TEL.A.VISION | It's Your Story

TEL.A.VISION Launches New Curriculum and New Site License Program To Include At-Risk and Special Education Programs

Posted on 15. Dec, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, TEL.A.VISION News

Students Demonstrate Deeper Engagement with School Because of TEL.A.VISION

MINNEAPOLIS (December 15, 2009) – TEL.A.VISION, the proven Web 2.0 online curriculum that inspires youth to create and share visions of hope and possibility through personal “vision videos” announced today the launch of their new curriculum and new site license program.
Realizing that the greatest benefit of TEL.A.VISION is with our most vulnerable students, TEL.A.VISION has relaunched its curriculum with a focus on Special Ed and At Risk students.

The United States dropout rate is 30% per year. Many of these students are not engaged in thinking about their future, they drop out because they feel no hope. With TEL.A.VISION they feel more optimistic about their future, more hopeful, more engaged and have more reason to stay in school.

TEL.A.VISION’s new Site License Program is designed to be purchased for Special Education students. Schools purchase a yearly subscription for each Special Education student and that also includes group accounts for all other classrooms at no additional charge. This New Site License Program was designed to help schools and districts decrease the dropout rate for these vulnerable students while also promoting academic achievement in every classroom. This convenient, low-cost, license purchase covers all student, teacher and administrator use at a school. The site license includes a curriculum guide, lesson plans, and on-line media so each lesson can be taught with a computer and projector or/and an interactive whiteboard.

The extensive curriculum for Special Education and At Risk students was created under the direction of Dr. Christy Chambers, past president of CASE (Council of Administrators of Special Education) and past superintendent of Special Education District of McHenry County, Woodstock, IL. This new curriculum will decrease the number of Special Education and At Risk dropouts by providing that students  tools to create a new way of thinking positively about their futures by giving them more hope and more social and emotional support.

“We are seeing increased use of TEL.A.VISION in several of our schools, elementary and secondary and an interest in using it by other schools in our district,” stated Mike Dronen District Technology Coordinator at Stillwater Area Public Schools. “When one firsts look at TEL.A.VISION, it may not seem particularly significant, but once you see students working with it and showing their TEL.A.VISION videos, the possibilities for impacting students are amazing.”

“TEL.A.VISION wants to ensure that all students, including our most vulnerable students, have the opportunity to feel valued and to stay in school. I believe that we have a vision deficit in the world and that everything starts with vision. Our students need to envision graduating from high school,” stated George Johnson of TEL.A.VISION. “TEL.A.VISION is a cost effective way to keep students engaged in school. Our thoughts matter. And students using TEL.A.VISION are focusing their thoughts on their desired future. We have found that hope breeds success and TEL.A.VISION definitely offers hope to our students.”

About TEL.A.VISION

TEL.A.VISION was created by former Special Education teacher turned entrepreneur, George Johnson. TEL.A.VISION is a Web 2.0 online curriculum that inspires youth to create and share visions of hope and possibility through personal “vision videos”.  The TEL.A.VISION technology platform was designed for all youth, but the focus is the Special Education and At Risk student.
For more information, or to create and share a vision for a better world, visit www.telavision.tv

Vision Videos Empower Students – District Administration

Posted on 12. Jul, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Media, Power of Vision, TEL.A.VISION News

A new Web-based tool, Tel.A.Vision, inspires young people to dream the possible dream.

By Mary Johnson Patt June 2009

District Administration Magazine, the magazine of School district Management, completed a three page article on TEL.A.VISION  in its June/ July NECC issue. Here is an excerpt: In early March, as he addressed the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., President Obama spoke at great length of the reforms he believes will give Americans “a complete and competitive education, from the cradle up through a career.” The proposals he laid out for improving early childhood education, K12 standards and assessments, graduation rates, teacher quality and college funding will be debated for months to come by thousands of school administrators, teachers, parents and politicians. It was the voice of a single teenager, however, that helped drive the president’s messages home that day.

At the end of his speech, Obama quoted Yvonne Boroquez, a California student whose high school class recently made a video exploring the impact of the economic crisis on their dreams of higher education and professional employment.

“It was heartbreaking that a girl so full of promise was so full of worry that she and her class titled their video ‘Is Anybody Listening?’” Obama said. “I am listening. We are listening. America is listening,” the president assured Boroquez and her classmates.

“We have a huge vision deficit in this country,” Johnson explains. “There is so much fear and negativity, especially in the media. I decided to start a movement about bringing more hope and possibility into the world, and to do it by helping kids create little three-minute visions of what they want their life to become.”

Enter Tel.A.Vision. Johnson’s free Web tool gives today’s tech-savvy youth everything they need to create and share “vision videos.” A Tel.A.Vision is essentially a highly personal montage combining a student’s written hopes and dreams with still photographs, music and computer animation—created with tools available online at www.telavision.tv.

Read the entire District Administration article here

DIVAs aim for right notes

Posted on 21. Apr, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Power of Vision, TEL.A.VISION News

Project DIVA connects caring adults who act as mentors with girls planning where their lives will take them.

Photo by Neal St. Anthony

In a front page business section article in today’s Star Tribune columnist Neal St. Anthony features project Divas and the difference creating TEL.A.VISION  videos has made in their lives.

