March 2024 Newsletter
What do you think of when you think of March? Your latitude determines your weather thoughts, of course, but if you’re a historically-minded person, you might also consider the establishment of the U.S. Peace Corps. The program that has sent almost a quarter million Americans around the world to serve communities in all sorts of ways is rather cool.
We also see the cool things we point to in this newsletter as a cool way to serve you, so we hope you find some gems in what follows!
Contest Winners
At long last, we have our winners for the Creative Spark ’23 contest! This is our annual challenge to students and teachers to share their creative take on something encountered in school. If that sounds like a broad category, then you understand! We want to celebrate fun and fascinating learning wherever we can find it.
We’ll start with the collaboration category, which highlights videos in which at least one student and at least one teacher have worked together on the planning and/or editing of a video. The 2023 collaboration winner goes to a teacher and student in Texas for their video, Using Base 10 Blocks To Solve For Subtraction.
In the student category, congratulations goes to four middle schoolers in California for their video, Emergency Supply Kit. This was a piece done working with a prompt from the Wildfire Science and Prevention Project, which you can get involved with, as well! See the section a little farther down for more details.
In the teacher category, Michael Vossen in California for his clever video for students of Spanish called, “¿Quieres…? Me Gusta La Fruta Tropical” A video is always better when the people who make it are having fun!
If you’d like your students’ work to be part of a future contest of ours, just let us know!
Powerful Prompts
The latest four of our popular NVIV series of crazy-cool videos with ready-to-go writing/discussion prompts includes a stunning marble machine (Setting Music in Motion), a model aficionado (Diving into Details), a story about the lives of those often ignored (Remembering the Forgotten), and high-quality products made from thrown-away chopsticks (Valuing What’s Used).
You’ll find over a hundred more of these gems on our NVIV page.
Wildfire and Grants
Interested in having students make videos related to wildfire? We’ve got the material ready for them; all they need to do is interpret it into the kind of videos they think others their age would enjoy.
It’s called the Wildfire Science And Prevention Project, and it’s a great way to help students better understand issues facing everyone, while also helping you better tell the stories of your students’ successes to the world.
To connect with us about having your students get involved (it’s free!), go to our Contact Us page and in the comments field mention the wildfire project.
image by Tengyart from Unsplash (license)
Super Sips
Every so often, one needs a cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or similar, and how much better is it when someone else pays? The answer: much better.
Along those lines, you can enter our monthly drawing by letting us know which of the NVIV videos described above you liked best, and why. That link takes us to our Contact Us page, which is a great way to connect with us to share ideas, and perhaps win a $6 Starbucks gift for having taken the time!
image by Clay Banks from Unsplash (license)
First Finish
I recently told my wife that if I can get to the end of March and not be in a straightjacket sitting in the corner of a padded room mumbling to myself, I’ll call this month a win. I’m optimistic I’ll get that win, but if like me, you’re finding this month to be a little more loaded down than is ideal, then consider yourself virtually hugged! If you write and ask for a cool video to add some positive to your day, I’ll do it. Just reply to this note or let me know here. Happy to help!
As I say every month: May you inspire and be inspired, each and every day!
In service,
Rushton and the Next Vista team
Muchas Freebies
We love sharing cool free stuff, and invite you to help us out. You can find the best of what we’ve gathered over the years on the Next Vista Resources pages, but if there is something free and powerful you love that you don’t find there, let us know about it using our resources submission form.
Images in the freebies section are screenshots from videos or web pages unless otherwise noted.
Worth the Watch
Ever been laid off? This marketing person was, and how she responded to it is a masterclass in using your circumstances well. Consider this as a prompt for a discussion of turning challenges into opportunities! For a deeper dive, take a look at the website she created to market herself. A big thanks to my friend PVK for sharing this one. (1:42)
Imagine works of art that look like photographs or blobs of paint, and then you learn that they were carefully constructed images using colored pencils. You’re now imagining the art of New York artist CJ Henry, whose work has been featured in hard-to-get-into shows internationally. This will give you a new perspective on fine-tuning color! (5:02)
I find the promo videos for companies making robots interesting, and at times a bit unnerving. As a discussion prompt, though, this one from the company Figure about a robot making a cup of coffee might not generate nightmares of the robot apocalypse. Maybe. (1:21)
Also in the interesting science space is this Pique Action video about the work a company called Liminal Insights does to make EV battery testing more efficient and effective. In that it addresses a not-so-visible element of EV production, it is a nice example of how someone can use a new approach to a problem that is expensive for everyone making and buying EV’s. (4:32)
You might be curious about innovation in agriculture, particularly since the role of fertilizer in the global food supply is such an important one. In this story from Bill Gates’ channel, you’ll learn about a company called Pivot Bio, which is using microbes instead of pesticides to get nitrogen to plants. (3:33)
Here’s a fun piece about a rivalry-turned-friendship between a pug and an automatic cleaning robot. It’s called Dustin, and was created by animators in Germany in 2014. There is no dialogue, so it’s perhaps a good choice for language learners working out how to describe what they see. (7:45)
I’ve never met Gerry Brooks, but I’m guessing he’d be fun to hang out with. Here are some highlights among the parent calls he or someone he knows has received as secretary of a school. Brace yourself. (3:16)
Worth the Read
One of the better pieces I’ve ever read touching on the possibilities and ethics of educational use of AI is Pedagogy And The AI Guest Speaker Or What Teachers Should Know About The Eliza Effect. It’s by Tom Mullaney, someone I always feel teaches me something new when I am fortunate to have the chance to talk with him. Take a look at his blog here.
If generative AI is described as potentially helpful to students, few would find fault with the statement. If someone suggests it is, or is on the cusp of being, a tutor, there are those, including Satya Nitta and Michael Feldstein, who would take issue with that. This EdSurge article from Jeff Young captures the nuances of that discussion in interesting ways.
The Substack post Strategies for an Accelerating Future is one that is focused on business, but any teacher paying attention could adapt the idea for education. The author is Ethan Mollick of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and he’s an especially insightful (and frequent) commentator on the development of AI tools.
This article from Fortune is called, “Stanford VR study brings seniors ‘back to life’ with memories and virtual experiences,” and is an interesting exploration not merely of tech’s potential to help senior citizens, but to get students thinking about others with needs newer technologies can address.
This post from CNN is about a Dubai photographer who specializes in extreme close-ups of wildlife. It’s an interesting mix of science and art, and along the way, you’ll learn a bit about a fascinating part of the world!
Recent Newsletters
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Last Bit
This is about the time the cherry blossoms bloom in Japan, so in honor of that, we chose this photo to feature. Thanks, as always, to the good folks at Unsplash for providing such a treasure trove of wonderful photography!
photo by Sora Sagano
from Unsplash
(license)
See you next month!
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