Follow Me:
  Jessica Pack: Teacher, Speaker, Author
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Book
  • Podcast
  • Student Movies
  • Media
  • Speaking
  • Film Challenges

DigiCom Film Festival: Our Year in Digital Storytelling

5/8/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
There is little that I love more than sitting in the audience at a film festival, watching my students as they see their work appear on the big screen.  By the time we end up at the festival, we've all seen the movie countless times during the editing and revision process.  Most of us can quote the dialogue word for word and we know every transition and special effect by heart.  So, when we're sitting there in a darkened auditorium, I don't take time to watch the film as it rolls across the screen; for me, it's a far more powerful experience to watch the expressions on my students' faces as they are overwhelmed by pride and a deep sense of accomplishment.  It's a thrilling experience - whether it's their first time at a film festival or what feels like their billionth.  Their smiles are always huge, their eyes always shining, and in those moments, I know exactly why I am a teacher and why I choose to include digital storytelling in the curriculum. 

Connecting with students through the medium of film is one of the aspects of teaching that I am most passionate about. We take film making very seriously in Room 208, probably because there is no shortage of inspiration to be found in each other and the process of learning.  Sometimes it seems like the world readily discounts what middle school students might have to say because, yes, middle schoolers can be immature, squirrelly, and obnoxious. But they can also be serious, ambitious, humorous, and even poignant.  Even after integrating student film making in the curriculum for six years, students can still amaze me with what they are able to produce.  

Last night, my students and I attended the 2013 DigiCom Student Film Festival.  We had a blast watching both our own work and the work of other students.  One of my students was awarded a video camera for directing the award-winning film, "Identity Crisis."  Last year, he won a video camera for directing a film noir piece, "The Lady In Black" and editing the award-winning, "Spitball Love."  He has been an active student in my video production class for the last two years and a member of the after school AV Club that I advise.  Film making is his heart and it shows.  I love knowing that we have been able to forge a teacher-student bond based on the creative process of film making.  When he geeks out about a new script idea or a special effect he's working on, I geek out, too!  It's awesome. 

Award-winning films from Room 208 that were shown at last night's DigiCom include:
  • Identity Crisis
  • Math Genius
  • CST Remix

Picture
Also, The Desert Sun covered my students in two separate articles this past week:
coachella_valley_middle_schools_showcase_at_digicom.pdf
File Size: 18 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

students_show_filmmaking_skills_at_digicom.pdf
File Size: 3 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Probably the icing on the cake at this year's festival was the classroom grant that I was awarded, consisting of four iPads and $4,000.  What an amazing, unexpected blessing!  Here's a video clip of the big moment that was captured by and posted on The Desert Sun. 
1 Comment

    Author: Jessica Pack

    California Teacher of the Year.  CUE Outstanding Educator 2015. DIGICOM Learning Teacher Consultant.  6th Grade Teacher.  Passionate about gamification, Minecraft, digital story-telling, and fostering student voices.

    Picture

    Download:

    "Digital Storytelling: Connecting Standards to Movie-Making" by J. Pack
    Picture

    Archives

    June 2020
    May 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    August 2016
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    June 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    3D Game Lab
    Advocacy
    App
    AR
    Audioboo
    Augmented Reality
    Aurasma
    Behavior
    Budget
    Byod
    #CAedchat
    Ca Toy
    Ccss
    Classcraft
    Class Dojo
    Classroom Management
    Common Core
    Community
    Digicom
    Digital Literacy
    Digital Storytelling
    Ebackpack
    Edtech
    Ela
    Engagement
    ETIS
    Flipped Classrooms
    Gamification
    Gaming
    Ibooks Author
    Integration
    Ios
    Ipads
    Itunes U
    Keyboarding
    Middle School
    Minecraft
    Minecraft Education Edition
    Minecraft Education Edition
    Minecraft: Education Edition
    Movie Making
    Movie-making
    Pbl
    Pedagogy
    Philosophy
    Podcasts
    Primary Sources
    Professional Development
    Project Based Learning
    Publishing
    Qr Codes
    Rationale
    Samr Scale
    Social Studies
    Socrative
    Teacher Of The Year
    Teachers
    Technology Integration
    Technology Plan
    Today's Meet
    Tourwrist
    Toy
    Video
    Web 2.0

    RSS Feed