Can I show these two sites to students? We can BUILD INITIATIVE and improve COMMUNICATION. Short Version: (For busy principals)

Google Local Guide

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Dear Principal
Copy to the Teacher
(a) Can I show these two videos to students? (a short tour of a city and learning a phrase in another language) after the school work is finished in the class?
(b) Can I record their "explanations of the classwork" and post the video just for the students to review on Google Drive (limited distribution)? 
We can BUILD INITIATIVE and improve COMMUNICATION.
THIS ACTIVITY can help students (1) say "Thank you" and (2) help them write about a place that they care about

Here's what I want to say to a student:

"You have five minutes before the bell rings.   You just spent this class writing about something that is important.   Would you like to make a short presentation, about 30 seconds, and talk about what you wrote?   Then we can post the short video.

You face will not be on YouTube, only your voice.

We can say that you are a student in California.

If you want, you can make this your video (if you like the result).  If you don't like it, I can erase it.

This activity promotes your speaking ability.  Are you interested in doing this?

We can walk over to this corner and you can talk about what you just wrote."

WHY?  

a) Putting a "performance of understanding" on the web (even in a limited distribution) says "Your classwork is valuable."  

b) Limiting the distribution gives the student control over how his/her words are shown.

c) The classwork becomes "more visible" because the student can revisit the words.

PROCEDURE

The posting can be on a GOOGLE DRIVE and the link can be made to specific people or to the world. or "to anyone with the link" (which is a way to limit the spread of the material).

Is this okay?   What procedures are needed to protect privacy and avoid cyber bullying?
 

Visit CHINA!

Other activities that might be used:

a)  Write a review of a movie.  The review would be on Google Docs and distributed only to the student and the teacher.   If the review is good, we could eventually post the result on IMDB.com, with the permission of parents.

b)  Add information to a Wikipedia article or an Amazon review.

c)  WANDER THE WORLD.  Walk the streets of a city that is difficult or expensive to visit.  LIMITED use of Google Earth and YouTube videos that show another place.
TIP:  Preview the videos ahead of class time to find videos that have good features (stable camera work, pauses that allow you to stop the video and ask questions about the location).

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Say "Sorry" in Chinese

Here is one way to use the volunteer to expand the awareness of students about the "outside world."
 (1) "What language do you want to learn?  Let's use five minutes before the bell rings to learn a phrase in that language."

(2) "What place do you want to visit?  I have Google Earth and we can go almost anywhere."

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Teacher's resource
http://www.brilliant-insane.com

Online Skills: (1) how to promote and how to INFLUENCE public opinion (draw attention to a special project) and (2) how to say "Thank you" and (3) how to write about a place that you care about (and use photos) -- and MAKE THE LEARNING VISIBLE

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What are skills that students need? Harvard professor Tony Wagner made a list with seven Survival Skills:
1. Can you communicate?
2. Can you cooperate and work with other people?
3. Can you ACCESS and ANALYZE information?
4.  Can you take the INITIATIVE (can you start something?  Can

you propose a project?  Can you persuade a teacher or a group to allow you to do something that you want to do?)
5. Can you SOLVE PROBLEMS?  (Critical thinking)
6. Are you ADAPTABLE?  Are you AGILE and flexible?
7.  Do you see "another way"?  (Are you creative?  Can you use your IMAGINATION?)

The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done. Jean Piaget
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jean_piaget.html

The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done. Jean Piaget
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jeanpiaget403394.html

The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done. Jean Piaget
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jean_piaget.html
See Tony Wagner's page.   How would you describe his list of Seven Skills?

What is your way of describing these skills?   How would you demonstrate your abilities?

Here are some Online Skills:  
(1) how to promote and how to INFLUENCE public opinion (draw attention to a special project) and 
(2) how to say "Thank you" and 
(3) how to write about a place that you care about (and use photos)

 The following activities can give students a chance to develop thse "creator" skills (beyond commenting about and consuming experiences).

a) Add to Google Earth and Google Reviews (add a photo and a comment)

b)  Leave a YELP review or a Google Review (say "thank you")

c) Create a website to show something or explain something.  Make a portfolio of a student's work:  Free Website Project

d) Write a review of a book (Amazon.com and Goodreads.com)
Why should we read that book?


e)  Write a review of a movie (IMDB.com)

f)  Add information to a Wikipedia article

g)  WANDER THE WORLD.  Walk the streets of a city that is difficult or expensive to visit.
TIP:  Preview the videos ahead of class time to find videos that have good features (stable camera work, pauses that allow you to stop the video and ask questions about the location).

