AFS Wolf Den

About AFS Wolf Den

Welcome to the Wolf Den! Here's where everything exciting, inspiring, and motivational happens in the education world. The Academy for Success makes sure that all of our expectations are met with unique facts, creative learning structures, and a commitment to the success of all involved.

Publisher

Academy for Success

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Nov 2019

Latest episode

30 Jul 2021

Latest episodes

24 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Jul 2021

   Ep23 Positive Cinematic Spotlight #26: Star Wars: A New Hope

   Welcome, Wolf Pack, to another Positive Cinematic Spotlight! This week, we celebrate Star Wars, May the 4th. In 1977, George Lucas changed the face of the sci-fi genre and movie making with Star Wars. Despite having a full epic plotted through the first three movies, and with elements and ideas that would be spread out into the prequels released later at the turn of the century, Star Wars was presented as a standalone movie, uncertain about what seems like inevitable success. Lucas’s space opera was well received and to this day the special effects Lucas helped develop for his film changed what passed for acceptable special effects in science fiction for all time. But something we tend to forget is the nature of the narrative he told, and the heroes of his space opera. Before 1977, science fiction tended to focus on alien invasions with a horror tone, or bleak dystopian futures. Most of these movies involved cerebral protagonists and while action may not have been absent, it wasn’t a major focus for the films. On TV you could find a shirtless Kirk fighting Gorn, but most science fiction involved outwitting enemies and analyzing the causes for the dystopian future they are found in. The science fiction action characters were pretty interchangeable, as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon were strikingly similar in personality. But the characters Lucas gave us in his adventure broke the mold: A young farmer boy who dreamed of a more exciting life, an elderly hermit, an outspoken and opinionated princess who played a significant role in her own rescue, and a criminal who just wanted the money. Science fiction heroes now didn’t have to be serious, noble, strong, and morally two-dimensional. They could be flawed, they could be weak and uncertain, they could shoot first. While the chapter title A New Hope refers to Luke, Han Solo, and Chewbacca joining the rebellion and Luke learning the ways of the force, the first to do so in many years, the chapter title also captures what Star Wars did for the science fiction genre. Science fiction soon became a significant storytelling genre making movie studios lots of money and getting critical acclaim. The genre was no longer just a means to get money from kids, but also became appreciated by the more discerning adult audience. Similarly, this year, we have had to reinvent the classroom. We’ve brought in new technologies, experimented with new methods, and reached audiences, I mean students, who otherwise would have been lost. These are developments which, as things return to normal, we don’t abandon. Returning to normal should not lead to us abandoning the wider array of methods students have had for the past year to participate in class. Imagine suspended students still able to view the lesson while at home, students on homebound no longer being limited to 5 hours a week, because now they can watch the lesson live, or rent the video tape. Sorry, I mean stream the video. Going back to normal, for schools, should only refer to being able to not wear masks, not having to worry about how far apart everyone ism

2. 

   23 Jul 2021

   Ep22 Positive Cinematic Spotlight: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

