March 7: Vidcast Reflection

The name of my vidcast series is, Utah History: Historic Site Preview. I would use this vidcast to introduce a Historic Site Visit Project that my students would be doing in my class. For the project students would have to visit 2 different historic sites in Utah and then write a paper on the places they visited. Along with the paper they need to do some type of presentation to educate the class on the sites they visited (this can be a video, poster, a handmade craft inspired from the site, etc.) They would be required to research the site before they went and then write about what they knew and what they learned from visiting the site. I would give them a list of sites that they could choose from. Pictures would be required so that I knew they actually visited both sites. In my vidcast I have taken pictures of nine different historic sites that I have visited and accompanied them with the Utah State song as an example and a preview into what they would be doing.

Since the students can choose which two sites they would like to visit the project will be covering almost the entire Utah History Core, but most will focus on either standard two or standard three. Standard two states: Students will understand the contributions of Native American Indians, explorers, and Utah pioneers. Standard three states that: Students will understand the relationship between government and the people of Utah.

One drawback to using this vidcast maybe that the students feel that they need to copy the vidcast and make a movie themselves. Other students might have wanted to make a movie for their presentation but feel that they do not want to look like they copied the teacher. I also feel that the song is a little bit cheesy; I may try to find a better song if I was going to use this for my younger Jr. high students. I think the Utah history historical site visit is a good idea to do in my classroom. I feel that it gets the kids out into the field and viewing history as a hands on activity. I would use this video to get the kids excited about the project, but like I said before the song is a little cheesy so I might try to find a not so cheesy version of the song.