My Application Video For Apple's Distinguished Educator Program

My Application Video For Apple’s Distinguished Educator Program

February 8th, 2011 by Dan Meyer

I use a lot of Apple technology in my curriculum development + I like the people in Apple's education group + My doctoral interests include communities of practice online = I applied for membership to the ADE program.

They required a video, which I'm posting because a) it's a 90-second summary of my curriculum adaptation process and b) I introduce Apple to you folks somewhere around the 1:15 mark. I have plenty more remarks — most grateful! — about what the education blogosphere has done for me as a person, as a teacher, and as a worker, but I can summarize 90% of them by reminding you that last week a reader e-mailed a tip about a product which I turned into a WCYDWT math activity which caught the eye of the brand manager of that product who eventually supplied all of us with the company's internal data on that product.

I don't really understand that, but I love it.

ADE Application Video — Dan Meyer from Dan Meyer on Vimeo.

2011 Mar 01: I'm in.

2011 Aug 27: If this is something you'd like to show around, let me link up a download for you [hi, lo].

41 Comments »

41 Responses to “My Application Video For Apple’s Distinguished Educator Program”

on 08 Feb 2011 at 9:02 am1 John B.

Good luck! If you’re not an ADE, then something’s gone awry at Apple!
on 08 Feb 2011 at 9:50 am2 RudeDude

If Apple were to listen to public opinion, I would vote. Excellent 90 second summary!
on 08 Feb 2011 at 10:59 am3 Scott Elias

Nice work, Dan. Best of luck to you!
on 08 Feb 2011 at 10:59 am4 David

Great application video Dan. I like how you’ve summed up your teaching style and how the technology helps you accomplish your goals.
on 08 Feb 2011 at 11:45 am5 Mathew

Great job on the video and good luck with your application. I think you did a good job of distilling your methodology into 90 seconds and explaining the tech tools as secondary to your curricular needs.
on 08 Feb 2011 at 11:58 am6 Canye

Wish all the best Dan. .Good luck with your ideas and hardwork! Don’t forget to pray:)
on 08 Feb 2011 at 12:38 pm7 Phil

Good clean video, Dan. Best wishes and keep up the good work.
on 08 Feb 2011 at 4:42 pm8 Alex

I hope you make it to the ADE program, you deserve it.
on 08 Feb 2011 at 7:30 pm9 Cathy

Great summary of what you do. As an added bonus it is another example we can share with teachers to demonstrate how to take textbook problems and make them more engaging. Appreciate the explanation of how you used technology to make this happen. Good luck with your application!
on 08 Feb 2011 at 7:34 pm10 Alex Eckert

Phenomenal buddy, and thanks for including us. No one deserves it more…keep us posted!
on 08 Feb 2011 at 8:50 pm11 Nathan Cashion

Very impressive. Absolutely love what you’re doing with your curriculum and the effort you put forth to use technology in appropriate ways.
on 08 Feb 2011 at 10:37 pm12 Yarone Goren

Dan,

Great video.

TIP: You should improve your mic setup. I assume you have a simple mic or a headset/mic combo. I can hear lots of pops and not-so-good audio distortions when you talk.

Buy a Shure vocal microphone and an AudioBuddy pre-amp. The voice quality will be vastly improved. About $150 total.
on 09 Feb 2011 at 12:04 am13 Peter

I hope for some strange reason Apple goes stupid and rejects you. And then Google snaps you up instead.
on 09 Feb 2011 at 7:03 am14 barefootmeg

I haven’t taught math in over a decade and I’ve got to admit that the technology you’re using here makes me drool. I love how you can take a real world shot, bring it into the classroom, and slow it down to talk about it. And the applets… that’s where the drool really kicks in. *stops to wipe the corners of mouth*

Back in the day we had overhead projectors that gave you headaches to use, mimeograph machines that left you smelling like chemicals, and textbooks that were very clear on the fact that the real world and math rarely if ever intersected (unless there was a north bound train heading for a south bound train…).

I love seeing the stuff you come up with, even if I no longer have the opportunity to use it in a classroom. Well done.
on 09 Feb 2011 at 7:17 am15 Kathleen

I hope you get in. Your work is awesome.
on 09 Feb 2011 at 7:49 am16 Rick Scheibner

Awesome! Looking forward to what comes of all of this. The sky’s the limit for you.
on 09 Feb 2011 at 10:37 am17 Chris Smith

Brilliant…as ever.
on 09 Feb 2011 at 10:40 am18 Telannia

As everyone already stated, you are definitely going to get in. I have always wanted to be an Apple Distinguished Educator. They get a lot of perks. Unfortunately, this year, I don’t have the time to apply for things. Between math department chair, yearbook sponsor, technology development co-leader, national board process and a few other things I remember only when someone tells me, I have very little time to apply for some of my goals. ADE, google certification, Texas instrument instructor and smart educator are on my list. And yes just in case anyone is wondering, I do know how to say no just some things didn’t work out like I thought. Working on changing that now!
on 09 Feb 2011 at 11:02 am19 Caren

Dan,
Good Luck! If they don’t take you, I don’t know WHAT they are looking for. Hope you get it!
on 09 Feb 2011 at 12:44 pm20 Wendy

Good luck Dan…from what I’ve seen, ditto to the commentary above. Apple would be lucky to have you.

