Script: Questions to Ask Students

Basic Info:

·      Name/Age/Grade/How many years you have been at UNIS?

·      Favourite teacher?

·      Least favourite teacher? (to be kept confidential)

Questions:

·      What is your favourite class and why?

·      Do you like it when teachers use media (using the active-board, power points, video clips, etc)?

·      Is humor synonymous with good teaching?

·      Before assigning homework, do most of your teachers take into account your other classes/commitments? 

·      Do you feel the method of “self-teaching” works for you?

·      How well do you feel your teachers know you personally? (Not just your academic ability).

·      Where do the boundaries lie for how much to tell your teachers about your personal life?

·      In your opinion, what are the best forms of punishment/reward?

Script: Questions to Ask Teachers

Overall Teaching

·      What are your values in teaching?

·      How would you describe your teaching method in one sentence?

·      What teaching methods do you strongly oppose/disagree with?

·      Why do you think your method is more effective than others?

Techniques

·      Do you ever ask/expect your students to “self-teach”?

·      What do you think of the use of media in present-day classrooms/how often do you use it?

·      Do you believe the use of humor in teaching is important?

·      How do you try to maintain a balance between having fun and studying in your classroom?

·      How do you reach out to disinterested students?

·      How do you deal with disruptive students?

·      What are your methods of reward/punishment? (Which ones do you find more effective than others?)

Homework

·      What are your standards for giving homework (how much, when, etc.)?

·      Do you ever change the due date of work based on students other classes/commitments?

Personal Relations

·      How do you get the attention of your students?

·      How much do you tell your students about yourself/your personal life?

·      Do you think your relationship/connections with your students are strong?

·      Do you find it necessary take the time to get to know your students on a personal level? (If not, why?)

Social Media Presence

Social Media was a big part of our project. Our twitter account, @Acrossthedesk, (follow us!) has over 150 followers, and over 200 people took our poll on facebook. We also have a youtube account, AcrossTheDeskProject, where our video will be posted. It's almost done, get ready for fabulous!


The overall favourite teacher was Mr. Seifring by a landslide, however he declined an interview. 


xoxo
AhMAISing

Group Roles

The three forms of media we will be using are, Moving Images, Live Media, and Social Media Presences. 


We have evenly divided the roles in each of these categories. They are as followed;


Moving Image:


We will be making an informative movie geared toward teachers.


Camera Person - Sarah
Script Writer- Anjali
Editor - Irene
Set/Prop Designer - Megan
Director - Megan


Live Media:


We will be using interviews, and possibly record classes live. 


Camera person- Sarah
Advertiser - Anjali
Talent - Irene
Sound Recordist/Live Edit - Sarah
Content Director/Maker - Megan


Social Media Presences:


We will be creating a Facebook page, a twitter account, and polls for people to participate in.


Tweeter- Megan
Poll Manager - Irene
Facebook Group - Anjali

Preliminary Pitch

As students at UNIS, we have noticed a lack of familiarity between students and teachers. When we think about it, what do teachers really know about us? Do they know our true personality, our strengths and weaknesses? Where we're from? And most importantly, how to teach us in a more personal and effective manner? Most students enjoy feeling a more personal connection to their teachers through stories, personal expericences, and humor etc.

The goal of "Across the Desk" is to help teachers find new ways to connect to their students and advise them on more effective methods of teaching and communication. Teachers will learn what their students look for in a good teacher, and how to improve their classroom environments.


Through interviews, polls, and observations, we will compile a video including faculty and students at UNIS to create a greater appriecation of the special relationship between students and teachers. Our project extends to more than just the UNIS community, but it can also work for teachers from other schools to use our advice to enhance their teaching skills.


We really liked the use of words in "The Girl Effect", and plan on using that for some of our project. However, unlike the other video, we are going to incorporate interviews, which we feel make videos more personal. We would like to use the faces of students in a flipbook of videos for our titles and introductions, much like in this Gerber Commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGV2MncRAn8).