It's that time of year again. We are either looking forward to the new school year, or are filled with anxiety... OK, sometimes a little of both. I want to give some advice to all of those who will be new to digital media this year and to their more experienced colleagues:
1. Don't feel insecure about how much you don't know yet. It is OK to be just a week, or sometimes just a day ahead of your students while you learn. You have a lot to learn. As a matter of fact, I think it's a great idea to let your students know. High school students in particular love to think of themselves as adults, and nothing is better for their ego than to know more than a teacher. If you let the students know you are also learning this along with them, some who are a little farther along than you make great resources when you need help, and are great teacher helpers when too many hands are raised asking for help. Also, all the students in the class will be more forgiving of your mistakes and backtracks if they know you are learning just like them. I usually have at least one student who is more of an expert in something than I am in every class, thank goodness.
2. Be flexible, if something isn't working, don't feel like you will look like a dufus if you say something like, "You know what, I don't think this is the best way to do this anymore. What do you think? I want to scrap this and start with this new assignment. My apologies. I appreciate you giving it the 'ole college try'. Let's start fresh with something better."
3. You are still the expert when it comes to art history, art elements and design and composition, expressing big ideas, looking critically at art and the joy of art. The fundamentals of art are the same whether you are using a spray can, a paintbrush or a mouse.
4. You are still an experienced teacher and an advocate for your students. If an administrator puts more students in the class than there are computers, explain that it is not fair for the students who have to share a computer to fall so far behind, or to have to stay after to catch up, or for you to be forced to teach them after school. Sometimes administrators forget that you aren't just using computer to peruse the internet.
5. Sign up at Lynda.com where you can watch wonderful video tutorials on any software you need to learn, plus some about careers and creativity. It is only $25/ month and you don't have to commit to more than a month. Plus, now you can print out a certificate for every course you finish and use these for recertification points. This style of learning is much more flexible than a class that you have to attend at a specific time. You can find courses at your community college.
6. Remember you are teaching Art and creative problem solving. Always design your lessons around the Art, not the software, but do keep in mind that learning software is cumulative and there is a definite set of skills to learn first before the others. Some software is easier to learn than the others. (I start with Photoshop, but others like to start with the vector software like InDesign or Illustrator.)
7. Digital media is preparing young people for the real world and you should be proud. In addition, you are probably attracting students into the art program who are as intimidated about traditional media as you are about digital media and for the first time, they feel brave enough to take an art class. If your school system requires a traditional media class BEFORE a digital media class, you might want to talk to your supervisor about the potential swell in art students if you allow students to use their digital media class as their foundation class.
8. Ask more experienced colleagues for help and offer to pay for long term tutoring. (Note to more experienced colleague: remember what you felt like when you made the leap.)
9. Psych yourself every day. Use a mantra: "I love art, I love kids, I love learning new things. This is exciting and I AM excited to be here. Life is good." In other words, if you are tense, the anxiety is contagious and the kids will not enjoy the class.
Showing posts with label beginning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beginning. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
How to Start a Digital Photography Class
One reader left a comment asking for helpful hints for starting a digital photography and video class.
I also had to start the digital photography class for our county and I was feeling lost until I purchased John Hedgecoe's Photography Basics and his New Manual of Photography (mentioned earlier in this blog "Essential Photography Books"). I basically had my students do projects based on finding shapes, line, pattern, texture, light direction etc. as he suggests in his books. He also covers topics, like flowers, portraits, etc. Then I would add project ideas that I would get by reading other books and keeping up with online sites. (I've mentioned several in earlier entries in this blog.) John Hedgecoe also wrote a great book on filmmaking that I had in college, but I haven't checked if it is still in print, or if he has a video version. I only teach one unit on video using iMovie and I mention good video examples for a starting point in an earlier entry.
I think the key is to remember that you are approaching digital photography and video as art instruction. There are so many digital photographers and Photoshop experts who do not have a background in art and you can tell from their writing that they approach it as a technology challenge, not an art challenge. In my blog I try to focus on the ones who approach it as an artist. So, be careful what books you buy and what websites you read. Remember to cover the art elements and principles of design as well as the concept and purpose of expression. I make the technology part secondary, and they learn it as they go, not all at once.
