Recently I had the tremendous pleasure of introducing our TV/Radio students at one of our high schools to Beyond The Trailer and its host Grace Randolph. A friend of mine introduced me to her channel and as somebody who enjoys movies, I was instantly hooked. Her show is informative, entertaining, smart, and engaging. She interacts well with her fans and it's no wonder she has over 600,000 subscribers to her channel.
It was through our interactions on Twitter that I floated the idea to her about doing a video conference with the students from one of our TV/Radio classes we are fortunate to have in our district. I met with the students leading up to interview, showed them some of her clips, and put together some questions for Grace.
It was a very enjoyable 20-30 minute conversation that I'll post below. If you go to video on YouTube, you can skip to different questions in the description below the video. As I reflect on the conversation and the follow-up discussion I had with the students from that class, I can think of five lessons I took away from the interview. (In no certain order.) These are going to seem pretty obvious but from this perspective, they had a profound impact on the students and me.
1. It's a marathon and not a race.
I really hope you take the time to listen to Grace's perseverance as an artist. Multiple times she reminded the students that success is a marathon and not a race. In order to be successful we must be reminded that we can't get too down on ourselves when we come up short and we can't get too proud of our successes. Every day and every challenge deserves our top level of intensity and passion.
2. Find a career where you can say, "I have to go to work" with a smile on your face.
I loved to hear the excitement in Grace's voice as she talked about her career and the serious tone when she spoke about the business side of things. She spoke about how when you find a career you love, then you're always at work. It's something we've been talking a lot about in my district. This idea of balance and how technology has changed the way we work. It used to be that you were at work or you were off work. However, for most of us, we're never really off work. So, if you're always going to be at work, you better love what you do. Life is too short and there are too many great things going on to have to go to a job you hate every day.
3. Think through your decisions.
Towards the end of the interview she was asking the students what they were working on. She got talking about what to think about while viewing movies and TV shows. She said that every decision has a creative reason and a business reason. It really got me thinking about lesson plans, professional develop, and just learning in general. What are the creative reasoning behind our decisions we make in our schools? What are the business reasons behind the choices we make as learners? Man, a better blogger could write an entire blog just around those two questions.
4. Know your stuff.
One of my favorite moments in the post interview discussions with the students was when a student says he was shocked by how much she knew about the business because he just thought that people lucked into success on YouTube. Grace talked about her time at film school, what news she reads every day, and how she reads more than just stuff that directly addresses things on her channel. She is a learner, and it was apparent to both the students and me.
5. Be relevant.
Grace puts out content about every day. Her Morning Movie News is fantastic! She covers 3 of the top stories in the industry and answers a viewer's questions. She talked about being on a schedule and how it throws the entire day off if she doesn't get going early enough because the industry is pushing content every day and she has to stay relevant. It's a great lesson for all of us to learn. In our ever-changing world, we better stay relevant because the moment we decide to become complacent, we get left behind. This world isn't going to wait on us to catch up. We are either ahead of the curve or we are falling behind.
Once again, a big thanks to Grace Randolph. I highly recommend her channel and she's a great follow on Twitter.
Bonus ideas: Her content is great for relevant conversations with our students. Check out her Movie Math episodes to discuss in math how projections are made, the percentage that movies drop in their second/third weeks, and how much money movies cost vs how much they make. Talk about how Hollywood helps shape the conversations around social hot-button issues and why in the world Vin Diesel is so popular in China. Finally, she breaks down the 3 Act arcs of story-writing as well as anyone you'll ever meet.
Ok, sound off below. What did you think of the interview? What lessons did you take away from our conversation with Grace?
UPDATE: Thank you Matt Miller for the infographic!
cross-posted at www.educationdreamer.com
Brett Clark is the Director of Technology for Greater Clark County Schools in Southern Indiana. Previously he served as an elearning coach and math teacher. Read more at www.educationdreamer.com.
