Better Together

Better Together is an original song mosaic and video created in collaboration with all 15 elementary schools in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This project is a true representation of student voice in action.

Exciting New Project!

I have recently been promoted into a new Vice-Principal role at Stevenson-Britannia Elementary School here in Winnipeg. While my responsibilities have increased and my time has decreased, I still make sure I am able to help develop creative projects with students. At a recent meeting with elementary administrators in our division, it was suggested that I develop a "theme song" to unite our schools and share our values and beliefs. We approached senior management and were given the go-ahead to explore what this project might look and sound like. While it is in the early development stage, a number of creative ideas have been discussed with students and a title for our song project has been chosen:

BETTER TOGETHER!!

It Starts With Me

I was invited to contribute a new original song based on Digital Citizenship to help launch Media Literacy Week in Manitoba. During our planning sessions, a number of different ideas including the use of digital media, social justice and student voice began to emerge. I began to compose the song and enlisted the music teacher at Stevenson-Britannia School along with a selection of Grade 4/5 students to contribute their voices and ideas to our song. The planning committee decided on - Digital We - as the title and focus of their launch and we added the tagline - It Starts With Me. I recorded the voices and instruments, and had the song produced, mixed and mastered in a studio. My colleague and friend, Andy McKiel, then produced a video to accompany our project. A selection of students presented the song to help launch Media Literacy Week in Manitoba, and they were excited to explain their own personal responsibility and perspective on Digital Media, Social Justice and Student Voice.

Digital We - It Starts With Me!

We Can Do It!

I applied for and received an innovative grant to develop a song mosaic to celebrate and promote literacy learning. I enlisted the teachers and students in our Grade 2/3 classes and we began to discuss the purpose of reading and writing. I composed and arranged the song based on the responses and ideas of the students and organized the melodies around the Optimal Learning Model (I Do It, We Do it, You Do It). This project was a collaborative process and was very exciting for everyone involved.

Community Unity

Community Unity is an original song mosaic and video created by Brooklands Elementary School in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Kelsey Community School in The Pas, Manitoba to compare and contrast the similarities and differences, highlights and struggles that make their communities unique. This collaborative project serves as a catalyst to create an authentic and meaningful connection between communities using music and technology.

Soldier

“Soldier, so young and brave with pure valour, we remember in silence the sacrifices you made to protect our freedom.”

I have always wanted to write a tribute song for Remembrance Day to my Grandfather who served in World War II as a Flying Officer. When I was planning out my project, I decided to expand on the idea and use the song as a vehicle for teaching and learning with my students.

I applied for and received an Equity and Social Justice Initiative Grant through Manitoba Teacher’s Society to create Soldier, a powerful collaborative song mosaic and video tribute which deals with the conflict and sacrifice of war from a child’s perspective.

“Soldier, so young and brave with pure valour, we remember in silence… We remember the fallen, heroes are forever…”

Blurred Images

The theme of Media Literacy Week for 2010 is “Gender and Media”. As part of the week’s events, the idea for a special event where students from all levels (elementary/middle/senior) would come together to discuss the impact of multi-media from a student perspective was developed.

As part of the event, my colleague and friend, Andy McKiel, asked me to develop a project, which would raise awareness about images and messages in media relating to body image and gender roles. He mentioned the term “blurred images” and the vision for our contribution began to develop.

An elementary student focus group was arranged at Brooklands School and we came together to discuss media images and messages and we questioned the purpose behind commercials, ads, magazine covers and music. We developed our ideas into questions and then used them to form lyrical content for an original song.

The students then recorded their own ideas in their own voices. We developed the ideas into song melodies and then composed the song and added instruments, vocal parts and final production in a professional studio.

A video was also produced by Andy McKiel to accompany the song and to provide a visual to the music and lyrics. This project was a collaborative effort and it showcases a strong understanding of media literacy from a student perspective.