11/08/2016
Let me tell you about my kids…Please!
Let me tell you about my kids. Actually, let me tell you about the Media Literacy/ Television Production program Shirley Media runs for 7th and 8th graders at the Ayer-Shirley Middle School. Shirley Media has run the program for over ten years.
It started as a once a week item in Jeanette Champion’s classroom. Over the years it grew into a full-fledged enrichment program that hundreds of students have participated in. Early on the goals were simple: teach the basics of media literacy and television production in a fun environment. We still stick close to that simple mission statement. But, as the media world has grown more sophisticated so to our class objectives. Eight years ago we focused on commercials, and take offs on genre television shows. We now focus on the internet, service to school and community, and the potential for our students to create the next Facebook, or viral video.
In the past two years the seventh and eighth grade students have produced a number of “in-house” videos for the school and community. Among these have been special auditorium presentations, a widely viewed anti-opioid public service announcement, a special “welcome” video for incoming sixth graders, and commercials for community events. Students have also helped in creating studio shows, and an annual 8th-grade graduation movie which is shown at graduation. The summer two graduates of our program joined the Shirley Media team as paid interns ( among the youngest video professional in our region, and certainly in our town).
Now you see why I’m so proud of my kids. All that I listed they achieve in an incredibly short time in the school day because this is an enrichment, not a regular class. How do we do it? Organized chaos. Our classes are sometimes raucous, but frequently have a high energy intensity that makes all the students seem much more mature than their ages. I Always hope that some of the skills I teach them will transfer to real world work situations as well as youthful enthusiasm for Youtube.
This year the 7th grade is hip deep in internet and Facebook memes. They are learning to deconstruct them, create them, and examine the business models used by the creators of memes. They are learning about this so they can avoid being manipulated by media, but also so they can learn how to tell compelling stories through video. We also have a great time while doing it.
