BUT SERIOUSLY, WATCH IT ON THE YOUTUBE LINK, NOT THE BOX POSTED BELOW - I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT THE QUALITY IS TONS BETTER ON YOUTUBE!
And now let's discuss the process of creating a narrative assignment...
The lesson plan is shared on a google doc that can be found at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Qmd7A5DPV5Z0M5OEV3ZW15WlU/edit?usp=sharing
And the shooting script found at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Qmd7A5DPV5S0JHbVlkcjZnd3M/edit?usp=sharing
To begin, I was actually excited about this assignment. I, as stated in blog posts prior, really do love the art of storytelling. And I find it exciting and challenging to open up storytelling with my students in a new way, and specifically creating a process through which they can encounter, interact with, and create media. To be honest, that is the main reason I decided to do this program. I love teaching, and to be forthright and blunt, I am pretty darn good at it. I have seen lots of success in my eight years at Lehi, but I find myself falling behind the students daily interactions with their mediated world. I wanted to find a way to bridge the gap and incorporate media into what I am currently trying to do in the classroom and on the stage.
Now, as with all of these assignments we have encountered thus far, I certainly faced an uphill battle with more challenges than I originally anticipated. And I might hate myself for saying this later, but I really appreciate that we are not only designing lesson plans, but trying them out ourselves. I have had some moments go beautifully and some become tragic failures. But the process of creating and adapting has been surprisingly refreshing and rewarding. (If only my tired brain could retain all the things I am learning, so I don't have to keep asking the same questions...)
While perhaps my idea of taking a song and turning it into a short film may seem strange, I try to choose hooks and inspiration that I think my students will enjoy tackling. They are always so excited to share their music with their friends, and with me, that I thought this would be a nice and fun approach. Further, I think my idea of collaboration with the video production class will be really rewarding. I know that class is often looking for material, and we live in an age where the term "cross-curricular collaboration" is like music to an administrator's ears. I have spoken with the teacher at my school about this idea and he is excited to try to do something together. Honestly, he wants us to get to the place that we are team teaching and creating a full fledged film with our classes...but this class has taught me that I need quite a bit more work and training before I'm ready for something like that!
The lesson plan has to be more like a 5-class period unit in order to assess that they have learned the material and have the opportunity to view, create, and critique new media. But I like the prospect of taking their learning and skills up to this point and finding a new way for them to get excited about sharing it. I further realized, that due to time and resources, or lack thereof, that this must be done as a group project. While often group projects are hard because some slide by while the rest do the work, I make it a point in all of the group projects that I do in my classes for my students to, upon completion, give me a self assessment and a peer assessment for everyone in their group as well as a justification for each grade. Further I assign the groups. I find that this helps to prevent a lot of the problems usually accompanying group projects.
When I began filming, I faced quite a few sound problems and by the time I had them resolved, I didn't have my actors for much longer. So we had to hurry and reshoot, and I wasn't able to get all of the shots I would have liked. But this just taught me to test all of my equipment before and assure that I use my actor's time wisely. It was a good lesson to learn. Overall, I am pleased with how the project turned out, especially with the time constraints and learning curve. I appreciate my former students coming to my rescue. It's such a blessing to have people who will just take my direction and run with it, who trust me implicitly. Of course, I wish there was better lighting, that I had turned off my air conditioning to have better sound, that I had a few more shots (especially shot, reverse shots, and a better transition between the day and night scene), I still found the process to be informative and fun. And for extra measure, I added a truly cheesy moment at the end...but wasn't that the point of 80s hair band ballads? Let's just call it my ode to Bon Jovi!
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