For years my students have been writing their own scripts, filming, editing, and releasing original short films.   I have always had “Red Carpet Premiere Days” when the films were shown to all the Digital Media students.   The students are also able to vote on their favorites resulting in the “Academy” awards.

I tend to dream big: spotlights, limos, the whole shebang.   Ultimately, I have always wanted to show their videos on the big screen and this year I was able to make it happen!

I started by sending an outrageous amount of emails to all of the companies that owned movie theaters in our community that explained who I was, what the Academy was all about, and the video project that my students were currently working on.   It was quite depressing as I received several responses that included standard rental fees for the theater.   There wasn’t any way I was going to be able to afford a $600 rental fee!

In desperation I sent another email pleading for mercy, stating that as an educational entity, we were not able to afford the traditional fees.   Several weeks later, after I had all ready given up hope, I received a response requesting more information about our program.   I responded and again waited several weeks.   Amazingly, I finally got word that the biggest theater in our community would allow us to show our films for free!

We were able to give out special “VIP” passes and invite friends and family members.   The students dressed up as stars and I acted as paparazzi.   It was the most amazing experience in my life and it was definitely worth all the effort of pulling it together!

It was recently brought to my attention that I have failed to post anything since October.  I could choose to blame it on the fact that I am a teacher and you all know how busy we teachers get in the day to day grind.  However,  I will be completely honest and admit that I am a completely right brained individual and organization has never been my strong point.  I thought the level of creativity you have was directly proportional to how high the piles are in your office.  At least that's my excuse anyway.

One challenge I face is trying to teach time management and organization to my students who tend to think as I do.  We are not the Franklin Covey type who do things just to put a check in the box to show it's done.  Time management is boring and one more menial task to worry about.

Thanks to the programming teacher at my school who found it, I now have an excellent resource that helps to teach time management.  It's called "Time Management for Anarchists."    It's a funny approach to time management done in a rebel's point of view.  Take a moment to check it out.  You can watch it on the web or download the .Fla file.  Here is the link:

http://nomediakings.org/vidz/time_management_for_anarchists_the_movie.html

This grant program is designed for teachers to use in multimedia courses as a structured curriculum to engage middle and high school students (grades

6-12) in the tools and techniques of professional video and audio production.  Under the Community of the Future theme, students can share their vision of how technology will shape their neighborhoods in the years to come and are encouraged to interact with their local city council, mayor, city employees, community centers, or other groups to create their film.

Contestants are required to use the provided Vegas Pro 8 software to produce their videos, but all other creative details are up to the students' own creativity.  Every school that submits a qualifying "Call for Entries" form by Oct. 15, 2008, will receive film submission guidelines and a Technology in Motion launch kit. The kit will be mailed on December 1, 2008 and will include a free copy of Sony Vegas Pro 8 Promotional Edition video editing software, a free copy of Sony Cinescore Promotional Edition soundtrack creation software, free Sony Vegas Pro and Sony Cinescore video tutorials,

1,001 royalty-free, motion picture sound effects, an assortment of Cinescore themes for royalty-free soundtrack creation, and a free electronic copy of the Vegas Pro 8 Digital Video & Audio Production teaching guide.

http://www.techinmotioncontest.com/