If one of my goals is to unveil the intricacies behind Film studies, I have to properly introduce the subject in order to convey this gravity to my students. Without explicitly carving out a lesson plan to address the reputation, the students can easily believe the opposite. For example, when I assigned my Storyboarding assignment, some students did not take it as seriously as I thought they would. They drew cartoons and wrote down the quotes but did not take the time to practice quote integration. I had been using and defining film terms for them, but had not fully established the amount of detail I was expecting from them. Thankfully, when I was more transparent with my students about my inquiry project, they got a better understanding of where I was coming from. I do believe that if I had done this earlier on in the year, I would have gotten to this point more promptly.
As previously mentioned, I need to think about planning for lessons as a multifaceted action. Rather than thinking about scaffolding everything in general, I need to look at the details within backwards design for film and English separately. Before developing lessons, I must take into account the intended results.
As I was experimenting with film in my classroom, I also had to remain attentive to Trinity’s traditional approach to the English curriculum. My task as a freshmen teacher is to prepare these students for the challenging high school classes ahead of them, and at times some of my assignments diverged from that particular sentiment. Many of the lessons I was incorporating may have been a better fit for a progressive institution that consistently reevaluates the way it teaches English. Figuring out what the practical expectations for the curriculum are was a helpful tool to better guide me towards balancing the conventions of the classroom with the experimental encouragements from graduate school.
It was the all-too familiar tale of goldilocks at the beginning of my time as a fellow. Sometimes, I’d think they were so smart that they understood what I was saying. I would soon realize they were simply adept at responding. And sometimes I would underestimate their capacities, which they were quick to remind me of. But what I have come to realize about freshmen in particular is that they are big middle schoolers, so they tend to need more clarity, given orientation, and rules. Understanding how to communicate with burgeoning teens or read them even when they fail to communicate is something I have improved upon and will continue to improve upon as I continue in this field.
Though I had studied representation in films, I had not initially considered the social benefits of including film into the English classroom until I found myself doing it. Many, if not all, English departments encounter tension between wanting to teach the canon or prioritizing more contemporary works. One of the benefits of the former includes understanding allusions or inspirations for other texts. Yet it is consistently critiqued by students and teachers alike as being homogeneous, mostly presenting Caucasian men’s stories. Though the latter classification has a reputation for being more inclusive, it may also feel far removed from its narratological roots. I found that by talking about film terminologies or theory, I was able to showcase how a canonical text’s plots applied to other identities; whether they be of different genders, physical abilities, races, or sexualities there is something timeless that bonds certain narratives.
Far too often I find myself on the verge of buying an 8-ball to decide what will become of me. There is one thing I never doubt or question: my love of stories.
We are in an age where communication happens in the blink of a meme. Though we continue to use words as a predominant method of communication, many words are accompanied by images. And images themselves become more cross cultural than words themselves. The saying does that a picture says a thousand words. So when it comes to moving images that are composed by multiple images, the meanings are endless. Now that I have more experience in the classroom, I feel more confident about involving other disciplines into the English classroom, which is inherently a polymorphic subject.
I look forward to the days when I can replicate the ease and earnestness that so many of my teachers had, especially those that presented English in a new light. This entire experience has made me appreciate my teachers all the more than I already had.