Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Time Capsule

For the next couple of days my students will be recording a video time capsule.  They have each been assigned the task of finding something that will give future generations a glimpse of their lives during their sophomore year. 

We will videotape them talking about whatever item they choose to include.  I expect there to be a few cell phones and Ipods.  Some will want to stand in front of a trailer classroom to show where they went to school this year.  Others might include a newspaper with the Haiti earthquake headlines, a mohawk or hoodie, an energy drink, or a video game. 

After we have filmed each student, a journalism student will tie it all together.  They will add the student's name to identify each person. They will also record my introduction and include musical montages of the sophomores outside of class time. 

I will hang onto this video until the last day of their senior year, when a copy will be given to the senior class president for class reunions in the future.  They will be able to see "the way it was" in 2009-2010.  Have you figured out what they are really putting in the time capsule?

Yes, the things they bring to talk about will be interesting, maybe even fun to see 25 years from now; however, the true treasure of this time capsule will be the students themselves.  We will have captured each of them on the cusp of adulthood.  They will see the energy, innocence, and beauty of age 16.  By the time they see the video again at a reunion in the future--they will be heavier, graying, balding, worn down a bit, and wrinkled by time.

The video time capsule for this year's graduating class (filmed two years ago) is a keeper.  It was the last one filmed in our high school before the tornado destroyed it.  It made me misty to see my old room and my wall with 26 years of student pictures.  Their time capsule had captured one last glimpse of the office, hallways, library, and auditorium.  Their sophomore hall and sophomore bench are gone now. When I viewed that video while sitting in my trailer classroom last year, I realized just how valuable the time capsule assignment is.  

That year we captured something that was and never will be again.  Come to think of it, we do that every year. Some years it is just more obvious. 

9 comments:

Hays Family 5 said...

Chills. Did you watch that video of the school without crying?

Sounds like a great project! I am going to pass it on to a friend who teaches juniors.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

margie said...

what a great gift for those students.

Gayle said...

Oh my gosh, mrs. e, what a beautiful thing to do.

Katie @ Can't Get There said...

What a poignant post - a one, two punch so far this week! My friend's school does something similar, only they have the kids record messages to tell their older selves (sort of like what we would tell our younger selves if we had a chance). She has some pretty hilarious snippets, but of course I can't remember any of them!

joyce said...

What a wonderful project. I'm getting goosebumps reading it. I would love for my sons' teachers to do that....kids are so "tecchie" today, in 20 years all that technology will be terribly outdated. Your sentence about catching them on the cusp of adulthood really chills me though. I would like to get our teachers to read this.

Ragamuffin Gal said...

I think this is a great project ~ I so wish we did it here.. hey that gives me an idea! How cool is it that you get to witness and be a part of these Mrs. E.

Steve Gravano said...

Time capsules are great ideas and a lot of fun. I was at a press conference at a local school when they opened one on their 50 year anniversary. It was so cool how they thought we would live like. (Jetson's) I think you need to be careful when using technology, it changes so fast and it might not be useful 50 years from now.

Mrs. E said...

Steve, we were just talking about that yesterday. They will get a DVD copy, but there is a good chance it will need to be copied to something else...probably several times before they hit their 20 year reunion. Technology does change so fast.

Two time capsules were opened due to the tornado. One was at the elementary school. The other was at the high school. The class of 91 buried it on the school grounds. The rocket scientist who put the Skoal Can (full) in it, ruined a lot of it. Added a lot of moisture to it which ruined pictures and quite a bit of written material! Still very interesting!

Relyn Lawson said...

This is the very best idea! Oh, I love you more for this.

Wouldn't it be terrific if a senior class did this and opened it at their twentieth reunion?