REACTING TO THE REACTIONS PART 2

The screening in Boston was in a brand new building at Northeastern, filled with very comfortable chairs. Lou Kruger, director of the School Psychology Program was our host, and Barry Chung, the chair of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology, came by to welcome us. Our son Jesse came with us, and we relied on him several times, as he guided others to the room, helped with the computer set up, and trouble-shot during the screening at one point.

We lost a few folks to an important hearing on education at the state capital, but still had a great turn out: Ayla Gavins, principal of Mission Hill Pilot School, Monty Neill and Lisa Guisband of Fairtest, Jay and Helen Featherstone --authors and professors of education who have written widely about the english primary schools and progressive education, Emeritus professor of education at Leslie College and longtime consultant on Open education, Brenda Engel, Harvard professor and student of Piaget, Eleanor Duckworth, Berklee College teacher Dave Scott and his wife Renee, film maker Ed Howe, and Center for Independent Documentary director, Susi Walsh.

People were so positive, it blew us away. Here are some of the comments that people mailed me in the days following the screening:

Ayla Gavins "What a privilege it was to view your film. I loved it! My first thought when the film ended was that I wanted to watch it again."

Helen Featherstone "It was terrific to meet you and I really really like your film. We talked about it a lot on the way home and then again this morning. One other thing that your film does that is important is that it dispels the notion that teachers in progressive schools have no standards and tell kids that every thing they do is WONDERFUL: I was very impressed by the way in which you pushed kids, insisting that they really do the assignment. But of course that is just one little thing. The main thing is that you and Tom have succeeded in showing what a school year looks like, for kids and for others."

Jay Featherstone "I really think it's a wonderful film, and will be happy to write recs or whatever."

Monty Neill "It was a pleasure to see the film and be with folks. I'd be happy to dialog with you re: intro, closing, text, narration to help with 'political location' as it were. And I'd be pleased to provide a quote, etc."

Lisa Guisbond "I'm percolating my thoughts about the film, which I found beautiful, engaging and profound. I'll email them to you soon. What an idyllic world you created for those adorable, incredibly fortunate children. Seems like an educational garden of Eden. Feeling a bit sad that neither of my boys have had such an educational experience, or only in little morsels here and there, not as a daily diet. Sad that so few children have had this"

Louis Kruger "The film was excellent, and very well received by the group."

Feedback included wanting more subtitles or improvements in the sound, so that important conversations weren't lost, more clarity as to who was a teacher and who was a parent, wishing that we had filmed a teacher meeting to give more of a sense of how the team works together, and (the biggest subject of conversation) where and how to elucidate simply and without sounding smug the need to move away from standardized tests and one size fits all education. Several people felt that the first 20 minutes were confusing, and that the film didn't take off for them until around the winter holiday section, but others said that complexity mirrored what was going on for the children, and was why the later parts of the film were able to be so compelling. Susi Walsh was effusive about the beauty of Tom's images. People talked about the way Tom has captured children's expressions and the way we see them develop in the course of the year. There was a wish that we could show more specific examples of how one or two children had grown academically. Some people hadn't caught that it was a public school.

Everyone present seems willing to give us glowing endorsements. Jay is already thinking of ways he could use the film as he works towards creating a charter school with an arts focus. Helen suggested I try WT Grant foundation for funding, and although it seems like a long shot, I will pursue that, especially as she has received funding from them, and is willing to write on our behalf.

The following night we showed it to Tom's extended family (including two young cousins who sat spellbound to our great surprise and pleasure). Much praise, and many questions followed. It is clear that we will need to have some explanatory material about the school and the district--maybe as part of the dvd package, or as a written insert.

Our daughter and son both gave us excellent suggestions and feedback. Suddenly this feels like a family effort! Keja made a comment that I have been thinking about a lot. In terms of what we want the film to accomplish, by having me the subject of the first and last scenes, we give the message that this film circles around the teacher. If we don't want that to be the message, the first scene needs to change. Hmmmm. That is certainly part of our message--giving teachers the wherewithal to teach well is crucial, but is that the main message? I'll get back to you on that!

