Teacher's Institute

21st CENTURY TEACHING TOOLS: USING MEDIA IN THE CLASSROOM was the theme and these are some of the responses from the 21 teachers who participated in the 2007 Institute:

“ I enjoyed this institute! Cinema/Chicago put together a dynamite round of presentations! The only trouble is, now I find myself re-writing my syllabi and lesson plans, to work in so many of these ideas and resources.”

“ The instructors were all very inspirational. They provided great models for developing a curriculum that encourages students to create stories that reflect their unique experiences!”

“Very interesting ideas about community and misconceptions people can have from movies.”

Teachers from Chicago Public Schools including Northside College Prep, Lakeview HS, New Trier HS, Juarez HS, Lincoln Park HS, North Lawndale HS, Jones College Prep, and Whitney M. Young Academy were in attendance.

The workshops were designed to help teachers bring new perspectives to classroom study using contemporary media and film. These private workshops, lead by renowned film and media professionals and professors, allow teachers to earn recertification credits for participation.

2007 Teachers Institute Workshops:

Teaching with Narrative Film
Led by Suree Towfighnia
Emphasis on IL Learning Standard 25 - Language of Arts

How does your personal narrative (and that of the student’s) inform how you see media? What are some strategies for incorporating discussion in the classroom using media as a tool? Films are an engaging way to stimulate discussion on various themes, stories, and personal perceptions of the world. The workshop we use clips from documentary films to help us challenge our pre-conceived ideas on how we see other people, places, and ideas. In this session participants will define common film terms that can facilitate a classroom film discussion. It outlines activities that are easily incorporated into the lesson plans for reading, composition, and language arts. Practical ideas will be discussed that can be brought back into the classroom.

Hip-Hop and Critical Pedagogy-Tools for the Classroom
Led by David Omotoso Stovall
Emphasis on IL Learning Standard 27 - Arts & Civilization

The workshop seeks to examine the various uses of hip-hop as critical pedagogy in the k-12 setting. Hip-hop will be examined and discussed as cultural phenomenon with multiple uses in the classroom across subject areas.

What Media Teaches Students About Race & Gender... And What You Need to Know
Led by Salome Chassnoff
Emphasis on IL Learning Standard 2 - Reading

Through this interactive workshop educators will have an opportunity to increase their awareness of the impact of race and gender violence on the lives of both young women and men. Participants will also explore personal attitudes regarding these issues and will develop methods for utilizing video research as a teaching tool.

Round Table: Moving Image & Thematic Analysis
Led by Adán Madrigal
Emphasis on IL Learning Standard 16 – History.

This workshop aims to build critical thinking skills by incorporating the study of moving images into a literature/art based curriculum. Through an historical lens this workshop will explore the manipulation of moving images. The workshop will include a round-table discussion of why we manipulate moving images, what filmmakers accomplish by manipulating moving images, and how CPS students can develop critical thinking skills by understanding the effects of moving images on the viewer. Through the use of cinematic language, instructors will learn to deconstruct and reconstruct moving images. Concepts such as shots, angles and transitions will take on new meaning as workshop participants gain insight as to why moving images make such an impact on viewers. The workshop will incorporate ideas from anthropology, art history, literature and cinema. It will examine thematic movement in movies, music, paintings, and literature and address specific classroom applications of such themes.

Funding for the Media Classroom: Revenue Sources to Support your Classroom Media Efforts
Led by Tom Voegtle
Emphasis on IL Learning Standard 18 – Social Systems

This workshop goes over technical requirements for video editing on computers, both Mac and Windows, and gives prices and options for adapting computers provided by the Board for video editing. Models for implementing video production in the classroom at different levels will be presented in an effort to promote literacy using non-text prompts that tie into state goals for learning and NCLB priority 1goals. Tips will be presented on how to write a proposal that effectively ties your production assignments to common criteria for learning outcomes in grant applications. A sample grant application for video production, along with other resources for video production, will be supplied to attendees on CD.

Mexican Cinema: Cultural Understanding through Film
Led by Marquesa Macadar
Emphasis on IL Learning Standard 29 - Culture and Geography

Mexican culture is vast and varied. Can we grasp the varieties? This workshop proposes techniques to understand Mexican culture through cinema. Can we actually achieve a better understanding of it by surveying Mexican cinema? We will do a quick survey on the different stages of Mexican cinema along the twentieth century.
We will begin with Alejandro González Iñarritu films and work retrospectively. We will examine in what ways each stage can contribute to a better understanding of its culture. Please prepare ahead a memory of a scene of a Mexican film you have seen. We will focus on what we can learn from it, using a range of reading approaches. After attending this workshop teachers will have concrete strategies for classroom applications.

Politics in the Classroom: A Film Guide
Led by Ron Falzone
Emphasis on IL Learning Standard 14 - Political Systems

As the country becomes more and more politically polarized; it becomes more treacherous to discuss politics in the classroom. Traditionally considered a great discussion starter, documentary films have become so politically one-sided that teachers have come under fire for using them in the classroom. How can we as teachers use documentaries less as objective dispensers of information and more as the initiators of a balanced political discussion? This workshop will include examples from recent documentaries as well as discussion and suggested exercises to help teachers chart these increasingly choppy political waters and engage students in critical thinking to formulate a greater degree of media literacy. Persons attending this workshop are asked to view Independence Day in advance.

Check back for information on the 2008 Institute!

Contact: Charlotte King, Education Program Administrator, Cinema/Chicago
Tel. (312) 683-0121 x112, E-mail: cking@chicagofilmfestival.com

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