Editing and Revising with Youtube Transcripts

     I’m working on transcripts for a discussion PD2Teach filmed with teachers discussing the new TEKS. At first, I played the video from the raw feed, stopping every few moments to type out all the words. Then, I accidentally turned on the closed caption function. The words were already there. I youtubed to find out how to download the transcript into Word and came up with a transcript. I realized that the transcription service had some flaws:

• 1.    It didn’t distinguish between speakers. The text reads more like a constant flow of oration rather than the discussion it really represented.
• 2.    There were no divisions between sentences, no punctuation, and all the wonky stuff we do when we talk…I wasn’t sure how to even punctuate that stuff.
• 3.    Sometimes, the text was correct, but didn’t represent the intonation and interruptions and restarts that we could follow with the audio/visual, but were impossible to interpret without punctuation or further exposition of what was left unsaid. The words couldn’t carry all the intended meaning. There were gaps.
• 4.    Even when I did have the sentences put into order and punctuated in some semblance of sense, the text still broke the rules. There were still areas that needed explanation or refinement to meet grammatical and genre and audience standards.

But here’s the kicker. It is THE most authentic experience I have had in editing a text for clarity. It is THE most authentic experience in revising a text to make sure the message is clear. It strikes me that THIS is the experience we need kids to have. See what you can make of the transcript, compare it with the audio feed (when I figure out how to load that), and compare it with my edits and revisions.

I’m wondering: what if we have kids have a conversation or speak what they are about to write? We video that and upload it to youtube and have the technology transcribe the conversation. Then the kids can go back and make the edits – because they’ll see immediately where meaning must be clarified with punctuation. Then we have the kids talk and evaluate whether or not the words need clarification, elaboration, or refinement.  

The transcript is long, so you'll probably just want to skip or skim that. But hang in there with me to the end. I think you'll see something powerful for helping your students. 

Context – Kelly Tumy of Harris County Department of Education is speaking about the Response Strand for the New ELAR TEKS. She’s pointing out a contrast to how we have been teaching to what the new standards promote. What she said made total sense based on what was before and the verbal and nonverbal cues as she spoke. The transcript...not so much sense going on there. Check it out: 

Transcript from youtube:

so I look at

30:12

this strand and my goal as a teacher was

30:16

always to raise good thinkers and I

30:20

wanted you to walk out of my classroom

30:22

yes being a good reader in a good writer

30:24

but overall I wanted you to be able to

30:26

make your own decisions and the response

30:30

skill strand I wrote down as everybody

30:33

was talking it's it's not English

30:35

language arts it's academic discourse

30:37

it's anything anybody puts in front of

30:40

you whether it's a dance move whether

30:44

it's a song whether it's a poem whether

30:47

it's an advertisement that I can talk

30:50

about that and I can look at claims and

30:52

I can look at warrants and I can look at

30:53

bias or I can look at the colors and I

30:56

can talk about what I see and how it

30:59

makes me feel and in really gone are the

31:03

days of of silo teaching of here is pick

31:09

on Romeo and Juliet but here's Romeo and

31:12

Juliet and this is what I've done but

31:14

instead what is in the news today about

31:18

difficult relationships there are

31:20

different difficult relationships and

31:22

politics there are difficult

31:23

relationships in business and if you can

31:26

hold a conversation about that you know

31:29

that we no longer have college and

31:32

career readiness standards we have

31:34

college career and military readiness

31:36

standards so those standards have now

31:38

changed in the state of Texas and look

31:41

at this strand what kind of skills are

31:45

we asking kids to develop that meet

31:48

industry standards if I'm going to work

31:51

for a chemical company is there

31:53

something here that I'm going to have to

31:55

do to be successful at a chemical

31:57

company is there something here that is

32:00

going to make me a successful realtor is

32:02

there something here that's going to

32:03

make me a success 'full my challenge is

32:07

yes that these are not language arts

32:10

skills but they're this academic

32:12

Discourse

Your Edits: Try it out. Don’t look at mine yet. See where you make the divisions and why.

My Edits:

30:11: Kelly: So I look at this strand, and my goal as a teacher was to always raise good thinkers. And I wanted you to walk out of my classroom -yes being a good reader and a good writer - but overall, I wanted you to be able to make your own decisions. And the response skill strand - I wrote down as everybody was talking -  it's it's not English Language Arts.  It's academic discourse. It's anything anybody puts in front of you whether it's a dance move, whether it's a song, whether it's a poem, whether it's an advertisement, that I can talk about that. And I can look at claims. And I can look at warrants, and I can look at bias, or I can look at the colors. And I can talk about what I see and how it makes me feel.

And really, gone are the days of of silo teaching of here is... - I don’t want to pick on Romeo and Juliet -  but here's Romeo and Juliet. And this is what I've done. But instead: what is in the news today about difficult relationships? There are different difficult relationships and politics. There are difficult relationships in business. And if you can hold a conversation about that...

You know that we no longer have college and career readiness standards? We have college, career, and military readiness standards. So those standards have now changed in the state of Texas. And look at this strand. What kind of skills are we asking kids to develop that meet industry standards? If I'm going to work for a chemical company, is there something here that I'm going to have to do to be successful at a chemical company? Is there something here that is going to make me a successful realtor?  Is there something here that's going to make me a successful... my challenge is: yes! That these are not language arts skills but they're this academic discourse.

Your Revisions: What’s not clear? What needs work? Highlight areas where you are confused or unclear about what we are talking about here.

Shona’s Revisions:

30:11: Kelly: I look at this strand, and I think about my goal as a teacher. I wanted raise good thinkers. I wanted students to walk out of my classroom as good readers and good writers. But most important, I wanted students to be able to make thier own decisions. As I look at the Response strand and the student expectation, I realize that the focus is not English Language Arts:  It's academic discourse. The focus is about developing critical discernment to analyze and interpret anything anybody asks me to consider: whether it's a dance move, whether it's a song, whether it's a poem, whether it's an advertisement. After exposure and time to think, can I have an intelligent conversation about that topic? I can look at claims, and I can look at warrants; and I can look at bias, or I can look at the colors. And I can talk about what I see and how it makes me feel.

Gone are the days of silo teaching where we focused on the content of specific texts. I don’t want to pick on Romeo and Juliet - but here's Romeo and Juliet and how we have traditionally taught this text. Instead, the Response Strand asks us to examine something deeper: what is in the news today about difficult relationships? There are different difficult relationships and politics. There are difficult relationships in business. And if you can hold a conversation about how you can use Romeo and Juliet as a model or example for your thinking and communicate that to others in classes other than Language Arts? That kind of response with academic discourse empowers learners.

Some might be surprised, but we no longer have college and career readiness standards. We have college, career, and military readiness standards. These standards have now changed in the state of Texas. Look at this strand and how it asks us to reconsider the Language Arts classroom. What kind of skills are we asking kids to develop that meet industry standards? If I'm going to work for a chemical company, is there something in Romeo and Juliet and how we approach the text that informs and empowers success at a chemical company? Is there something about the way we do our work in the English Language Arts classroom that is relevant to success as a realtor?  Is there something here that's going to lead to success regardless of what path the student takes?  My challenge to teachers is: Yes! And we must. Our standards are not simply language arts skills. The Response Strand represents and leads to useful and relevant academic discourse.