Saturday, January 26, 2013

Impending Snow Day

In hopes of a snow day, this group of students produced this video.  The video was shown at a conference I attended Saturday (virtually--I was in Connecticut--the conference was in Philly.)

What's your response to the video? Speaking of multi-literacies, note the communication skills these students use.


Other videos from the conference were archived at this site, including one featuring Will Richardson, author of Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom. 


There's two by Richardson at the link, one he delivered last June at the International Society for Technology and Education (ISTE) and one he delivered at this weekend's conference in Philly, "Why School?" Hold on to these two in the event we do, indeed, have a snow day (well snow night):

ISTE Presentation:




This second one is a full recording of a live presentation that went for an hour, so definitely good for saving when you have the time. The beginning is a bit scratchy as equipment is getting set up, and remember this is a live recording of a presentation as it was happening.


22 comments:

  1. This video is hilarous! The students were very creative with the lyrics and coordinating it with the song. The video shots were clear and relative to the theme of a snow day. The storyline related the feelings students have about snow days.

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  2. I agree with Leanora. Great video! What better way to spend a snow day! I especially liked how they added the (I'm guessing) superintendent's phone message to the end of the video. This is just how most students (and dare I say,teachers) feel about snow days!

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  3. Absolutely hysterical! I can't help but think how I spent snow days as a kid, needless to say they were not spent like this. With the help of our ever changing technological world!

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  4. I love this video! Im sure the superintendent just love seeing this too! These kids are very creative. Im sure it was a ton of fun to put this video together...but, when I think about the work that went into creating this, I'm even more impressed. I'm sure editing to music was not easy, not to mention the karaoke style words. I can imagine there were just few outtakes...which would have been awesome posted at the end :) Good job to these kiddos!!

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  5. Love the Call Me Maybe video! My kids are super creative and I'm thinking they could probably figure out how to do something like this on their own (which would be good because I'm still struggling with how i'm going to put a video together).

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  6. I shared this with my daughter, and we both agreed that the "Nelson's closing" part was the best! They used a variety of skills here including passion, video clips, popular music, humor, voice insertion, and a topic kids love! Good for them.

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  7. This reminded me of the video we saw in our Critical Literacy class about the kids trying to fight against recent changes in the portions of food served by the cafeteria as federally mandated (I think). What a creative way for students to get their points across and be heard at a global level. PS. great line about being concerned about student's safety.

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  8. That was a fun and creative video that the kids put together to convince Mr. Nelson (Superintendent?) to give them a snow day. But I couldn't help thinking that all the time and energy they put into it could have instead been spent finishing the homework and preparing for the test(s) that they were asking for the day off for in the first place :) Now I sound like a Debbie Downer haha.

    Will Richardson’s video has a lot of powerful ideas. Of all of them the one that struck me the most was the one about how students should not be held responsible for their own work but for the work they do with others. For too long school has been an exercise in isolationism – your test, your project, your paper, your grades, your report card. We adults have learned that there are few occasions where our success, or failure, is solely the function of ourselves only. This is a message that students would benefit from learning as early as possible.

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  9. What a creative bunch of youngsters! They put so much thought into their song and wrote great lyrics. My favorite part is when they sang about all the superstitions, such as, wearing their pajamas inside out and sleeping with a spoon under their pillow. I still do the same thing. I love snow days!

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  10. This video was so funny, and it was well written, too! I would love to know what program they used and how they recorded it (cell phone, ipod, video camera?). My son loves to take pictures and use the programs that automatically put the pictures onto dancing bodies or other oddities. Kids love music and technology. Anyone else thinking poetry in motion?

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  11. I really enjoyed the video that the children made about the impending snow storm. The children were really creative with their lyrics and it matched the tune of the real song. What a fun way to spend some time on a snow day. Maybe they should receive some extra credit for all their hard work!

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  12. This is great! Actually shared it today with the staff in my room as I thought it was too good not to share. Was this done totally by the kids because if so I am extremely impressed. I wouldn't even know where to begin to make something like that! Another way to prove the point that literacy is everywhere!

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  13. I Loved the video the kids made. They were able to incorporate a clear message to the audience, add verse & rhyme that is similar in nature to poetry, include music that students can relate to, and had the freedom to add a lot of creativity. In addition, the project showed the enthusiasm the kids had for the making of this video for their "cause" in the superintendent calling a snow day. An excellent way to motivate all learners!!!

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  14. How could you not give them the day off?! I loved it, as a matter of fact, I'm going to post this to my students' blog to get their reactions. Gives me a lot of motivation to try new technologies with my students!

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  15. I loved watching this video. The students were very creative and did a great job making this video. I can see how this is a good example of how students can use new literacies to communicate. I also wonder about the "behind the scenes" communication that had to happen to produce this. They had to work together as a team and have many discussions for this to run smoothly.

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  16. WOW...how creative! I was also wondering about all the work that had to happen in order for this video to be made. I showed the video to my class and they absolutely loved it! The song choice was perfect and my students were humming the tune for the remainder of the day! It is obvious that everyone involved in making this video worked very hard and I hope the students received some "extra credit"!

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  17. This video is hilarious and very creative! I love how these students used a combination of their personal feelings/experiences with current music and technology! They really demonstrated how students and teachers feel about snow days. I especially loved the ending when they get the phone call!

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  18. I loved this video! I am wondering how did they do this? I'm guessing that a parent helped them?! I love this song and I thought that they did a great job changing the lyrics to get their point across. So cute! I also loved the ending when they received the phone call. Priceless...nothing beats getting that phone call! :)

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  19. These are some pretty creative kids! I love how they changed the lyrics and made the song thier own. Great way to get your superintendents attention!

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  20. I agree with Mr. Richardson, teachers need to lead by example. If you are going to teach something, you need to know what you are teaching about. Teachers need to share their knowledge with their students. I think students respond positively when their teachers share their honest opinions and thoughts.

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  21. Judy, Will Richardson will be in West Hartford on Tuesday, February 19 at Renbrook School. I posted the article from the Courant on my blog.

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  22. The children in this video did a fantastic job! They got their points across, loud and clear!

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