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Week One Reflections

Reflections from week 1

What did you learn about video editing?

Planning is crucial!  Getting a structure in place before hitting 'record' is very wise. We made this.  Video editing can be a massive time-suck, though, so care must be taken to accept imperfection.

How is your understanding of the purpose of education visible in your classroom?

I regularly refer to the idea that we are equipping ourselves for life beyond school, as active participants in and contributors to society.  I explain to students that I'm in the business of giving them options for how they do this.  I believe that education has the power to give choice, which can then be a lever for change, and I'm careful to ensure students are clear on directly proportional relationship between what they achieve in school and the options they are afforded outside of school.

How might I like to record and share my learning with a wider community?

I could make this blog public, and/or I could become more active on twitter.  However, I have misgivings about presuming that I have anything to contribute!  Sharing for the sake of sharing can often be simply an ego-inflating exercise, but I want publishing to force me to check my own assumptions and conclusions, and to ensure that I have given due consideration to what it is I publish.

How did you lead and follow during the collaborative task?

Successful collaborators must be good at both leading and following.  In this case I did more leading; I'm inclined to take a leading role when I have vision and believe I have the skills to back it up.  In this case I had a vision for the video, and I was able to 'sell' the others on this vision.  We were then able to pool resources in the form of knowledge, expertise, and devices.
When hearing about my vision the other group members listened, made suggestions, and jumped in.  This made me feel supported and empowered.  It fed into a positive feeling among the group that I feel contributed to the great end result.  Once we had a structure and plan, others took a lead role (e.g. when explaining how the filming worked and suggesting how best to approach that challenge) and I was able to switch into 'followership'.  I enjoyed this as the responsibilities were shared, and I could see that others felt empowered in making suggestions and decisions.

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