We’re almost done with the Teachers of the Future project!

This week we’re going to reflect on the creation process. You will be editing your blog post that you started last week to include your Create reflection.

Here’s what you need to do:

On your blog, type a reflection describing your thoughts about your finished tutorial. Follow the Visible Thinking Routine: Connect, Extend, Challenge by answering the questions below.

Make sure you also explain what makes you say that for each question.

• How does your tutorial (and the process of creating your tutorial) connect (relate) to the criteria we developed as a class?
• What new ideas did you get that extended or pushed your thinking in new ways? (This may also included the 2-3 tutorials you watched for homework).
• What is still challenging for you? What puzzles or questions do you still have?

Include the following items within your post:

• Embed your finished tutorial.
• Link to the 2-3 tutorials you watched in the Analyze step above and describe what you learned by watching those tutorials.
• Link to the form we created for your viewers to evaluate your video.

Earn extra points: Use exceptional detail to describe your choices and opinions.

You should know how to do everything on this list, except for linking to the form. Here’s how:

1. Open your spreadsheet (it’s probably called YourName Tutorial Feedback Survey)
2. On your spreadsheet, go to Form >> Go to Live Form
3. On the live form (the one that looks like a survey) copy the URL
4. On your blog post, ask your readers to complete the form and add a link to the live form URL.

To earn a 5 – 6, make sure:

• You have included a complex and detailed reflection.
• You have included many excellent details and specifics relating to your project.
• All required elements are included.

Due Dates:

• 6A: 8 May 2013
• 6B: 14 May 2013
• 6C: 6 May 2013

Well done, Grade 6! We are now in the final stages of our Teachers of the Future project!

This week in class we’ve had a conversation about your tutorial in it’s current state, and I’ve given you some advice for improving the work.

Over the next week, your task is to complete your tutorial.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Use the tutorial criteria (6A, 6B, 6C) to make sure that your tutorial is the best it can be!
• Edit all of the video you took last week – making use of voice overs, transitions, fast or slow motion, and background music as needed.
• Add an introductory clip and a credits clip.

To earn a 5 – 6, make sure:

• You have created an exceptionally professional looking tutorial.
• Your tutorial demonstrates all of the criteria for excellent tutorial design on our class list.
• Your tutorial may include at least one of the extra criteria.

Due Dates

• 6A: 24 April
• 6B: 30 April (due to the Science Field Trip next Tues)
• 6C: 22 April

Congratulations Grade 6! You are now ready to create your final tutorial videos! In honor of your amazing work so far, we will be embarking on an exciting adventure!

For the next two periods after spring break (next week, April 8 – 12th, and the following week, April 15th – 19th), our lessons will be focused on your own individual work, in order to help you complete your tutorial at your own pace, and with individual support as needed.

This means you have the challenge of:

Planning:

Specifically, planning which activities you will do at home, and which you will do at school. This is important to think about, because the activities you plan to do at home should probably be the ones where you feel really confident with the task, and you need total quiet. The tasks you plan to do at home should be newer things that you may need help with, as well as things you can do in a noisy room. You will need to use your storyboard to organize the time and location of all of your filming. Here’s a good example of a logical task breakdown (this template is also in your Tech Documents folder, so feel free to make a copy for yourself to get even more organized):

Time Management:

You have the next two weeks to complete your tutorial. Your work is due before we go on Spring Break. This means you need to organize yourself to make sure you do a little bit each day, and each lesson, to make sure you are done in time. You should be using your Tutorial Timeline Plan to make sure you are on track and organized to finish on time.

Organization of Materials:

Because we have two whole weeks to complete this part of the project, and because you will be doing some tasks at home and some tasks at school, you will need to be very organized. You will need to make sure you have the materials you need during class time, as well as when you’re working at home. Again, you should be using your Tutorial Timeline Plan to be sure you have everything you need when you are working on your tutorial.

Some Important Advice

You should come prepared to work independently next class (you may want to finish filming by this date, but it’s not required):

• 6A: Wednesday, 10 April
• 6B: Tuesday, 9 April
• 6C: Monday, 8 April

You should come to class with all of your filming complete:

• 6A: Thursday, 18 April
• 6B: Tuesday, 16 April
• 6C: Tuesday, 16 April

This way, I can give you feedback on the work you’ve done so far, and you can continue to improve any clips that need work in the following week.

Just a quick reminder that your complete tutorials are due:

• 6A: Wednesday, 24 April
• 6B: Tuesday, 23 April
• 6C: Monday, 22 April

We’re almost finished with the Plan stage of the design cycle already! Based on our discussions in class, and the work you’ve done on your storyboards and timeline plans, you have some great ideas for staying organized and completing your tutorials. Before we begin filming, you will write a blog post reflection on this part of the process.

Here’s what you need to do:

Write a blog post that answers the following questions:

• Does your plan meet our class criteria? Include at least 3 of our class criteria (6A, 6B, 6C) and how you demonstrate each one.
• What makes your tutorial a good one? How do you know that the viewer will learn what you are trying to teach?
• What else do you need to learn to be able to create your tutorial?

Don’t forget not to actually include the questions, just write your answers as full paragraphs so that anyone reading your blog can understand both the question and your response. Also, make sure to include a short introduction and conclusion at the beginning and end of your blog post as well.

Within this post, you will need to include:

• A picture of your storyboard linked to your public Google Doc (even if it’s a scanned copy of your paper storyboard)
• A picture of your outline (if it’s not on the storyboard), linked to the public Google Doc
• A picture of your tutorial timeline plan, linked to the  public Google Doc

Here’s how to earn a 5 – 6:

• Your reflection is extremely detailed.
• You have described and justified your tutorial design, outline and plan in explicit terms.

Due Dates:

• 6A: 21 Mar
• 6B: 19 Mar
• 6C: 19 Mar

One of the most important things you will learn in this class is how to organize and plan for a big project. As you can already tell, you will have lots of projects in middle and high school (and in life!) and it really helps to understand how to break down a big project into small steps, so that you can be organized and finish on time.

This is why we are going to spend some time creating a formal plan for completing our tutorials using the tutorial timeline plan. Hopefully, this will be easy!

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Write down each of the things you think you need to doto create your tutorial in the “Name” column, each in a separate row on your tutorial timeline plan.

You will probably want to use the lists we brainstormed as a class to help you get started – but remember, the list is just a starting point, you might have different things to add to your list.

2. After you’ve named each task, write a short description of what you need to do to complete the task in the “Details” column.

3. Decide what order you need to do your tasks in so that you can finish on time – this is called prioritizing your tasks. You can just write the numbers in the Priority column (or if you’re super organized you can cut and paste things into the right order).

4. Finally, put a deadline for each task. To do this, you need to know when your final tutorial will be due. Here are the due dates:

• 6A: Wednesday, 24 March
• 6B: Tuesday, 23 March
• 6C: Monday, 22 March

Here’s what you need to do to earn a 5 – 6:

Image Credits

• Organizing My Seed Stash by Chiot’s Run on Flickr, Creative Commons Licensed