Time to Flip Out

by Tara Seale
Dan Bruno, who also publishes on the High School Matters blog, wrote a post about flipped classrooms in December.  Although I didn't explore this instructional method at the time (re-doing two National Board entries, taking a graduate class, teaching 90 AP Lang students, and trying to be a mom and wife - as teachers - you, best of all, understand why I didn't get around to it:) I recently found the time to explore the flipped classroom concept, and Tech & Learning has a great post explaining the positive effects of flipped classrooms.
Simply, a flipped classroom is one in which students watch a video lecture at home and complete classroom activities, or what would normally be considered homework, in class. This set up allows teachers to act as both a lecturer and a facilitator.  I watched the Flipping the Classroom Tech & Learning video, and one comment made by a student really stuck with me.
He said that he didn't have to stop the whole class if he didn't understand.  He could pause the video and re-watch what he didn't get the first time.  We all know that we have students who will not raise their hand, and unfortunately, they miss out on important information.
A teacher comment in the video also stuck with me.  When students come to class ready to complete classroom activities, the teacher is not the only one helping students.  Students who watched the video and easily understood the lesson serve as peer tutors.  Students who have additional questions can ask not only the teacher but also a classmate, and the students who understood the lesson reinforce the concepts of the lesson as they assist other students.

If you did not read Dan's post, he provides a basic outline to organize flipped instruction in an English classroom.  I encourage you to read Flipping Out.

Several websites support teachers implementing the flipped classroom model:

1. Sign up for the online community The Flipped Class Network
2. TechSmith has printable tutorials
3. Best of all, TEDTalks has signed on to support teachers in facilitating a flipped classroom.  Check out TED's Beta TED-Ed site.  Read the press release here: TED-Ed Launches Groundbreaking Website with New Tools for Customized Learning.

Project for Awesome

by Tara Seale
Have you ever wondered how YouTube chooses the videos that are featured on their website? I just visited YouTube, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.
Look at the bold titles: Trending, Most Popular, Featured Videos, and What's New.
What would it take to create a YouTube video and have it featured on the front page? Who would even endeavor to have their video featured on YouTube's front page? I can tell you who. The NerdFighters and their Project for Awesome (P4A).
On December 17, P4A will once again try to take over YouTube and the trending topic of Twitter by promoting videos that represent charities. This is truly an awesome project because it brings attention to the needs of our world. I first learned about this project from Lee Ann Spillane, a high school English teacher from Winter Park, FL. At NCTE's National Convention 2009 in Philadelphia, she told me that her class was participating in P4A by creating one video that they would promote on December 17th. I didn't really understand what she was talking about, but when December 17th rolled around, I found myself remembering our conversation as I followed her numerous tweets and shout outs that proclaimed something great was happening, so at this year's NCTE National Convention 2010 in Orlando when Lee Ann and I both showed up to an early Sunday morning session to hear Kelly Gallagher, Penny Kittle, and Jeff Anderson present, I asked her about P4A again. I paid closer attention to the details this time. This year, each of Lee Ann's students is creating his or her own video to promote a charity on the P4A day. The students will embed the P4A logo into their video to designate it as part of the P4A project. She is also working with the technology department to gain access to YouTube for a day so that her students can participate in commenting, viewing, favoriting, and promoting their videos to propel P4A to the top of the YouTube and Twitter trending lists.
What an incredible experience for these high school students. Congratulations to Lee Ann for creating a genuine authentic audience that brings attention to worthwhile causes and involves students using 21st century technology. Imagine the connections the students will feel as together they unite to take over cyberspace for a day with something they have created.
Lee Ann first became involved in P4A when she realized that one of the founders was a former student, Hank Green. Hank and his brother John grew up in Winter Park, FL, and John is a young adult author of several books including Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. The two brothers are responsible for the popular VlogBrothers Channel on YouTube and for creating the Nerdfighters.
What are Nerdfighters? They do not fight nerds, they actually promote nerds and fight World Suck which they explain in the video below. I encourage you to watch their video because I learned so much. For example, I now know the difference between an acronym and an initialism. They also brought to my attention that I sometimes have a high puff level, which I knew, but I just didn't have a phrase for it. Thank you John and Hank for putting this all into perspective for me, and thank you Lee Ann for being a teacher who takes risks to engage students in something as amazing as Project for Awesome.
Project for Awesome Website (This website will update to the 2010 P4A in December).

Updates for P4A: Video Announcement about 2010 P4a

The 5 Minute Recap

by Tara Seale
Recently, I used a flip video camera to create a quick recap of what happened in class. I messed up a few times, but I kept going. I knew that if I could quickly create and post short video clips as reminders for students who need additional explanation or students who are absent, then I would make it a part of my routine, but if I spent hours editing and making it perfect, then I would become frustrated with the time involved.
The short video clip below did not take long to create. After I finished recording, I connected the Flip Video Camera to a macbook and imported the video into iMovie. I uploaded the movie straight to YouTube from iMovie. It took less than 15 minutes from beginning to end to have this video on YouTube. I also put a link for students and parents on my Teacher Google Site page.


If you are interested in the directions for the essay, you can view the assignment at The Most Dangerous Game Mood Essay and the rubric is at The Most Dangerous Game Essay Rubric.

This will make you laugh

by Tara Seale

It is the last week of July. Summer is slipping away, so I am sharing three videos that make me laugh and also remind me so much of my students.

This first video is a dramatic reading of a break up letter. I wonder if I could get this guy to create dramatic readings of some my students' writings. There are a few swear words in the video, so I decided to just post a link and not embed the video: A Dramatic Reading of A Real Break Up Letter.


