Student Video Reflections

I'm grading the blackout poem video reflections and definitely feel these should be incorporated into more classrooms' grading procedures! Some insights:

  • Students are (for the most part) quite comfortable taking video of themselves. I thought they might be self-conscious but that's not the case (I must be thinking about my generation, not theirs!). Young people have little to no trouble formulating their thoughts in front of a camera and should be asked to do this more often.
  • Video reflections are an excellent way to quickly get to know students and match names to faces. Most secondary teachers have well over 100 students--the sooner we get to know them, the better for our classroom community.
  • The insights they have on camera  just may be more powerful than if they were asked to write. I sense a maturity and ownership of their thoughts while I'm viewing these reflections, as well.
  • The answers to the questions I have requested are short, typically under 30 seconds, which makes them particularly powerful for the amount of work needed to produce one. (Not a lot of effort needed to achieve a big critical thinking payoff.) It also makes them very fast for me to analyze.
  • Students know how to make videos. Even if we teachers aren't used to creating and uploading videos, our students are. We can't let our fear of technology prevent this learning opportunity from occurring.    

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