teaching and hopefully more teaching

Two big things for this week: I started my class at Fitchburg, and I had an interview at the University of Central Missouri. Both went well.

Fitchburg State
It feels so nice to be teaching again. School was fun. Being a student was kind of relaxing. Yeah there was work to do, but it was mostly fun work. In many ways, it was a 2 year vacation during which I made a bunch of movies. The younger students tend to think school is really hard, but to me it was nice not to have to be the smartest person in the room. Not that I find teaching hard. We are talking about stuff I know how to do that they've never done before. I enjoy sharing my expertise. So I have 2 classes of 14 students each. They were mostly engaged - some talked more than others of course, and only 1 was the one who talks too much. At least what he was saying was generally relevant. He wasn't sidetracking the conversation, but I will have to be careful that he doesn't dominate the conversation.

I made them play 2 Lies and a Truth and that actually went well. I got volunteers and they understood the point of what they were supposed to do, and it lead to good conversation about elements that help make you a believable storyteller.

UCM
Then today I had the job interview. I feel good about it, for all that's worth (almost nothing). It's reassuring just to get the interview because it's been quite a while now since the San Bernardino interviews, so I was starting to get a little anxious. Having done the research on them, and then talking to them it feels like a school that would be a good fit for me. I had good, concise, articulate answers to their questions. I found ways to emphasize the things that make me unique and valuable: having a corporate background which is where an awful lot of jobs are, but also having both documentary and narrative to bring to the mix. And I found a way to work in the class at Fitchburg because that wasn't on my CV yet at the time I did their application. It says two things. 1) the minute I had my degree I had a job so I'm good and people recognize that. 2) Here's a really interesting class that I have experience with that you don't seem to offer, so I could bring that to you if you want it.

And as usual it ended with "thanks for your time, we'll be in touch." He didn't even bother with the ambiguous "soon" which could me anything from a week to a month. I did my part, I did it well, the rest is up to them.