Saskatoon Public School announced that they were anticipating vacancies for the following school year. The school division indicated that they were accepting letters of interest for these positions. I wrote a letter for the position of Online Learning Teacher. I have never made a video for a potential job. Truth be told, I have always stayed true to the cover letter as a communication tool between myself and an employer. I chose to make a movie presentation to introduce myself, to highlighting my strength and abilities, and to take a different yet logical angle to this letter of interest.
I made my video on my iMac. I used iMovie 7.1.4 The introduction was shot with my built-in camera using a black backdrop. The title image is from a pre-made template. The Google Earth clip was recorded with Jing Pro. The still images were shot from 2006-2008 from several different occasions. These images were salvaged from my scortched iMac after the house fire this summer. The Educational Technology Tools showcase were also recorded with Jing Pro. The music is by Depart. (I am a huge JoJo Mayer fan). In this movie I featured part of the song Prospection.
So enough said. Here is my iMovie.
For the longest time, I have wanted to update my About section on my blog with a multimedia presentation but have yet to do so. Maybe this first iMovie project will encourage me to do so.
This year I have submitted a proposal to the Saskatoon Public School Professional Book Club for the 2008/2009 school year. My proposal was accepted and now I go by the name of “champion”. I have been a champion before but never have I been a book champion. The book that was accepted by the SPS PD department isThe 7 Keys To Comprehension by Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchins.
Last year I developed a multiple part presentation where I isolated one comprehension key and “taught” it for parents from my home-school and community. (My presentation slides are posted here.)The École Elsie Mironuck School Community Council supported the evenings (Come Read With Me) and the turn-out varied greatly from the first to last presentation. The best part of these presentations was working with an amazing colleague from my home-school, Rochelle Rugg, who facilitated a learning discovery session for kids. Her focus was: How to find the right book in the library- a session that would hopefully eliminate students returning from the library with books that are below or above their reading level and the subsequent frustration this caused for our young readers.
I am comfortable admitting that I was worried that my book club wouldn’t generate a sniff of interest from the Saskatoon Public teachers. I have only been with this school division for a few months and very few people know who I am. They might not be interested in participating in a book club with an unknown book champion. I am not ashamed to admit that I used a few additional moments of my STF/STA time slot in our local staff meeting to plug my book club. I excused the fact that the items were not related and explained how important it was for myself that at least one person be interested in and signup for my presentation. (You know, that lingering fear of rejection that we all seem to have.) My local-school staff sounded interested and I saw a few people make some notes as I made my plug. (Maybe one would want to come find-out more!?!)
Earlier, prior to the local staff meeting, I had received an email about another professional book club. When reviewing the format and information included in it’s call for participants I thought: “Oh great! Look at all this great stuff that was included. I should have included this (a direct quote from the book) in mine!” This book champion had included more inciting information (then myself) to encourage participants to sign up for her session. I was stricken with “call for participants envy”. For a moment I considered rewriting my call for participants using this “better” format. After a short moment I decided that it would not be necessary. Thursday night I did wonder: How could someone make an attractive call for participants to a book club when the invitation is sent by email and posted on a school board PD portal? Would an image of the book help? Does color coding headers, adding text attributes, and varying the size of the text influence a person’s decision? Or are the people interested going to register because they are interested and those uninterested not going to register? Can somebody really set themselves and their presentation aside as truly being outstanding in an email? I often reflect on the importance of presentation and delivery of conent. It has been the subject of several of my past blog posts.
Here is the professional book club proposal that was sent to members of the Saskatoon Public Schools:
SPS Professional Book Clubs 08-09
New Book Club Invitation
7 KEYS TO COMPREHENSION
By Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchinson
Introductory Meeting:
Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Central Office, Room 3304
Book Club Champion – Charles Paul Bazin Webster
There will be two additional meetings:
- December 17th, 2008 from 16:00 -17:00 in room 3304 at the central office.
- January 14th, 2009 from 16:00 – 17:00 in room 3304 at the central office.
- Register Now Online -
Background Information on the Book:
Teachers working with readers of all ages will profit from reading The 7 Keys to Comprehension. It identifies 7 keys to unlocking students` ability to comprehend what they are reading.
The book has a broad focus across the K-12 grade level. It contains tips and helpful information for parents and teachers alike. The topic of this book meshes well with Saskatoon Public’s Literacy for Life plan.
This Professional Book Club will meet in person and online to explore this valuable content. This book is well written and empowering for literacy teachers. A great read full of great ideas that will improve student achievement!
NOTE: For each SPS Professional Book Club there is an introductory meeting at which the champion provides background information about the book/topic. At the conclusion of this introductory meeting participants can decide whether they want to join the club for subsequent meetings. Books are provided to those who want to continue with the book club.
For this book club, you are invited to attend the introductory meeting on Tuesday, November 26, 2008, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Central Office, Room 3304 Register Here
Pleaseregister onlineso we know how many participants to expect.
My call for participants was sent out Thursday at 3:53pm. The maximum amount of people set for my professional book club is 20. I am glad to see tonight that my fear of offering a book club and having it generate no interest hasn’t materialized itself. Already I have had a few people register for my book club, one of which is a colleague from my local school.
Prior to the book club’s introductory session, I will be meeting with the head of the Professional Development office of Saskatoon Public Schools to setup a team site for our professional book club. To keep things simple, I thought having a Saskatoon Public team site would be easiest. I am in favor of any online tool that facilitates communication, collaboration, and sharing of resources. I am unsure what online tool would best fit a book club for the above-mentioned purposes where all persons are equal in status. Currently I am leaning towards a wiki but hesitant because they don’t thread easily for clear communication. A blog with comments annexed to posts doesn’t really satisfy my desire for the equal status and collaborative elements that I would prefer. Is there such a thing as a forum/wiki hybrid? In my mind this type of tool would work best for our book club. Then again, I don’t want to exclude or alienate possible participants because of the potential digital literacy aspect to this book club…
Regardless of your status, as either being registered or not registered for my book club, I recommend this book to you as a parent, educator, or member of the community. As I stated in my call for participants: “This book is well written and empowering for literacy teachers. A great read full of great ideas that will improve student achievement!”
Keep checking back to read and find out more about what our book club is up to and the general success of my first swing at this book champion thing!
