Week One Reflection in retrospect

Reflection in retrospect after my second class and setting up my learning journey blog.
The first week was exciting and at times over whelming with the realisation that I was about to launch myself back into study mode. At the same time challenging myself to move out of my comfort zone. I enjoyed the hands on video making and putting myself in a situation of working with others I didn't know. We had fun making this video and with the shared support of each other we enjoyed success. Upon reflection as a teacher we are always asking children to work with others who they may not choose to work with, so it just reminded me of those initial unsure feelings that children often feel.

All in all I came away feeling inspired and ready to challenge myself both personally and professionally. One of the course aims is to consistently use more reflective practice, I know already now that this is definitely going to change the way I teach.

Applying video making in class:
I used a 30 minute time limit that we had in class on a group of Year 7 students to plan a one minute video. They had 30 minutes to brainstorm, storyboard ideas for their video. The criteria was to make an 1 minute video with an inspirational message. They chose who they worked with. They mainly were in groups of 2 or 3, with one group of 4. I didn't allow technology until storyboarding had been done, this allowed for creativity of their own ideas without always going to youtube and copying others. I was really amazed at how well they planned out their ideas into a storyboard. Within the 30 minutes, one group got to the stage of taking photos, another had drawn cartoon figures for their movie. Session two will play out this week where I will give them an afternoon session to complete. What surprised me about this activity already was the engagement of group of year 7 boys instantly. They were awesome and I am looking forward to next week when we complete session two.

With regards to research material, I need to get myself organised and make time to read, absorb and reflect on the material, particularly with this busy term.