2011 Spring 8th graders Silent Films

Build your own custom video playlist at embedr.com

My students created films that were inspired by the Silent Film genre.After analyzing the works of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Birth of a Nation, they then broke up into groups of four to each fulfill a film makers role: Director, Producer, Cinematographer and Actor/Writer.

footballbulling843.mp4 Watch on Posterous

The students and I also had a great time going through various facets of the film making process, in particular, the acting games where they performed charades, pantomine and various other acting games to get them using their bodies to tell a story, rather than their voices.

jealousy.mp4 Watch on Posterous

I feel like my students got really frustrated with the whole editing process, as some of their files were deleted, misplaced or somehow just disappeared due to one reason or another. After doing this project two times already, I will instead make sure that the students simultaneously upload to Dropbox and Jaycut.

Who_run_this_.mp4 Watch on Posterous

But overall, I was really happy with the work they put out this time around. We got more videos than I did last time, in fact, I was able to get every student to upload their film to You Tube.

stop%20bullying%202.mp4 Watch on Posterous

Feel free to click on one of these files if you would like to download it. Or you can scroll through the You Tube versions on the Embedr playlist above.

when_hide_and_seek_gets_serious.mp4 Watch on Posterous

I was also pleased to see that the students were able to utilize the green screen / chroma key feature in Jaycut. The students who made the "Last Mountain Dew" video utilized it to take advantage of a rainy day and shoot inside, and the group who made "Hide and Go seek..." where able to send students in environments that they didn't think possible.

last_mountain_dew_ever.mp4 Watch on Posterous

running_away_from_school.mp4 Watch on Posterous

school_fun.mp4 Watch on Posterous

The%20Hounting.mp4 Watch on Posterous

The%20most%20messed%20up%20movie%20ever.mp4 Watch on Posterous

 

Confessions of a Fifth Year Teacher

Wanting More and Looking Out on the Horizon

Another year has gone by as a teacher, but what I find interesting, perhaps almost concerning, is how little the number of students that I really made connections with or was really upset that I would not be seeing them anymore. I know in the past, the start of June had been a bittersweet time, but this year I didn't give out books or write sappy messages of farewells, just a few posed pictures and brief comments in a yearbook or two.

Perhaps I was just running out of time towards the end of the school year, or that this is the school year that I have been much more diligent to NOT be in school as much.......

 

If you would like to read the rest of the article, check it out on the Yahoo Contributor network HERE

video - Art Olympics in the Black Water Middle School art classroom 2011

art_olympics_spring_'11.wmv Watch on Posterous

The Art Olympics was an event that I intially got to participate in Coastal Carolina University's Gifted and Talented Summer Arts prorgram. Basically, you get a bunch of games together (we got most of our's off of summer camp games sites). And then I could easily adapt them to the art students. You can watch the video to see some of the games and activites that we used and if you are a teacher, you can use my power point below

 

2011 Spring 8th graders Silent Films

Build your own custom video playlist at embedr.com

My students created films that were inspired by the Silent Film genre.After analyzing the works of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Birth of a Nation, they then broke up into groups of four to each fulfill a film makers role: Director, Producer, Cinematographer and Actor/Writer.

footballbulling843.mp4 Watch on Posterous

The students and I also had a great time going through various facets of the film making process, in particular, the acting games where they performed charades, pantomine and various other acting games to get them using their bodies to tell a story, rather than their voices.

jealousy.mp4 Watch on Posterous

I feel like my students got really frustrated with the whole editing process, as some of their files were deleted, misplaced or somehow just disappeared due to one reason or another. After doing this project two times already, I will instead make sure that the students simultaneously upload to Dropbox and Jaycut.

Who_run_this_.mp4 Watch on Posterous

But overall, I was really happy with the work they put out this time around. We got more videos than I did last time, in fact, I was able to get every student to upload their film to You Tube.

stop%20bullying%202.mp4 Watch on Posterous

Feel free to click on one of these files if you would like to download it. Or you can scroll through the You Tube versions on the Embedr playlist above.

when_hide_and_seek_gets_serious.mp4 Watch on Posterous

I was also pleased to see that the students were able to utilize the green screen / chroma key feature in Jaycut. The students who made the "Last Mountain Dew" video utilized it to take advantage of a rainy day and shoot inside, and the group who made "Hide and Go seek..." where able to send students in environments that they didn't think possible.

last_mountain_dew_ever.mp4 Watch on Posterous

running_away_from_school.mp4 Watch on Posterous

school_fun.mp4 Watch on Posterous

The%20Hounting.mp4 Watch on Posterous

The%20most%20messed%20up%20movie%20ever.mp4 Watch on Posterous

 

Biltmore Who's Who Selects James Salvatore Gorcesky as an Honored Member of the Executive and Professional Registry

Here is a screen cap of the Press Release site that features an article that announces my acceptance into Biltmore Who's Who

 

if you'd like to read more, CLICK THE LINK HERE to go to the official press release site

BWMS Career Fair 2011 Animoto photomontage video

This is a collection of photos taken during the 2011 Career Fair, where Black Water Middle School invited local professionals to come in and discuss their careers with the students. Check out the Animoto video below

 

BWMS 8th grade Candyland Prom

Listed below is a video that I created utilizing Picasa and royalty free music. A small select group of 8th graders created a variety of decorations for the 8th grade prom this year, which had it's primary influence from the classic board game, "Candyland" and Katy Perry's video of "California Girls." 

I was very proud of the work that they came up with, especially how they were able to turn a cafeteria into a candy filled wonderland. The kids really enjoyed it too, as you can tell how decked out they were for the evening.

May2011.wmv Watch on Posterous

BWMS Art class field trip to Burroughs and Chapin Art Museum & MB State Park

 

 

67 Black Water Middle School sixth, seventh and eighth grade art students and ten chaperones visited the Burroughs and Chapin art museum where they were divided into three groups. 

One group studied with me on the grass outside the museum where they could create a sketch of the ocean or they created works inspired by Fok Art. Another group received a guided tour of the museum, which was for the majority of the students, a first time experience. Finally, a third group got to create portraits upstairs.

After all of the groups rotated, we visited the Myrtle Beach State Park for a picnic and then a sand sculpture competition, where the students would work in groups to create works inspired by Folk Art from their tour.

You can download pics from the field trip if you'd like, I tried to put some work of the students but not sure if Posterous could support them all. Also check out the Picasa made movie below with music from Free Play Music.

See the full gallery on Posterous