Teaching a New Class

Earlier this year, I was offered the opportunity to teach my own class to a small group of high school students. That opportunity eventually morphed into a co-teaching the drama class with another teacher job, and I’ve learned a lot since starting that about a month or so ago. Today the principal asked me if I wanted to teach a Focus group next week, the same job he offered me earlier, and I said yes. That means I’ll be teaching two classes this quarter. I did a bit of hustling and told him that next fall I could join up with an English teacher and teach a creative writing class. He loved that idea and agreed to give it to me. All these things will definitely look good on my grad school résumé…

Teaching is fun, but I also have to admit that it’s tough to motivate unmotivated kids. My very first idea assignment was having these kids write a five page story just to see where they were creatively and academically. The drama teacher immediately nixed that idea, so I came up with our current project where these kids perform the first 10 pages of the Social Network script. I wanted them to memorize their parts and perform that in front of the class, but the drama teacher again nixed that idea. Since then, I’ve just been coming up with ideas for the kids to do and the drama teacher telling the students about it and assigning the homework. Even though we’re teaching these kids the stuff I wanted to teach them, it’s not what I expected it to be. I thought I’d be given more of a chance to teach, but that hasn’t happened. With my own class, however…

With my new Focus group — and a Focus group is kind of like a study hall, but with a particular focus on something, like cinema for me — I was thinking of incorporating my current fascination for photography into the class somehow. Cinema is, of course, a visual medium, so photography is a natural and perfect fit. This might provide the necessary excuse to ahem spend that money on a great camera. I might not, but if I want something, I somehow do what I need to do to get it. I’m excited for this class because it’ll be a smaller group of students, I’ll be the only teacher, and I think we’ll have fun. I want to focus on one aspect of cinema, and that’s telling a short story visually. I don’t care about acting or lighting or anything; all I care is that the images tell a cohesive story. I’m not sure what this will look like with actual students, but that’s where my thoughts are right now.

And if all else fails, I’d be teaching myself a subject I love and that could always use some brushing up on. I’m learning photography concepts, and the best way to retain that information is by teaching it to others. So even if the class ultimately fails, I would have gotten something out of it. I don’t think it will, though. You know why? Because I’m awesome. Yeah!!