I always start the year with a History of Photography lecture based on http://masters-of-photography.com (the dashes are important because there is another site without them). That site not only has examples but great articles about each photographer explaining their approach and motivation. It helped me remember a lot from college history of photography classes as well (a long time ago). The students love that lecture because they feel like peeping toms to the past. And, of course, if you have to justify that you tie other subjects into your art classes, well, this one is easy since so much of our nation's history is documented in these photos. Since I love history, I ask them to tell me what they know about the subject of the Dust Bowl, the Industrial Revolution, etc. that they see evidence of in the photos.
I try to introduce visual ideas during the lecture. For example, looking at Dorthea Lange, tell her story but also ask questions: "Did she ask her subjects to smile?" "What angle to the subject was she when she took this?" "What would have happened if she had stood 10 feet to the left? The diagonal line would have become horizontal and that is no where near as interesting." etc. This lecture is important because it helps make the students more comfortable with what I am expecting, before they ever have to turn in a project. Before I give them their first assignment, they already have a sense of the big idea of photography as an art form, that it is as much about the composition and lighting as it is about the subject, and that there is a boring way to represent the subject and a more intriguing way. It helps them understand the difference between snapshots and photography as an art form.
I highly recommend buying the two Hedgecoe books . They made my life a lot easier when I was asked to write the digital photography curriculum and my last photography class had been in the 70s.
Also, my first digital photography shooting projects of the year are: Photographing a Subject from Several Angles, and Shadows as the Subject (this one helps them think abstractly about big shapes instead of the subject). When school starts up again, I will show student examples of these early projects.
I also had to start the digital photography class for our county and I was feeling lost until I purchased John Hedgecoe's Photography Basics and his New Manual of Photography (mentioned earlier in this blog "Essential Photography Books"). I basically had my students do projects based on finding shapes, line, pattern, texture, light direction etc. as he suggests in his books. He also covers topics, like flowers, portraits, etc. Then I would add project ideas that I would get by reading other books and keeping up with online sites. (I've mentioned several in earlier entries in this blog.) John Hedgecoe also wrote a great book on filmmaking that I had in college, but I haven't checked if it is still in print, or if he has a video version. I only teach one unit on video using iMovie and I mention good video examples for a starting point in an earlier entry.
I think the key is to remember that you are approaching digital photography and video as art instruction. There are so many digital photographers and Photoshop experts who do not have a background in art and you can tell from their writing that they approach it as a technology challenge, not an art challenge. In my blog I try to focus on the ones who approach it as an artist. So, be careful what books you buy and what websites you read. Remember to cover the art elements and principles of design as well as the concept and purpose of expression. I make the technology part secondary, and they learn it as they go, not all at once.
I always start the year with a History of Photography lecture based on http://masters-of-photography.com (the dashes are important because there is another site without them). That site not only has examples but great articles about each photographer explaining their approach and motivation. It helped me remember a lot from college history of photography classes as well (a long time ago). The students love that lecture because they feel like peeping toms to the past. And, of course, if you have to justify that you tie other subjects into your art classes, well, this one is easy since so much of our nation's history is documented in these photos. Since I love history, I ask them to tell me what they know about the subject of the Dust Bowl, the Industrial Revolution, etc. that they see evidence of in the photos.
I try to introduce visual ideas during the lecture. For example, looking at Dorthea Lange, tell her story but also ask questions: "Did she ask her subjects to smile?" "What angle to the subject was she when she took this?" "What would have happened if she had stood 10 feet to the left? The diagonal line would have become horizontal and that is no where near as interesting." etc. This lecture is important because it helps make the students more comfortable with what I am expecting, before they ever have to turn in a project. Before I give them their first assignment, they already have a sense of the big idea of photography as an art form, that it is as much about the composition and lighting as it is about the subject, and that there is a boring way to represent the subject and a more intriguing way. It helps them understand the difference between snapshots and photography as an art form.
I highly recommend buying the two Hedgecoe books . They made my life a lot easier when I was asked to write the digital photography curriculum and my last photography class had been in the 70s.
Also, my first digital photography shooting projects of the year are: Photographing a Subject from Several Angles, and Shadows as the Subject (this one helps them think abstractly about big shapes instead of the subject). When school starts up again, I will show student examples of these early projects.
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