Marissa Whitey

24 November 2019

TEL 311

Lovitt

Summary of Project and Project Impact

Driving Question: How can we decrease physical violence in the community?

One of the biggest problems at my school is fighting. I go to a middle school in Tempe where

there is a fight every week at least. Fighting in school is not only dangerous while it is

happening, but it also destroys the positive learning environment that is supposed to be

provided at schools. Students involved in fights are either suspended from school for a period,

or have to serve in-school suspension, where they work independently in a private room rather

than being in the classroom. There are a multitude of unfortunate reasons that students fight at

school, whether it be for attention, release of anger, conflict resolution, etc. The influence of

local gangs also plays a factor in many cases, making it a very difficult matter to resolve.

Nonetheless, I think that students would benefit from learning about alternative emotional

outlets. Since I teach English, I can encourage students to use writing as an outlet for their

emotions. My long-term project will be to guide my students to create a short narrative film that

encourages alternative emotional outlets besides fighting. I think students will be excited about

the idea of making a movie. As there are a variety of roles in making a movie, students can

explore their creative strengths. Another thing that would make the project especially fun for the

students is if the school could partner with a local movie theater to have the movie shown on a

big screen. A field trip could be scheduled so that each class can see their movie in the theater,

with parents and perhaps even lower grade levels in attendance as well. Not only will the

message of the film they create be positive, but the process of making the film will show

students that creative expression can take the place of physical violence.
Student Impact: I am responsible for 60 students- that’s three groups of about 30 kids. Each

class will make their own movie, so that means 60 students are directly impacted by the project.

In addition, the plan is to show the movies to lower grade levels. If we were able to show it to

the 5th and 6th grades, that would mean an additional 120 people at least being impacted by

the project.

Teacher Impact: I think this project will have a positive impact on me as a teacher. I love

creative projects, and I have a passion for film as well, and so this would be a great way to use

my interests to teach my students in a fun way. Furthermore, I think it would show other

teachers that they can also use different teaching methods in their classes.

Community Impact: The goal of the project is that it will help to decrease violence and fighting in

our school, and my hope is that this mindset would transfer to students beyond school as well.

Especially by showing the movies to the younger students, we would be setting a positive

example that would discourage violence and promote a safe community environment.