Blended to the Extreme

Recently, thanks to the excellent organizational skills of fellow teacher KK, our Film classes viewed a film at a local movie theatre.  We watched The Arrival, and thanks to the kindness of the employees at the theatre, we were able to spend some post-movie time discussing what we had just watched.  The film was rich with cinematography, sound, and other visual delights to discuss.  Most students liked the film, and it certainly provided us with a lot to discuss beyond just the filmmaking level.  What an intricately developed story!  So fun to discuss the plot on this one!  With few exceptions, students said that they would strongly recommend seeing this movie to their fellow classmates who were unable to attend.

Getting ready for post-discussion:
     


KK working her magic:
   




Schmitt's Scholars:





For my fellow teachers:
I've been reflecting about how to best facilitate a post-discussion in this environment:
1.  Should I view the film first (without them) so that I can create questions to discuss afterwards?
2.  Should I create q's on the fly (I could...) and share them via social media, so all of the students have the questions in front of them--and then discuss from there?
3.  Would it be better to host the discussion in a separate space because movie theatre seats don't allow for the best collaborative discussions?
4.  Would it be better to attend a weekend matinee? Easier to chat afterwards? (This was at 9:00 pm--after a 7pm movie)
5. This was a great opportunity to Blend classes.  We've got THREE sections of my classes represented, plus multiple sections of KK's classes and TW's, too!  What a great opportunity to meet with other students who are learning and working on the same concepts--in a different setting, with different people.
6.  I should work on getting students to Guest Blog.  They could write their Film Review, and I could share it here!
7.  Other ideas?  Share them with me at englishschmitt@gmail.com or @englishschmitt on twitter.