I’ve only found you recently but your blog and posts have truly been inspirational. I was a teacher for 12 years, left, and am headed back to the classroom in the fall. I look forward to reading more and just wanted to say thanks for being an inspiration to educators.

Lastly, this was passed along to me from our Assistant Superintendent today…if you haven’t already seen it, thought you might enjoy, although I’m not sure that’s the right word.
on 09 Feb 2011 at 7:44 pm21 Laura

You are it.
on 10 Feb 2011 at 3:28 pm22 Randy

I continue to be impressed with your work Dan. Good luck.
on 11 Feb 2011 at 2:19 pm23 Jen Des

Good luck, Dan!!! If I could choose the winner – you’d be the one!!!
on 12 Feb 2011 at 8:00 am24 ClimeGuy

If you should lose, I would love to see your competition. I look for your kind of stuff all the time and rarely find anything even remotely resembling it. So if Apple (aka Lakers) don’t sign you there’s always the Heat.
on 12 Feb 2011 at 2:28 pm25 Support a fellow innovator! « The Official Edufy Blog

[...] http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=9318 [...]
on 12 Feb 2011 at 4:38 pm26 Chris Betcher

Awesome video Dan, really fabulous. You should be a shoo-in for ADE.

Moreover, I wish I was in your maths class!
on 12 Feb 2011 at 5:39 pm27 Hecto

That is a wicked maths lesson. Great creativity and work ethic on your behalf. Lucky students!
on 12 Feb 2011 at 7:36 pm28 Mel Gibb

You are exactly what I would think an ADE would be! Good luck with the application.
on 15 Feb 2011 at 1:34 pm29 Tony

Hi Dan – I really liked your video for the application. Do you have a tutorial anywhere on the process for undertaking the basketball mapping recording?
on 15 Feb 2011 at 1:41 pm30 Dan Meyer

Sure, Tony, right here.
on 16 Feb 2011 at 3:44 pm31 clew

Great video. Great lesson. Hope you gain membership – you deserve it!
cheers
on 16 Feb 2011 at 4:34 pm32 Christian Long

Well worth the 5+ year wait to see this vid produced, Dan.

If ADE has its game together, they’ll just leapfrog you into the ‘adjunct faculty lounge’ and call it a day. Clearly you represent the best of what ADE stands for regardless of the application process, but it certainly does seem as if they’d be well served to bring you into the mix.
on 16 Feb 2011 at 5:40 pm33 M. Walker

Apple should rename their Distinguished Educator program the Dan Meyer program! Well done!
on 20 Feb 2011 at 10:31 am34 Chris Lehmann

Late to the party here… but yeah.

Spot-freaking-on.

90 seconds to change the world.
on 28 Feb 2011 at 9:52 pm35 Josh Bootz

Excellent! nail on the head.
on 01 Mar 2011 at 3:56 pm36 TAS

Both the lesson and video are very well done. Did you get accepted into the ADE program for 2011?
on 01 Mar 2011 at 4:53 pm37 Dan Meyer

I’m in.
on 04 Mar 2011 at 6:18 am38 Northern Suburbs Evening Event – Siyavula Introduction to Open Educational Resources in Physical Science « Siyavula

[...] Dan Meyer is an innovative teacher that we admire. He shares his work with the world via his blog, where he takes everyday examples and turns them into maths or science problems for the classroom. He believes that teachers should “be less helpful”, and he likes to present his class with problems that have all the steps removed and have as little information as possible. He reduces the problem to a level of every day intuition so that everyone can participate, and through engaging with his learners, the whole class irrespective of their aptitude can get involved in the discussion. Last night Mark showed a video created by Dan Meyer which briefly demonstrates how he achieves this. It can be viewed here. [...]
on 14 Mar 2011 at 4:39 pm39 O testemunho de um professor de matemática que usa REA « Recursos Educacionais Abertos

[...] interessante sobre como esses recursos são importantes em seu dia a dia. Trata-se de um vídeo, sua inscrição para um programa da Apple de educação, o Apple Distinguished Educator [...]
on 15 Mar 2011 at 2:39 am40 dy/dan » Blog Archive » My Application Video For Apple’s Distinguished Educator Program | Chicago Mac/PC Support

[...] dy/dan » Blog Archive » My Application Video For Apple’s Distinguished Educator Program. I have worked with a few ADE’s and I found them to be very refreshing and intelligent. They are usually willing to look at the pros/con’s of different decisions. [...]
on 04 Apr 2011 at 6:06 pm41 Math for ELL – The patriotic thing to do | Sine of the Times

[...] of a lesson in which students are given context and a manipulable representations is available at Dan Meyer’s blog. It is in classrooms such as this that we see all students succeed, including those who are [...]