Video

To get video of ourselves teaching is a real challenge. We can all agree that the reticence on sending in videos to share with others here is well-founded and very understandable for all of us. It’s a pain in the rear to set up the camera, we have to get releases from the students, we have to be on our A game on the day we film, which is rarely the case, there are so many real world obstructions to good CI instruction anyway all the time in our buildings, then we may want to edit it before sending it in here, etc. etc. We want the film to represent our best work because we are putting ourselves out there in front of some really talented teachers. I just wish there was a way that we could use video at the same level of informality that we write our blog comments, talking to each other all day in the way we do. Why can’t we see video in that light? We shouldn’t see our videos as some kind of model of something perfect any more than we see the comments we make here as any more than a way of thrashing through our daily thoughts and experiences about what is truly a very very difficult thing to learn. If we don’t soldier on and get this video piece working in spite of the inconvenience and our fears, then we would be the ones to lose big. We have safety from internet gossip here, we have a small group, and we have been building trust for year now since we went private. We just can’t let propriety and image get in the way of our communicating via the internet at the highest possible level for our greatest good as teachers, is what I am saying. So, let’s go for it. Michele’ video is a good example of how we can learn from each other if we just take the risk.