Poetry in Practice

I read both 5 and 6 because I am really interested in hearing what experts have to say about blogging and I am also terrified of the magnitude of a video production project in the classroom. I just feel like it is so time consuming, and I am so new to the form, that I would be unprepared and uncomfortable doing a video project in my class. But, I love the metaphor of video production as composition. I mean, it makes perfect sense once you think about it and would probably do a greater justice to visual learners than any graphic organizer could ever offer. Really allowing students to create, edit, and produce provides both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation because it is a real product (snazzier than a piece of paper) that they get to make. I also prefer the educational possibilities of teaching metaphor through film rather than paper. There is more subtlety and finesse needed in visual metaphors as opposed the more straightforward paper form. Video also allows for instant transfer of knowledge culled in class to practical applications. "Why are we doing this?" Because you need to know this in order to make your video.

I have some questions about the rubric: 1. How can I as a teacher truly tell how "collaborative" the group effort was, 2. To what extent can I glean how much the students actually learned about the poem, and 3. How do I assess how "fun" the project was. I think being more direct with expectations would help foster a stronger rubric for video projects. I do, however, like that a large portion of the assessment is centered around reflection- for many reasons- but particularly because it allows students who struggle with the actual filming can still do well, and comment on or vent their frustrations and what they've learned.

Here is a great site that has all sorts of jumping off points for education based video projects: http://edtech.guhsd.net/video/videoideas.html