A new venture is on the horizon!  I have long been a podcast fan, given that I have a 25 minute commute to and from work.  Audiobooks and podcasts are the stuff of long drives, so when the opportunity to record a podcast presented itself - of course I signed on! 

Georgia Terlaje, who will henceforth be known as my partner in crime, has been a teacher for 31 years. We not only work together in Palm Springs Unified, but we also are fellow teacher consultants at the nonprofit organization, DIGICOM Learning. We've been promoting and supporting digital storytelling in the classroom for years, and now we get to do it together on air! Georgia is one of the most entertaining people I know. She's also multi-talented, as evidenced by her ability to author and record our podcast theme song. We recorded our first episode yesterday, and I'm so happy to share it here. 

Our podcast is called "Digital Storytelling Saves the World" and we've got a whole slew of incredible guests lined up for future episodes. In this first episode, we simply introduce ourselves to listeners, as well as talk about our digital storytelling journeys and where we hope to go with the show. 

As teachers, we can be islands unto ourselves and I think it's so important to connect with one another.  The support piece of digital storytelling often isn't available to teachers outside of our DIGICOM community, so we are hoping to provide that for teachers everywhere. I hope you enjoy our first episode! 

Together, we all say, "Digital Storytelling is important for our kids, so it's important to us."For the past 13 years, I've been providing professional development to teachers in the area of digital storytelling. The non-profit for which I am a teacher consultant is called DIGICOM Learning.  They focus on promoting and supporting the integration of digital storytelling in classrooms and schools.  I feel fortunate to be associated with them, continuing to work toward new opportunities for students.

Every summer, I love teaching weeklong classes to teachers in Palm Springs Unified School District and Desert Sands Unified School District. It's always fun to watch classroom teachers from a wide range of grade levels and subject areas come together as a community.  

Having such a unified understanding of how essential media literacy is to our kiddos is unique. For myself, digital storytelling has been a pillar of my instructional practice for the last 14 years. Why has this strategy stuck, when others have fallen by the wayside? I think it's because digital storytelling is student-centered. It doesn't depend on me to deliver; rather, I merely structure learning so that the door is open, and kids are the ones who walk right on through to tell their stories. ​

Tonight, many of my students were honored at the 2019 DIGICOM Film Festival, a regional festival designed to celebrate the work of students across the Coachella Valley. Sponsored by DIGICOM Learning, this festival has become somewhat of a right of passage for my students.  Having entered it's 12th year, my kiddos walk into my classroom with the idea that they will have opportunities to tell their stories, and part of that opportunity is the film festival.  I think it's important that my student don't necessarily create with the festival in mind, however. Rather, they see it as a platform from which they can share their reality.

​This year, I am particularly proud of a few of my kiddos for talking about tough issues. The topics include open borders, bisexuality, and miscarriage. I'm proud of how much my students have grown and how healing it has been for them to create. If anyone ever doubts whether it's worth it to take time for digital storytelling, I hope they spend some time on my YouTube channel, listening carefully to the years of students who have authored compelling work for everyone to see. Middle school students have important things to say. I hope we're all listening. 

There are so many fantastic educators who give up their time to grow themselves as professionals.  Sometimes, I wonder if the general public is aware of how much dedication and passion that classroom teachers demonstrate every time they give up a Saturday. I am constantly in awe of our professional and feel so grateful to be a part of such an incredible community. This year, I'm honored to present a 3 hour workshop at Fall CUE in Napa Valley. I know it will be a valuable opportunity to connect with others, particular those interested in digital storytelling.  Giving kids the opportunity to tell their stories is essential, especially in today's world which is full of potential platforms students could use to amplify their voices - YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat. What a world today's kids live in. Let's prepare them to use their powers for good, for change, for the distribution of their hopeful stories for the future. 

See you at Fall CUE 19!
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Last May, at the CUE BOLD Symposium, I was fortunate to meet Shannon and Brenda, who record the My Tech Toolbelt Podcast. They attended one of my hands-on lessons in the WeVideo lab, and graciously asked me to be a guest on their podcast. Of course, I was excited to say "yes!" 

I love talking about student movie-making and I also love talking about how much WeVideo has helped me transform my classroom. Before Chromebooks and browser-based editing software, getting equipment could sometimes be challenging. As any teacher will tell you, there is a necessary critical mass for any type of technology project, and movie-making is no exception. I used to crowd fund iPads for my classroom, and apply for any possible grant that came my way. DIGICOM Learning was especially supportive of my equipment needs, but it's true to say that I am able to integrate movie-making so much more effectively now that every single kiddo has access to editing software. 

