Production Woes and Wows!

So the beat definitely goes on in "Production Central" - aka our 8th grade afternoons. While we devote our mornings to the continuation of ongoing academic endeavors - Spanish, Health & Fitness (which has currently hosted a series of guest speakers on various "hot topics" - ask your 8th grader!) Reading Workshop, Art, Algebra and recently Geometry with cameo appearances by Rafael...OH! and then there's the "Road Less Traveled Project" (see Sally's LA Blog), daily WOD expectations and our upcoming "MySpace Workshop"...we devote our afternoons to continued work and progress on "The 8th Grade Production."
As the title of this blog entry indicates, we've had our ups and downs. Of late they've been of a technical nature. One of our high definition cameras had been acting strangely, so it was sent in for emergency repairs, only to return to us ultimately unimproved! :-( A second HD camcorder met with an unfortunate too-close encounter with the floor on Friday and now is in the shop as well! That left us with one new camera with which to work - a planned purchase we'd made through our yearly 8th grade budget. Another $800 camcorder is on its way, thanks to the timely gift of $500 from our generous CAP - ie you!! In addition, we've "lost" a camcorder tripod as well as a tripod and special connecting chord to our brand-new lighting system. Needless to say, we've had some fairly serious all-group discussions about the proper care and vigilant maintenance of expensive gear!
Our WOWs continue to inspire us, however! On Friday we welcomed filmmakers from SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) who, among other things, discussed "best practices" with us (more on this from Bert when he can surface from all the tech workshops he's conducting!) Besides in depth, written scripts generated and refined by our Production small groups, we've crafted a complete shot list, noting locations and filming details...AND, we've filmed our first few segments! (Not an easy feat with only one functioning camcorder!) Much like that first plunge off the proverbial high dive, we've taken the leap, and there's no stopping us now!
Needless to say, group dynamics being what they are, our 8th graders have grappled with aspects of coordinating and choreographing their vision. While a critical number of them continue to bog down and even check out during large group discussions, they still manage to move in the right direction with our shared goal. When all is said and (hopefully) done, the Production is all about process afterall! It constitutes a real life experience with a myriad of challenges that mirror the reality of group work that most of us don't fully encounter until we enter the adult work force:

•the crafting of a shared vision (not to mention the sustaining of that vision)
•the breaking down of a lofty goal into manageable increments
•the coordination of diverse ideas and inspirations into a unified whole that makes sense
•the ongoing cooperation with people who think differently than we do
•the potentially tenuous direction as well as critique of peer performance
•the on-the-job training in unfamiliar technology (thank you Uncle Bert!!!)
•the setting of and MEETING deadlines (we're still working to perfect this one!!)
•the recognition that it's one part aptitude to ninety-nine parts attitude!

...to mention only a few of the many lessons we're busily learning.

To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan's famous observation - The medium IS the message... we fully acknowledge as well as respect that the process IS the Production! And now...onward!