Adventures in After School Learning Blog

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Scribd is an amazing service for publishing and connecting with readers. We just uploaded a new set of curriculum samples and are amazed by their entire ecosystem.

It's a snap to upload any PDF, Word doc or PowerPoint there. To connect with your audience you can share links through Facebook or email.  If you want to keep a document right on your website you can also embed their code, like I did below.  Their system is super easy to use and also gives the publisher the option to let readers download any document.

Take a look at our "Screenwriting for Short Video" and the "Cookie Jar Mystery" samples below.

I'm certain many after school directors have valuable information on upcoming events or happenings they'd love to share.  It's free...so go get your Scribd account started today! 

 

Screenwriting for Video Sample

 

Cookie Jar Mystery Sample

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Lesson Structure

To make this course easy to teach in an after school setting, we designed a format that promotes active learning, discussions and clear goals for high school students.

Every lesson in Screenwriting for Short Video begins with an overview of the goals for the day and the timeline in which students should accomplish these tasks:

Activity 1 – Notes to the Student
This section included in both Facilitator's guide and Student Production Book is a hybrid of activities, including a brief review of material covered in the previous lesson, a “lecturette” or shared reading that covers new material in the lesson, and time for questions and answers. Occasionally, a brief activity supports the reading.

Activity 2 - Film Forum
Brings students together to watch a brief student-made short film, and to explore how new material covered in their notes may or may not be a factor in the screenwriter’s or filmmaker’s process. A discussion question set follows. Students will practice their higher order cognitive skills in evaluation by completing the Film Critic’s Scorecard for each film.

Activity 3 – Hands-On Activity
Innovative activities in every lesson engage students in fun, challenging tasks, such as deconstructing movie posters, experimenting with dialogue, inventing taglines, creating publicity strategies, writing film “treatments,” and many others.

Activity 4 – Unleash the WriteGeist
These 10-15 minute blocks in every lesson are set aside for students to write/work on their individual screenplays. These writing blocks immediately follow activities to help students quickly capitalize on what they’ve learned and encourage them to apply new information and techniques to their final products.

Activity 5 – Journal Jumpstart
Designed primarily to extend writing time, the “jumpstart” specifically directs students to attend to a fine point of screenwriting covered in the day’s lesson.

 

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Here are two more presentation you can use to get your new staff up to speed on both the "Cookie Jar Mystery: A Study in Forensic Science" and "The Cookie Jar Case: A Mock Trial Role Play." This combined with our training tips should help them feel confident and prepared to solve this classroom caper!

 

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, August 31, 2011

More training tools for the "Missing Money Mystery: An Introduction to Forensic Science."

 

Download the complete PowerPoint presentation with script here!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Here's another training script available for "Playing with Percussion" and a
little music from Brian to enjoy while looking over the PDF!

 

You can download the complete PowerPoint slides with scripts here!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, August 17, 2011

It seems more and more these days, time for specialized training is at a premium. When I say specialized I mean, a training on a particular process, software or curriculum that only applies to one or two staff members.  

Maybe it’s the strain on budgets or just the impracticalities and inefficiencies of bringing so many people together at once. It’s hard to say exactly.

Many site leaders I know will kick off the year with a one or two day training to cover everything needed to get operational like working with a student information system for attendance, lesson planning or a refresher on classroom management.  They get a lot of business done here and also get to check off the mandatory training hours many states require for certification.

So to help our customers with individual training needs, we’re continually working on discrete “train-the-trainer” materials designed for site leaders working with one or two instructors.  This seems to work better for most sites’ time budget and applies the training only to the teachers that have an immediate need. Once a couple of teachers have run through a course, they’re in excellent position to be a training facilitator for the next block.

Here’s a sample “train-the-trainer” presentation for “Being an Artist: A Cubism and College Experience.”