Waving "see ya"

By now, most of you seniors have gotten every lesson you're going to get out of me. And I hope you've learned something. Even if it's that Watson hates it when you miss deadline then I know you've been listening to me.

I wanted to share with you one last resource because it's not like me to waste ANY time that I have left with you. :-)

http://liveapartmentfire.com/2008/09/23/addition-by-subtraction/

This is an amazing website/blog. It is authored by someone who used to work in television and there are some very good points. Points that I hope you've heard in one form or another from me. I hope that those of you who go into journalism in one form or fashion bookmark this page and refer to it often. You never stop learning, you know.

Always try to make yourself better, whether it's journalism or plumbing or fashion design. If you stop learning and improving, you stagnate. Have you ever smelled stagnant water? Yuck!

And you know that I'll always be there for you if you need me, but please call first! I've always lived my life with a huge IN Box. Type A. I can't relax, but I'm learning how, slowly, but the odds that you'll catch me on a day when I have nothing to do but catch up with you is rare.

This is a really hard time of the year for me. I get incredibly sad because I have to wave "see ya" to a lot of students that I've grown incredibly fond of. I always hope that I get to see you again and keep in touch, but sometimes that doesn't happen. Sometimes I get visits for a few years and then those visits slowly taper off and I become a mere blip on the radar of your life.

That's okay, I guess. The whole idea of what I do for a living is to get you outta here. But being the sensitive, sentimental type, I forge these relationships with everyone of you in a very unique special way that I will always hold in my heart and it is bittersweet to see you go. I promise that I won't forget how we had fun in Eagle TV. I may forget our specific conversations, but I won't forget our relationship.

Let me know in your comments what you learned from me this year and what you would've liked to have learned more of but didn't. Tell me if I gave you what you needed as a BVP student or even as a person. What did I give you that was valuable. Promise that you will keep learning, over the summer and over the years and for those of you who are coming back next year, what do you need me to teach you next year?

So, do me proud, keep in touch and remember that to all of you, it's not goodbye....I'll just wave "see ya".

Book Covers....

I'm sure most of you have seen this link by now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Most of you probably don't think much of it, but it holds a lot of meaning for us here in Eagle TV.  Let me explain.

First of all, and most obviously, you should never judge a book by its cover!  Susan Boyle had everyone in the audience, the judges panel and everyone sitting at home poised to hear another disastrous rendition of "insert popular song here".  We were all incredibly surprised.  Why were we surprised?  What made us think she couldn't sing?  Her appearance, right? As if appearance has anything to do with the ability to sing.  We all pre-judged her.  Shame on us. 

In all the "life lessons" we've gone over in class, I'm sure this was one of them, but I do distinctly remember a certain lecture about interviewing.  In it, I said, "don't let your opinion of your interviewees looks, mannerisms, speaking, thoughts, feelings, or demeanor cloud your objectivity about them."  This is good advice for a reporter and good advice for us all.  

The Susan Boyle singing example holds another lesson for us here at Eagle TV:  that of letting your talents shine.  Let us all see how creative, talented and special you are.  Don't hide it. 

Susan Boyle was asked by Simon why she hadn't pursued a career in singing and she said that no one had given her a chance.  The truth is....she never seeked out opportunity.  You can't just wait around for someone to discover how good you are at something.  You have to take chances and put yourself "out there".  Let us see how good you are at.....editing....shooting.....producing ....writing....story-telling BY SHOWING US.  Don't wait for us to discover you because it may never happen.  Don't hide it.  Get up on "on stage" and show off a little!

What are you good at in video production that you haven't really shown anyone?  What do you think you'd be good at, given the chance to try?  Why haven't you pursued this?  How can you improve?  What do you want to be really good at in video production?  What do you want to be really good at in life?  What are you doing to make sure people see and hear you?  Are you taking steps to put yourself in a position of showing off your excellence?  What are you afraid of?  

All it takes is a brief walk up on stage.

Alive or Dead...lines!

I love a good laugh.  My mom always had a very infectious laugh and my brother inherited it, although I'm told when I really get going, you can't help but laugh when I get tickled too.  My dad always likes to laugh too.  

I like working with teenagers.  They can be very funny and I gotta tell you...some of the hardest and loudest laughs I've had, I've shared with my students.  

It's always a good idea to find humor in every day things, especially things you stress about. For instance, the recent hijacking of a ship by Somali pirates is disturbing.  What makes me giggle about this story is that we are talking about "pirates"!  I think of the bandanna-wearing, eye-patched, sword-bearing, knicker-wearing mean guys on the high seas in Disney movies, NOT modern day criminals...which is what they are.  When the Nightly News anchor says "pirates" in his broadcast with a straight face, I can't help but giggle.  

There is a guy who is writing a book about procrastination, William Pannepacker from Hope College....but he's a year overdue getting the book to the publisher!  That's funny!  I heard about this the other day and it's true.  Life is funny.

Deadlines are the banana peels on the sidewalk of my students.  Deadlines cause more slips than a lingerie factory and more trips than an overworked AirTran flight attendant for my well-intended video production kids.  Not sure why. But I don't find it funny.  Procrastination is a symptom of this disease for which I know of no cure.  

I'm told that procrastination happens because you are anxious or nervous about completing something.  Some studies say that some personality traits predispose certain individuals to do things...manana.  We talked today in class about looming deadlines.  We have a LOT to do and NOT a lot of time to do it in the next few weeks.  This causes me GREAT anxiety, but not because it's something I have to complete...it's because it's something my STUDENTS have to complete.  I have to relinquish control to my great, loving, grateful-to-Mrs. Watson-dedicated, talented students.  Did you hear all those compliments?  What are you afraid of?  I believe in you; not for what you can do to ease my anxiety but what you can do for yourself and how you can put your stamp on this program!  You're great!!!!  I really believe that.

No, I'm not trying to butter you guys up, but I'm trying to encourage you to do your best work, as I've said before.  That work that I've seen before.  You can't drop the ball now.  Hit the ground running this last six weeks.  Show me what you're made of! Surprise me by doing really fine work and turning it in early!  Make me incredibly proud!  Learn some new tricks and incorporate them into your final few projects!  Ask questions!  Answer questions of other students! Don't waste one minute!  Stay in the game!  Don't let these last couple of deadlines bite you on the booty!  An injury there is not pretty!  One of my former students at Mount Zion had to have 13 stitches there...because he missed his deadline....  jk...he fell off an anchor chair, but it still wasn't pretty.

Here's my deal....dig deep in your tired, homework-depleted, worn-out-from-11-or-12-years-of-high-school self and find your second wind for the last part of the race.  You do that, and I'll try not to be too stressed.  Deal?  Let's laugh and have fun these last few weeks because we have nothing to stress about because you're going to turn your stuff in by or before deadline.

Blog back to me about how excited you are about your last projects...your documentary and your senior video segment and your "how did I do this package" presentation.  I want to hear motivation and excitement.  You can do it.  Tell me how you're going to do this.  How will you keep yourself motivated and on-track.   You've been given much by Eagle TV...give back, in a big way!  Go out with a bang!  What can we expect from you?