Hitchcock & High School

mmm. I somehow managed to delete the post I had just written. And when I attempted to published it, half of yesterday's post also dissapeared. Oh well. Nothing important was lost.

This week, I'm teaching an introductory film studies course for high school students who are on spring break. It's part of the University's "taste of college" program, Rochester Scholars. To be honest, I do it mostly for the money. The pay is pretty decent for a week's work and it gives me some extra income as I head into the long, lean months of summer. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy teaching the students who are often very eager, intelligent, and self-motivated. I mean, come on. How many teenagers are willing to spend their spring break in in a classroom? On the first day, we discussed a few key aspects of mise-en-scene and watched Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. Today, I had them construct an analysis of the film's key characters and its various settings. The only down side is trying to devise classroom strategies that will keep such young minds interested and alert for three hours at a time. Hell, my regular students have a hard time staying focused for 75 minutes at a time. Because it's a film class, I resolve the problem by showing a lot of film clips and alternating ultra-mini lecutures with discussion, in-class writing, and more film clips or stills via powerpoint. It seems to work as no one has nodded off yet! I'm going to be exhaused by the end of the week, however. Luckily, there's only one more week of my regular class and then I can dig my heels into serious dissertation writing. Hard to believe that will be a welcome change.