Success?

About an hour ago I walked out of a computer lab in my building feeling a combination of relief and wonder. I was definitely relieved that my students didn't balk at the idea of creating videos. In fact, once they got started I heard them sharing ideas, laughing and even saying things like, "this is going to be great!". Some of the other groups worked much more quietly but still seemed to be enjoying the process.

Viewing the footage also gave all of the students a chance to reflect on their experience with the kids. They were remembering what they did and sharing stories about the experience. It was good to hear that kind of talk as well.

There were, what I feared, some technical glitches. Unfortunately, the IT folks burned my footage on to DVDs in a format that was not suitable for editing. I knew that yesterday and scrambled to create CDs myself. However, in class we realized that I only put the footage from one day on the disc. This, of course, was disappointing and limited what they could do. About an hour or so into the class I had an idea and finally was able to produce one disc that had all of the footage. Three of the groups decided to incorporate the new footage, two of the groups had already made decisions about their project and didn't want to make changes, and two other groups left class still on the fence about whether they would use the additional footage.

And, one kind of strange and sort of embarrassing interaction occurred. I remarked how one of the students is my advisee and we would be together for the next four years. She responded by saying that she was even taking another class of mine next semester. To which I replied, "And, that's a real class". Another student overheard me and said, "You're dissin' your own class!". I was kind of embarrassed and I don't even remember exactly how I responded to him. Something lame like, "oh, I just meant she is taking a class with me that is closer to my expertise" -- I am not even sure.

I wish I could take it back. All semester I was concerned that students would consider this course a joke and not a real class. And, actually, none of them ever said anything to that affect. So, why would I hand this to them? Why would I say the thing that I didn't want them to say? Is it what I really believe about the class? Or, am I pre-empting the possibility of them rejecting me by rejecting myself first? And -- how pathetic is that?

Let the right one in

I recently read a book called Let the Right One In. It was a vampire book and so I didn't really think it I would make any personal connections. But, as I reflect on teaching my Applied Theatre class, I realize that I needed to be aware of who to "let in". Over the course of this semester I have decided to let my entire class into my metacognitive process concerning the class. This was somewhat successful and yet has caused me a great deal of anxiety -- still does.
I have told my students that this is the first time I am teaching this class and giving these assignments so I have no idea how they will go. They have to trust me, I have to trust myself, I have to trust them. I've given assignments and seen eyes roll only to find out later that they enjoyed doing them. I've given other assignments that are official flops. Yesterday a student wrote to ask how long his final paper should be. He was concerned because he said that his draft is getting lengthy. I wrote back and told him I would stop reading when I got bored. Having never assigned that paper before I could only guess at page length. My general instruction to the class is to include all the parts that I've asked for and write until you are finished. We will see how long they are.

Today will be another adventure. They have no idea what they are walking into. Over the past six weeks we have taken a lot of pictures and video footage of the after school program where we volunteered. The other day I imagined it would be fun and interesting to edit this raw footage into something for the class. And then, I thought, "What if they edited the video themselves?".
By the end of the day I had reserved a lab, made CDs of the footage and called a colleague to help with some basic instructions about iMovie. Today is the day. I am going to put them in groups of three and ask them to come up with a creative 3-5 minute video that represents their experience of working at the after school program. There will be 8 videos produced and my hope is that they will all be different.
We spent some time this semester talking about how people are represented in plays, films and books. I am looking forward to how my students choose to represent themselves and the children with whom they worked. And, I am hoping that 8 very different films are produced.
To be sure, if we show up next week and watch essentially the same film 8 times it will be painful. I have actually a few fears about this project. Part of me is excited. It is a creative idea. My students will get an introduction to video editing (a great skill), they will work in groups and be required to collaborate, and they will apply some of the ideas we have discussed this semester in creating the video.
On the other hand, there could be technical difficulties. What if one of the CDs doesn't work? What if they feel overwhelmed by the idea of learning the editing process? What if groups of three are too many? Should it be 2s? What if they just think it's stupid and then when they complete my instructor/course evaluations I get slammed?
So, in about 20 minutes these questions will begin to be answered. I am a little nervous about showing up for class today. I feel like I am always selling my next idea like it's a Ronco product.