Well, here it is, folks. I got nominated by a few different friends from my PLN to write this. As I sit back and enjoy my winter break - without looming and/or scary deadlines  - I thought, heck, why not? 

So, I got nominated by 6 different people for this, all of whom asked different questions... Seriously, you didn't take time to collaborate on this Drew Frank, Antonio Vendramin, Shawn Davids, Sandy Kendell, Karl Lindgren-Streicher, and Jeremy Inscho?!? (Just kidding!) Anyways, I have decided to do a mash-up of all of their questions instead of answering all 66. And if I miss one that one of you really feel is important, feel free to complain to me so I answer the one you're really interested in! 

Without further ado, here are the Sunshine Awards Rules:

1. Acknowledge the nominating bloggers.
As I mentioned above. All of these folks are seriously eduawesome and inspire me regularly to think of new perspectives and to take educational risks in my classroom. I'm so thankful for each of these connections as they have inspired me in so many ways. Thanks!

2. Share 11 random facts about myself.
The part where you get to know WAY too much about me:

7) I have been to 11 different countries, but only have travelled once by myself - that was this summer when I went to San Francisco.

8) Growing up, my family used to go to a lake in Saskatchewan every year for a couple weeks. Now they own a cabin out there and I make a point to make the same trip to them every summer.

9) I never used to like cheese OR pizza as a kid. At birthday parties, I either: A) Didn't eat, or B) Was that high-maintenance kid that the parents had to scramble around to find food for. I began liking both pizza and cheese in high school. In hindsight, I probably should have kept on not liking it... because now I can't get enough!!!

10) I've only lived in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia for the past 3 1/2 years. Before that I attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton and lived there for 4 years.

11) My heroes are my parents. They worked so hard to make an amazing lives for their children and for themselves. Their ambition and passion for life drives me every single day to be better than I was yesterday. 

3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating bloggers have created for me.
Again - I mashed these up and picked the ones I had pretty good answers for. If you really need to know the answers to one of yours, you know how to contact me! :)

1. What is your favourite movie of all time?
This question is fitting for this evening. My favourite movie of all time is The Nightmare Before Christmas. My siblings and I watch it every year on Christmas Eve because of me.
   
2 . How do you caffeinate?
Every morning before work, I make orange pekoe tea with milk. Sometimes I'll make more at work if I'm extra tired. I don't variate from my morning tea choice, but I will drink herbal teas in the evening, especially if I'm cold (which is often). 

3. Describe your perfect day.
My perfect day? Loaded question. There's a lot of things that could make a perfect day, but it MUST start with sleeping in. I'm a night owl by nature, so sleeping in is my absolute fave! Of course, spending the day in good company would be important, starting with my favourite breakfast (eggs, toast, bacon, and hashbrowns). Oh, and it would be summer, so going to the beach, talking, reading a book, laying in the sun, going to a small pub for a refreshing drink and dinner, and an ocean-side sunset? Perfection.

4. What needs to happen in 2014 for you to be reflecting on a successful year 52 weeks from now?
Continual growth needs to happen. This path I've started on this year has been incredible and I don't want it to stop. I keep on gaining new ideas, pushing my boundaries, and becoming a better educator and person thanks to the amazing people I surround myself with on a day to day basis. However, the one thing I need to change is finding the ability to say "no" and spend important non-work time with those same people. That will make my year more successful in 2014.

5. What is the biggest risk you've ever taken in your life? How did it work out?
It might not seem like a big deal, but moving to British Columbia was a huge risk for me. It was the first time that I was "out of reach" from my immediate family and that was a scary notion in my mind. I ended up LOVING it (obviously because I'm still there!) and there are very few other places I would go to live forever.


6. Where is your "happy place"?
My happy place is on the end of the dock at my parents' cabin on a warm summer's day. There's something about staring out into the vastness of a beautiful lake, feet dangling in the cool water, and knowing your family surrounds you. 

7. Nickname? Current or past.
I've had a lot of nicknames in my day. Most people call me "Vicki" or "Vic", but my latest and greatest is thanks to Karl LS and John Stevens -- TorTor. Thanks, guys - it's a winner!

8. If you could do anything other than what you are currently doing career-wise, what would it be?
This is a REALLY difficult question. I think I'd still have to be working with people in some capacity as that is one of my greatest strengths. I think I'd be working in an athletic/fitness facility designing and delivering athletics and rec programming.

9. If you could send a message back to yourself 20 years ago, what would it say?
BE NICE TO YOUR MOTHER. We were at odds with one another for most of my adolescence. I wasn't very agreeable with her and didn't understand that she and my dad were trying to protect me and keep me safe. I now apologize for that phase of my life almost every time I see her.

10. If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about the public education system, what would it be and why?
I would change the lack of a team mentality that happens. With all of the political divides of governance, administration, teachers, support staff, parents, and community members, there is a mess of misunderstanding. If we were all willing to listen to one another and grow ideas together, we might actually get somewhere with the other problems. Relationships first.

11. What is the title and author of the last book you read for fun?
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

4. List 11 bloggers that I believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love! (These people can't include the blogger who nominated me.)