So, here's the episode I had so much fun participating in, and hopefully by the end, you'll be a WeVideo fan, too. 

Digital storytelling is one of my passions, and WeVideo has given me an incredible opportunity to be a teacher facilitator in their lesson lab at CUE BOLD this year. One of the lessons I'll be sharing (and having participants create an abbreviated version of) is called the "I Am Poem."  Since the dawn of time, teachers have used BioPoems and I Am Poems to get to know students at the beginning of the year, during the first few weeks when building culture and climate is so important. I've taken the I Am Poem format and made it content-based for Language Arts and Social Studies. 

In their book, The Eduprotocol Field Guide, Jon Corippo and Marlene Hebern talk about providing multiple opportunities for students to tackle tasks; as in, giving "reps" (repeated attempts at learning) when it comes to certain assignment types. The content varies, but the general task remains the same.  That's been the guiding philosophy behind my I Am Poem lesson.  At the close of a novel or unit, I ask students to select a character, a historical figure, or a people group. Then, they write the I Am Poem from that point of view. (Feel free to use my template.) Students self-assess using a rubric as they create, and we conference 1:1 to determine the final grade, which is a combination of my feedback and their own reflection. Throughout the year, we'll repeat the task, and students get faster and more creative with each iteration. 

Here are a few sample student-created I Am Poems to get you started on your own project: 

In teacher preparation programs, there is a lot of talk about various theories of learning.  Different schools of thought are discussed, papers are written, conversations are had, and then we enter the real world, where theory plays a much smaller role that we originally perceived it would.  This is because the plate of a teacher is very full - full of things like benchmarks, wiping noses, reteaching concepts, calling parents, attending professional development to learn new tools, entering grades, making last minute trips to WalMart for more art supplies, substituting for classes that couldn't get coverage, and dreaming up incentive programs.  Sometimes, the pedagogy and the theory behind it just gets shoved to the side in favor of the next Big Thing that needs to be handled.  The reality is, unless we make time for reflection, there is very little actual reflection that occurs. 

Now that I'm back in school, pursuing a master's degree in Educational Technology through Boise State University, I'm making more time for reflection and I'm revisiting theories that I've only peripherally thought about during the past twelve years.  Well, that's not true.  I've thought about constructivism a lot, because that is how I've modeled my classroom.  However, it's been a while since I really considered other theories and thought about whether or not they are present in my practice.  

I decided to take this opportunity to create an infographic to share my thoughts and practice:

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This past year, my students took on the largest film project ever attempted at JWMS.  Jebari, one of my 8th grade video production students, wrote a really wonderful script about a boy whose parents are getting a divorce; the boy decides to get creative and seek lost treasure in order to solve his parents’ financial woes and save their marriage. Where does one find a sunken pirate ship and lost treasure in the middle of the southern California desert? At the Salton Sea, located at the eastern end of the Coachella Valley. Based partially on local lore, Jebari cobbled his script together from various versions of the legend of the lost ship and his own creative ideas.

When Jebari came to me with his project idea, I was immediately supportive because my favorite answer to give students is, “Yes!”  I thought his idea was original and the script had the potential to make an emotional impact as well. Jebari wanted to cast the movie with AV Club students and utilize video production classmates to round out his crew. All of it - the story, the performances, and the potential success of the project hinged on filming on location.  Though my students currently have access to a green screen and three-point lighting, Jebari and I talked at length about how much we needed to be able to film off campus. Enter DigiCom Productions and two of the producers of the Palm Springs Unified DigiCom Film Festival, David Vogel and Dr. Lee Grafton.  They graciously read Jebari’s script and decided to fund almost $1,000 of travel expenses for my students to be able to plan and execute two days of on location filming. We filmed at two different sites: the Salton Sea and a residential neighborhood in Indio. (Our school is located in Cathedral City, at the west end of the Coachella Valley.)

Here’s a look behind the scenes of “Lost Ships”...

Throughout the production of “Lost Ships,” my students and I learned two big lessons.

The first realization we reached is that movies are made in the editing room. The first cut of “Lost Ships” was over twenty minutes in length; the second cut didn’t get much better and sat at a solid sixteen minutes in length for the better part of a week as we scratched our heads and tried to figure out how to condense the storyline. After several more cuts and many hours, Jebari and his assistant directors and editors adopted a non-linear approach to the storytelling of “Lost Ships.”  It wasn’t until we all agreed to throw the script out and create the best story from the footage we had that my students struck gold.

