All (well… most) teachers create some sort of classroom newsletter to communicate class happenings to families. Some teachers use super cute templates, some use a newsletter format while others use a format of their own choosing. One thing that most of these have in common is that they are teacher created…and can be long winded. While I appreciate knowing details about my own children’s classrooms I don’t (honestly) always have time to read them all. (A HUGE apology to my favorite #sd113a teachers! I always try my best to read them all but there have definitely been a few that have been skimmed quickly.) What better way to make them more engaging then to include the cute little faces that are a part of your class!?!
A couple of years ago I started doing a student created weekly update. I love that it takes something off my plate, has the students creating something and gives them ownership of their classroom. It’s also nice to see what students see as important or exciting. It’s an informal way to get feedback from the students.
Another positive part of the project was that the students were in charge of the entire process. Students were in charge of:
- writing about the things we were doing in class (a highlight for each subject area was the goal)
- recording the video
- putting the recorded clips together
- finalizing the video (adding music, subtitles, clip art, etc.)
Students would write about something that happened during the week on Friday morning when they arrived at school. This was their morning work for the day. When they were done writing, I would choose one description for each subject area. (You could pass this job to a student but this was the only area I managed so that I could ensure everyone had a chance to participate and that it wasn’t the same students always contributing.)
Before we started the project, we spent some time talking about including details in our updates. We wanted our families to have a really good understanding of what happened at school during the week. We also talked about how we needed to provide updates for each subject area. We couldn’t write only about math and reading…or recess. 🙂 If there were subject areas missing, I would encourage some of my students who arrived later to write about these subjects. (Many students were willing to write another description if they knew certain subject areas were missing.)
My “director” was the one in charge of recording and producing the actual video. (Students used their iPads and Apple Clips to create the update.) I would spend time training the first director (usually one of my more techie students) and then that person would train the next director. Anyone who was previously a director could be asked to help if the current director needed anything. (Added bonus….Very rarely did they have to ask me for help. ) The director used their independent work times throughout the day to record and produce the video. Most students were able to complete the project by the end of the day. (If they didn’t finish, then it would be finished Monday.)
The student whose subject description was chosen was the “reporter” who reported their description on video. Having this honor was a very motivating factor for them to do their best when writing their description. (I always reminded them that I was picking the most detailed description.) If a student was too shy to be in the video then I told them they could take a picture of our classroom (or draw one related to their description) and record only their voice. (This could also be an option if you have any students that can’t be photographed.) In the beginning, there were several who chose this option but by the end of the year most had warmed up to being in the video.
Here is an example of a weekly update created entirely by second grade students.
Helpful hints:
- Have reporters use a microphone so their voices can be heard more clearly. (I linked the one we use in my classroom but there are many out there that would do the same thing.)
- Use a tripod (if you have one) when recording.
- Share the “newsletter” in several different ways. I would email a version to parents as well as post to our class Seesaw page and on Twitter.
- Flip (formerly known as FlipGrid) could also be used to create something similar.
What other helpful hints would you add? Drop them in the comments.
Primarily Techie 