In-Situ Stop Motion #3

For this week’s reflection, I have chosen to talk about our in situ trip to Marysville Elementary while using Gibbs Reflective Cycle to reflect on my experience.

Description

This week, during our in-situ experience at Marysville Elementary, my cohort of student teachers worked in a grade 3 classroom. I was partnered with two other teacher candidates, and together we worked with four of the grade 3 students. We were there to help the students create a stop motion video, using the Stop Motion Studio App on the school’s iPads that were provided. The students used their desk pets as characters; we had an elephant, a frog, a cow, a bunny and a jaguar. The students came up with the storyline of the film: a jaguar fell off a mountain, was almost rescued by a frog, but in the end, the cow and elephant came to the rescue. The story then ended with all the animals having a dance party.

Feelings

At first, I felt unsure about how much guidance to give the students since it was meant to be their creative project. But once we got into our groups and started chatting, and the students were brainstorming multiple ideas, their enthusiasm made it easy to step into a supportive role. I was so impressed by how imaginative the kids were and how well our group worked together to plan out all of their visions into one, including everyone’s ideas. I felt very proud watching them take ownership of their stop motion film and was excited by how engaged they were throughout the entirety of the making of the film.

Evaluation

Overall, this project was a success. The students collaborated well and eagerly contributed ideas. The stop motion app streamlined the process of making the film. The main challenge was keeping the students focused, as one student repeatedly climbed onto the table, moving the scene. With their big imaginations, the other teacher candidates often reminded the students to keep things simple and stick to one idea. In the end, the group completed their video successfully, and it turned out great.

Analysis

This activity helped me see how hands-on, creative projects can support multiple areas of learning at once, including communication, technology use, storytelling, and problem-solving. It also shows how excited kids get when they are doing something fun that day, and they don’t even realize that they are learning. Students tend to focus more and become more engaged when the topic is something creative, fun or something they are interested in. The student will put more effort into the task if it interests them. Giving the students space to make creative decisions makes the experience more meaningful for them. But gentle guidance was needed here and there.

Conclusion

From this experience, I learned that collaborative technology-based activities can be powerful tools for student engagement. I also recognized the value of patience and flexibility when working with younger learners, especially during group work, where excitement can easily turn into distraction.

Action Plan

Next time, to help control the excitement in the classroom, I will assign roles such as director, cameraman, and scene movers. I heard another group in the class assigned roles, and I really liked that idea. I believe it would help the students stay engaged and maybe minimize the distractions when they know what their role is. Overall, I want to build on their enthusiasm while also keeping the activity organized and purposeful.

My groups finished stop motion video.