The Media Spot

TAOTS is a brand new school in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, that is building an innovative curriculum from scratch, based on the Schoolwide Enrichment Model of education.  Starting with K-1, our focus during their first year will be to help their "digital natives" develop age-appropriate technology skills as they develop the ability to communicate using a variety of media. 

Mr. Tandarich, a 5th Grade teacher at PS 124, in Brooklyn, NY is a comic book lover. I have worked with Mr. T to integrate technology into his curriculum since 2005 -- his preference is normally to work within his literacy curriculum around student reading of classic novels. We've always looked for ways of incorporating Mr. T and his students' familiarity and interest in the comic book genre along with 21st century forms of storytelling, and this year, it came together in 5-501's Classic Production of The Invisible Man!

Super Battery Fairy, a PSA on recycling rechargeable batteries by Class 4-302 at PS 124 will be showing at the Thirteen/WNET, WLIW21 Celebration of Teaching and Learning as a winner of the 2010 Chase Multimedia in the Classroom Awards Competition.

An instant classic, the students at GSS at PS 32 in Gowanus, Brooklyn worked with TMS collaborators, Brian Smith, Jacqueline Arias, and myself, to produce this spoof of reality TV, and corresponding PSA, during our genre study afterschool video production workshop series.

After researching hazards related to the improper disposal of rechargeable batteries, students wrote a script with Mr. Marsano keeping them focused on the problem, and what the students wanted their audience to do about it. To "hook" their audience, students decided to take a serious tone with elements of humor.  Come on in and have a look at their PSA, the "making-of" process-based documentary, and our production notes. 

In June of 2009, 4 teachers at PS 334, The Anderson School (one of my AUSSIE schools) traveled to the Galapagos Islands to cap off the development of a school-wide multi-discipline curriculum-building initiative. To expand the potential value of this trip, we used a variety of technology-based resources including digital video and photos, collaborative online digital presentation software (Voicethread.com), an integrated online curriculum map, and a project blog to create and share re-useable custom resources, and to enable teachers to interact with students from the islands.

The teachers and students at PS 334, The Anderson School, a gifted-and-talented K-8 school Rhys has been consulting with through AUSSIE since 2008, were presented with a unique opportunity to integrate multiple technologies into an exciting opportunity bridging media literacy, traditional classroom learning, and natural science studies. All grade levels collaborated to create multimedia products that would transform their traditional curriculum and embrace the challenge of creating new learning materials to inform their own understanding of the world, while combining new acquisition and practice of technical literacy skills like video production, web development, Internet-based and collaborative annotation resources, with new literacy skills like researching information on the Internet and composing text-based documents on a computer, as well as traditional and real world competencies, like public speaking, teamwork and community building, and persuasive writing.

In 2009, we began consulting with PS 686, The Brooklyn School of Inquiry (BSI), a gifted and talented magnet school, to build media literacy concepts and integrated technology practices into their brand new curriculum, starting with K-1.

Australian and United States Services in Education, (AUSSIE) is a professional development company renowned for their math and literacy consulting in over 650 schools in New York, Australia and New Zealand. Digital School Solutions is AUSSIE's new team of educational consultants focused on providing customized embedded professional development for schools across the country informed by the NETS standards.

Good Shepherd Services is a "A social service and youth development agency serving vulnerable New York City children and families". We began working with GSS in the Spring of 2007