Karen Lirenman 
I know Karen already did this, but she is an awesome blogger and friend. She inspires me often and I'm so blessed to live so close to such an amazing educator of young children. She is full of ideas, support, and love for her fellow colleagues, which I admire.

Katherine Mulski
Kat, or "Teaching in the 21" as she is better known on Twitter, is also someone I am incredibly blessed to live near. She teaches a few blocks away from me and we are in very similar places in our lives. She constantly pushes my thinking and helps to ground me when life gets away from me.

Chris Wejr
Chris is a forward-thinking administrator who I have the pleasure of planning EdCamp35 with. His blog is amazing and he is very well-spoken with his ideas on moving education forward. 

John Stevens
This is one of my favourite PLN friends that I met on my travels in SF. He is an incredible high school math teacher who just got a new position as an edtech director for his district. I can't wait to see him again in Palm Springs in March! 

Curt Rees
Curt Rees is a GREAT writer. He co-hosts the Techlandia podcast and always has great and grounded insight that come back to working with students. 

Bryn Williams
Bryn Williams is my other half to the foundations of #bcedchat. He is incredibly supportive, helpful, and is always looking to "build bridges" where folks disagree on edu-issues. Harmony must be his middle name.

Shawn White
I know that Karl already nominated Shawn, but WOW, what an incredible writer. I couldn't resist adding him to my 11 as well. I love talking to Shawn about education and have huge respect for his views and support as I've gone through my journey.

Seth Berg
Seth is a great blogger and someone who constantly shares his work with his PLN. Definitely worth checking out if you don't follow this blog.

Ben Brazeau
Ben's blog holds a special place in my heart because he told me that I was one of the people that inspired him to start it. It's really cool to think that I could have that impact on someone and I want to empower him (and others!) to go out and do the same! 

Garnet Hillman
Oh, Garnet. What can I NOT say about this girl?! She is one of the most reflective educators that I've ever met. She pushes herself to become better always and can constantly be found developing her ideas by sharing and conversing online. 

James Petersen
I had the pleasure of "meeting" James in #cdnedchat one evening, and we spoke for a few hours on the concept of sharing lessons. I know he has also completed this challenge, but is someone who deserves to have his blog looked at more, having added SO MANY ideas to it this year! 

5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers I nominate.

1. Are you a dog, cat, other, or no animal person? Why?
2. What is your favourite day of the year and what do you spend it doing? 
3. Who is one person from your PLN that you MUST meet at some point in your educational career?
4. What was the most rewarding moment for you as an educator? 
5. How do you eat an Oreo?
6. What is the scariest thing you've ever done? The result?
7. If you only got to take three inanimate objects to a desert island and had to survive there for a month, what would they be?
8. What is your favourite game/sport to play? When did you discover it?
9. Why did you become an educator? 
10. If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
11. Who is your favourite musical artist?

WELL...
This has been fun, but PHEW! That took a long time. Hope I can spread as much sunshine as got spread to me! Love my PLN! Much love, and happy holidays to all!

After creating my video about using Twitter for professional development, I had many members of my PLN asking how I did it. The short answer is "hard work and problem solving". The long answer is me writing a blog post about it, so... here it is.

(Also, you're welcome, Dean Shareski... I've finally done my homework.)

Here is the video below, if you're interested in watching it before reading the rest of this post on how I created it: 

My video editing tool of choice is Camtasia 2 by TechSmith. This is a paid desktop application that is better known for its ability to record audio and video through screencasting and edit the recorded media. 

Like most video editing tools, you can import external media like photo and video to include in your final product. This is how I brought together so many apps to create the final draft of this video. 

Below, I will break the process down into stages and discuss how each portion was completed and how you can replicate this in your own work with video creation.

Camtasia will automatically add the media file to your video project when you stop the recording on your task bar at the top of your computer (PC will look different than Mac). You can also select the option to start over if you need to retake the shot. This action will delete the original media file and restart the recording. If you feel that a portion of the take is usable (don't forget that you can cut anything!!), then select "Stop Recording" so that media file saves. 

Customizable overlays in Camtasia are available through the Annotations menu within the app. You can select and customize a range of options and coordinate when they appear on your video tracks when building your tracks atop one another. You can also resize them, select where they appear on the media, and/or include external media as annotations such as photo and video. 

Just a note that if you're getting someone to shoot your video for you on a device, do not let them commit the crime of Vertical Video Syndrome. You'll thank me later:

Step 2: Incorporating and Cutting VideoScribe

VideoScribe is that impressive and aesthetically-pleasing  iOS application that shows a person's hand "scribing" and drawing your video's story. My final Twitter video features many cuts from a single VideoScribe file that I created. This section will outline the basics of VideoScribe and how I made choices on cuts, sequencing, and storyboarding for my final product.

The VideoScribe app houses several free stock images and options that range across a variety of topics. You can also purchase additional images in-app or add customizable images/text. I chose the ones that were directly related to my topic and increased or decreased the "drawing time" depending on where I needed the clip and what I needed it for. For example, the Twitter image at the beginning of the video is prescribed to be about 30 seconds, but you can tailor that to be shorter or longer. If you are unsure of how much time you need the clip to be,  you can also speed up the clip in Camtasia (or whatever video editing tool you're using) after the media is imported. 