REACTING TO THE REACTIONS PART 1

We got to Brooklyn on December 21, and it has been a flurry of activity ever since. At 3 pm on the 22nd I found myself waiting in a drizzle in front of Junior's restaurant across the street from Long Island University. Howard Katzoff and Fred Spinowitz were meeting us there, but Tom was still at LIU dealing with projectors that wouldn't show our video! Luckily for us, the technician at LIU hadn't gone home yet, and Tom joined us before the cheesecake arrived. I have been corresponding with Howard for several months, since discovering his website, mrkatzoff..org, which is sponsored by the Orion Society's Whole Child Education Initiative. Meeting him in the flesh was like meeting an old friend. When we started talking, it turned out that Fred (who is a former middle school principal, and now supervises student teachers when he is not painting) had just visited the junior high school that I attended! The conversation flowed flawlessly from memories of Brooklyn in the 50's and 60's to the politics that surround teaching. The pump was primed for viewing the video, and we strolled over to LIU, where the group grew larger with the addition of Lynn and Michael Hassan, and Marita Downes of LIU. Jerry Mitnz of AERO was delayed in traffic, but arrived about a third of the way through the screening, and right after him, my former student, Sara Hotchkiss. Jerry brought two students with him, who also contributed to the conversation.

Tom recorded the feedback, and I will be interested to hear it when I get back to California to see how well it jives with my memories as I am recording them after three more screenings, and may be mixing them up, but here goes. It has been very gratifying to see how much people basically enjoy the film, and relate to the children, the teacher, and the subject matter. Marita had to leave early, but as she left, told me it had been a privilege to watch the film. Jerry Mintz wanted more information about the structure of the school, and the community, but he missed that part of the film. For his philosophy of education, the school we show is not democratic enough, but he saw the value of showing what is possible in a public school setting. He would like more narration, and more comparison--wondered about using a student to narrate his or her perspective on what was happening.

Everyone felt my narration was appropriate, and that the more personal narration was the strongest. Fred would cut some of the social/emotional content. He and Howard disagreed on that point, but agreed that we need to find ways to spell out more clearly the context of the film in today's narrowing of instructional practices, but do it unobtrusively, and without an ax to grind. Lynn spoke strongly for keeping the social/emotional as a major component. Howard talked of the fine line we have to walk, between creating a dramatic and artistic product, and advocating for relevant education. Sara was pleased to see how similar the school was to the way it was when she was a student, and applauded Tom's photography. She reminded me that her dad has been involved in fundraising for the Ojai Society's school, and I will contact him when I get home, in case he might have some leads for us. We left this first screening feeling awed and buoyed by the experience! Guess I'll have to write about the other screenings another day, as it is almost midnight!

3X5 CARDS

A few days ago Tom put his entire 2.25 hour first assembly onto 3x5 cards, each scene with a number. He color coded them, green for act 1: Introductions, yellow for act 2: Understanding the issues, and blue for act 3: Resolutions. Of course it is not as simple as that. You don't introduce everything right away, and some issues will not be resolved, but it is a helpful way to give form to what we want to accomplish.

He taped the cards in sequence onto the walls of our editing room, and then gave me a stack of white cards to begin my process of rethinking some of what he has created. I put parenthesis around scenes I think we could eliminate, take some cards off the wall all together, and add cards where I think another scene belongs. I change the order, and write question marks when I can't make up my mind if a scene is right or not. Not unexpectedly, I have added more than I have taken away, but at this point that's okay. Things are feeling less chunky, more intertwined. Eventually some scenes that we love will have to go, but I console myself in the knowledge that they may reappear in the shorts we will make once the major film is completed.

Now Tom starts to re-edit. His first goal is to shorten the introduction, which felt long and confusing. Initially we had imagined many places where we would present a montage of images, followed by a well developed episode. But as we work with the material, the montages of many children doing many things, seem to be falling away in favor of longer scenes. Unfortunately that means we will not be able to show as much of a range of the activities of the year, but it felt discombobulating to pack as much in as we were doing, and didn't give time to develop anything. I am playing with how we can use shorter, more focused montages--for example of the children's portraits, to introduce certain kinds of scenes, and to emphasize themes.

I find all this so exhilarating. Maybe this just shows my age and lack of computer savy, but staring at the wall of cards, I feel the wholeness of the project for the first time.

PRAISE

Don't we all love praise? Alfie Kohn warns against the dangers of praising children--that it will actually keep them from putting effort into their work. I can see the danger, but I would make a difference in terms of the kinds of praise, and when and how it is given. It seems to me that when a person is acknowledged warmly for their effort, for reaching a goal, for overcoming an obstacle, they bask in the glow of recognition, and feel their work has meaning. I think that is appropriate praise. So now I will not only bask, but I will repeat the praise I just received!

THE AMAZING WORLD OF YOUTUBE

I uploaded a new 3 minute teaser to Youtube last week. I'm getting a bit more savvy about how one goes about using social media. Of course everything is relative. I should probably be moving this blog to a better site, but I started to do it and got overwhelmed.