This second video is an older SNL skit in which Jerry Senfield is a history teacher. You will recognize some of the students in the classroom, and it is sure to make you chuckle. If you have trouble viewing the video below, you can also view it at this link: Jerry Senfield SNL Skit


This last video is a funny rap about Arlington, VA. Although it really has nothing to do with students, school, or classrooms, it could be used as a project in a classroom. I can just see a funny, parody rap video of Maycomb, AL. Students would really have to understand the setting and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird to create a video like the one below.

Teaching tone in poetry

by Tara Seale

Before my 9th grade students tackled Shakespearean sonnets, we started with a simple poem from a popular teen movie released in 1999. Although the movie was dated by their standards, they all knew the lead male actor, Heath Ledger, which provided some connection and interest.

You may be familiar with the movie, 10 Things I Hate About You. It is a modern day remake of Taming of the Shrew, so that was helpful in making the jump to Shakespeare later. In the movie, the heroine, Kat, is the shrew. She writes a sonnet to her love interest, played by Ledger, and reads it aloud in English class.

Actually, I did not provide this background information before we read the poem. Instead, I passed out the poem and asked my students to work with a partner to label the tone of the speaker in the beginning of the poem, draw a line at the tone shift, and label the tone of the speaker at the end of the poem.

See the poem below:

I hate the way you talk to me
And the way you cut your hair
I hate the way you drive my car
I hate it when you stare

I hate your big dumb combat boots
And the way you read my mind
I hate you so much that it makes me sick
It even makes me rhyme

I hate the way you're always right
I hate it when you lie
I hate it when you make me laugh
Even worse when you make me cry

I hate the way you're not around
And the fact that you didn't call
But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you
Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

I walked around as students argued with their partners over tone words. When everyone agreed that they understood the poem and could explain the tone and the shift, we shared our thoughts.

Students discovered that when they picked different tone words from another group of students, they also had different ideas about the overall intent and meaning of the poem. Students began to realize that if they didn't catch the tone of the speaker, then they would not be able to fully comprehend the meaning either.

We discussed how it is more difficult to understand written tone versus spoken. Some students shared stories involving misunderstandings because friends misread the tone of a text message, which we decided could easily happen due to the brevity of that type of communication.

Fortunately, the video clip of this poem is on YouTube and can be downloaded or embedded to show to a class.




Students watched the clip from the movie, and then they re-evaluated and relabeled the tone of the poem.

After discussing the poem, students were curious and asked about the movie. It was a perfect opening for introducing Shakespeare and his sonnets.


Tech Tip for Downloading from YouTube:

If your school blocks YouTube and you want to use this clip, you can download it using Zamzar.
Step 1, click on the words URL. Next go to the URL, web address, and copy and paste the URL into the box in Step 1.
Step 2, select the format. Scroll down and select wmv for Windows Media Player and mp4 or mov for a mac or Quicktime.
Step 3, provide your email address.
Click Convert, and then Zamzar will email you the converted file.

Flip Video Cameras in an English Classroom

by Tara Seale

My 9th grade English students recently used Flip Ultras to create heroic journey videos. First, students read Edith Hamilton's Mythology and then analyzed the "Monomyth" chapter from Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Students used Google Spreadsheets to create their own heroic journey chart with explanations and examples. We also read excerpts from The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler to discuss archetypal characters and watched a great YouTube clip called the Matrix Monomyth. Students worked in groups to combine all of this information into a script to illustrate how a modern day character follows the same heroic journey path established in many of the Greek myths. Students also included explanations of archetypal characters that the hero meets along the way.
Click on the link to view my Students Working on Scripts. You will need QuickTime to view the video (probably already installed on your computer, but if not, it is a free download).

Several students featured video game characters. Apparently, many X-Box and Playstation games have heroes on a quest who meet archetypal characters along the way. I guess a good story is still a good story, even in a video game. Students were highly engaged in this lesson, and the insight they gained about how stories are created and how patterns and common elements are repeated has added to their analytical abilities. I created a Mash-Up of Clips from the Heroic Journey Projects as a sample from all of the final projects. You can also watch each group's video on my student podcast page.

If you are interested, this is a link to the Directions for the Heroic Journey Video Assignment and the Rubric for the Assignment.

I was lucky enough to win some grant money through Ann Taylor Loft's Kids in Need Grant to purchase flip video cameras, and also to find a great deal at Digital Wish --Flip Ultras 2 for the price of 1. Ultras seemed to be the better choice because Ultra HDs create larger file sizes, and we were not trying to make picture perfect videos. Our camera angles were not great, and students did very little editing because that was not the focus of the lesson. The objective was to use technology to collaborate, to communicate, and to create an effective explanation of the heroic journey; students did not have time to add the "Wow" factor with fancy editing or effects.

The engagement and learning that I witnessed made me realize the usefulness of using Flips in the classroom. I hope to use the Flips again while we read Romeo and Juliet.

Some Technical Tips for using Flips on a PC or Mac:

The Flip Ultra will allow you to edit film in iMovie on a Mac and Windows Movie Maker on a PC. Just follow the simple directions below:

On a Mac, open iMovie. Select File>Import from Camera. Wait for the thumbnail clips to load. To import all clips, select Import All. If you do not want to import all clips, select Manual and Uncheck All. Then click on the small box under each clip you want to import and click on Import Checked.

On a PC, you need to install the Flipshare software that comes already loaded on the camera. Next, select the clips that you want to use. While in the Flipshare software, select Share>Online>Others. Then you will click on Other again and select Next. Name your folder and click Go. The folder will appear on the desk top. From Windows Movie Maker, you will need to go to Import Video and browse for the folder on the desktop. Select the clips you want to import.