Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2012 Newsletter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I didn't have a great experience in podcasting or
filmmaking, and once again eTwinning came to help
me: two webinars were organised after some
weeks, one about podcasting and another one
about filmmaking. I thought it was a sign!
I subscribed and attended them both. I learnt a lot,
and then I decided to put everything I had learnt
into practice with my students.
Every time I used TripWow, I really loved the idea
of making a movie at the click of a few buttons!
Filmmaking in the Classroom
By Alessandra Pallavicini
Alessandra Pallavicini is a teacher of English at ISIS
Galilei-Fermi-Pacassi in Gorizia, Italy and an Italian
eTwinning Ambassador.
What Nikos Theodosakis writes on the Home Page
of his site
http://thedirectorintheclassroom.ning.com/ has
been food for thought for me. He says: “We need
filmmaking in our classrooms, not to graduate
filmmakers, but to graduate problem solvers,
critical thinkers and passionate people who can
work with others to make that which does not exist,
real.”
I admit I had never thought of filmmaking this way
before, and at first I didn't completely understand
the idea of the necessity of such an activity in the
classroom. But later I realized how right he was:
the process of filmmaking can be really useful for
students in order to develop their skills of analysis,
planning, synthesis, creativity and cooperative
learning.
I decided to give it a try.
eTwinning has always been a source of inspiration in
my job. I have been an eTwinner for seven years
now and have seen the development of the portal:
from its very beginning, when it consisted mainly
of a partner finding forum and not much else, to
now when it has become a community of teachers,
a social network and a lot more.
Last year for some reasons I decided to apply for a
move and change schools. I was so lucky to see my
application accepted and so I could start working in
a highly technological school where some years ago
a group of teachers had founded a webradio and
then also a webTV. I joined them as soon as I
arrived because I think that, as a teacher, I am a
lifelong learner and what I like most in my job is
the opportunity it gives me to learn something new
every year.
The first idea was quite simple: I thought of asking
my first-year students – who are 15 years old and
mostly at an A2 level of English – to create a couple
of situations in which they had to use the English
language employing the vocabulary and grammar
they had learnt so far. We decided together how to
organize our work. At first they worked in groups
and thought of the situations. They decided to
write about: asking and giving street directions;
asking for information at a railway station; and
doing the shopping in a supermarket.
Then they had to write the script. At first they were
sure they would not have any difficulty: what
problems could we have? It is so easy, they said.
But then they realized how much they needed to
think about the situation they meant to work on.
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