Recipients of 2011 Global Forum Educator Awards Announced

Nov. 10, 2011

18 projects, and the teachers behind them, were awarded special recognition at the Partners in Learning Global Forum on November 10, 2011 in Washington, D.C. This year’s winners were selected from more than 115 projects, narrowed from more than 200,000 applicants, who competed at national and regional events over the course of the year.

Knowledge Building and Critical Thinking

Winner: Margaret Noble and David Stahnke (United States): “Illuminated Mathematics”: Using technology and creativity, students researched math theories and then produced self-selected digital art projects, which examined mathematics through the lenses of art, history and science. This inspired students to dig deeper, find real-world applications and develop their own perspective and understanding of how mathematics impacts their world.

Collaboration

Winner: Doug Bergman, Johnny Kissko, Louis Zulli, Donna Thomas and Margaret Noble (United States): “When Fish Fly”: Integrating computer science, fine arts, business and economics, student design teams developed a dynamic motion-based game simulation for Kinect for Xbox 360 that replicates the sights, sounds, history and “sense of place” of Pike Place Fish Co. in Seattle, Wash.

All Global Finalists

Presenting Illuminated Mathematics to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

‘When Fishes Fly’ Team

During Competition

Press Write-Ups

PR News

Wired Magazine

Union Tribune

Voice of San Diego

Publish By TeachTec
12/5/2011

Would you have a live TV broadcast from your classroom?

Ok, maybe yes, but how about if this was scheduled first thing Monday morning following a long Thanksgiving Break? Well, as they say, that’s how they roll at High Tech High.

Last week I had a fun opportunity to visit High Tech High School in San Diego, CA. This unique public charter high school draws students from a diverse set of backgrounds who are seeking a learning environment that emphasize real-world, project-based activities infused with a range of technologies to support the learning. Edutopia.org has done a nice job documenting the High Tech High experience in a couple pieces including this article on Hands-on Learning at High Tech High and this video.

What struck me the most when visiting was the self-starter driven nature of the learning environment. These are certainly not stand-and-deliver classroom environments, however beyond that, the kids were self-motivated, guiding their own activity and learning and doing so in positive ways. Moreover, this was Monday morning following a long holiday break and they seemed to not miss a beat (TV cameras notwithstanding)! Impressive.

The reason for my west coast journey south to visit the school was to meet with two superstar educators at High Tech High Margaret Noble and David Stahnke. It was an exciting day as the two were interviewed live from their classrooms by their local TV station for the Good Morning San Diego show that broadcasts daily.

The reason for this exciting classroom activity was that Margaret and David were selected as global winners at the Microsoft Partners in Learning Global Forum in Washington, DC last month. Winning the category of “Knowledge Building and Critical Thinking” their unique integration of Media Arts and Mathematics earned them a well-deserved 1st place award competing against 115 educators from 60 countries.

Kudos to reporter Brad Perry who jumped into the assignment with zeal engaging with the students, teachers and the principal along the way and making this a lead story for their show. It is not everyday teachers are acknowledged for the positive and innovative contributions they make and to do so in such a public forum should not be the exception.

Truly an exciting day and the recognition Margaret and David are getting in the local community is well-deserved, cheers to them.

Our Essential Guiding Questions:

-How do we help students to become more aware of their surroundings, in order to foster an educated, ethical, and empathetic community?

-How do we facilitate opportunities to help students translate experiences, investigations, and ideas into artistic renderings that effectively communicate new knowledge?

We devised an experiential project, “Complex City” in order to help students think critically about their communities.  In asking them to map an area of San Diego that had significance to them, we wanted them to step back from the familiar aspects of their community and city, and translate those aspects into a visual map. As part of this project, students researched, interviewed, and investigated their city and community in myriad ways. What they once thought was familiar suddenly became very unknown. By compiling their work and making collective and idiosyncratic maps of San Diego, they have been challenged to rethink what they understood to be the reality of the built environment around them, as well as to accept the new knowledges that their classmates contribute. They have become more invested in their own community because their new knowledge implicates them as involved citizens. Using Solnit’s Infinite City as one model, and our own creative explorations as another, we have made a series of complementary, contradictory, confounding and even contestatory maps of San Diego. These maps collect particular versions of this place (versions not always visible to others, or in traditional maps) as we see it in the fall/winter of 2011.

