If it’s November, it must be time for the National Writing Project’s (NWP's) Annual Meeting. This week, many Writing Project teachers from across the United States (and some around the world) will be gathering in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for our annual conference.

In connection with the National Writing Project's Annual Meeting, we invited a few teachers who will be presenting in Philadelphia to join us on this episode. Paul Oh, an associate with the NWP joined us as well. In addition, this same cast of characters will be joining us for a follow-up show after the Annual Meeting on December 2.

This podcast, co-sponsored by the New York City Writing Project and the NWP Technology Liaisons Network, features:

• Robert Rivera-Amezola, Philadelphia Writing Project http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/nwp_amsession/1584
• Joe Conroy, NWP at Rutgers University Writing Project  http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/nwp_amsession/1607
• Chuck Jurich, High Desert Writing Project (New Mexico)  http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/nwp_amsession/1608
• Paul Oh, the coordinator of the technology liaison program for the National Writing Project http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/nwp_au/1102

As presenters of Annual Meeting sessions that focus on 21st century literacies, these writing project teachers and colleagues shared stories about the exploration of new composing practices, especially podcasting and video-making. Robert and Chuck teach 4th graders and Joe teaches 6th graders. It was and exciting, informative show.

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"Film in NOT the language of the 21st century. It is the language of the 20th century and schools are just now thinking about catching up." Mathew Needleman

Have a listen as the It's Elementary Team discusses video in the elementary classroom with our guest Mathew Needleman.  We talked about how far behind education is in re: film/video. Still most teachers just show kids films instead of having them make them. Mathew then shared how he started using film making in his classroom and how this met educational goals on writing, critical thinking, and they understand about how the are being persuaded propagandized by media. They need to know it.  From experience, kids learn more and at a higher level by making videos.  We described some uses and genres. There was a long discussion about organizing and planning and finally, resources were shared. Make sure to tune in the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month for another edition of It's Elementary Webcast. 

Link to Text Chat

National Geographic Photojournalist Karin Muller joined us on April 28, 2009 to share her incredible initiative, Take2 Videos. Karin places herself in conflict areas to provide high-definition footage to students so that they can create documentaries and shorts. This is an opportunity for our students to interact with real people about gritty issues.

Chat text:

Got a video project? Wish you did? Want to provide a platform for your students’ videos?

Listen to this podcast to learn about an exciting opportunity for your students to make videos that address the Obama Administration.

David Cole from the Pearson Foundation and Paul Oh from the National Writing Project joined us on this episode on Teachers Teaching Teachers. We invited them to talk about the latest iteration of the Letters to the Next President project that involves video.

A National Writing Project teacher, Chris Sloan, who had already registered for the project, joined as well to talk about his purposes and motivations for involving his students in the project. Ron Link, a video teacher from the Bronx added

On this podcast you'll learn more about -- then you'll probably want to sign up for:

Letters to the Next President: The Video Campaign Encourages Teen Filmmakers to Address Obama Administration - National Writing Project

Letters to the Next President: The Video Campaign, sponsored by the Pearson Foundation and the National Writing Project (NWP), encourages filmmakers ages 13–18, with the support of their teachers, to voice their points of view by creating and sharing digital videos about the issues they want President Obama and his new administration to address.

The video campaign extends the popular Letters to the Next President letter-writing campaign launched in 2008 by NWP and Google Docs, which engaged over 6,500 high school and middle school students across the United States, as well as the hundreds of teachers and mentors who guided them. Students identified topics that reflected their specific personal, regional, and age-related interests, and with the help of Google Docs published their work online for their peers, parents, and the public on the Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future website: www.letters2president.org.

The new initiative is open to all young people whose teachers register their class to participate. The deadline for registration is March 27, 2009. Full registration and publication guidelines can be found at www.digitalartsalliance.org. In early April, participating teachers will be able to upload their students’ videos and publish them for the global community. The complete collection of student work will be posted at www.digitalartsalliance.org and www.letters2president.org.

Enjoy the pocast, and sign up this week!

Click Read more to see a transcript of a chat that was happening during the webcast.

If you're an English teacher or a photography or media teacher, wondering if or when to introduce your students to Youth Voices, this might be the podcast for you.

Paul Allison and Susan Ettenheim were joined this week by their colleague of many years, Chris Sloan, who teaches English, media and photography at Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City Utah.

Paul, Susan and Chris introduced their work with students and each other to Ron Link, a English and video teacher in the Bronx, who has recently begun to work with the New York City Writing Project, and with Fred Haas, the Technology Liaison for the Boston Writing Project, and teacher of English and screenwriting.

There is so much more for us to learn from each other. Listen to this podcast, then Join us!

Click Read more to see a transcript of a chat that was happening during the webcast.

21st Century Learning #94
Carol Broos aka Music Techie
February 5, 2009

Carol Broos aka Music Techie
joined us to discuss her conversation with Arne Duncan, our new
Secretary of Education, and the intersection of performance and
technology education.  

<Click here for the chat transcript>

On November 4th, Katie, a senior at the Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, and her mother "coincidentally" found themselves in Chicago.

Yes, Chicago. I was there (coincidentally) on election day - November 4, 2008. This wasn't just any election in any city, though. This was THE election in THE city. It was the election that will forever make history. Obama was elected the first African-American president of the United States and I was there at Grant Park where he gave his acceptance speech. It was truly one of the most moving experiences of my life.

YES WE CAN: my experience in Grant Park on election day

When Katie got home she posted her reflections on this event on Youth Voices, a social network for students that her teacher, Chris Sloan helps to maintain. The joy in Katie's writing and in her image that she inserted with her text captured that important moment for the hundreds of other students who post their work on Youth Voices.

"I saw so many people whose faces expressed a relief that some glimmer of hope had finally come that, in fact, a black man could conquer a still very racist nation." Katie wrote in her post. "At that moment in time, our country seemed to get a little bit more accepting, and this was making people uncontrollably happy."

A Latina from Flushing, New York didn't share Katie's enthusiasm. In fact, for Dominique, an 11th grader at the East-West School for International Studies, something in what Katie had written brought to a head something that had been bothering her about the way people were
talking about Obama:

Another sentence that I found wrong and stirred up some anger is "a black man could conquer a still very racist country."  It's honestly comical. If this was " a still very racist  country " then trust me Obama would have not become President. Let me give you some valuable insight. Without the support of the Hispanic population and Caucasian population, there would be no (according to you) "First African-American President ". You believe this country is racist, but you don't realize that this country is racist because of people who exploit a certain race and make it seem that they on top of everyone else.

Incomplete

On the weekend after Dominique's comment, Chris Sloan contacted Dominique's teacher, Paul Allison, and Chris and Paul decided that it might be interesting to invite Katie and Dominique, along with another student, Farisa, to get together on Teachers Teaching Teachers to talk things over.

That's where this show begins.

In addition the students were joined by Elizabeth Berryman, Director of the PBS Teacher Center in Virginia. Elizabeth provided some follow up to a project that Susan Ettenheim's students at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in New York City participated in. We had talked with Elizbeth in an earlier show about the Video the Vote,a partnership between PBS and YouTube. On this show Elizabeth and Susan talk about how students and teachers took to this project, and Elizabeth begins to decribe the next project in which students will be invited to video the human impact of the economic crisis that we face.

Enjoy! And consider sharing this one with your students.