Video Critique

Watching oneself on video can be excruciating. For me, personally, I don’t feel as if the image on the screen is the real me. The person I go through the day with sounds much different and, of course, I don’t have to watch myself move around, walk, talk, and interact. Seeing myself on screen was an interesting exercise.
Overall, in watching my video clip, I liked that my voice was modulated and not too fast. It had a good pacing and was easy to follow, allowing for time in between important concepts for emphasis. I did not, to my relief, use a lot of ‘ums’ or ‘ahs’ or likewise pausing-for-the-next-thought phrasing. I was to the point and precise most of the time. I also felt that I was adequately able to convey the point of the subject matter I was discussing and able to use the accompanying video to illustrate my points properly and with good timing.

Those positive impressions aside, there were some things I did not like about watching myself in front of a classroom of people. The camera’s distance to me was considerable enough so that I could not see my facial expressions, but my overall body language was a bit dull. I did not move around a whole lot except to start and stop the video or use the appropriate technology. While I gave my lesson, I stood very close to the podium and didn’t move around because I was afraid to get in the way of the projection of the video I was playing behind me. I did use my hands a bit but my movements were small and did not attract much attention. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not considering that my purpose was that my audience would watch the video while I spoke and not watch me wave my hands around to jump about the room. Nonetheless, I felt I could have been more animated; I seemed stiff and uncomfortable due to my lack of movement.

Among the footage I edited out of my video, I found myself looking at my notes too often and seeming to read directly from them. I much more enjoy presentations in which the presenter speaks off the cuff. In most cases, it conveys that they know the material well enough not to have to have their notes directly in front of them. So I felt that it was necessary to edit out the portions of the video in which I spoke while I looked at my printed notes.

From a technological standpoint, I love the way the video turned out. I was able to cut out the portions of the video that I found to be less than desirable. And, I was able to add a portion of the “Amazing Optical Illusions” video I found on YouTube.com directly over my video so that it was clearly displayed while I continued to speak in the background. As a finishing touch I added a title to the beginning of the video to introduce the subject matter of my presentation. The end result seems very professional to me and I’m happy with the way it looks.

Critiquing Yourself

It's such a meta type of activity - critiquing oneself. Initially, I approached this with hesitation, hating the sound of my voice and seeing myself move around on video. In my mind's eye, I don't look or sound like that at all. To edit my video, I had to separate my feelings about seeing and hearing myself from my editing goals. In the end, I pared it down pretty effectively and found myself feeling alright about the final product. I hope it never becomes a common practice to have teachers watch video of themselves teaching for means of critiquing their skills.

Video Editing

Let's GO! I'm so ready to learn how to do this, although I think I've got a pretty good idea of the basics of video editing. Knowing the specifics will help me both in Tech and Topics and with a lesson plan I'm working on for 411. Excellent timing!

How I incorporated technology into my classroom...

For this specific lesson regarding the application of literary criticism and theory as reading comprehension strategies, I chose to use a visual representation video I found on YouTube.com. Since literary criticism may seem to be a rather esoteric and philosophical concept for students, I thought a visual might help them grasp the overarching issue.

The video I selected shows how a filter can be imposed on an object/piece of art and as a result change what we, the viewer, can see. Literary criticism works in similar fashion, giving readers of a text the ability to apply a filter that may change or give added dimension to the work as a way of enhancing the reader’s understanding of a text. As in the video, it may not always be obvious at the outset how literary criticism will enhance the reader’s understanding but going through the process provides students with the chance to stretch intellectually and view the text through a different lens and, hopefully, as a result they can move through the interpretation of literature in new and different ways into seeing that these techniques can also help them to view their world in similar ways.

I chose to use YouTube because it is such a well-known internet presence. I thought incorporating it into a lesson would help connect with students while it allows them to see an authentic educational application of YouTube aside from its entertainment value.

Here's a link to the video. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvvcRdwNhGM