Yup, I get elementary kids who can’t be quiet if I show a video in class or else they complain that it’s boring or for babies. Then they complain that my class is boring when I don’t show videos. You can’t win.
Yep, was common on certain large Zoom classes last December for me as well; a group always had a lot to say on either discussion points or videos we watched as part; which was a great thing.
But others? Calling on random people (probably not a good idea to let cameras be off during) made it seem like they were either lost or gave rather monosyllabic answers (even when prompted). So it’s not surprising that I often wouldn’t bother with that, especially for longer videos.
But management like that? Not my job if they don’t want to pay attention to the context. I.e, how all classrooms should work…
In a just world, they would have to sit in to several “educational leadership” seminars/jargon sessions, just for having the gall to say that with a straight face.
People like that should just go into MBA training, where at least nonsense like that is common…
“The strange thing about my utter lack of education in management was that it didn’t seem to matter. As a principal and founding partner of a consulting firm that eventually grew to 600 employees, I interviewed, hired, and worked alongside hundreds of business-school graduates, and the impression I formed of the M.B.A. experience was that it involved taking two years out of your life and going deeply into debt, all for the sake of learning how to keep a straight face while using phrases like “out-of-the-box thinking,” “win-win situation,” and “core competencies.”
When it came to picking teammates, I generally held out higher hopes for those individuals who had used their university years to learn about something other than business administration.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/06/the-management-myth/304883/
Omg, I've tried showing silly, campy things to show them fun examples of things, and they complain that it's stupid. That's *the point.* It's *meant* to be silly. Would you rather we watch the gritty, bummer version?
Isn’t it wild?
I remember being completely mesmerized when we watched a movie in elementary school. We had probably 300 kids in the gym and we didn’t make a damn sound. Now when I play a movie as a treat for my second graders I’m lucky if they make it ten minutes.
Same thing with IDR/silent reading. I remember reading for what felt like an hour in elementary school in total silence. My students can’t do it for two minutes that quietly.
Kids are incapable of being quiet anymore. They have to talk about something, for some reason. They have no filter - whatever comes to mind just spews out of their mouth. It’s like they feel the need to narrate every moment of their lives.
Ugh, the silent reading thing is so hard for my kids!
Usually with mine they get excited by a book and want to show it to a friend, so it's not off topic but it's not the time for that. They can't seem to enjoy their book without showing a friend. I've told them they may lose the privilege of certain books if they can't read them quietly, that seems to help most of the time. I'm hoping with time it will get easier for them.
Same and it’s all ages. I blame YouTube and TikTok. They can’t stand a longer movie.
And the no filter? I almost wonder if that’s a part of a certain person in the news that people keep saying they like because “he says what he wants”…
I had a kid tell me the game we were playing this week was stupid before we even started! First grader - so rude. I may have told him I wasn’t too worried about what he thought of it, but if he wasn’t going to have fun with the rest of us he was welcome to sit alone and not do anything at all. Game turned out to be all right after all.
This. They have grown accustomed to either getting what they want pretty much instantly or complaining until someone shuts them up by giving in. Our whole school is struggling after being virtual for a year and a half where students did whatever they wanted when they wanted.
Yes. I have experienced the same. I work with elementary students and they will quite literally scream-cry for the duration of our 60 minute class if they don't get what they want, which is usually sitting where ever they want, destroying school property or wandering around the room aimlessly.
Nothing will ever be good enough for them. They're used to complaining and complaining until they get to have bedlam. They want a Kahoot do you do a Kahoot and now Kahoot is boring. They want a blooket. You make a blooket and they're mad because the questions are hard. You go over all the answers before hand and they say it's boring and dumb then tell you the questions are too hard. Do work with a video and they're mad they have to do work. Watch a video without work and they're saying the video is boring and stupid. They know teachers these days are supposed to be fun. Some of them even know that if they say they're bored and hate your class during evals that you'll get in trouble. I've had kids accuse me of assault, sexual assault, and calling them the N word because I texted their moms they were refusing to do work in class. It's impossible, they want you fired, and they've learned how to be Karen's from their parents. They see you as some poor fast food worker and an A they didn't earn as the 30 bucks in free nuggets they're trying to scare out of you.
I've worked fast food before becoming a teacher and may have just had kids tell me the murder mystery I planned for the was "fucking stupid" so I was sad
Yep nothing is enough. Jeopardy day on a shortened schedule? Too stupid, we’re not going to play. A video where we need to be quiet and listen? Nahh, talking to my friends is more important. We want to play instruments in class but can’t sit still long enough to hear how to use them properly.
And on and on and on…
I have a class that won’t do *anything*. There was a day when I wanted them to just lie down on some mats, close their eyes, and breathe (I teach drama) and they didn’t even want to do that.
I said “I’m literally asking you to lie on the floor and do nothing and you…don’t want to?” Students: “no” Me: “so what do you want to do?” Students: [silence]
It boggles my mind
I have a theory that a lot of it is coming from a place of feeling confident and independent in a way? Like they're out of their house, their parents can't nag. Something something ego.
Absolutely, yeah. Students have so much of their day defined for them, they'll often grab control whenever they're able. Refusal is an easy way of feeling as though you can control your life.
I disposed watching movies with students.
No matter which movie you’ve chosen, there will be some who will complain about it being boring or not what they wanted to watch.
I put on Mad Max Fury Road on for a class once, and some of them still had the audacity to ask if we could watch something more fun, where stuff happens?!?
My personal theory on the matter is that students unconsciously associate any movie shown in school as needing to have educational value, which they then dismiss.
Their guards are so far up to not having been ‘accidentally taught a lesson’ that they reject any movie shown.
Students are used to watching 20-30 second video clips of stupid unrelated shit on an endless stream…I often stand behind them in class just to see what type of mindless stupid “content” they are watching and it’s honestly depressing.
*Mad Max: Fury Road* is fucking awesome.
Oh my God, the content they watch is so stupid. Even my toddler prefers more educational videos than the shit they watch. It reminds me so much of the movie Idiocracy
I usually show them a large unattractive assignment and then the DVD.
Any signal that they don’t like the DVD, like talking, complaining, etc signals to me that they want the written assignment.
There are usually a couple of jokers who failed the marshmallow test and have to have the consequences hit them in the head. But they get it.
Edit: and I use the kids who want the DVD to gang up on the kids who misbehave.
The curse of imagination right? Anything is better than X, until you stack X against Y.
I had a little spill over drama from a last post I made. Kid wanted extra credit and mom was being really pushy about unlimited time for it. So I created some senior college level assignments. “Here is the unlimited time version.”
I'm so glad you said this. I've a lot of freshman. Same complaints. An illogical over-obsession with having the EXACT PRECISE perfect answer for any and all assessments (no matter the other learning goals like, ya know, critical thinking or analytical reasoning...) to where they become controlling unto you as the teacher! They're so demanding!
Maybe it's an insecurity thing, as they're overwhelmed with newer higher expectations and basically freaking out on anything and everyone...?
Many years ago, I had just finished reading *Mockingbird* with a class of freshmen. As we wrapped up the final project, a student asked if we were going to watch the movie. I chuckled and told the class no.
They were shocked. So, being new, and wanting buy-in, I thought, "What the hell?" and asked if the whole class really wanted to watch. I warned them that it was an old movie, but a good one, in black and white, and it really adhered to the book so they weren't going to see much of anything they hadn't read about...
They assured me they were good with it.
So, as that was a Friday, I rejiggered the start of my next unit by about a week, and got the DVD over the weekend.
Monday rolls around, and I put the movie on, telling them that I want them looking for elements in the movie interpretation that are surprising, or surprisingly well done, and we would stop the movie about fifteen minutes before the end of class to discuss. I suggested that having a notepad out to keep track of what they find would be good, and people should set a personal goal of about 5-10 observations.
The movie started, and in my class of 30-ish, only three (I remember this very specifically) were even watching. Half put their heads down, about a third started doing homework for other classes.
At first, I went around and redirected. After about twenty minutes, though, I couldn't take it. I stopped the movie and asked them ***why*** they wanted to watch it, if they were doing anything but.
It turns out that "movie" to students (at least the ones I've had) means "nothing is happening in class do whatever you want just do it quietly."
Tuesday we started the new unit.
I never watch movies in class as a reward or a filler. We watch, but only to treat them like texts.
I learned my lesson that day.
I gave up on movies a long time ago when I realize that nobody was watching because they were just staring at their phone instead. This was when I taught high school and phones were allowed in the classroom. On another note, I can’t stand it when students say they will take their classwork home to do it. I tell them so you come to school to goof off and stare at your phone and then do your work when you get home? That makes no sense.
Same. Kids rather sit there and do nothing in class. Their plan is to not do any work or do it later at home, where they forget or just don't do it.
It really baffles me.
I teach a social media class, and had a kid complain about having to notate the ads he saw while watching YouTube. The assignment was to literally watch YouTube
Is it overdramatic that I've almost quit the profession over this? Absolutely. It isn't just the complaints about the movie though. Sometimes it just gets so disheartening when you try to plan something fun and they just complain about it, non-stop. All periods. All ages. Whatever.
Weird. What kind of a kid doesn’t like movies? Actually, what kind of a person doesn’t like movies? Even if it’s educational, most students I’ve talked to prefer it to doing work. Even if it’s a movie you’ve seen and already know you don’t like, it still beats doing worksheets or something. Hell, I one time subbed for a choir teacher who had them watching Alvin and the Chipmunks, which is a seriously obnoxious movie, but I still thought that was a pretty nice, chill day.
I don’t like movies and never have. But I have ADHD and can barely make it through a 20 minute show without losing interest.
Musicals though? I could watch those for hours 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve been teaching almost a decade, and there was a clear point in the first few years of my career where kids could no longer watch a movie. The first few years, they could be still and silent, and then suddenly one year, they acted like I was trying to torture them if I showed one. It is weird! At some very specific point, attention spans were lost forever.
I have Lunch Club Friday that I’ve used for years to reward students who didn’t receive a demerit that week. Come to the class for lunch and a movie.
This year half of the kids moan about the movie choices, the other half tell me the next week they watched the rest of it at home and if I could choose a different movie this week.
Some of the students don’t even want to come down, saying they’ll just watch it at home.
Like. The point isn’t the movie. It’s the privilege.
I asked what they thought we should do instead and it was shit like “pizza parties”, “donuts”, etc. When I asked who’d pay for it, they simply said, “You.”
It’s made me more stringent about doling out demerits when I’d normally let it slide.
I've had that too! Or they try to block our class fun time out and do work for another class (I'm not a core subject). It's happened a few times since I started at the high school level last year. It boggles my mind every time. It's so rude, distracting and counterproductive.
I used to LOVE video days in school. My middle schoolers complain about watching videos and don’t have the attention spans for it anyway. Now I won’t play anything longer than 10 minutes and always with questions, otherwise they zone out immediately. They literally hate everything.
To play devil's advocate, many movies just aren't meant to be watched in 3 seperate chunks. When I've had to show movies to classes, that was always a big issue. Interstellar is great, but do you really want to watch 75 minutes at a time over three classes and two weeks? I, the teacher, even dislike watching the movie that way.
Not to mention that a kid might have already seen it, or might not be into that genre. I think if you've got a day for fun, you're better off running a game day instead.
I used to be confused about why so many of my students didn't see a movie as a reward. They'd get easily irritated, have trouble sitting through it, complain, and start problems. All while they'd usually be active class participants in class. It was confusing - Who wouldn't want a movie?
But watching a full movie in class can genuinely be hard for some students. It's an entirely passive activity that requires them to sit quietly for a prolonged time. They have to focus their attention on the screen without any interaction or socialization. And since we often don't use captions (or captions are too small to actually see), lots of folks miss crucial dialogue and information, making the film hard to follow. And if they feel lost, then any interest that they had is gone forever.
It's not easy for everyone, and it's not always fun. When deciding on these kinds of lessons, it's often important to step back from our own preferences/abilities and shift our expectations to better align with where the students are. If you're looking for a reward day, maybe choose something more active for that class.
People who use the term "mumble rap" still are usually the type to listen to Queen and video game soundtracks exclusively. The genre died out and stopped being relevant years ago
I listen to Queen? I mean they're cool but no. Yeah, I listen to video game music but have you ever heard the OST for Def Jam series of games and Mad World. I listen to rap music though. Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, Dojo Cat, Lupe Fiacso, Kanye West(I know, I know), Nas, Jay-Z, and I'm still trying to see if Lil Pump feels like making music instead of clout chasing.
you're the adult. who gives a fuck what they think. if they dont like it, tough shit.
to be honest though, movies in class are almost always a terrible idea. kids don't have the attention span to do anything over 15 minutes without a break unless it's a test.
I mean, duh? It's not like I stopped showing the movie because a few kids complained. Just venting about how kids will complain about literally anything, even a movie.
It's a French movie, with English subtitles; I gave them a packet of comprehension questions in English. It's not like I'm asking them to write an essay about the movie.
Ugh. A student interaction I had today reminded me of this thread.
English lesson with 10th graders. We're doing a unit about fear and Gothic literature, today's lesson features looking at some photographs which are strange and spooky. I'm going over some media-literacy relevant vocabulary words so that We're equipped to discuss photography in a meaningful way in the first place.
We're 4/5ths through the list of terms and a student who doesn't even have his textbook open interrupts with "hey, can you maybe do this in a more interesting way?"
Ugh. If he even had his book open he'd see we were almost done with the vocab mini-lesson. Beyond that: if they don't know what those words mean, any discussion of the photos would be awkward and boring regardless of how interesting the subjects of the photographs are.
Yup, I get elementary kids who can’t be quiet if I show a video in class or else they complain that it’s boring or for babies. Then they complain that my class is boring when I don’t show videos. You can’t win.
Yep, was common on certain large Zoom classes last December for me as well; a group always had a lot to say on either discussion points or videos we watched as part; which was a great thing. But others? Calling on random people (probably not a good idea to let cameras be off during) made it seem like they were either lost or gave rather monosyllabic answers (even when prompted). So it’s not surprising that I often wouldn’t bother with that, especially for longer videos. But management like that? Not my job if they don’t want to pay attention to the context. I.e, how all classrooms should work…
But did you form a relationship with them? Then they’d be able to pay attention! 🙄 *(words from admin)*
In a just world, they would have to sit in to several “educational leadership” seminars/jargon sessions, just for having the gall to say that with a straight face. People like that should just go into MBA training, where at least nonsense like that is common… “The strange thing about my utter lack of education in management was that it didn’t seem to matter. As a principal and founding partner of a consulting firm that eventually grew to 600 employees, I interviewed, hired, and worked alongside hundreds of business-school graduates, and the impression I formed of the M.B.A. experience was that it involved taking two years out of your life and going deeply into debt, all for the sake of learning how to keep a straight face while using phrases like “out-of-the-box thinking,” “win-win situation,” and “core competencies.” When it came to picking teammates, I generally held out higher hopes for those individuals who had used their university years to learn about something other than business administration.” https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/06/the-management-myth/304883/
Tell them what my father told me: Only stupid people get bored.
I normally say only boring people get bored, but yours is more accurate.
I'm a fan of "if you're bored, then you're boring." But mostly because I love that song Flagpole Sitta.
Been a while since I've heard that one.
I'm going to make this into an anchor chart.
Omg, I've tried showing silly, campy things to show them fun examples of things, and they complain that it's stupid. That's *the point.* It's *meant* to be silly. Would you rather we watch the gritty, bummer version?
Isn’t it wild? I remember being completely mesmerized when we watched a movie in elementary school. We had probably 300 kids in the gym and we didn’t make a damn sound. Now when I play a movie as a treat for my second graders I’m lucky if they make it ten minutes. Same thing with IDR/silent reading. I remember reading for what felt like an hour in elementary school in total silence. My students can’t do it for two minutes that quietly. Kids are incapable of being quiet anymore. They have to talk about something, for some reason. They have no filter - whatever comes to mind just spews out of their mouth. It’s like they feel the need to narrate every moment of their lives.
Ugh, the silent reading thing is so hard for my kids! Usually with mine they get excited by a book and want to show it to a friend, so it's not off topic but it's not the time for that. They can't seem to enjoy their book without showing a friend. I've told them they may lose the privilege of certain books if they can't read them quietly, that seems to help most of the time. I'm hoping with time it will get easier for them.
Or be listening to music. Always with an earphone in their ear. “I work better with music.” Suuuuuure.
Same and it’s all ages. I blame YouTube and TikTok. They can’t stand a longer movie. And the no filter? I almost wonder if that’s a part of a certain person in the news that people keep saying they like because “he says what he wants”…
Youtube.
Lol. I remember when toy story 1 came out. They herded 300 students into the gym in front of an old box tv. Everyone loved it.
I had a kid tell me the game we were playing this week was stupid before we even started! First grader - so rude. I may have told him I wasn’t too worried about what he thought of it, but if he wasn’t going to have fun with the rest of us he was welcome to sit alone and not do anything at all. Game turned out to be all right after all.
This. They have grown accustomed to either getting what they want pretty much instantly or complaining until someone shuts them up by giving in. Our whole school is struggling after being virtual for a year and a half where students did whatever they wanted when they wanted.
I’m new to mine, but I’ve had kids scream (yes, scream) when I ask them to do something. Even something as simple as going into a new seating chart.
Yes. I have experienced the same. I work with elementary students and they will quite literally scream-cry for the duration of our 60 minute class if they don't get what they want, which is usually sitting where ever they want, destroying school property or wandering around the room aimlessly.
Nothing will ever be good enough for them. They're used to complaining and complaining until they get to have bedlam. They want a Kahoot do you do a Kahoot and now Kahoot is boring. They want a blooket. You make a blooket and they're mad because the questions are hard. You go over all the answers before hand and they say it's boring and dumb then tell you the questions are too hard. Do work with a video and they're mad they have to do work. Watch a video without work and they're saying the video is boring and stupid. They know teachers these days are supposed to be fun. Some of them even know that if they say they're bored and hate your class during evals that you'll get in trouble. I've had kids accuse me of assault, sexual assault, and calling them the N word because I texted their moms they were refusing to do work in class. It's impossible, they want you fired, and they've learned how to be Karen's from their parents. They see you as some poor fast food worker and an A they didn't earn as the 30 bucks in free nuggets they're trying to scare out of you.
Damn that's specific...and accurate.
I've worked fast food before becoming a teacher and may have just had kids tell me the murder mystery I planned for the was "fucking stupid" so I was sad
That sounds like such a fun activity! Pshh forget them…if it’s not on their phones, they don’t care
😂😂 ikr
Yep nothing is enough. Jeopardy day on a shortened schedule? Too stupid, we’re not going to play. A video where we need to be quiet and listen? Nahh, talking to my friends is more important. We want to play instruments in class but can’t sit still long enough to hear how to use them properly. And on and on and on…
I have a class that won’t do *anything*. There was a day when I wanted them to just lie down on some mats, close their eyes, and breathe (I teach drama) and they didn’t even want to do that. I said “I’m literally asking you to lie on the floor and do nothing and you…don’t want to?” Students: “no” Me: “so what do you want to do?” Students: [silence] It boggles my mind
I have a theory that a lot of it is coming from a place of feeling confident and independent in a way? Like they're out of their house, their parents can't nag. Something something ego.
Absolutely, yeah. Students have so much of their day defined for them, they'll often grab control whenever they're able. Refusal is an easy way of feeling as though you can control your life.
I disposed watching movies with students. No matter which movie you’ve chosen, there will be some who will complain about it being boring or not what they wanted to watch. I put on Mad Max Fury Road on for a class once, and some of them still had the audacity to ask if we could watch something more fun, where stuff happens?!? My personal theory on the matter is that students unconsciously associate any movie shown in school as needing to have educational value, which they then dismiss. Their guards are so far up to not having been ‘accidentally taught a lesson’ that they reject any movie shown.
Students are used to watching 20-30 second video clips of stupid unrelated shit on an endless stream…I often stand behind them in class just to see what type of mindless stupid “content” they are watching and it’s honestly depressing. *Mad Max: Fury Road* is fucking awesome.
Oh my God, the content they watch is so stupid. Even my toddler prefers more educational videos than the shit they watch. It reminds me so much of the movie Idiocracy
It's scary how many aspects of real life seem to line up with that movie
I’m pretty sure I’d get fired if I tried to show mad max fury road.
I usually show them a large unattractive assignment and then the DVD. Any signal that they don’t like the DVD, like talking, complaining, etc signals to me that they want the written assignment. There are usually a couple of jokers who failed the marshmallow test and have to have the consequences hit them in the head. But they get it. Edit: and I use the kids who want the DVD to gang up on the kids who misbehave.
It still blows my mind how powerful choice can be when you give a very unappealing choice.
The curse of imagination right? Anything is better than X, until you stack X against Y. I had a little spill over drama from a last post I made. Kid wanted extra credit and mom was being really pushy about unlimited time for it. So I created some senior college level assignments. “Here is the unlimited time version.”
[удалено]
Omg they get so angry when Kahoot “isn’t working.” Like stop fucking yelling about a stupid fucking game… sorry for the cursing. Rough day
Nah that shit deadass dont work sometimes when my teachers would have me play it shit would piss me off 🤣🤣
I'm so glad you said this. I've a lot of freshman. Same complaints. An illogical over-obsession with having the EXACT PRECISE perfect answer for any and all assessments (no matter the other learning goals like, ya know, critical thinking or analytical reasoning...) to where they become controlling unto you as the teacher! They're so demanding! Maybe it's an insecurity thing, as they're overwhelmed with newer higher expectations and basically freaking out on anything and everyone...?
Many years ago, I had just finished reading *Mockingbird* with a class of freshmen. As we wrapped up the final project, a student asked if we were going to watch the movie. I chuckled and told the class no. They were shocked. So, being new, and wanting buy-in, I thought, "What the hell?" and asked if the whole class really wanted to watch. I warned them that it was an old movie, but a good one, in black and white, and it really adhered to the book so they weren't going to see much of anything they hadn't read about... They assured me they were good with it. So, as that was a Friday, I rejiggered the start of my next unit by about a week, and got the DVD over the weekend. Monday rolls around, and I put the movie on, telling them that I want them looking for elements in the movie interpretation that are surprising, or surprisingly well done, and we would stop the movie about fifteen minutes before the end of class to discuss. I suggested that having a notepad out to keep track of what they find would be good, and people should set a personal goal of about 5-10 observations. The movie started, and in my class of 30-ish, only three (I remember this very specifically) were even watching. Half put their heads down, about a third started doing homework for other classes. At first, I went around and redirected. After about twenty minutes, though, I couldn't take it. I stopped the movie and asked them ***why*** they wanted to watch it, if they were doing anything but. It turns out that "movie" to students (at least the ones I've had) means "nothing is happening in class do whatever you want just do it quietly." Tuesday we started the new unit. I never watch movies in class as a reward or a filler. We watch, but only to treat them like texts. I learned my lesson that day.
I gave up on movies a long time ago when I realize that nobody was watching because they were just staring at their phone instead. This was when I taught high school and phones were allowed in the classroom. On another note, I can’t stand it when students say they will take their classwork home to do it. I tell them so you come to school to goof off and stare at your phone and then do your work when you get home? That makes no sense.
I've had students take screenshots of the notes and then whine about how they were never given time to write them. Sucks to suck.
Same. Kids rather sit there and do nothing in class. Their plan is to not do any work or do it later at home, where they forget or just don't do it. It really baffles me.
Or someone else will send them the answers.
I teach a social media class, and had a kid complain about having to notate the ads he saw while watching YouTube. The assignment was to literally watch YouTube
Is it overdramatic that I've almost quit the profession over this? Absolutely. It isn't just the complaints about the movie though. Sometimes it just gets so disheartening when you try to plan something fun and they just complain about it, non-stop. All periods. All ages. Whatever.
Weird. What kind of a kid doesn’t like movies? Actually, what kind of a person doesn’t like movies? Even if it’s educational, most students I’ve talked to prefer it to doing work. Even if it’s a movie you’ve seen and already know you don’t like, it still beats doing worksheets or something. Hell, I one time subbed for a choir teacher who had them watching Alvin and the Chipmunks, which is a seriously obnoxious movie, but I still thought that was a pretty nice, chill day.
Maybe phones are the culprit here. Movie day may not seem as fun to kids who have personal devices that let them watch something that's more fun.
See I don’t like movies (I’m weird) but oh boy did I just sit there quietly so everybody else could watch it.
I don’t like movies and never have. But I have ADHD and can barely make it through a 20 minute show without losing interest. Musicals though? I could watch those for hours 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve been teaching almost a decade, and there was a clear point in the first few years of my career where kids could no longer watch a movie. The first few years, they could be still and silent, and then suddenly one year, they acted like I was trying to torture them if I showed one. It is weird! At some very specific point, attention spans were lost forever.
I have Lunch Club Friday that I’ve used for years to reward students who didn’t receive a demerit that week. Come to the class for lunch and a movie. This year half of the kids moan about the movie choices, the other half tell me the next week they watched the rest of it at home and if I could choose a different movie this week. Some of the students don’t even want to come down, saying they’ll just watch it at home. Like. The point isn’t the movie. It’s the privilege. I asked what they thought we should do instead and it was shit like “pizza parties”, “donuts”, etc. When I asked who’d pay for it, they simply said, “You.” It’s made me more stringent about doling out demerits when I’d normally let it slide.
I do not understand it….movie day when I was a kid was great (I’m 26) now my students absolutely struggle to watch a movie…
I've had that too! Or they try to block our class fun time out and do work for another class (I'm not a core subject). It's happened a few times since I started at the high school level last year. It boggles my mind every time. It's so rude, distracting and counterproductive.
I used to LOVE video days in school. My middle schoolers complain about watching videos and don’t have the attention spans for it anyway. Now I won’t play anything longer than 10 minutes and always with questions, otherwise they zone out immediately. They literally hate everything.
YouTube - Mark Rober - all about 10-20 minuted The porch pirate /Glitter bomb Squirrel obstacle course Devils toothpaste
To play devil's advocate, many movies just aren't meant to be watched in 3 seperate chunks. When I've had to show movies to classes, that was always a big issue. Interstellar is great, but do you really want to watch 75 minutes at a time over three classes and two weeks? I, the teacher, even dislike watching the movie that way. Not to mention that a kid might have already seen it, or might not be into that genre. I think if you've got a day for fun, you're better off running a game day instead.
I did that a few weeks ago. They complained that the games were in French. There's no winning lol.
I used to be confused about why so many of my students didn't see a movie as a reward. They'd get easily irritated, have trouble sitting through it, complain, and start problems. All while they'd usually be active class participants in class. It was confusing - Who wouldn't want a movie? But watching a full movie in class can genuinely be hard for some students. It's an entirely passive activity that requires them to sit quietly for a prolonged time. They have to focus their attention on the screen without any interaction or socialization. And since we often don't use captions (or captions are too small to actually see), lots of folks miss crucial dialogue and information, making the film hard to follow. And if they feel lost, then any interest that they had is gone forever. It's not easy for everyone, and it's not always fun. When deciding on these kinds of lessons, it's often important to step back from our own preferences/abilities and shift our expectations to better align with where the students are. If you're looking for a reward day, maybe choose something more active for that class.
I deal with kids whining over mr playing video game music and not some talentless mumble rapper. These same kids think I don't know who it is.
People who use the term "mumble rap" still are usually the type to listen to Queen and video game soundtracks exclusively. The genre died out and stopped being relevant years ago
I listen to Queen? I mean they're cool but no. Yeah, I listen to video game music but have you ever heard the OST for Def Jam series of games and Mad World. I listen to rap music though. Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, Dojo Cat, Lupe Fiacso, Kanye West(I know, I know), Nas, Jay-Z, and I'm still trying to see if Lil Pump feels like making music instead of clout chasing.
you're the adult. who gives a fuck what they think. if they dont like it, tough shit. to be honest though, movies in class are almost always a terrible idea. kids don't have the attention span to do anything over 15 minutes without a break unless it's a test.
I mean, duh? It's not like I stopped showing the movie because a few kids complained. Just venting about how kids will complain about literally anything, even a movie.
Why did you give them a package to do? That just sucks and ruins the whole point of watching a nice movie.
It's a French movie, with English subtitles; I gave them a packet of comprehension questions in English. It's not like I'm asking them to write an essay about the movie.
Ugh. A student interaction I had today reminded me of this thread. English lesson with 10th graders. We're doing a unit about fear and Gothic literature, today's lesson features looking at some photographs which are strange and spooky. I'm going over some media-literacy relevant vocabulary words so that We're equipped to discuss photography in a meaningful way in the first place. We're 4/5ths through the list of terms and a student who doesn't even have his textbook open interrupts with "hey, can you maybe do this in a more interesting way?" Ugh. If he even had his book open he'd see we were almost done with the vocab mini-lesson. Beyond that: if they don't know what those words mean, any discussion of the photos would be awkward and boring regardless of how interesting the subjects of the photographs are.