The summer of 2005 I worked as an english teacher for european kids from: Russia, Italy, Spain and Greece.Being teenagers they were less than eager in a traditional classroom setting. Fortunately there was an afternoon class that I taught called "the Project Class" which gave me the liberty to have some fun with the students and to realise some interactive projects.

I had this idea of making a short video based on a narrative using the english language. I started this video project with 4 days/class periods until the 'final product'--- there were limitations to the size of this project. The first day was used to introduce the idea to the students, brainstorming over themes/characters and story board. It was determined that the 'Simpsons' would be a good narrative to use due to the materials, interest and mutual understanding of the characters (this time was also used to locate the student's interests). The second day the students made comics/storyboards based on the 'Simpsons in Scotland'--- at the end of the class period there was much debate and confusion as to which story we should use (plus some funny drawings of Homer in a kilt). I scrapped the idea of using such a loose form in a short time and went to the store and bought a simpsons comic book. The third day we started working from the comic book's panels/narrative (which was a story about the simpsons going to a circus/festival), I divided the class into teams: casting, set/costume and dialoug--- appointing team leaders for each group to be responsible for each task. The students went around assigning rolls, delegating tasks and practising lines. On the last day we finished helping the set producers and filmed. The reaction from the students was that of general excitement infused with embarrassment--- especially when it was projected in a lecture room to the rest of the language school. The student body recieved the videos with laughing, howling and cheering. The above link is the edited version of this video. (those Italians--- all great actors/actresses)