VoiceThread and Beyond

VoiceThread is a great but extremely multi-faceted tool - the T.E.A.M. program collaborated with the Heckscher Museum of Art, located in the town of Huntington. In order to practice creating VoiceThreads, we cataloged the special exhibit of "Long Island's Best" exhibit, featuring the winning entries of an art competition involving high school students from both Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, NY. This was a meaningful workshop and inspired to think about how I can use this tool with my students in the classroom.

Please leave a comment on this VoiceThread if you wish - these are some wonderful art work created by the young people of Long Island.

Making iMovies

Having enough trouble operating a DVD drive on a regular basis, I would have never imagined that I would ever attempt at making a movie on my computer.... but today, the impossibility became a reality! At the butt crack of dawn, we met Christina & David at the C.W. Post Library for the MovieMaker / iMovie workshop. I was definitely relieved to hear that the workshop was designed for beginners. The instructors gave a great introduction to equipment pieces (camera, tripod, firewire, etc.), different shots and angles - nice, simple, to-the-point and most importantly, understandable!

Then we were informed that the session was to be split between pc users and mac users (bummer!), but I guess it will allow easier instruction. We first formed groups and went out to get video footage around campus - our group found some nice flowers, climbed a tree, stalked a father playing football with his son on the lawn... overall, good times!

Christina was the mac instructor and she was wonderful! Being a pc user herself, having spent very little time with a mac, and learning everything via the apple tutorial... Christina was an amazing instructor! Today I saw real collaboration at work. Although the "instructor" was not an expert on the iMovie software, she facilitated an atmosphere in which all the participants were learning from each other. We soon realize that there were several versions of iMovie in the room and it was simply impossible to give a traditional how-to lecture... instead, we experimented and was successful doing so.

Personally, I'm pretty bummed about having the iMovie '08 because it actually has less special effects built into the program when compared with the '06 version of the software - which we all thought was a bit strange. Granted the layout and workspace of the two versions were different, the '08 was clearly missing many of the editing features... unless it's strategically hidden somewhere just to piss us off! So, if you have any idea where to find the special effects on the iMovie '08, please let me know!

International Day of Peace

Every year on Sept. 21st, nations around the world observe the International Day of Peace, established by the United Nations as a day of non-violence and a cessation of hostilities in order to promote peaceful conflict resolution. This year, through the help and contacts of my T.E.A.M. mentors, I was able to arrange for 115 of my 7th grade students from Herricks Middle School to participate in the UN's 10th annual student observance of the International Day of Peace at the organization's headquarter in Manhattan.

Following inspirational speeches by celebrity Messengers of Peace, such as Michael Douglas, Jane Goodall, Elie Weisel, and Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, we saw a live Q & A webcast interaction between youths of the United States at the UN headquarter, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Lebanon. This was a unique opportunity to hear directly from young people living in the midst of terrible conflicts and to exchange views on war, peace, and most importantly, hope.

At noon, the entire United Nations building observed a minute of silence to reflect on the meaning of world peace and the sacrifices, successes, and failures of efforts made towards achieving this ultimate goal. The assembly concluded with moving testimonies from a panel of youths who have stepped up to the challenges of a conflict-filled society and took action in hope to make a difference through publications, organizations, rallies, clubs, etc. Perhaps the most touching story was told by Anna, who was a teenager of only 15. Anna was originally adopted from Peru and upon a return visit to several orphanages in Peru, she was inspired to start start a non-profit organization called Peruvian Hearts to help bring help to meet the needs of the orphans. Anna's story was not only heart-warming but it stands as evidence that young people have the potential to make tremendous differences in the world.

I feel extremely thankful and honored to participate in such a fascinating experience and all the adults present shared my excitement and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, I realized that my students were too young and a bit immature to truly appreciate the program. I often forget that it is hard to engage/entertain teenagers! It is difficult for 11 year-old kids from Long Island suburbia to conceptualize the hardships in Lebanon, hunger in the Republic of the Congo or fear and terror in Sudan. In addition, most of the students at the assembly were either high schoolers or college students and their questions/comments were on a deeper intellectual level - a couple of steps above that of my students.

To make things more difficult for my students at the event, we were seated in the balcony due to our tardiness and it was impossible to hear what was going on down on the floor of the auditorium (especially when it comes to speakers with heavy accents). Eventually the kids stopped trying to listen and simply tuned out. I have to admit that it was extremely discouraging and disheartening to witness such inattentiveness among my students amidst such an extraordinary program... not to mention the fact that I worked so hard to get them reservations for this field trip and jumped through numerous administrative hoops to get them all there! I guess like everything else in the field of education, I cannot take it personally and simply hope that this experience planted a seed in the kids and will eventually blossom in time.