So when an element is selected at the bottom of the timeline, you can customize and preview the time it plays as well as the animation. I think that the time is the most important aspect to adjust here, as I've mentioned. Some of the clips are ridiculously long and can add quite a bit of time to your video if you don't cut them. You want to have a general idea of the time and how it will fit into your final product before you export your VideoScribe file.

After completing my VideoScribe timeline, I exported the final product to the Camera Roll. I then uploaded it into Google Drive so that I could access it from my Macbook. You could use any other cloud client or you could just connect the old-fashioned way to upload the video into iPhoto. Either way, easy and quick sharing of your VideoScribe file directly to your desktop, and voila! You can then cut up that file to your heart's desire.

There are two portions of the Twitter video where I utilize image layering and animation effects. Since I was on a mission to learn the most I could about this, I used two different programs for each part. One, I built in Camtasia by adjusting images and layering them over top of one another across multiple tracks. The other I built in Keynote, which was more simple by far. After I created the builds and animations for each image, I played the Keynote in full screen and recorded using QuickTime (you could use Camtasia for this also).

The other app I get asked about often is the Reflector App. This app allows you to Airplay your iPad screen to the screen of your computer. You can then capture the recording through the Reflector App itself, QuickTime, or Camtasia. This is a great app to use when you want to demonstrate something on the screen of your iPad through video. 

Step 4: Cutting it Up, Layering Tracks, Editing Audio


If I haven't mentioned it already, I have mad respect for professional video editors and creators after doing this project. The crazy part is that I haven't even scratched the surface of what is possible with this amazing technology, but I have already learned so much more compared to where I started. This section will outline some simple tricks when beginning your video editing process.


Cut It UP!

I'm a hack... and I don't mean computer hack; I mean that I like to chop things up . I record huge clips and cut out everything except for the tiny pieces that emphasize my message. Remember, MORE video footage is better than less - always record for longer than you think you have to because you can just cut it if you need to.

Sound Quality Matters!

If I had to pick one part of my video that I disliked, it would be the sound quality. As I mentioned before, I recorded most of my audio through my MacBook's microphone. This can be pretty inconsistent depending on the room and proximity of the mic from the audio source. I recommend using a high-quality mic and/or that one attached to a standard set of Apple earbuds works just fine, too. 

Camtasia allows you to split audio and video tracks so that you can adjust the volume, clip speed, etc. as you work. This can help to make your video shorter, regulate the volume from clip to clip, or to just plain cut out things that you don't want to include. 

Layering Tracks & Annotations - Experiment!

Don't be scared to play with layering image, audio, and/or video tracks over one another to see what they look like and how they can work together. Split audio from video so that you can manipulate each separately. Press the buttons. Drag things over top of one another. Experiment. That's the best way to learn!

I hope this post has helped some of you folks who were asking about my video!  Video creation is one of the areas that I continue to explore both for myself and with my students. Let me know if you have any other specific questions or if you have anything to add to this post below.

There are several powerful technological tools that can document visible thinking and learning for our students. Screencasting, voice recording, blogging, and video are at the forefront of the movement for student content creation and undoubtedly hold a lot of clout in helping teachers to assess for next steps in instruction.

When creating screencasts, my students' thought processes have become more complex as they speak their thinking about learning processes aloud. They take time to consider their words carefully in order to create authentic recordings of their learning. However, as my students work on these mediums, I'm not convinced that students' simple documentation of their thinking is enough. Sure, it tells something to me as the teacher, but does it reach full potentials for the student? 

This brings me to the most incredible choice I've made in my classroom so far this year: pushing for a consistent blend student self-assessment, constructive criticism toward and from their peers, and materials that inform my future teaching.

When screencasting, there is nothing more powerful than students listening to the playback of their own thinking. This process of re-reading, reflecting, and re-vamping is necessary in so many other facets of our classrooms, though. The challenge for educators lies in teaching students how to take fair and meaningful reflections and assessments of their own work. Though this is a little bit meta  (learning how to assess your own learning ), it is amazingly powerful when students learn what they need to improve about themselves and their work, and when they choose to do so independently.

Explicit instruction and one-on-one interviews are absolutely necessary in the beginning of this teaching. It helps to set your expectations for each student's self-assessments as well as finding out about theirs. The end result helps them to shape their evaluations of themselves and base this thinking on a growth mindset: "What could I do better?" and "How can I do it better?" 

After seeing the power of this in areas such as reading and math, I have begun integrating multiple student self-assessments into every subject area both with and without technology. My conclusion thus far is that student engagement is not improved simply by use of technologies, but rather, by meaningful student-centred pedagogy. From improving recorded playbacks, to monitoring self-progress through checklists, student blogging, reflection on completed tasks, and goal creation for the future, it has been nothing short of rewarding to watch my students take charge of their own learning. 

How do you your students assess their own work? How do you help students to make appropriate and fair judgments of their own work to improve for the future? Your commentary is appreciated as I continue to build on this aspect of my classroom.