"The world is big, your classroom is small."

That's the motto here at Gazdonian Productions.  So much is said about technology in education these days: ipads, laptops, apps, flipped classrooms, Google for Education, etc., but in our eyes the main benefit of technology is that it enables teachers to bring the real world into the classroom.  And videos are a great way to do that.  Add to that all the great teaching–centric videos that are out there - videos showing experiments, things in motion, time sped up or slowed down, 360 videos - and it's clear that videos are poised to change the game for the teachers and students in the years to come.

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 Who We Are

Tom Gazda
Earth Science Teacher
Chatham High School, Chatham NY
​Recipient of the 2018 NAGT Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Award for the 7-state Eastern Region of the US

 Throughout my 19 years of teaching high school science, I have held fast to my one goal:  to show kids how cool nature is and how it works.  This is much easier said than done when all you have at your disposal is a whiteboard, a textbook and a boxy fluorescent-lit room.  I quickly recognized technology as a valuable tool to help me bring the real world into the classroom. I started showing scanned photos on the school's lone LCD projector I borrowed from the library.  A few years later a $110 Flipcam purchase started the ball rolling for me making my own science videos.   Around that time an explosion of video content on YouTube coincided with a Smartboard being installed in my classroom.  All of the sudden, so much was so easily available.  I finally started seeing kids engaged in what I was teaching the way I had always hoped.  The power of video in the classroom hit me over the head and videos have grown to be a indispensable teaching tool for me (visit 16 uses of Videos for Teaching for examples.)  Below are 3 of my current video-centric projects focused on science education.

MisterGazda YouTube Channel

With low production values and zero budget, I've filmed these basic videos over the years to show my students science that's beyond the walls of the classroom.  Slick it certainly is not, but the "real" nature of the videos seems to draw students in.  This playlist is a good place to start.  And the channel trailer does a good job conveying the overall vibe of the channel.

Channel Trailer

 Homework Videos ("TYLR Homework")

Short for "Teacher in Your Living Room", TYLR Homework uses video to deal with some of the biggest problems with homework.  This is how it works:  

• student does the homework on her own as she would with a typical HW assignment
• she watches a video of me working through the assignment, showing and explaining how to "do" each question or problem
• she checks her work as she goes, specifically marking both correct and incorrect answers
• the checked HW is handed in
• a HW quiz is given on the day the HW is due

GazdaHW Channel

I started this project in Fall of 2014 and I've seen it help alleviate some of the main problems of traditional homework, such as:

• students sitting down at home and getting totally "stuck" on the assignment
• lack of incentive to learn from the homework, as the quizzes provide incentive to understand the material covered on the HW
• lack of immediate feedback to students on their understanding of the material

The YouTube page is here:  GazdaHW

Overview of HW Videos

GazdonianProductions.com

This site is designed to provide hand-picked science video clips for teachers to use during class. The main goal is bring the real world into the classroom and to connect the science taught in the classroom to real life and the world around us.  To browse the selection of over 250 videos, visit our Videos by Topic page.

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Professional Development and Conference Presentations  LINK