“I have a vision of my future that helps me stay on track,” said Caprice Whimper, 16, a student at Dunwoody Academy, a charter school. “I want to be an ‘A’ student. And I want to be an ‘OB-GYN’ doctor. I take care of young siblings. And I always have wanted to help women and kids.”

Teara Hinton, 14, another North Side resident and student at Armstrong High in Plymouth, also envisions a medical career.

“My aunt is a nurse,” Hinton said. “I want to be a doctor, a pediatrician, and work in the city with kids.”

The Divas were training other youth to do TELA.VISION  videos at the Wired for 2020 event sponsored by the Minnesota Mentoring Partnership, www.mentoringworks.org

Here is an example of one of the Diva’s videos:

TEL.A.VISION and Minneapolis Public School Graduation Requirements

Posted on 08. Apr, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Media, TEL.A.VISION News

In a feature story in today’s  Southwest Journal, TEL.A.VISION’s new relationship with the Minneapolis Public Schools is explained.

Tel.A.Vision will be incorporated into Minneapolis Public Schools My Life Plan, a post-college planning activity that is required for graduation beginning next school year. Creating a vision video will be one option for seniors to complete the My Life Plan requirements.

For Minneapolis Public School students, the vision videos they create using Tel.A.Vision will focus on post-high school college and career aspirations.

Southwest’s Jastrow said high school seniors would have the option of creating a vision video for their capstone project, the final step in completing My Life Plan. For their capstone project, seniors must produce something — such as an essay or art project — that both reflects on their high school career and also looks ahead to life after high school.

Jastrow said the district’s AchieveMpls coordinators and licensed school counselors recently were trained in using Tel.A.Vision. Several of the adults created their own videos within an hour or so of being introduced to the program, which means Tel.A.Vision should be a snap for today’s tech-savvy kids, she said.

Jastrow said students are drawn to interactive media. And like generations of teens long before the Internet Age, they crave control.

That’s exactly what Tel.A.Vision gives them, she said.

“They’re able to combine music and pictures [with] their thoughts and personality,” Jastrow said. “They can put their stamp on what it will be.

Educators Tout TEL.A.VISION in Today’s StarTribune

Posted on 20. Mar, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Media, TEL.A.VISION News

“It has had a profound effect on how they [students] treat each other in the hallway,” said Lake Elmo Elementary School principal Andy Fields during an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune this week. Fields’ positive feedback is communicated throughout the TEL.A.VISION feature story in today’s Metro section. Additionally, Minneapolis Public Schools counselor Shelly Landry communicates her excitement about the fact that her students will have the opportunity to create TEL.A.VISION videos next fall.

While the story as a whole captures the progress TEL.A.VISION is making across the State of Minnesota, it’s the feedback from those in the field, those who’ve successfully incorporated TEL.A.VISION into their curriculum, that is especially rewarding to read.

TEL.A.VISION on Television: Our Founder on KARE-TV

Posted on 17. Mar, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Media, Story of TEL.A.VISION, TEL.A.VISION News

Since its inception, TEL.A.VISION has been well received by educators, youth leaders and students. Most recently, we’ve seen the media embrace TEL.A.VISION as well. From the Christian Science Monitor to FOX-TV, reporters nationwide are noticing TEL.A.VISION and its potential. More importantly, these reporters “get it.” They get that now more than ever we need more hope and positivity in the world, and that hope for a better future is best instilled in tomorrow’s leaders -- our youth.

Yesterday, TEL.A.VISION founder George Johnson joined KARE-TV’s Diana Pierce for a live segment discussing TEL.A.VISION and the upcoming TEL.A.VISION Day on March 20th. In three minutes, George took Diana and KARE’s audience on a tour of TEL.A.VISION, including his motivation for founding it and the simple process for creating a vision video. Additionally, our “Vision for America” contest also was highlighted, and people nationwide were encouraged to enter their vision for America video by midnight this Thursday.

The next media outlet to catch on to our movement? Minnesota’s own Cities 97. Tune in this Friday morning, TEL.A.VISION Day, as George joins morning show host B.T. from the NYLC conference in Nashville. If you miss the live segment, don’t worry. Check back here for full audio.

CSM Captures “Vision” in TEL.A.VISION

Posted on 16. Dec, 2008 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Media, TEL.A.VISION News

TEL.A.VISION is featured in today’s Christian Science Monitor with an in-depth story detailing the five Ws of our recently launched online program. Among the Ws described is the “what,” with an accurate account of TEL.A.VISION and the process youth go through when creating their vision videos, including everything from identifying their dreams and goals to expressing them through personally meaningful words, images and music. The story also highlights the intuitiveness of our Website, calling out our designated “For Students” section, which houses video tutorials and downloadable curriculum to guide anyone through the process of creating their vision video.

More importantly, though, is the last of the Ws – the “why” – which is articulated with language that touts the hopeful, youth-driven mission of TEL.A.VISION. Our program is more than an online software that allows kids to be creative and express themselves using technology. It is a platform that empowers youth, our future leaders, to celebrate their gifts, share their stories and make their voices heard.

“The most important aspect of the site has less to do with technology and more to do with imagination. ‘We want kids to get onto the computer and create the script for the story of their life,‘ Johnson says. ‘Add music, and add voice, and add photos, and have kids outline a goal-oriented program of his or her desired future. Make it about hope and about positivity.’”