Student Films for Contests!

At the end of this year, I decided to add a digital project component before I had my 7th graders write their argument essays on the "Price of Progress." After analyzing the scientific advancements in the fields of Human Enhancement, Genetic Engineering and Factory Farming, I wanted students to think more critically about these topics and create something for a real world audience. Two video contests caught my eye when I was doing some research online that I thought could fit with our topics and would motivate our students: The National Academy of Engineering's Engineering for You Video Contest and the White House's Student Film Festival Contest. 

Collaboration became critical at this stage. Knowing what I wanted, the challenge became how do I plan this project effectively and get powerful feedback? Trisha Sanchez shared a google doc template with me that she had adapted from the Buck Institute for Education's resources which gave me a strong place to start. After filling in my ideas, I was able to share it with her and get critical feedback that helped me organize my ideas and plan accordingly.

When I launched the project with my students, they were so excited. I again used a resource adapted by Trisha, a Design Thinking Template, and had my students brainstorming and getting feedback from peers. They storyboarded and planned out their scripts for their films. As I monitored the groups, it was so exciting to see them taking the content and pushing it further, collaborating in groups to come up with unique ways to answer the big driving question: What are the implications of progress and how can we communicate those ideas clearly and creatively?

Then came the part of the project that I was secretly dreading... the actual filming. As I've learned over the last 4 years at Leading Edge, student filming is messy. Students are spread out, both inside the classroom and outside, as they work at different paces to create a final product. My job becomes an advising mentor, checking in with groups and helping them develop solutions to the inevitable tech problems or issues they have found as they have had to adapt their initial plan to something more feasible or realistic within time constraints. After the filming comes the editing of the footage, where students are uploading and downloading their clips, recording voice overs, inserting transitions, titles, credits, etc... and of course, realizing the need to re-film and replace poor footage. 

However, the finished product is always fun to view. At the end of the project, we watched the films together and gave positive and constructive feedback to groups, discussing the challenges faced and celebrating what "worked" in the process. 

Students then decided if they still wanted to enter their films, and we are currently in the process of getting them uploaded to youtube and submitted. It was definitely a worthwhile project and a great way to end the year.