Griffin and "Columbus"
As Griffin first began to speak my initial impression was, “Oh great I’m going to have to listen to a 15 minute oral presentation by this little guy.” But, then “Columbus” was introduced and I decided it wouldn’t be so bad after all. As “Columbus” began to speak, I realized that Griffin was much smarter and more creative than I had initially thought.
If this video were submitted to me as an assignment, I would evaluate the content of the video in the same way that I would evaluate a more traditional assignment. Griffin would need to meet all the content expectations that the rest of his more traditional classmates met through writing a paper, etc. I would also ask that there be an organization to his assignment. I may not ask him to follow the same organization as someone who was writing a paper, but he would still need to be able to tell me and show me what the organization of his presentation was. Clearly this presentation was very organized and well planned. He also had a huge amount of information in his video, I'm curious what the class' requirements and expectations for this were. I would evaluate Griffin very highly for effort and very highly for creativity (although creativity is often not a quality that administrators and state standards are looking for).
I think Griffin probably learned that it is more interesting and more fun when you are learning for a project that will be fun to create and that you will be proud to show off to classmates. Griffin probably learned that he excels in the performance art realm, and also that he can do very high quality work, especially when doing that work for an audience. Griffin might have learned that when he is allowed creative expression he feels more invested in his assignment and more concerned with the quality of the final product.
This movie definitely shows evidence of problem-solving, communicating and other higher level thinking skills. Griffin is not only evaluating historical information from an outside “interviewer”, but also as from the point of view of the subject of interest. This requires higher level thinking to think from two different perspectives and analyze how these two different perspectives feel or believe. Griffin is also analyzing the information critically and thinking deeply, as he is creating questions he would want Columbus to answer, and based on his information, evaluating how Columbus would respond. Griffin also examined many different sources of information and compared them to each other to find answers.
I think Grffin’s movie could be a great wrap-up to the unit his class was studying and a chance for the students to possibly learn even more about Columbus (I learned a few things I didn’t know before, and I thought I knew quite a bit!) His classmates could discuss the video and what it taught them, and see that video is a medium for them to create future assignments. This video could also be used to teach other students about Columbus. Either other classes in the current year, or future classes who began to study Columbus. Children really seem to enjoy watching other children perform, and it would great for them to learn about Columbus in their own kid friendly language.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I think Griffin did a fantastic job and it sounded like he learned a great deal about Columbus. I was impressed by his performance. I am curious what role Griffin had in the editing of the video. I might be concerned that other students don’t have a parent or other resource to help them create a video like this. It seems unfair that other students may really want to use this format to show their learning, yet may not have the option to because of their lack of resources and help.
Kate, it was great to see that we shared similar opinions of this video. I
loved your connection to a student that went to your high school that was
always creating videos. I went to a very artsy high school and many
students were creating videos as well, though I stuck to the painting and
printmaking.
Anyways, back to Griffin...I loved your suggestion of having
his video be discussed with his peers and using it as a method of
discussing the format of future assignments and as a method to teach future
classes about Columbus.
I like you how brought up your concerns about resources at home and the
level of parent help, as they are very important considerations to take.
Also, as we briefly mentioned during our last class, how much time would be
appropriate to take in class to use the video cameras if those resources
were available in the classroom? I used video cameras whenever it was a
possibility in high school, but as I recall there was no resources
available at the school. From what I remember, it always ended up taking
way longer than I had imagined due to laugh attacks and just wanting it to
be perfect. When you know someone is watching, it changes things a bit! I
have to say though that I can’t remember a single essay that I wrote, but I
do remember acting out Shakespeare, reenacting Hiroshima, and interviewing
“Ricky Martin” for Spanish class. It attests to how valuable and lasting
these learning experiences can be, but was it unfair for my friends and I
do these assignments because we had the resources and others didn’t? It
definitely brings up a lot of ethical questions for me as a teacher, so I
am glad you brought it up in your blog.
Kate,
Kate,
Kate,