One of the benefits of leaving reviews is the experience of using writing to persuade.  When you leave a review, you get points toward your status as a Google Local Guide.

GOOGLE LOCAL GUIDE

In case Wagner changes his page, you can see an archive here
OBJECTIONS
a)  "We don't have enough bandwidth to allow students to go on our local wifi at the same time."
Remedy:  Active access to wifi is needed only to grab attention of the students --  "This is a real project and your words really will appear in front of hundreds of people."
Dennis Littky calls this "real work" instead of "fake work."  Fake work appears to be connected to the real world.   Real Work actually reaches strangers and people who might care about the words that your students are posting.

b)  "If we allows students to go on social media, they will get distracted."
Remedy:  Give students a sheet of paper to put their reviews.  Then arrange for the reviews to be quickly typed and posted so that others can see the reviews.   
The items can go on a Google Doc or a blog that is shared with the students.   
Homework can be given to ask the student to share the link with her friends and invite them to "like my video or leave a comment about a review."
The items that are well-written can be posted for the public to see.

c) "Many parents are fearful about having their children's faces and vieos online."
Remedy:  Point the camera at a poster.
The students talk, their faces are not on camera.
The video can be posted on Google Drive and the distribution can be LIMITED to specific people.
d)  "We are worried about cyber bullying.  Mean comments can attack the work of students."
Remedy:  Make the work anonymous.
Allow students to use pseudonyms.  If I'm "Reaper Johnson" or "Ana Maria Fantasia" I can hide and pretend that I'm from Boise, Idaho or Lilongwe, Malawi.
Limit the distribution by sharing the link ONLY with the teacher, principal and the student.  

RESOURCES for TEACHERS
Here are some links to places for students to post a movie review (or for the teacher or the teacher's assistant and volunteer to put the reviews)

1. YOUR Movie Reviews - Rant or Rave Right Here!

   www.moviequotesandmore.com/movie-reviews/

   Write YOUR Movie Review Here ... the external critics review pages at IMDb.com, one of the biggest movie websites in the world! ... Get going and start writing…

2. Top 10 Film Review Websites - Raindance

   www.raindance.org/top-10-film-review-websites/

   Apr 10, 2013 ... If you are looking for the daddy of all film review websites, Roger ... The sites authors write the reviews on this site and they give each title a ...

3. How to Write a Movie Review (with Sample Reviews) - wikiHow

   www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Movie-Review

   This wikiHow will show you how write a movie review, from drafting to writing to ... Search the movie online; most websites will include information about the cast.

4. 7 Tips for Writing a Film Review - Daily Writing Tips

   www.dailywritingtips.com/7-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/

   Jul 9, 2011 ... I was writing the equivalent of book reports: movie reports. ... If your target audience is fanboys (and fangirls) on a movie-geek Web site, though, feel free ... Writing film reviews is in one way a thankless task: Often, readers will ...

5. Writing a Movie Review - Austin Peay State University

   www.apsu.edu/sites/apsu.edu/files/academic-support-center/Mo...

   Mar 22, 2012 ... Resource: website Spirit of Baraka. Writing a movie review is a great way of expressing your opinion of a movie. The purpose of most movie ...

6. A good Site to write Movie Reviews? | Yahoo Answers

   answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100723065802A...

   Wheres a site where you can write movie reviews? ... It is a movie review website where anyone can site up and start reviewing movies.
   
   Here are some examples of Photos posted on Google Earth (which can be posted on a volunteer's laptop.  The hard drive space used is around 85 MB)
   
   
   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   
   
   
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   http://www.makinglearningvisibleresources.org/

   
   Make Learning Visible is a project 
   http://www.makinglearningvisibleresources.org/