Create Documentary Reflections
T.S. Eliot summarized a com- mon classroom situation when he wrote, “We had the experience but missed the meaning.” Of all
the blunders we make as teachers,
none is perhaps as troubling as engaging students in tremendous experiences but then missing the opportunity to
help them understand the meaning of
those experiences.
Fortunately, along with describing
the disconnect between experience and
meaning, Eliot also proposes a solution. The key is reflecting on or revisiting one’s own learning.
It’s a familiar idea. At the conclusion of a lesson, students reflect on
what they learned, perhaps by thinking aloud or by writing an “I learned”
statement. These types of reflections
are similar to formative assessments,
because they happen repeatedly, over
time, and they give us a snapshot of
student learning. Likewise, we can
engage students in summative reflection—like summative assessment—
and by summative, I mean holistic,
interconnected, and comprehensive.
One way to do this is to have students create a documentary video reflection, which incorporates advanced
technology skills, creativity, and self-expression. These are the essential
characteristics of digital age learning
outlined in the NETS. Specifically, we
want students to construct knowledge
and develop innovative products and
processes, all while using technology
to showcase their understanding and
engage in personal expression.
A documentary video reflection
is a student-made movie that shows
a set of interrelated learning experi-
ences over time. It consists of differ-
ent types of artifacts, such as pictures,
video clips, sounds, interviews,
and explanations, assembled into a
documentary. Although the teacher
is involved in facilitating the collec-
tion and dissemination of content,
students are responsible for selecting
and assembling the final product.
Throughout the process, students in-
tegrate self-expression and technolo-
gy skills to demonstrate their learning
of subject matter using visual media.
4. Have students collect artifacts for
creating the documentary reflection, including video clips of demonstrations, simulations, explanations, how-to instructions, and “I
learned” statements, among others.
Have students limit the length of
video clips to one minute or less.
Setting a time limit will promote
thoughtfulness as students select
content, and it makes clips easier to
organize and edit later. Additional
examples include photos of posters, projects, dry-board work, diagrams, definitions, and any other
subject-matter artifacts. Gather
clips and images periodically into
an electronic folder, making sure
that students can access this later
through a set of networked computers. Consider organizing digital
media into separate folders, one for
each lesson, so that students can
place material into their videos in
chronological order.
