Reflection

The findings as a result of these three separate projects were quite significant and different.  For the most part, the results of these projects were quite positive. Of course some of the scripts for certain videos were more creative and put together better than the rest, but none of the groups utterly failed any of the assignments. However, there was one instance that discouraged me a bit with the I Am video.  I did not grade any of these flip video assignments. They were just for the benefit of the students. There was one girl who had figured this out.  After I had given the assignment for the students to get into their groups and create posters of their I Am poems she immediately withdrew from the group signaling she didn’t want to participate.  I tried to encourage her to take part and include her poem on the poster, but realized she had note even bothered to do the assignment and create one.  Although one of the main purposes of using the flip was to get all students involved I had to give up on including her.  If she didn’t want to do the work, then she couldn’t be a part of the videos.  A part of me wanted to make the last video for a grade in order for there to be consequences, but I knew that wasn’t really fair.  I rationalized that in the end, when the students were all feeling so proud of what they accomplished, she would realize the importance of doing individual work in order to participate making something bigger.

Even though the videos provided for a great review tool, there are many other great ways to review for a test.  However, I believe that it is one of the best ways to show empathy to the students.  The I Am poems were extremely powerful, and all the teachers in the room had goose bumps watching the final movies put together from the two classes.  Using the flip got the students excited! They were excited to create the script and then to see the final product.  It is a great way to motivate the students to stay on task and get involved with one another.  By putting the students into random groups, it got them working outside of just their friends.  It brought the classroom together into a true, equal learning environment.