In 2002 I began using digital video in my classroom.  The results have been extraordinary.

Though the purposes for digital video can vary from classroom to classroom and educator to educator, I tend to use video in one of two ways.

First, as an extension of student writing and drama in the classroom, I produce movies, informational shorts, and documentaries starring my students and oftentimes written by them as well.  These films are usually quite theatrical and tend to include a great deal of humor. 

In the past, my videos have documented the art of Andy Goldsworthy, highlighted events in the classroom like Chess Night and Poetry Breakfast, recognized teachers in our school for their generosity, and have kept parents who are serving overseas informed about what's happening in their child's school.  These are just a few of the many projects that I have completed.   

I have also become infamous for my annual Halloween movie, shown to our school during our Costume Parade.  This movie can be very scary and often causes an ominous silence to fill the auditorium as the credits roll.  Since there was already a studio operating in one of our 5th grade classrooms (Celebration Studio), my students suggested that I name our studio as well, and following the Halloween 2004 video, the name Scary Man Studio was suggested by a young man named Max. 

I liked it. 

The second use of video in the classroom (which I think is eminently more powerful) is through the use of Digital Video Feedback, a process that I have developed by which students learn from being able to view their own learning processes. 

Digital Video Feedback is a system by which students and teachers can view, reflect, and receive immediate feedback on their teaching, learning and behavior in the classroom.  Initiated as a means of demonstrating productive peer conferencing during Writer’s Workshop, I quickly recognized the value of this system in other aspects of the classroom environment.  Using a digital video camera, students’ performance is taped on a regular basis, and the footage is either shown immediately to the student or class as a means of highlighting positive learning behaviors, or it is edited and included as an element of a future lesson.  After experiencing great success with this system during Writer’s Workshop, I have expanded it into many other areas, including:

• Reader’s Workshop, where students can see and hear what a productive book talk looks and sounds like
• Science instruction, where students can view experiments and determine the validity of the results by evaluating the use of the scientific method
• Behavioral management, particularly with students who are often off-task or unfocused.  By allowing them to view their own behavior in the context of the whole class, students they are able to independently assess and modify behavior.
• My own instruction.  By routinely viewing my own teaching, I have been able to adjust and modify to better meet the needs of students.
• Student-created productions.  Students have now begun to document their own conferences and experiments through the use of video, which they later present to the class with personal commentary. 

Thanks to the generous support of the West Hartford Public Schools, I have been able to fund this project through their Lighthouse Grant program.  To read more about Digital Video Feedback, its origin and uses in my classroom, check out my grant proposal below.  

Lighthouse Grant Proposal