   Throughout the Harry Potter series, Harry, Hermione, and Ron developed from innocent, childish, unaware students, to learning about a growing evil in the wizarding world and not being believed, to finally proven right that Voldemort had returned and everyone was in danger. During that course, they often got distracted, early on still learning of the growing trouble, and later letting personal interests interfere with their overall goals, even spending a fair amount of Deathly Hallows part 1 arguing among themselves. In Deathly Hallows part 2, however, they were focused on their mission of defeating Voldemort. Of course they were… it’s the last film of the Harry Potter series. But then, that’s like our classrooms now. It’s the 4th quarter, heading into the final scenes of the 2020-2021 school year. Like Harry and friends, we need to remain focused. It’s easy to get unfocused in the last nine weeks. We can suffer from what I call the 4th Quarter Forgetaboutits. There are two versions of the 4th Quarter Forgetaboutits, or 4QFs, 4QF-A and 4QF-B. 4QF-A is the most common. It’s when you are tired of addressing the same students about the same behaviors. “Oh, Theo is throwing paper trying to shoot his trash in the trash can despite continued warnings and lunch detentions for the behavior. Why do I still have to tell him not to do that? Oh, well… just a few more weeks.” 4QF-B is caused by the same repetition of minor rules violations, but produces a different symptom, exasperation. “Theo! I’ve been telling you all year not to throw trash in my classroom! Go to the office! I’m done telling you! Just get out!” Both types of 4th Quarter Forgetaboutits are understandable, and I’m sure every teacher can empathize. However, we also should be aware these 4QFs take our attention off of the goal we set out to achieve at the beginning of the year: enhancing quality learning in a safe and accepting environment. Remember that your classroom management, including sweating the small stuff, is essential to an environment that promotes learning and growth, and sweating the small stuff leads to being able to maintain the big stuff… no, not completion of lesson units… but maintaining positive relationships with students, helping them develop a positive attitude about education, and leading them to become successful learners. Remember what Maya Angelou said, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it." Today, Theo might not decide to stop throwing the trash halfway across the classroom for it to bounce off the rim and roll next to Hugh’s foot, who annoyingly picks it up and throws it back at Theo, who ducks, allowing the paper ball to bounce off Sierra’s perfectly coiffed hair, causing her to stand up, saying in a low, menacing growl, “Oh, I know you didn’t,” followed by a loud, profanity laced explanation of how much work it takes for her hair to turn out the way it does, and if her hair’s messed up… well, the proposed fate of both Theo and Hugh chills the spine of everyone listening and becomes the story of legend. But… maybe tomorrow will be the day Theo follows the rules. And that day will be all the sooner if we maintain positive relationships, while preserving our management of the class. And, for the record, pretty much everything involving Hogwarts can be used to show how not to teach, administer, and manage the education of students. So stick with Stand and Deliver, Lean on Me, and Freedom Writers for your inspiring teacher movies. Heck, there are good teacher takeaways in Summer School, Teachers, Bad Teacher, and School of Rock. But no, not any Harry Potter movies. Thank you for all that you do, thank you for being the best, and thank you for focusing on our students’ needs through the trying 4th quarter.

3. 

   20 Jul 2021

   Ep20 Positive Cinematic Spotlight: Soul

   Soul is about middle school band teacher Joe Gardner who dreams of becoming a jazz musician. He gets the opportunity to play with jazz great Dorothea Williams. But an accident leads to his death, but he’s not ready to die, not when he was just about to live his dream of becoming a jazz musician. This leads to the events of the movie. Jamie Foxx provides the voice of Joe and Angela Bassett voices Dorothea. Tina Fey also stars as the voice of 22. Yep, there’s a character called 22. There’s a point in the movie where Joe is again able to live his dream and play jazz with Dorothea Williams, but he doesn’t feel as excited as he thought he would. Dorothea then tells him a story. “I heard this story about a fish. He swims up to this older fish and says, ‘I’m trying to find this thing they call the ocean.’ ‘The ocean?’ says the older fish. ‘That’s what you’re in right now.’ ‘This?’ says the young fish, ‘This is water. What I want is the ocean.’” It occurred to me, as I processed the events of January 6, trying to learn what I could about what happened at Capitol Hill, trying to see things from other people’s point of view, that many Americans are like the young fish in Dorothea’s story. They were looking for something, many wanting to be heard and their doubts about the election acknowledged, but they didn’t realize that what they wanted was already there. They already had what they wanted. Politicians were objecting to the Electoral Votes on their behalf. But they had been convinced that they were not being listened to. Similarly, many have viewed the 2020-2021 school year as hit and miss, and not quite meeting desires or expectations. But if we step back and look, we can see that, while it may not be the manner in which we wanted it, we do have everything we desire in this school year. We are able to teach and reach our students better now than ever before. Yes, we absolutely want our students in our classrooms, but we also want everyone to remain safe. Our technology allows us to do just that. It may not be perfect, but whatever form your classroom takes, whether it’s 100% virtual, or hybrid, or 100% face to face but behind plexi-glass shields and face masks, we are still able to teach the students we love and help them grow and develop into successful students. We can remain positive and see all that growth we have accomplished in the past year to better be able to reach and teach our students in a wider variety of situations and formats and addressing more needs than ever before, or we can be distracted by the pessimists and the negative propaganda that we are not fulfilling our obligations. But as 2021 I feel it’s important to focus on what we have achieved, what we are able to do and that this is what we want to do… a little different than how we want, but still a successful, albeit rocky, shift in education to protect student and staff health while continuing to guide our future leaders into adulthood. I want to thank everyone for all that you do, thank you for being the best, and thank you for the heart and soul you put into your teaching. Happy New Years!

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