Instructors Margaret Noble & Rachel Nichols

Full color book with essays coming soon!

Below you will find photos and student projects:

Exhibition Photos

Research Presentations

Student Projects

Created by Nathaniel Ross & Jose Gonzales

Created by Neil Baffert & Kiraleigh Cooper

Created by Alex Avalos and Megan Alsheikh

Created by William Wright and Julia Taylor-Brown

Created by Holden Sarda and Diego Rodriguez

Created by Livy Solis and Marlene Barajas

Created by Javonne McCulloch and Filipina Pascasio

Created by Spencer Tamkin and Ciara White

Created by Tobi Brik and Tim Barrientos

Created by Ahsaki Hawkins and Gage Perry

Created by Jasmine Thomas and Michelina Miedema

Created by Lorena Palma and June Klages

Created by Jolena Palma and Maira Vierheller

Created by Malia Bence and Kelsey Rich

Created by Monika Consunji and Roxana Toscano

Created by Taylor Wren and Anthony Episcopo

Created by Jeffrey Acera and Antonio Robles

Created by Taylor Cook and Summer Clemmons

Created by Milan Finnie and Selam Fikre

Created by Carlos Zaragoza and Victoria Anderson

Created by Shyana Brown and Khadijah Townsend

Created by Brynna Arnold and Luz Morales

Created by Joe Kester and Dylan Heberling-Coffman

Created by Hannah Morris and Lauren Swope

Microsoft Selects the Nation’s Top Educators at the U.S. Innovative Education Forum

Outstanding educators using technology are recognized for their contribution and impact in teaching.

Knowledge Building & Critical Thinking Category

1st place: Kelli Etheredge, St. Paul’s Episcopal School, Mobile, Ala. Project Name: What’s the Verdict? The Count of Monte Christo Murder

2nd place: Margaret Noble and David Stahnke, High Tech High Media Arts, San Diego, Calif. Project Name: Illuminated Mathematics

More details here

Math Complexities & History: Instructors Margaret Noble and David Stahnke

Student project reviewed and featured in Best Tech Today.

Click here to read

Please note: The beauty of live performance is the magic and energy it brings to an audience in real time. Nuance, spatial sound and gestural motion is often lost when trapped in two-dimensional video archives. Below, the films are encoded with rough cut sound mixes from student rehearsals. As you watch the these films, try to imagine that every sound effect, sample and underscore is triggered live.

1.

Happy Endings
Written by Margaret Atwood

,

Adapted by Dorian Davies, Emilie Colwell, Libbby Simpson and Andres Gonzales

2.

In the Night
Written by Varlom Shalam

Adapted by Beth Lacarra, Robert Pearlman, Noah Rozenberg, Evan Falkenthal and Marc Curry

3.

The Necklace
Written by Guy de Maupassant

Adapted by Liseth Reyes, Connie Hernandez, Brent Springer and Jenny Caiza

4.

Currents
Written by Hannah Botany

Adapted by Danny Toscano, Alia Boynton, Christian Ostergaard and Constance Abram

5.

The Lottery

Written by Shirley Jackson

Adapted by Janae Noland, Alana Evans, Nicki Acosta and Sarah Wright

6.

The Barbie Birthday

Written by Alison Townsend

Adapted by Kim Mason, Erica Panado, Shannon Merrill and Osamah Elhams

7.

The Hit Man

Written by T. Coraghessan Boyle

Adapted by Marcus Alexander, Kurt Newcomb, William Schneider,

Eli Barber and Akari Adisa

8.

The Personal Touch

Written by Chet Williamson

Adapted by Richie Pedrena, Vanessa Siebold, Brynn O’Quinn and Ashley Kruger

9.

