our social justice and media production club met to plan our next project. To gear-up for production, we studied "game film" as pro athletes would. 

National Treasure: 

@youthradio

#TheFix

Local Icons:

@pghyouthexpress
youthexpress.org
https://soundcloud.com/youthexpress

#CatchTheFuture

Saturday Light Brigade
@slbradio

A Pittsburgh staple, broadcasting for as long as I can remember... Still as relevant and important as ever!

A brainstorming session followed the debut of Youth Radio's program on "White Privilege". Our students had passionate viewpoints to share with one another. Our goal is to work our way up to the production quality of an organization like Youth Radio.

In the near future, we are taking a tour of the Pittsburgh Children 's Museum and laying down tracks in the Youth Express recording studio. This is a big deal for our students--many of whom are amateur musicians, rappers, and spoken word performers. To get an opportunity like this is a tremendous boost of confidence and motivation to keep at it.

Mason edits a shared Google doc while Destiny updates her spoken word performance on her cellphone.

I have a lot to learn when it comes to media production. But, when I look around my classroom, I have a huge incentive to put extra time into discovering emerging forms of media and learning how to get the most from existing platforms, like Soundcloud and YouTube.

Tech Tips: Advanced Search Techniques Help Students to Get the Most from Googling

Advanced search techniques are yet another #AwesomePossum way that Google helps teachers and students find and curate content.

A few years back, we used Google Image look-up to track down the artist behind the Possum with Ukulele. The artist gave us permission to use the design for our high school's anti-bullying assembly, and the little guy has been either ever since. I'm a big fan of AwesomePossums.

A few ways that advanced search techniques can be used include placing restrictions on an active search. These restrictions can be a variety of factors used to distill the best results for whatever the circumstance dictates.

-Date

-File type

-Region

-Creative Commons and other copyright licenses

Here are some helpful links to get started 

Advanced search for websites & images:

http://www.google.com/advanced_search

Tips on filtering search results:

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/142143?hl=en&ref_topic=3081620

Finding "free-to-use" images:

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/29508?hl=en&ref_topic=3081620

Next week, I will update this post with a YouTube tutorial using some of the advanced search techniques listed above.

-

I'm looking forward to teaching our students how to use the filters to curate images for their 1950s American Life YouTube video project. Cultural Literacy students will begin making annotated YouTube videos about the different themes that we have explored:

-The Cold War & The Red Scare

-American Consumerism & Women in the 1950s

-The American Dream Deferred: Segregation & The Start of the Civil Rights Movement

-j

Find Your Tribe: Celebrating Digital Learning Day - #DLDay

To mark #DLDay 2016 I'm sharing "super" Twitter chats. Far from a definitive list--Think of this as a PLN on-demand: no superhero costume necessary.

Spider-Man, Sprout, & Lanas... Now there's a formidable crew! Holy dangling modifier, Batman! We rapidly prototype our way to justice and stop to SketchNote the bad guys for the real crime fighters.

A Definitive List of Twitter Education Chats & Days/Times:

https://sites.google.com/site/twittereducationchats/education-chat-calendar

Some of my favorites:

#bfc530 - A Daily Dose of PD & Inspiration

#dtk12chat - Design Thinking in Education

#2pencilchat - Innovative Ideas, Analog Tools = Celebration of Creativity

#tlap - Teach Like A Pirate 

#totallyrossome - Off the Wall Communal Celebration of Learning

#sschat - Social Studies Chat

*#sstlap - Social Studies Teach Like a Pirate... I just learned about this today via reading last night's archived #totallyrossome

#libchat - Librarians & Information Science for the Digital Age

#edtechbridge - Bringing Ed Tech Developers & Teachers Together

#badgechatk12 - Digital Badges in Education

#sunchat - Sunday AM PD

#ditchbook - Toss Out Your Expensive Textbook & Opt For Digital Media & Tools 

#aplangchat - AP English Language & Composition

#aussieed - Aussie Ed Chat

Some of these chats occur way too late (or early, mates!) for a high school teacher sleeping/waking on Eastern Standard Time...

But that's the beauty of Twitter: Conversations are archived using the hashtag. So, I'm more likely to participate in #bfc530 or #2pencilchat... But I find myself reading the highlights from the previous night's #tlap or #drk12chat the very next day.

The key is to find your tribe!

Field Based Learning & Digital Media Expand Our Networked Learning Ecosystem

Students love to use social media to share their opinions... They also use smartphone apps to make the most creative digital media mash-ups. So, how might we leverage these powerful tools to get our kids to tell the story of their learning when the scope of their learning takes them well beyond the four walls of the classroom? 

Let's take a closer look at a recent Holy Family Academy Field Experience - Our day at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, PA. We toured four floors of exhibits, including:

We Can Do It! - WWII Exhibit

Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation

The Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum

From Slavery to Freedom

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood

The diversity of topics and sheer size of the exhibits at the History Center made it a fast-paced day of student inquiry and exploration.  On each floor, students stepped back in time and came face-to-face with artifacts from our collective past.Students were encouraged to "live-tweet" their adventures in learning. Students focused on topics that they found particularly intriguing. For instance, in the photo above, Frank is taking a snapshot in the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum's Trophy Room. The medals, trophies, pictures, and awards are an impressive display of the fruits of hard work, dedication, and the age old edict, "practice makes perfect"!Another approach to telling the story of our learning is the option to use Google Slides, Google Drawings, or smart phone apps like Pic Collage to capture the awesome artifacts and exhibits that captured our attention. Students snapped photos in each of the exhibits to make postcards to digitally send to friends, family members, and teachers.  How to create a postcard using Google Slides:- Create a new Google Slide Deck

- Insert an image as the background of the title slide 

  - Images can be uploaded from students' phones or students may select images from Google: In our case, I asked the students to use photos from the History Center's expansive digital archives.

