Stepping into the 21st century can be difficult, especially when the fear of not keeping up with the Pacing Guide can terrify a teacher. However, in the rush of preparing for Benchmarks and SOL testing, can students’ learning styles be overlooked? I had the opportunity to talk with representatives from Shortie, a video group from Virginia. As the presenters and I talked, I was especially intrigued with an experience that they had in a classroom.
Students were perplexed and were pondering (ah, alliteration!) a particularly frustrating Math SOL, and as the instructor discussed with the class the way to figure the answer (it was with positive and negative numbers), the group decided to come up with a funny jingle public service announcement. They placed the problem on their shirt fronts, came up with a jingle (you have to flip the sign), and “flipped” in front of the camera. Result? This special education class not only got the procedure, but they proceeded to do this with other subjects. The result? Higher test scores and a grasp of the SOL!
The Shortie Awards site has information about entering their video contest. Interested?
