the end credits

Hey, this An Inconvenient Truth final exam could be one of my best ideas of the year. What did my students think, though? It went something like this:

MONDAY Let me get this straight: You're saying that our final is based on a movie?! And we get to work on it all week?! We love Ms. Chang!

WEDNESDAY They realize what kind of exam this is: a thinking one. Open-ended questions requiring them to read graphs, draw conclusions, infer, etc. Why couldn't we have a normal multiple choice exam? Ms. Chang's always got to be different and hard. Plus, the movie is "boring".

THURSDAY The movie, I think, gets more interesting because they complain less. And having prompted them through a couple questions, they're starting to think for themselves. A couple students are gaining confidence as they answer questions right.

FRIDAY Friday was a great day. They understood - it sunk in - the consequences of global warming, and they were starting to show emotion about the rottenness of politics and our economic system. At one point, JA pulled me aside to tell me, "I've been thinking about this movie, Ms. Chang, and I think global warming is like an immune system for the earth...." Get me a chair, I need to sit down. Score!

I realize that summer is a day away, so all we discussed this week could be bleached away in their first taste of sunshine and freedom. But I pin my hopes on one day when the dialogue about global warming finally reaches them - and it will - that my former students will have a little background on this matter.

I told them before we began that this could possibly be the most important thing I've taught them all year. We can only wait and see.