Professional Development
Teaching and Technology in the Digital Age
Summer Teachers Institute
In addition to the teacher training that is incorporated into specific curriculum based programs, there are also a range of professional development courses and workshops appropriate for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas.
Programs and presentations prepare faculty members to incorporate the language of image and sound into the New York State Learning Standards and core curriculum. Through analysis of compositional and aesthetic elements, narrative structure, point of view, genre, and style, workshops train educators how to approach non-written texts in order to enhance the expressive, observational, and cognitive skills of their students.
Investigating the divergent approaches of documentary, fiction film, literary adaptation, and world cinema, workshops have been designed to reflect the multicultural perspectives that are so essential to the educational process. Educators are provided with the tools to teach their students how to become active, critical viewers, readers, and thinkers.
Teaching and Technology in the Digital Age
The JBFC is in the early planning stages of a new, intensive program that will help elementary, middle, and high school educators thoughtfully integrate digital filmmaking tools into the daily flow of classroom life. Educators know it is essential to keep pace with the new ways of communicating made possible with digital technologies. However, finding the time and the right courses or mentors to stay current and competent with the power of the new tools is often perceived as an overwhelming task for even the most creative and energetic of teachers. This new program for teachers is a two-year course of study that will allow participants to become masters of 21st century literacy tools and expand their perception of what is possible to achieve in the classroom environment. Through this course, teachers will experience themselves as competent visual storytellers and feel the creative confidence to start implementing the use of digitals tools with students at all literacy levels. Through group seminars and individual sessions, the learning experience will be maximized by customizing the program to meet and exceed their needs. The pilot of this new program will commence in spring 2009 and conclude in spring 2011. Participants will be invited to apply.
Summer Teachers Institute
Jacob Burns Film Center is at the center of an international movement to raise a generation of students equipped and inspired to analyze, assess, and create with the tools of 21st century communication: visual and aural media. JBFC’s Summer Teachers Institutes prepare educators to be literate in non-written “texts” and empower their students to be active viewers, critical thinkers, engaged world citizens, and inspired creators.
Nonfiction Film as a Teaching Tool
July 26-July 30, 9 am–3 pm
Total Hours: 30/2 credits
Cost: $500
Through lecture, demonstration, and screenings, this year’s Institute will devote an entire week to the fascinating study of documentary filmmaking and historical narrative. The course will explore the relative terms of “truth” and “realism” through a study of the documentary form and its evolution over time. Participants will study the methods that documentary filmmakers use to present their messages and explore how to use the ethical and moral dilemmas directors encounter to improve their students’ critical thinking. In addition, teachers will learn how to incorporate documentary film as a tool to teach rhetoric and argument. Screenings will feature work by filmmakers such as Errol Morris, Werner Herzog, The Lumiere Brothers, Alain Berliner, Spike Lee, Gillo Pontecorvo, Barbara Kopple, Jehane Nokjaim, and Alex Gibney, among others.
The final program schedule will be available in April. The registration deadline is Monday, May 17th. Participation is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Registration Form (pdf)
More Info: 914.773.7663 ext. 423
Download a scholarship application (pdf)