The Blackboard Jungle

days spent beating back the seeds of doubt

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Like a fool, I decided that my thirteen year olds' two week, simple, snappy Media project should be something a little more adventurous than any other teacher has managed.
Something to show people that although leaving I haven't switched off. I haven't given in to that de-mob happy sense of Obligations Discarded that other staff who leave the job indulge in.

So we're analysing the openings of media productions of Othello.

Sigh.
"What are they saying?"

"That's not English!"

"Thee thou thee thee thou."

"But we voted for Romeo and Juliet."

"Couldn't we do Hamlet? Or Texas Chainsaw Massacre, at least?"

"Ewwwwwwwwwwww! There's sex in it! That's disgusting!"

"Do they all die at the end? Then what's the point of watching if we know they all die at the end?"

"So, he's a world famous actor, yeah, and he's got boot polish on his face to look black? And that was normal? That's so gay."

"Who is he? Which one's Iago? Is Roderigo the bad guy? So who's Desperado then? This is boring, I tell you."
The only word they've learnt is 'motive'; now they spend day in day out camply whining ... "What's MY motivation?"