Mystery
Entertainment
Creativity
Influencing Public Opinion
Big Brother and Power
Traveling
Public Health, Mental Health
Child Development
Being There for Someone
What the Eyes Say
Presentation
Organization
Time
Favorite Movies
I feel like I named Jeopardy categories in the voice of Will Ferrell. (Anyone? SNL fans?)
At the moment, I have bits and pieces of ideas I want to communicate to my new class. I don't know how much I actually have to say about each thing, nor how long any of them will go for (as I am limited by the 50 minute classtime), but these topics stand out to me. I came up with them by browsing content I have written here and elsewhere, so I'm not pulling these things out of my butt. I have things to say, but the things I've said on paper and the things and my capabilities of saying these things verbally are two completely different things.
I also need to acknowledge that these high school students have attention spans of between 30 seconds and 20 minutes. I need to keep the pace moving, change things up a bit, and most importantly, engage in some interaction. Learning should be, in most cases, a hands-on experience. Hey, there's another topic.
Movies get away with holding your attention by using plot twists and changes in pace. Even Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy, one of the longest, most dragged out, slowest movies I have ever sat through, still kept my interest. Despite the man snoring in the theater, I came out, glad I had seen it. It itself was a change of pace for me.
But I'm not my audience. Whiny teenagers are. Mumbling snarky comments to neighbors around them and interrupting.
Maybe that should be among the first things for me to take control of. The class. Their behavior. Specifically their behavior around me. I've seen teachers try to wait out the noise and claim "you're only wasting your own time" sort of thing, and others quickly grab their attention by means of a loud voice and entertainment. I prefer the latter.
But enough of that, I'm boring myself.
Here's a quick breakdown of my 14 topics:
Mystery. I previously wrote a blog post on that. My thoughts haven't changed. As it focuses on curiosity, I plan to plant myself in the back of the class and fall asleep. I'm curious to see how they react; I hope they're curious enough to ask what I've done and am doing. I will follow with...
Entertainment. Again, a previous post contains my thoughts. It too is driven by curiosity. You'll notice a trend here.
Creativity. This will compliment the simplicity of Entertainment with the means of achieving it. Originality will be a key here.
Influencing Public Opinion. This class is essentially a visual media hub, both for news and creative projects. Both are very powerful tools when used correctly. I want them to know the importance of harnessing this power.
Big Brother and Power. It's complicated, this one. I have something in my head but don't know how to word it. I'm also afraid of even saying it.Traveling. Not to be confused with Running Away. Winston. But really, I do want to focus on traveling. The city, the country, the world. Experience new things. It's nothing BUT good for you (unless you die).
Public Health, Mental Health. This is also a blog post, literally the previous one. It's a good transition from traveling the world to these student's development as human beings.
Child Development. I will say minimal about teenage development, for I do want to cover pre-teen growth. I wrote about this in depth elsewhere, don't worry.
Being There for Someone. This is unbelievably important. People are social creatures and need to work together. Being there to help film, act, fetch something, console someone, tell a joke, anything. It's a life lesson that filmmakers greatly benefit from and should practice every single second.
What the Eyes Say. This is more in regards to acting, but remains true to real life. If you are going to bullshit someone who is looking you right in the eye, at least have the balls to look them right back and mean it. Sorry, it's the best example I can think of. But really, acting is ALWAYS done with the eyes.
Presentation. Another blog post. This reflects how my presentation was me acting, not teaching. It might not go as well as I hope.
Organization. This reflects how important it is to be organized. I couldn't have made the presentation if I hadn't given it prior thought. I have actually taught completely disorganized, and it was crap. Students constantly go out of the classroom with a camera and have no clue what they're doing, or what they're supposed to get, or how to get it (the story, the shots, etc.). I hate that. It produces shitty new segments.
Time. This is my reflection of how little effin' time there is. There's so many goddamn things to do and so little effin' time. I have to deal with this. They have to deal with this. Deadlines. Quality content. It can be achieved. Set your goddamn priorities straight. Organize your time.
Favorite Movies. This is my backup topic, in case I rush through everything or purposely skip stuff because I wasn't prepared. I will ask and talk with them about each of their favorite movies. This is important to me because their answers say a lot more about them to me than simply knowing their names and how they dress.
But now I have to incorporate interactive content. I need questions for them. I might need things to show them. I will need to answer their questions. I need to change pace from time to time to keep things interesting. I don't want to be sitting, lectured for an hour when I could be talking nonsense to my neighbor or texting or sleeping. I need them to move around. Dead Poets Society is an inspirational piece for me to take cues from. I think I'll watch that soon.
As you can see, my first lesson for teaching a tv/film class has nothing directly related to skillbuilding in video production. No, it's more. It's life skills. Words of inspiration. Motivation. If, that is, I can sell it.
No comments:
Post a Comment