Session Description: New Tools as a New Educator

My presentation is about my experience as a first year educator. I plan to share with you some of the tools that helped me get through the year. As educators it is our job to reinvent the classroom experience once again and help students become more engaged than ever before.

Introduction (12 mins.)

Hello, my name is Ian Berry. I would like to start off by saying that I am an avid lover of film, photography, and everything in between. My love started out when I was a freshman in high school. I took a video production class every year from freshman to senior. I followed this same love out of high school, from Virginia all the way to Texas I followed this same love and desire for the medium of film. I landed in Austin, Texas of all places. I soon learned that following my dream was difficult, and maybe, just maybe I should go to school to better understand what it means to be a real filmmaker. Many enduring years later I graduated from Austin Community College with an associates of arts in radio, television, and film. While at ACC I took extra classes and gained two other certificates, none of which helped me land a job. After I graduated I moved to Dallas where I kept pursuing a college career. I graduated with a bachelors of arts in media arts from the University of North Texas and finished a semester early while also making the dean’s list. My love for multimedia continued to grow after I graduated, but then the world stopped. Film Productions were halted and I, like many of us, were left without jobs. We were all left to contemplate what to do but no means of how to do it, it was a first for this generation. I realized during this time that even though my career in education was arduous I wanted to pursue teaching and learning more about multimedia. I wanted to give back to my Virginia community that I left so long ago, so I left Texas and moved back to Virginia. I witnessed firsthand that my community was suffering, and educators were in mass exodus. It figured it was my time to step up and give back. To make a long story long, I received a provisional at one of the high schools in my county as a STEM teacher. I went back to school for my masters and am currently enrolled at Old Dominion University where I’m working toward becoming certified so I can teach and keep working with multimedia as a librarian. Even though I am a new educator I want to talk to you all about some of the tools I’ve found helpful as a new teacher. Tools that are important because the next generation of learners, as you may already know, learn a little bit differently. I’m excited to share with you four tools, Pixabay, Canva, Kapwing, and Prezi. I hope these programs will inspire but more importantly help you become even more successful educators.

Pixabay (10 mins.)

Using Pixabay.com to help you source your video and still images is a great tool that allows you to work without having to worry about creative copyright. 90% of the images in this project are all from Pixabay. Using images and videos are an extremely important tool because it helps to keep students’ attention. Using bullet points and long sentences without references will simply not work well for this generation of learners. Educators today have to figure out the best way to keep students focused and engaged, using photographs and videos to do just that. Using pictures and videos won’t only help students, it will also help educators as well to stay on topic. Pixabay.com helps streamline media for educators so they can do their job better and more efficiently, by having an extensive and up-to-date library of multimedia. Using Pixabays images and videos will help prepare students, especially 3rd graders who are preparing for their science SOL. HD images of our solar system will keep students attention and better prepare them for the Virginia SOLs.

Canva (8  mins.)

Canva is a fantastic tool for educators that allows for combining information with still images. I used Canva to create an infographic that helps put in context just how large certain countries are. Combining pictures from Pixabay and information from the internet, allows me to better represent facts side-by-side while keeping their context. Combining facts with pictures is a very important tool to have with this generation of learners. The essential understanding of the Virginia SOL on Life Science for 7th graders requires students to understand and be fluent with concepts of cellular structure and division. Using an infographic can help students remember concepts just like this one by combining cell facts and vocabulary with pictures or models. Canva is a sharp tool that educators must add to their toolbox, I promise you won’t regret becoming familiar with this program.

Kapwing (10 mins.)

Similar to Canva, Kapwing is a valuable resource that combines both still and moving images. This past year educators had no other choice to become more familiar with the medium of video. Kapwing is a free editing tool that allows teachers to add or take away elements so that the final product is more engaging and polished. As I explained earlier in the introduction, my background is in video production. It amazes me that a video program like Kapwing exists, and you don’t even have to buy a Mac product to use it. Personally David Attenborough’s nature documentaries have had a long lasting impression on me. Sir Attenborough’s love for nature, education, and the world around him transpires from a simple medium like film, and into the hearts of children, adults and educators around the world. Using the medium of film to better understand the world around oneself is only bettered by virtual reality. 5th graders are expected to take the Virginia SOL on Earth Science, by using Kapwing and simple video capturing technology kids can learn about the world around them by capturing and editing it. Using post-production and gaining such skills at an early age will help keep students invested in the world around them by interacting with it.

Prezi (5 mins.)

Prezi helps to reinvent and bring powerpoints into the next generation. As you have been witnessing, Prezi is a powerful tool that fulfills an engaging presentation experience. It is easy to build and tune the experience so it feels more like a journey, rather than a traditional powerpoint presentation. Prezi is by far the most powerful tool in my toolbox as a first year teacher. In a room full of 20 ninth and tenth graders, Prezi helps me keep all of their attention spans. Items like GIFs, pictures, tables, etc. are all easily uploaded straight from GIPHY or UNSPLASH. In this presentation I stayed with Pixabay materials because I already know the creative commons are safe. Using Prezi to help 9th graders prepare for the Earth Science and the Virginia SOLs  so they can better compare different classifications of weight and measurement would be a simple and engaging experience. I hope you all will take time to explore Prezi and the rest of the tools I have introduced today. Our goals as educators should be to stay current on multimedia resources so students don’t fall behind. Thank you so much for your time and having me.