Stream of Consiousness Saturday -Hands On

I dropped out of high school to major in pool at a local pool hall, and later matriculated for advanced study in guitar at some of the most disepitomable bistros and coffeehouses in New York City’s Greenwich Village. And yet, despite that, I later moved on to a university education.

Credit Where Credit is Due

The credit for that came entirely from some truly phenomenal teachers in elementary school and Junior High School. It was because of them that I had a firm foundation ( well, except in spelling and punctuation) in science, math, social studies, language, history, and English.

One teacher went so far as to explain the reason for the emphasis to me. She said that she knew that many of her students would falter in high school and never graduate. So it was her goal to inculcate as much as she could so we would have a foundation for life and further learning down the way. She and her peers were truly the reason I was able to pick up the threads of education later.

But it wasn’t just an education in academics. Art and music were not ignored. I wound up becoming a woodcarver, not a potter. But it was in pottery that I first sculpted, played with the concept of a vessel being more than just something to hold other substances. What you learn in one media, can influence your work in different media.

The intent, Mr. Gloss knew he could teach me music despite my lack of application. He first tried violin, then flute. He seemed vastly relieved when I suddenly took up the guitar. My bemused science teacher in Junior High took on my friend Michael and me as lab assistants because he found that he could reach our scientific interests best outside of the rigid class formats. All of these subjects were extremely hands-on, even when the subject matter was not.

Into the Future

I moved from government work to patching together a life from carving, working for UPS, and doing video and local television work. One of the things that came out of the videography was an opportunity to teach an enrichment class in Media and Television to seventh and eighth-grade students. I did this for about fifteen years. while some of my anthropology inevitably snuck in it was from my own elementary and Junior High teachers that I drew the most. They had pulled me into the learning experience by stimulating my interests, and by encourageing hands on activity.

I followed the example offered. My students watched an enormous amount of media. Instead of just discussing it, we created our own versions of it. While making it, we pulled it apart as we storyboarded scripts. Planned shots, learned camera techniques, and acted out roles. One presidential election cycle, my students did an entire campaign of ads. This included some of the best attack ads I’d seen. Of course, they were kids and played it up for the laughs. But, brother, could those kids sit down and pull a campaign ad to shreds!

In all of this, there was an enormous amount of technical learning, writing, critique, and even the construction of sets. So there was a connectivity to other academic areas. For several years, we also had a cooperating English teacher involved in the enrichment activity.

At least two of my students went on to university as Film and Video majors. But all were adequate camera operators, editors, script writers, and actors. It was hands-on, but also academic.

I hope that some of my teachers, wherever they may be, can take some satisfaction that I not only learned my lessons, but also picked up some tips on methods from them. They applied the principle of Primacy – what you learn first, you know well. For my students, their classes with me were their first integrated dive into media, not just classroom discussion, but creating and critiquing all aspects of it.