Back to the new teaser. I sent out announcements to everyone in my address book, and to my facebook friends, and announced it on August to June's Facebook page. The views are coming in much faster than with the 7 minute piece. I think that is because A) we have more fans on Facebook than we had when I posted the first piece, and B) those folks who have responded to the project now recognize it and are interested enough to check things out right away. We are not getting the kinds of hits that shots of dogs falling off diving boards get, but I'm happy.

So I then decided it was time to write to K'nex and ask them if they'd be interested in giving a donation. We show kids having such a good time with K'nex and learning so much along the way...but if the current trends aren't challenged, fewer and fewer teachers will find room for manipulative materials what with the emphasis on multiple choice tests! I wanted to direct them to our Youtube site, and since I was sending a snail mail letter, I thought the best thing would be to give them a name they could type into Google rather than the string of numbers and letters that identifies the site. So I tried typing the name we have given to this version: AUGUST TO JUNE bringing life to school.

Well, the first entry that comes up is our teaser. But underneath that is a listing for Why Call Yourself a Witch? A Youtube clip whose site somehow has a connection to our film (though I can't see what it is) and also to spiders on drugs. Hmmm Didn't seem like the best introduction for a sponsor to see. I found a way around it by suggesting to the K'nex person that she put the title into Youtube's search, which has nary a mention of witches or hallucinating spiders. Talley Ho! On to my next challenge!!

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

After months of spending the majority of my work time searching for funders (all right guys: "come out come out wherever you are!") and learning more about what other educators and film makers are contributing in this area, today I began participating more actively in the editing of our video. Ah! Yay!! Tom has pretty much completed the third step in this very complex project. First we narrowed 300 hours down to 100, next we made a stab at picking out some highlights for a 45 minute sampler and a 7 minute sampler, both of which we have used to get feedback. Now he has narrowed 100 down to about 12. He has created assemblies that define a range of activities and themes, and we started reviewing them alphabetically!

Today I saw sections on Afternoon meeting, Animals, Arrivals, Art, Assessment, Bird calls, Bonking, and Campus cleanup. It shakes up my thinking to see the footage as elements to play with, rather than chronologically, as we did with our first pass through. My mind is racing to the next stage, of course, where we create a basic structure for the film, but Tom is helping me learn patience and the importance of careful craft. The sections will not stay in their current forms but they are edited enough to be able to feel their essence, and I find myself picking out easily the parts that matter most to me: shots that show the character of the student, or catch for me that mysterious quantity called "authentic learning."

I can see that I will have my work cut out for me coming up with just the right amount of commentary to explain the contexts and purposes without making the film too wordy. Tom had just a few shots in the Assessment category, as he also has sections for Math assessment, Reading assessment and Writing assessment as well as Self assessment. He used this section for shots of the small group of students who took the STAR test that is mandated by NCLB and the State. Most of the parents in my class opt their students out of this test. I am not in favor of high stakes standardized tests, and find little value in standardized tests even when they aren't attached to rewards and punishment. How will I talk about that? How much importance should we give it? Guess I better make some written rough drafts of my own.

MISTAKES

Tom was recently editing a scene where two girls confront a third about saying something mean. There are many levels present in the scene, including the social pecking order that tempted L to say the mean thing: wanting to ingratiate herself, but having the opposite result.

What I am pondering right now is the moment when L, crying and overcome by the way things have spiraled out of control, emotionally admits she made a mistake. All present then acknowledge that at one time or another they have also. I say: “I’ve made more mistakes that you can possibly imagine!” The girls all nod, with R adding something to the effect that at my age I have had many more years to make mistakes. So true!!!

Well, last week I really made a dumb mistake that I am still recovering from. I was left in charge of the school barnyard while everyone was away on a camping trip. Thumper, the new bunny is very hard to catch, and in the process of getting her to go into her hutch, I tried to corner her in the chicken cage. By the time I finally got her put away, I had forgotten that the chickens’ gate was still open. I didn’t remember until I returned to a scene of carnage the following morning. All 4 of our sweet pet chickens had been killed. It was an awful moment.

I dreaded the children returning. No matter how much I told myself that these things happen, that I needed to forgive myself, I was not getting there. But predictably when I came to be with them on the day they found out, while they mourned the loss tearfully, they forgave me easily. When a child, who has a much bigger loss in her own life, put her arms around me and just held me silently and kindly, I felt the guilt wash off.

I would not wish this on anyone, and yet now there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that I make mistakes, and that I can be forgiven, as can each of them. Whew.