Dave Childers
Jul, 2007 Elementary/Middle School
Hello, my name is Dave Childers and I teach Video
Production, Computer Lit, and Careers Awareness at
Jack G. Desmond Middle School in Madera, California.
Prior to that I taught Video Production, English and
History at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School,
also in Madera. This is my 8th year teaching, and for
five of those years I have produced a live, daily
student-run news broadcast.
My love of integrating video into education came way back in the early 90's, when I was in high school and some friends and I tried - and failed miserably - to do a video recreation of Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" in Honors English I. Using a linear editing station that belonged to one guy's grandparents, we never were able to piece everything together properly and got a D on the project.
That failure, though, led to a major comeback in Honors English II. That was when I helped write, produce, and star in "Romero y Julia," a satirical version of Romeo and Juliet that was set in my hometown of Madera. Working with many of the same classmates, our editor did a fantastic job after a year of experience, and our project went on to considerable local fame, and a grade of A+. In fact, the project was such a success that the teacher was still showing it to her new batch of students all the way up until she retired two years ago.
When I started teaching I quickly began begging camcorders away from friends and family for projects, and then - a couple of years into my teaching career - the Holy Grail arrived...iMovie. My classroom was never the same again, and my love of video eventually led my principal to hand over the reigns of the daily news broadcast to me. I started by producing it with just a handful of dedicated students before school, and eventually it grew into a full-fledged elective class. There is nothing as exciting/terrifying as going live every morning with a crew of 7th and 8th grade students.
I look forward to meeting a lot of new teachers who are similarly interested in integrating video into their curriculum - regardless of grade level, subject matter, or equipment budget. Feel free to e-mail me at:
childers_d(at)madera.k12.ca.us
You can also check out a few web sites that I dabble with (my classroom site will be debuting soon):
DaveChilders.net
College Hoops with Dave and Mike
My love of integrating video into education came way back in the early 90's, when I was in high school and some friends and I tried - and failed miserably - to do a video recreation of Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" in Honors English I. Using a linear editing station that belonged to one guy's grandparents, we never were able to piece everything together properly and got a D on the project.
That failure, though, led to a major comeback in Honors English II. That was when I helped write, produce, and star in "Romero y Julia," a satirical version of Romeo and Juliet that was set in my hometown of Madera. Working with many of the same classmates, our editor did a fantastic job after a year of experience, and our project went on to considerable local fame, and a grade of A+. In fact, the project was such a success that the teacher was still showing it to her new batch of students all the way up until she retired two years ago.
When I started teaching I quickly began begging camcorders away from friends and family for projects, and then - a couple of years into my teaching career - the Holy Grail arrived...iMovie. My classroom was never the same again, and my love of video eventually led my principal to hand over the reigns of the daily news broadcast to me. I started by producing it with just a handful of dedicated students before school, and eventually it grew into a full-fledged elective class. There is nothing as exciting/terrifying as going live every morning with a crew of 7th and 8th grade students.
I look forward to meeting a lot of new teachers who are similarly interested in integrating video into their curriculum - regardless of grade level, subject matter, or equipment budget. Feel free to e-mail me at:
childers_d(at)madera.k12.ca.us
You can also check out a few web sites that I dabble with (my classroom site will be debuting soon):
DaveChilders.net
College Hoops with Dave and Mike
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