Final Project Reflection

Whew! I can truly say that I learned a whole lot in this class. I feel somewhat "enabled" now where computers are concerned. But let me get on with my reflection...
In case some have not viewed my video: "Captain Strategy", let me say that at first I was unsure if this was the right concept to go with, but as I worked on it more and more I realized that it was something very close to my heart because I worked with third graders for many years as an instructional aide and was able to see first-hand how they felt about taking the TAKS test. Most of them seemed confused and bewildered by the immensity of the task and I wanted to make a video that related to their age and grade level, and also, to their love of superhero's and fun!
Years ago, I realized that many students had trouble with the concept of punctuation and grammar, and I originally invented a superhero named "Captain Capital (leads the way), and his trusty sidekick Period Pete" in order to bring home the concepts of capitalization and periods. When I demonstrated the reasons why the capital at the beginning of every sentence and the period at the end were vital to sentence structure, it was better understood by the students because they could relate to the cartoonish concept. I realized at the time that in order to help students understand basic concepts, I had to couch the explanations in kid terms, while still staying within the framework of the state standards. And it worked. The students would quote "Captain Capital" to me whenever I saw them in the hallways and I learned the power of "kid-sizing" educational concepts. So while making this video, I changed my hero's name to "Captain Strategy", because I realized that "Captain Strategy" could be adapted to all subjects, not just language arts, and went from there.
I will use this video in my classrooms and I feel that I will make even more such videos as I learn about the concepts that kids have trouble with. Mathematics come to mind since this is a subject without closure and many students have trouble with the concepts and skills needed to cope with it.
Media is very important in the classrooms now. To most students, life is all about videos. Movies, games, Internet, MTV, etc., have gotten them used to the smaller watching/internalizing format. They are able to internalize information in a fashion that previous generations have not and the classroom and teaching profession must adapt to this. This is a simple social and technological change that is inevitable, and in order to keep educating the students of tomorrow, we must also become the teachers of tomorrow.