- Format the text on the title slide in any creative manner:

  - The student objective is to become a "graphic designer" working for the Heinz History Center & to create a postcard that is both beautiful and informative

- Create a second slide and format the text so that it appears as the "letter" that one would write when sending a postcard to friends, family, or colleagues.

  - Have students write a thoughtful letter to friends, family, HFA teachers or administrators, or their Corporate Work Study supervisor.

- Send the postcard to its intended recipient by clicking "share" and entering that person's email address.

  - Be sure to check the share-settings: For something like this, I recommend that you give the recipient permission to "view" or "comment".

Behind The Scenes Videos - Women in WWII: 

When I went to the Heinz History Center to "scout-out" the exhibits and coordinate this field experience, I was fortunate to hear museum curator Leslie Przybylek talk about how J. Howard Miller's iconic "Rosie the Riveter" poster was designed to boost morale among the female employees of Westinghouse. The Westinghouse Corporation was a major employer in the Pittsburgh area during WWII. In fact, the architectural marvel, the Westinghouse bridge was a known target for proposed Nazi airstrikes and explosives. The bridge spans Turtle Creek, separating the two powerhouses of the Mon Valley--Westinghouse & US Steel's Edgar Thomson Works.

On a personal note--in my family, three generations of immigrants and their children lived by the edict "You work hard and get yourself a good job working for Westinghouse or in the mill." That edict held true for many families before Pittsburgh's economy diversified to include "eds & meds" and a tech-centric culture of innovation.

Curtiss-Wright was another employer hiring thousands man and women in the Pittsburgh area during WWII. Individuals made aviation equipment in Curtiss-Wright's Beaver Valley facility. Integral to the US winning the war, their manufacturing operation would not have been accomplished without enlisting a robust and diverse workforce. It should be noted that this exhibit featured commercials showing husbands and wives working at the Curtiss-Wright factory. These shorts aired in movie theaters, just as newsreels would inform the theatergoers. My favorite commercial starred a spry grandmother who picked up a shift on the factory floor.

In the YouTube video above, curator Leslie Przybylek discusses how Curtiss-Wright needed to devise a strategy to empower women to take-on these wartime factory jobs. Housewives needed to be reassured that they could develop the skills necessary to be contributors to the war machine.

For more information about this part of the "We Can Do It!" WWII exhibit at the Heinz History Center, check out Liz Simpson's blog post "A History of Curtiss-Wright During WWII" below. 

Power to the Tweeple - Democratization via Twitter

Is Twitter democratizing our schools in a way that outpaces the acceptable use policy? We are living in the Information Age--social media echoes the sentiments of Marshall McLuhan who proclaimed, "The medium is the message." As we strive to be stewards of educational innovation and improvement, shouldn't we embrace the power of social media in our ever-expanding learning ecosystem?

Think about it: When social media is used to promote the free exchange of ideas and showcase student creativity and innovation, that goes beyond "acceptable". It is downright exceptional!

Twitter Moment: Capturing "That Time Our Students Met Governor Wolf"

Twitter Moment: Introducing "The Child I Was" to the Students I Teach

Twitter Moment: Embodying "The Essence of Teamwork" and "Resilience in Defeat"

#PowerToTheTweeple

For those bold educator-innovators whom are in violation of their district's acceptable use/social media policy, I dedicate this post to you. As of this date, I am you... My district's official policy is opposed to teachers tweeting--but it sure is nice when colleagues, administrators, and students stop by my classroom because they saw the tweets showcasing the "cool and creative" things we do.

I am the high school representative on the Trinity Area School District Education Committee. To me, putting educators in the lead is one of my highest priorities as a committee member. We see the power of sharing and showcasing student creativity and achievements both in the classroom and our community. As a digital innovator, I want this to be as much a part of our culture and identity as reading, writing, and arithmetic. 

Teaching our students to be digitally responsible, 21st century citizens isn't an option: it's what the age of innovation demands. It is my honor and duty as a teacher to lead the way.

Let's make a push to democratize our schools and allow educators to responsibly post classroom artifacts, best practices, and student achievements... Without the fear of violating the same district policies that strictly forbid students from wearing "jams and Zubaz pants". 

The '90s called... They want their acceptable use policy back.

*Note: 

As a sophomore, I was assigned detention for going on the Internet without a signed and approved permission form. It was a beautiful spring afternoon in 1999, and I was locked in the after school detention dungeon with class skippers and bathroom stall smokers.

The website I accessed was a 10th Grade Chemistry Review Guide that I created using Tripod: I was so proud of myself--and so busted by our school's librarian!

My parents did not challenge the penalty, citing that it was a ridiculously silly policy, yet I knew what might happen if I went online. It was my folly for trying to learn independently between the hours of 7-3.

I am still amazed that I found my vocation as a teacher... The beauty and irony of it all. Life is a gift, and a sense of humor is a blessing!