I have been working with a group of sixth graders in producing their own school broadcast. This broadcast will include announcements of school activities, sports that the students are involved in, and other fun things that are happening in school. Today was the premiere of our first broadcast! The kids were so excited. They worked hard to write the scripts and film, edit, and produce this 3 1/2 minute episode. I was impressed at how fast these kids learned some techniques in filming and how to create their show using Windows Movie Maker.(Within one week.) After the streaming of this broadcast into the classrooms, the group began discussing and critiquing the different parts. They began making plans on how to make next week’s episode better. I do believe there was some learning taking place!

The other project that another group of sixth graders is working on is running a vending business using dance mats and Dance Revolution games (Playstation 2). First, the group thinks it’s cool to play a video game at school but the conversation has gone much deeper than that. The group started discussing the fact that kids don’t exercise or play outside very much. What better exercise than 15 minutes on a dance mat. (It definitely wears me out but maybe that’s because I’m old!)  The kids are setting up this business during school hours and plan on using the proceeds towards two service-learning projects at our school.

This has been a fantastic start to the school year with these two projects. The kids are excited about school and about learning. They are learning how to critique themselves and are having true discussions on how to make projects better. It’s times like this I love being a teacher!