The second lesson we learned involves some ideas about filming on location: You will always need to do a reshoot.  Before filming on location, my students drew extensive storyboards, tirelessly rehearsed their script, planned to accommodate for lighting changes throughout the day, and even then, they needed to do a reshoot.  No matter how prepared you are going into it, there will always be elements out of your control, unforeseen complications, and moments during post-production when you think, “If we only had a shot of _______.”  Hence, having the opportunity to revisit locations is crucial to creating the best product possible. 

Here is what Jebari had to say about filming on location:

Students worked for over five months to produce "Lost Ships" from beginning to end.  Their dedication and passion for this project really paid off, as demonstrated in their final product...

The cast and crew of “Lost Ships” were recognized recently at the California Student Media Festival as “Lost Ships” won an award for “Best Storytelling.”  Students were also staggered to learn that in a little over a week, “Lost Ships” will premiere at the Palm Springs International Short Film Fest as part of the DigiCom Best of Fest Student Showcase!  Also, Jebari and another student from my video production class, Gina, will receive all access filmmaker’s passes at Fest to be able to interact with adult filmmakers from around the world…wow!

Since Jebari is an 8th grader, he promoted to high school this past Thursday, as did two of the film's actors, Brent and Marissa.  Having been their video production teacher for the last three years, I will be honest and admit that I had a couple of tearful moment in my classroom after all my kids left.  Sometimes, there are groups of kids who have this incredible, beyond ordinary connection - with one another, with me, with the medium of digital storytelling. So, sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye. But I definitely know that these kids are destined for great things.  I'm looking forward to seeing what they do in the future!

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

Also, The Desert Sun covered my students in two separate articles this past week:

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. 

If you teach in California, maybe you've heard of a not-so-little Twitter chat we like to call #CAedchat.  Moderated by nine diverse, passionate, dedicated educators from around the state, it is very exciting to be involved in the growth and development of something that connects educators from across the state every Sunday evening at 8pm Pacific.  

Last week's chat topic was about the importance of PLNs (Professional Learning Networks) and the necessity of sharing resources, ideas, etc.   In light of that, I realized that several people have asked me about how I made the #CAedchat promotional video and I'm not sure a 140 character answer is sufficient.  So, I've decided to write this post to help you (or your students) create a video in a similar style.  In case you haven't seen it, here is the #CAedchat promo video:

1. Write
My first step in creating this video was to write a script - which is also the first thing I have my students do when digital storytelling. I tried to highlight the main points I wanted to share about #CAedchat, it's development, and the important role we hope it will play in the professional lives of educators in California.  Then, for each line of the script, I devised an activity that I wanted to be performing on camera at the exact moment each line was read.  

2. Film
All of this preparation was followed by filming.  I decided to film using an iPad.  Here's a snapshot of the set-up I used in order to be able to film myself with my iPad as well as be the one drawing/coloring/cutting, etc., in the video.  By the way, this is also my "document camera" set up whenever needed.

I knew that the nature of this project would involve speeding up the film at an insane rate, so I decided to film the outline of activities in one continuous shot.  Positioning the outline next to my right hand, just out of range of the shot was a good call, because I could glance over periodically to ensure that I stayed on track.

3. Edit/Sound
Creating the script and outline were one half of the battle, and filming was fairly easy.  The real challenge came in post production.  Using the iPad for editing was out of the question, since the iPad version of iMovie does not allow you the same versatility with visual effects that the full blown iMovie for iMac provides.  

After importing the video to iMovie, I quickly recorded the voice-over narration.  At first, I attempted to simply speed up the entire video clip at the same rate so that it would last the same duration as the voice-over, but I soon realized that some tasks took longer to accomplish on camera than others, and that a blanket speed wouldn't work.  (Otherwise, my outline of what to do as each line was read would be thrown out the window!) The strategy that ended up working best for me was to split the continuous clip into smaller pieces so that I could tailor the speed of each individual activity to match the rate of my voice as I read the script.  

4. Share
When all was said and done, I exported the finished file in HD and uploaded it to my Vimeo Plus account, then started tweeting like crazy.  Making the #CAedchat video was a ton of fun and it's been pretty gratifying to see people share the video on Twitter as a way to promote our state's chat.  Bottom line: I never would have thought to make a video like this, if it weren't for such an amazing purpose. I have loved co-moderating #CAedchat and hope that -whether you live in California or not- you'll think about joining us soon on Sunday evening at 8pm Pacific.  In the meantime, maybe you'll try out this method of movie-making with your students? If you do, please share a link in the comments below! I'd love to see what your students come up with. 

By Jessica Pack
Follow Me on Twitter @Packwoman208
Email me at [email protected]