Hello Beautiful People,
Today was a day that made me proud.
Today was a day that gave me hope for the future.
Today was a day that restored my faith…in people.
Today I went to work, to teach my classes. My students had just dinished watching the film, School Ties, and they knew they had a test. Needless to say, the class started off a little rocky, because, hey, they’re teenagers who don’t particulary like school, and now I was giving them a test.
It was not peaches and cream.
But, after much complaining and whining and procrastinating, they completed the exam. And, naturally, they wanted to know, “What are we doing now?”
Hmmm…I had an idea, but I wasn’t sure how it was going to go over. In teaching, much like in parenting and in life, it’s important to know what battles to pick. Making them watch TWO films that they hated back to back wasn’t exactly going to be a good idea. But, still, I wanted to give them the choice of whether or not they wanted to see Fall From Grace.
See, on Monday, I went to go see my dear friends in a concert, and, afterwards I had the pleasure of meeting K. Ryan Jones, the filmmaker behind Film From Grace. For the past three years I have, despite many raised eyebrows and criticism, taught The Laramie Project to my students. And despite what my critics and adminstrators may have thought – they love it. So, when Ryan told me of his film, I was intrigued. Perhaps this would be a way to deepend their knowledge of the story of Matthew Shepard, Fred Phelps, and the Westboro Baptist Chuch. Perhaps this would be an opportunity to get them to care about something outside their immediate circle, their immediate problems, and the bubble in which they live. Perhaps, this would ignite a passion. A call to justice. A call for action. Perhaps they would want to make sure that persecution of homosexuals would not be tolerated.
Yes, I know I sound very idealistic. I know I am talking about teenagers. I know that I am not Erin Gruwell.
But, the second we stop trying to make the youth of our country reach their greatest possible potential, the second we lower the bar instead of raising it, well, in my opinion, that’s when we fail.
And so I showed the trailer to my students.
And I asked them – should we watch this film, or should we choose another one?
They choose to watch Fall From Grace. My tough kids. My troublemakers. My kids, who curse like truck drivers and whine every time they have to pick up a book or go outside their comfort zone – they. Chose. To. Watch. Fall From Grace.
And honestly, my heart exploded with pride.
They didn’t finish it this class, but when I stopped the film, they told me that they liked it. They told me that they didn’t understand how a man like Phelps could hate so much. They told me that they couldn’t understand how these people could be so mean. So hateful. They couldn’t understand the hate. What’s the big deal, they said? Why hate?
They didn’t understand the hate.
And again, my heart exploded with pride.
If we expect a certain level of professionalism and performance from our students – they will deliver. It’s not always easy, believe me, (I have plenty of grey hairs), but, it’s worth it.
Live, Love, Learn,