Welcome to Teachers At Risk
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Jul
12
Not being perfect is no excuse for not making videocasts
Filed Under Blogging in and out of the Classroom, The way I see it, Web 2.0 tools and technologies, videocasting
I’m always game to try new things- as long a they don’t involve heights. Luckily, there are lots of things to try that don’t involve me leaving terra firma. What new thing am I ready to try? What new adventure am I going on this summer? I’m starting to explore videocasting, and believe me it’s been really scary so far for reasons I found totally surprising.
I’ve been blogging for about three years now and really do love it, but lately I’ve been feeling like I need a new challenge in the digital world. I did podcast for about a year and a half but didn’t really enjoy the technical aspects of getting the podcast on air, so eventually I stopped. The technical stuff wasn’t really that difficult. The software I used, Audible, is really user friendly. I didn’t realize then why I didn’t like the technical aspects of podcasting, but thanks to learning the ins and outs of making my first videocast (as yet unpublished
), I do know why now. I wanted my podcasts to be perfect, and guess what? Yes that’s right, they weren’t perfect. (My blogs aren’t perfect either, but for some reason that doesn’t bother me- much.)It’s funny how you can know things about yourself on one level, but forget those very same things on another level. I do that all the time. Luckily, life gives me plenty of opportunities that reminds me what I’ve learned about myself but have forgotten. That was the case when I started creating my first videocast. Creating it taught me why I didn’t like podcasting, and more importantly that I better get over it or I’d miss a chance to do something that I might really enjoy doing.
I knew the technical aspects for creating a videocast and uploading it to the net wouldn’t be all that challenging. Everything is so user friendly these days. What I wasn’t prepared for was how I looked in the video. It took me about three hours to get used to my appearance. My spirit and my body definitely didn’t match. One was still youthful and the other wasn’t. When did my face get that round? What happened to my cheekbones? When did I get all those wrinkles? When did that loose flesh along my jaw happen? The only thing I liked about my face were my eyebrows. If I were writing report card comments about my face, I would start with a positive comment about those perfect eyebrows and then address the other issues. I wanted to stop right then and there. I didn’t look at all like the women I admire on TV. I didn’t have their poise or polish. I wasn’t perfect.
I wasn’t perfect. That’s my problem. No, I realized not being perfect wasn’t my problem. Letting not being perfect stop me from doing something was or is my problem. I need to stop thinking that I need to look a certain way in order to do videocasting. Easily said. Do I have the courage to walk my talk? Honestly, I don’t know right now. I’m trying to take Shakespeare’s advice: “We fail! But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.”
photo uploaded by Nick Hobgood
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Edublog Awards
Toronto Reading Council
Congratulations on taking the leap. I look forward to seeing the projects.
Mathew´s last blog ..How to Save A Newspaper