Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. Many new things on the near horizon. Looks like most of my summer will be spent watching movies. I get to develop a film and filmmaking class for this coming year. I'd like for the students to learn to appreciate good films and aspire to make them. With so many great indie films out there now, a filmmaker doesn't have to sell out to the masses to get a formulaic work of sap produced by one of the larger companies. Why not just make what you want, make it yourself? I'm going to be selecting certain films that highlight different aspects of the process: examples of good story, examples of a genre, or good directing.

I'm also teaching myself a crash course in how to teach the technology of filmmaking. I don't want the kids to get too bogged down in how to operate the equipment (unless, of course, that's what they want). I really want them to learn the art of making movies, short films, and videos. That aspect of the process is the most important. If you look at the spectrum of films that you would say are your favorites, there's an artistic thread that runs through all of them. Something, a theme, lighting, a character, or actor. Something that ties them all together in your mind's eye.

I also need to learn the pedagogy of criticism. Everyone's a critic, but I want the students to learn to criticize film more analytically. To be able to recognize and then verbalize what they like and don't like about movies. They don't need to become a Roger Ebert, but they need to develop that eye for the art form.

Hopefully, we will be able to buy enough basic equipment to get the class started and build something really great for the future. Right now I'm embroiled in the chaos of developing a prospectus on what we need vs. what we can afford to buy. Every teacher deals with that in some way, but this is a whole new venture for me. I'm not sure what additional things we may need when we get started.

So, off to do more research. It should be a busy summer.
Time may change me, but I can't trace time...

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Running to Stand Still. Okay, so Adam's totally raggin me about not updating my blog. Here you go bro' (for what it's worth). It's just that these have been marginally chaotic days of late, as I'm sure they are for any teacher. (Marginally chaotic, kind of like the edge of a tornado where the winds are only 100 mph or so). There's so much left to do to get the school year closed out. A final flourish before the summer's calm. I teach AP Biology, and for any AP teacher (and student) the last week of April and the first two weeks of May are cram-time. I went by Caribou tonight and it was packed with RHS students prepping for any one of the couple of AP exams that are tomorrow.

Turns out this year I haven't allowed for enough review for my students. The schedule at school has changed so much the past few days, and all of my AP students have other AP tests, meaning they're only in class one day this week. So, I'll have to trust that they've been holding up their end of the bargain for the past 9 months, and trust that as I've held up mine, they will be prepared. AP is the greatest academic challenge for a teacher because in May we are tested with our students. Our ability to communicate a difficult topic, our ability to help our students apply and evaluate, our ability to teach them to think critically and scientifically, all these are measured. Certainly, they are indirect measurements as they must be filtered through the mind and the hand of the test taker (oh, man, how many times have I wished I could take the test for them!), but evaluation of the teacher is taken.

I won't know how they've done until the first week in July. Until then I, like they, will wait for the results.

The past weekend was busy, "a good kind of busy" as my mom would say, but busy. Friday night, hung with my boy Adam and discovered we had some mutual interests in music and the six-string. I knew he had good taste because he shares a mutual passion for the music of U2 (I will not effuse too much about them here, there's just not enough room in one blog!). We're planning to get together and jam, maybe put some stuff together for an appearance at the 'Bou or the 'Bucks. Look for us soon at a coffee shop near you!

Saturday morning I helped judge the first intramural debate tournament at our school, and had so much fun. The kids really did an outstanding job for their first time out. We learned alot about teamwork, time management, rules, topics, judging, etc. There's always room to improve, but I really think we've got the seeds of something great for our school, especially a school of our size.

Most of Saturday afternoon and evening was spent preparing the blessing I was to deliver on Sunday at the Baccalaureate service for our Senior class and their families. Each year, four blessings are presented to the class before they head out into that cold, unfamiliar world known as "the Real." I was to give the blessing of the knowledge of God. As this is a pretty comprehensive topic, it took some time to get all of my ideas together, researched, and finally written. I think it went pretty well. Maybe in a couple of days I'll put it into a "bloggable" form. The service was great, though. After the teachers give their blessings of knowledge, wisdom, character, and prosperity, the kids and parents separate off into clusters around the auditorium. At this point, parents pray over their kids, read prepared personal blessings, poetry, song lyrics, anything that bears its deepest meaning within that family. It's always amazing to me in a lump-in-my-throat kind of way to see families surround their child; to watch even the strongest dads wrest back tears in an attempt to read what, the day before, seemed so easy to write; to watch single moms managing to "surround" their child with the love and provision and spiritual fortitude of two parents; to watch confident, independent teenagers cling to their families for a few moments, suddenly seeming to understand that what they've always been so sure of is coming to an end, facing the transitory nature of the very moment they're in, understanding finally that "now" is no longer theirs, and is over as soon as they've said the word.

I remember well how they feel now, in that two-month limbo between high school and college. I was so sure of exactly how my life would play out.

And I thank God every day that I was wrong.
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