Teachers Attend Tech Camp To Become Creative

This article is called "Tech Camp Unleashes Creativity and Collaboration" and it is by Joe Bardin from June/July 2008.

The article begins by discussing how "Rosy Escandon, a camp instructor, tells of one first grade teacher who made a movie with her students about fire safety. Kids helped write the script and participated as actors. Getting them to pay attention or give their best was no problem because they were excited about being in a movie." The article also discusses the benefits of using the program called iMovie and how "the process of creating an in-class movie exercises a range of fundamental skills: writing, public speaking, focus, teamwork, and creative collaboration." Another example from the article is that "Suzanne Hensel teaches third grade in the Tanque Verde District in Tucson. A visit to her classroom revealed a shoot in progress for a movie about geometry definitions. In the scene, a girl throws a fishing line into a pretend pond to fish for a line segment. After several takes, she gets it just right. By then, everyone has the definition of a line segment memorized. Teachers report their kids love reading on camera and seeing themselves afterwards. It gets students who would otherwise be silent talking." These examples of movie-making are so inspiring and really show what a great tool it is to include a certain lesson and incorporate the whole class.

Also, "at Tech Camp, teachers also learned to write, read, and produce their own podcasts for use in their classrooms. Podcasts can be an especially powerful tool for English Language Learners who often don’t hear themselves fully until they do a recording and then play it back. The process forces readers to slow down and enunciate properly." Another example from the article comes from "another Tech Camp grad, Cori Araza, teaches Spanish at Paradise Valley High School. She is having her Advanced Placement Spanish class work on podcast book reports." These examples of Podcasts show that once teachers learn how to use the tool, it creates another field for the students and allows their work to come alive.

Next, "at Tech Camp, Kathryn Scott demonstrated how to build a basic Web page. She noted that teachers can be intimidated when kids know more than they do about technology. 'The classroom needs to catch up with [the students’] daily lives,' says Scott, 'where technology is already in action'." This statement from the article is very powerful and it reminds teachers that they need to work to connect the student's worlds to the world of learning. In addition, "Tech Camp also got teachers thinking about how technology can exercise and enhance collaboration."

Overall, this article was so great to read and it was very insightful. I have read many articles about using different technology tools in the classroom; however I feel like this article combines every element into one and really shows what it means to be successful in using technology in the classroom. There were so many great examples from this article that I would love to use in my classroom and I learned some really great ideas. One project that I would like to try is having my students get into groups and create a book trailer, instead of a book report. This would be similar to a movie trailer, where it would highlight all the main points, characters, settings, and themes from the book. It would be done in a very creative way and I think all the students would enjoy doing this. I would make sure to have specific guidelines for my students so that they know what to include in the book trailer and I think this would be a very successful project using the program iMovie. I am really looking forward to learning more about technology tools and perhaps I could attend my own "Tech Camp" to guide me in the future.