Critical thinking and Film Making

After an uninspired start to my school year the last month has been full of new ideas and exploration with my students and technology. I decided to create a green screen filming studio for my students to make movies about the biomes they had just finished studying. I will share those soon! The work they did was creating scripts, creating the background for their speaking parts and then filming in front of the green screen.

I did not want to just stop at the movie making, but I wanted the students to be reflective both about the work and have practice at giving feedback that is both complimentary and critical. I wanted them to push their own work and see how they could help their classmates be better too.

I really appreciate the focus they displayed in watching each other's videos, but also the focus they put into the feedback. I have stated in this blog before that feedback is something I consider a weakness in my teaching practice. I want it to be done, be done in a timely way and be meaningful to my students. This experience allows me to remember that feedback can be meaningful and have an impact from a peer.

Here is a sample of the students viewing the work and giving feedback on Edmodo.

Reviewing Biome Movies from Autumn Laidler on Vimeo.

Videos and movie trailers to follow!