So the boys have finished their Little Red Riding Hood - well three boys finished.
Like most things with the lads excitement was high for the first 4.9seconds. Once hard work became apparent, the first wave gave up - interestingly these were the year 3 boys. The remaining 6 continued on for two afternoons. They battled old iMacs that were slowly giving up the ghost as well as partners who were less than helpful. By the fourth and final afternoon the stayers were down to 4.
I set up the rest of the boys on some very independent activities around looking at and sharing blog posts, this gave me the time needed to focus on the four who were determined to finish their creations. With a little one on one attention, three were highly successful and learnt many new movie making skills. More importantly, they persevered when the challenge was HUGE and the rest of the class dropped like flies around them.
I've blogged before about how most children innately know what makes a movie entertaining and strive to achieve to the best of their skill capability. They ask questions and refine their work to keep at it. Funnily enough the boys were different.
After the first hour, it was very clear as to which boys were finding the challenge well above their perceived capabilities and were not at all interested in trying, learning or taking risks. Rather than heighten the obvious anxieties, these boys were charged with creating the musical soundtracks in Garageband on their iPads. They could be independent, contributing and successful.
The boys left for the final afternoon suffered through terrible technical difficulty with slowly dying technology - one boys even restarted his iMac 3 times to be able to continue his work. These final four definitely needed the 1:1 attention to keep working and keep trying. They wanted to be finished and nearly enough was going to be good enough. They required constant reflection and discussion to keep working at their movie. One of the boys found the final tweaks all too much and gave up on his movie. No amount of cajoling or encouragement could get him smiling and back in action.
Reflection points:
Like with most tasks in class, academic, artistic, sporting or creative, the anxiety that is ever present in the young men came to the forefront.
Their anxiety prevents the boys from taking risks or confidently trying new things.
Like with other tasks, there was a lack of striving for excellence - OK is good enough. Finishing fast is more important than finishing well.
I wrongly assumed that the story of Little Red Riding Hood was well known. In hindsight, I should have provided, not just storyboards, but a script as well.
Watch their movies here.
Brendon
Caleb
Lee
The movies have minor (and some more major) flaws, but for the most part the movies are complete and tell the story.
I am super proud of the three who completed, and in actual fact I am very proud of the boys who articulated their anxiety and found their place being more comfortable making music or supporting a friend.
Like most things with the lads excitement was high for the first 4.9seconds. Once hard work became apparent, the first wave gave up - interestingly these were the year 3 boys. The remaining 6 continued on for two afternoons. They battled old iMacs that were slowly giving up the ghost as well as partners who were less than helpful. By the fourth and final afternoon the stayers were down to 4.
I set up the rest of the boys on some very independent activities around looking at and sharing blog posts, this gave me the time needed to focus on the four who were determined to finish their creations. With a little one on one attention, three were highly successful and learnt many new movie making skills. More importantly, they persevered when the challenge was HUGE and the rest of the class dropped like flies around them.
I've blogged before about how most children innately know what makes a movie entertaining and strive to achieve to the best of their skill capability. They ask questions and refine their work to keep at it. Funnily enough the boys were different.After the first hour, it was very clear as to which boys were finding the challenge well above their perceived capabilities and were not at all interested in trying, learning or taking risks. Rather than heighten the obvious anxieties, these boys were charged with creating the musical soundtracks in Garageband on their iPads. They could be independent, contributing and successful.
The boys left for the final afternoon suffered through terrible technical difficulty with slowly dying technology - one boys even restarted his iMac 3 times to be able to continue his work. These final four definitely needed the 1:1 attention to keep working and keep trying. They wanted to be finished and nearly enough was going to be good enough. They required constant reflection and discussion to keep working at their movie. One of the boys found the final tweaks all too much and gave up on his movie. No amount of cajoling or encouragement could get him smiling and back in action.
Reflection points:
Like with most tasks in class, academic, artistic, sporting or creative, the anxiety that is ever present in the young men came to the forefront.
Their anxiety prevents the boys from taking risks or confidently trying new things.
Like with other tasks, there was a lack of striving for excellence - OK is good enough. Finishing fast is more important than finishing well.
I wrongly assumed that the story of Little Red Riding Hood was well known. In hindsight, I should have provided, not just storyboards, but a script as well.
Watch their movies here.
Brendon
Caleb
Lee
The movies have minor (and some more major) flaws, but for the most part the movies are complete and tell the story.
I am super proud of the three who completed, and in actual fact I am very proud of the boys who articulated their anxiety and found their place being more comfortable making music or supporting a friend.
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