The Flip Side: A Multi-Genre Occupational Research Project

How do we know that we know what we know? Open your students up to a global community that they may not know exists. Make your students question what they want to do with their lives by first making them question who they are and what tomorrow has to offer. Working in production teams with similar aspirations, class members will explore ways to use technology, including blogs, podcasts, digital storytelling, social networking sites, and wikis to identify trends and forecast possibilities as to what the working world has to offer. Built around Ohio's Career Passport model and the IEP model that calls for transition plans, the project opens up a world for students who have not put great thought into their future plans and makes students who feel they know themselves question their future decisions . Exhibits of the production teams' work using Flip Video cameras, Flip ShareWare, TeacherTube, and Edmodo will be open to the global community at the end of the school year. Class members will be expected to contribute regularly to the course blog and to conduct their own final inquiries via their own media preference. The unit is easily adaptable to any timeframe or level of classroom intensity and is broken down into individual lessons that can stand alone to meet any number of needs.

Assignment 1: Where I'm From? Who Am I? Who do I want to be?
Students will write a version of their "Where I'm From" poem with a twist - a career focus. The intent is to force students to think about who they are and what they want to be but not allow them to research or ask questions. They must use their present knowledge of the world. Completionof the Where I'm From? poem and a reflective journal explaining what they know about themselves and what they hope to be in the future. This will be Video Taped, and mixed using Movie Maker and eventually shared on a global networking site.

Materials: Where I'm From? poem
Flip Video
MovieMaker
PC/Internet Access

Assignment 2: Career Focus 2011 Interest Inventory
Students will complete the survey with the intent of discovering how their interests can lead them to careers that they might enjoy and grow in. Once students may be grouped with similar interests, production teams will be assigned.

Materials: computer and access to http://www.iccweb.com/

Assignment 3: Introduction to the Occupational Research Project
Production Teams must now choose three occupations that appeals to them and complete one occupational data sheet for each. This is meant to be an overview of the basic job description, qualifications necessary, resources available in the global community for entering this occupation, and contact information for someone who can help and/or answer questions that teams have about the occupation. All the while, the entire process - from Assignment 1 to Assignment X - will be documented, reflected upon and posted using the Flip Video and ShareWare.

Materials: computer and access to http://www.iccweb.com/
Flip Video
MovieMaker
ShareWare

Assignment 4: Interview
Production Teams must now choose one occupation to focus on for the remainder of the project. Members of the production team will carefully construct an interview sheet/questionnaire to be discussed with or completely by the interviewee.

Discussion as to the advantages of traditional interviews versus electronic interviews will be posed. Production Teams are then responsible for making contact via Skype, email, podcast, or Flip Video embedded text to be answered at the convenience of the listed person. At which point, production members will learn how to fully document all responses and will learn the value of quoting an expert in any type of response platform. Team members will then video journal their own perspectives of the prospective occupation at this time.

Materials: computer and access
Flip Video
MovieMaker
ShareWare
Misc. Communication Devices/Software

Assignment 5: The Value of The Quotes
Through this project is a lesson in self-discovery, the team will learn to value the responses of an expert in their field of interest. Depending upon how the interview was conducted, the team will also learn the importance of intellectual properties and the finesse involved in obtaining permission to quote, or portray someone's likeness or being for personal gain. Teams will complete a formal "thank you" and send it in any number of preferred ways to the recipient.

Materials: computer and access
Flip Video
MovieMaker
ShareWare
Misc. Communication Devices/Software

Assignment 8: The Occupational Research Narrative
Teams will the use the responses gathered as a basis of a narrative research and self discovery Blog+Video. If possible, a virtual tour or job shadowing could significantly enhance this experience.

Materials:
computer and access
Flip Video
MovieMaker
ShareWare
Misc. Communication Devices/Software

All in all, production teams will be put to work - assigning jobs, and completing the video account of what their lives may be like in their chosen occupation.

Assignment 9: Narrative Poetry Template
Students will use John Updike's "Ex-Baseball Player" as a template for a poetic prediction of possibilities - where and who will they be in 10-20 years? Poems are to be shared with the class using video and or prezi.com

After the completion of this assignment, students will be required to video tape a brief compare/contrast reflection that analyzes the "Where I'm From?" poem and the Updike template poem. Have they changed? If so, how?

Materials:
computer and access
Flip Video
MovieMaker
ShareWare
Misc. Communication Devices/Software

Assignment 10: The Production Video
Production Teams will organize all of the "stuff" used to put this study together and personalize their video portfolio as a final publication.

Materials:
computer and access
Flip Video
MovieMaker
ShareWare
Misc. Communication Devices/Software

Assignment 11: The Presentation
Teams will generate a video detailing their journey that shares with the class, as well as other classes on TeacherTube.com, the knowledge they have gained in their occupational field and where they see themselves in 10-20 years. Student will use the Flip Video to...
• Simply drag and drop to organize videos
• Archive videos in one place
• Trim, edit and add music to your videos
• Use Magic Movie™ to make movies with the click of a button


Materials:
computer and access
Flip Video
MovieMaker
ShareWare
Misc. Communication Devices/Software

Assignment 12: The Celebration
Students will plan and prepare for celebration including their contacts/mentors (some via Skype) who made this project possible. Here they will share their work and continue to document their status via the Flip Video and ShareWare.
Students will use the Flip Video to..
• Create video invitations, starring you
• Share videos privately with friends and family
• Watch anytime, anywhere at FlipShare.com
Email
Send attachment-free emails to make watching videos a breeze.
Upload
Share videos directly to Facebook™, Twitter™ and YouTube™.


Materials:
computer and access
Flip Video
MovieMaker
ShareWare
Misc. Communication Devices/Software