The Bank Robber

Written by Steven Schutzman

Adapted by Nolberto Amezquita, Francisco Bahena, Jimmy Flores

and Absolom Maniwong-Schlottman

10.

Sleeping

Written by Katherine Weber

Adapted by Holly Ryan, Ryan Van Vechten, Cassandra Orozco and Evrin Peavy

11.

Yukionna

Written by Unknown

(Classic Japanese Myth)

Created by Lynn Le, Shannon Sweet,  Nikita Atrash and Perla Aguilera.

In this instance, students developed their story through animation. Due to the amount of commitment involved with hand drawing and detailed motion graphics programming, students worked until the very end on visuals alone. Their sound score was embedded to video rather than live. However, their final product was incredible. Click here to view it.

Written by Unknown
(Classic Japanese Myth)

Created by Lynn Le, Shannon Sweet, Nikita Atrash and Perla Aguilera.

]]> http://margaretnoble.net/educator/san-diego-reader-event-pick/feed/ 0 http://margaretnoble.net/educator/adaptations/ http://margaretnoble.net/educator/adaptations/#comments Fri, 20 May 2011 18:58:27 +0000 admin http://margaretnoble.net/educator/?p=2404 On Tuesday May 17th, 2011 at 7:00 pm, students presented a silent film production which featured live sound performances at the Sushi Performance Art Center in downtown San Diego. Students adapted eleven short stories written by classic and contemporary authors into 5 minute films. The films screened were completely silent; all sound came from the students’ performances of original live scores, Foley sound effect work and turntable mixes.

In groups of 4-5 members, students were asked to direct, edit, tape and design films that delivered audiences a truly cinematic experience. Once the silent films were shot and completed, student groups were then asked to develop into a live sound design and music performance group. Their goal was to bring their stories to life through strategic audio choices. For many students, the equipment, software and media approaches were brand new to their learning experiences.

STEP 1:

Do several weeks of in class short story readings. Next, discuss these stories in depth, assess their viability to adapt to film and commit to produce one.

STEP 2:

Dissect your group’s story via character, prop, set and action analysis. Reproduce in print and power point with accurate photography of proposed actors, locations and graphic intertitles. Present to the class for critique.

STEP 3:

Shoot your film, edit your roughs and present to the class for written critiques/discussions. Repeat this process several times until your group produces its best visual work which articulates your story into a well done production.

STEP 4:

Now that your film is shot, develop a stable sound design system where each member has a role to perform.  Once you figure out some rough ideas, rehearse and develop while watching your film as much as possible. At first experiment with your sound ideas; they will eventually grow into full fledged compositions. Record your rehearsals, review the sound, take notes and revise. Finally, rehearse in front of audiences to get used to the experience of live performances in front of the public. Click here for ideas on how to arrange your group’s sound design.

STEP 5:

Professionally present the films and performances to an audience. Submit press releases to your local newspapers, print event programs and hand out invitations two weeks prior to the presentation. Break the event into acts and offer refreshments at intermission.

Click here to watch the silent films produced for this event

Click here to watch the silent films produced for this event

Click here to watch the silent films produced for this event

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Our picks of this week’s events

Film

“Shorts from the shorties: This week’s CityBeat pays homage to the Choose Your Own Adventure books from the 1980s, but Margaret Atwood was also playing with the interactive model in her short story “Happy Endings,” which lets the reader select between six different middles that culminate in the same ending. This short story is one of 11 works that High Tech High Media Arts students have adapted into five-minute films, which will be screened with live soundtracks at Sushi Contemporary Performance and Visual Arts (390 11th Ave. in East Village). The event, Adaptations, will also feature video interpretations of stories by T. Coraghessan Boyle, Guy de Maupassant and Shirley Jackson (yes, “The Lottery,” the frightening classic in which a town draws straws to see who gets stoned to death). The Tuesday, May 17, screening starts at 7:30 p.m. Free. margaretnoble.net/educator/adaptations”