Seniors in Elements of College-Level Literature and Composition are tasked with writing a project proposal and researching it using films, video games, books, or music albums. The proposal, once approved, contains what their topic is, what their materials will be, and an overarching research question they will consider as they delve into the topic.
The seniors were then filmed presenting on their topic. I took their films and uploaded them to YouTube where I used annotations to provide feedback on their performance. I’ve included a few examples with brief descriptions.
Andrew Kluge – The Trade of the Century
Andrew discussed the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the LA Kings from the Edmonton Oilers and how it changed the long term course of hockey in North America. It’s a great example of effective visuals that power his presentation and support his argument.
Marisa Mao – Heroism in Eastern and Western Cultures
Marisa had one of the most conceptually great ideas of all the presentations, though her organization could have been stronger. She has an issue during the video with her not being able to talk over the clip she shows, which sadly hampers a strong concept and unique idea.
Justin Lee – Moon and Oblivion
Justin showed off his film critic chops by comparing two very different films with similar themes. It’s a little too summary heavy to be great, but his visuals and ideas are still quite good.
These are just a few ranges of examples that highlight the potential of this project as well as areas I need to more effectively teach and model presentation and research skills. Hopefully this is a useful and fun way to look at video and feedback with the iPad and YouTube.
Mr. Paul, English Literature Teacher