Geography teacher René van de Veerdonk (37) from the Cambreur College in Dongen is the best Film teacher in the Netherlands. According to the public that could vote, he makes the best educational videos for his students. “I want to make a ‘3 on a journey report’, with education in it.”
Van de Veerdonk started in corona time with the films, for which he now travels all over the world. For example, he made geography lessons in Iceland, Istanbul and in various places in the Netherlands.
He received the audience award on Wednesday at the Teachers’ Day of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). René’s enthusiasm for film is captivating, according to the jury.
“In times of corona, I noticed during the online lessons that the students were far from motivated. Out of curiosity, I drove across border areas to the border with Belgium for lessons and started a live stream there, in which I talked about, among other things, the difference between Belgians and Dutch people. .” More live streams followed, then Van de Veerdonk started making special videos.
“In a lesson about the soil, for example, I will do soil drilling. Or I will tell about sediment using a stone.” He teaches at secondary school. Sometimes he shows a video in class, sometimes it is homework and sometimes the students watch voluntarily at home. “How I use it is tailor-made. For example, I have many dyslexic students in a class and the videos work very well there.”
You must have learned something after watching
It sometimes takes him a year to prepare a video. Saving money, thinking about a storyboard, making a script. “In Iceland, for example, I used Google Earth to find out exactly at which cliff, which glacier and which geyser I wanted to film. It takes a lot of time. I want to make a ‘3 on a journey’ report, with education in it. After the you really must have learned something.”
He has two new destinations in mind. A trip to Egypt to show the desert climate and a trip to the lignite mines in Germany. “I sometimes make those trips alone, sometimes with friends. But there is also time for normal holidays with my girlfriend. For example, we are going to Bali next year, although the drone will go along and I do not rule out that I will make a teaching video after all. play.”
It is tangible, away from theory
According to the geography teacher who lives in Oss, the grades of the students have improved. “Especially in first grade. For example, I notice that they can now better explain to me what a volcano looks like. It is tangible, away from the theory. And they enjoy watching the videos.”
Colleague teachers from other schools are now also using his teaching videos. Many of those schools also voted for him during the competition, Van de Veerdonk suspects. “And through Google, students quickly find me, for example when they search for geography and a specific theme. I had 30 percent of the public vote, but I am not allowed to know how many votes it was.”
He receives full cooperation from the Cambreur College in Dongen to make the videos. “Unfortunately they don’t sponsor it financially. But recently I was scheduled a day off on request to make the video about Istanbul.
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