What Do SD Cards and Pawn Stars Have in Common?
Media content is like gold, so it is frustrating to lose it after filming. Whether you work with a small group of students in your video club, or you have several classes of 25 students in each, you need a good system of managing your media cards. Here is a pro tip to keep track of your recordable media.
Tape stock was easy to keep track of back in the day because you just placed it on a shelf for everyone to see. So, where do you keep something that's about the size of a postage stamp when it's not in the camera?
After watching a Pawn Stars’ episode, this idea came to me when a customer brought in his prize-winning stamp collection. He had a nice three-ring binder with full-page laminated sheets that held the stamps. After searching Amazon for a few minutes, I had our solution to SD card management. Clear File Archival Sheets for Coins and 35mm Slides. They are a perfect size.
I purchased a 25 sheet pack for under $10, and there are more than enough to use for all of our classes, plus replacements when needed from wear and tear. The clear slots are perfect for displaying all of the cards for an entire class.
My first thought was to keep them in a three-ring binder but quickly realized that flipping the pages, or holding the binder upside down meant flying SD cards since they can easily slide out of their slot. After a little thought, I took some double-sided tape and stuck them to the wall in our equipment checkout room.
You can purchase Avery Labels to place on each SD card and either write on them or send them through a laser printer.
Follow the Workflow
A place for everything and everything in its place. Students learn at the beginning of the year that recordable media only goes into three areas. The camera, The Card Reader, and the Storage Slot. They never go in a pants pocket, purse, backpack, or left on a table.
When we started implementing this workflow plan for SD cards, it was amazing how quickly they stopped losing their media.
Hopefully, this series provides you with some workflow strategies that make life easier. Maybe this will spark a new idea that you implement in your teaching environment. I would love to hear what workflows you have created, so shoot me an email at tom.wilson@northcantonschools.org, or post it on Stream Semester’s Facebook Group Broadcast Education Professionals. We're all in this together, folks.
Meet the Author, Tom Wilson
Tom Wilson is the coordinator of district media and video-journalism at Hoover High School in North Canton Ohio. You can follow the work of his students on social media @nctvmedia and his unique production vehicle, the Mobile Storyteller Project.