Tag: teaching

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Education

Assumptions about low-scoring students are wrong.

I taught at a nonselective New York City school. Your assumptions about low-scoring students are wrong.

BY VICKI MADDEN

Wrapped up in the talk of scores and hard work and other kids taking “our” kids’ seats is the unspoken content of those parents’ objections: race. Many white parents are uncomfortable being in the minority, even though they absolutely are a minority in New York City’s public schools. If we can’t talk about that, we can’t ever talk about diversity honestly. And that means we can’t really talk about admissions policies and test scores, either, because they serve as proxies for racial inequities.

Let’s be clear: state exams don’t assess character or intellectual potential. One of my sons can get a top score with little effort. The other gets no love from standardized tests. They both, just like all New York City children, deserve access to the opportunities a real city offers, vibrant and mixed and full of all kinds of interconnected, talented human beings.

Public schools are a collective good; we must ensure that the benefits are shared equitably.

Read entire article

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Education Resources

Recommended Photography Teaching Resources

Photoville / United Photo Industries Education/Teacher Resources

United Photo Industries (UPI) presents thought-provoking, challenging, and exceptional photography exhibitions  from across the globe in their gallery and at the annual Photoville Festival.  They are committed to a wider understanding and increased access to the art of photography — that includes their young audience of students! Browse through their lesson plans and discussion questions drawn from the rich stories within UPI and Photoville projects 

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Aperture On Sight Curriculum

The Aperture On Sight curriculum is designed to teach visual literacy through working with photography. It builds students’ abilities to communicate as visual storytellers, develops them as creative and critical thinkers, as well as building their capacity for academic and professional success.

The Aperture On Sight curriculum relies on the equation:

form + content + context = meaning

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Education Resources

Lesson Plans | Museum of the City of New York

Great Resource

 Lesson Plans | Museum of the City of New York

Explore a growing collection of lesson plans, created in collaboration with elementary and middle school teachers, for use in the classroom and to enhance a museum visit.

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Resources

Creative Careers: Resources for Teaching Artists NYFA.org – NYFA Current

Creative Careers: Resources for Teaching Artists NYFA.org – NYFA Current

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Great resource from New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)

The Association of Teaching Artists describes a teaching artist as “a practicing professional artist with the complementary skills and sensibilities of an educator, who engages people in learning experiences in, through, and about the arts.”

Teaching artists play a vital part of the creative development of people of all ages, enriching their day-to-day educational experiences. They help promote innovative techniques in the classroom, foster the artistic talents of students and teach the importance of collaboration. As a teaching artist, it’s important to participate in professional development workshops and seek out new opportunities. In-classroom training, along with networking in the field, can help you develop greater effectiveness as an educator and build your artistry. We’ve pulled together a list of resources from NYFA Source that offer teaching artists professional development training, curriculum resources and highlight art education initiatives. Before delving into the resources, here is a quick overview on how to search NYFA Source.

Creative Caread more

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Education

Maine Media Workshop + College

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One of the coolest opportunities I have ever come across for photography summer programs for high school students is the Maine Media Workshop. The way it works is a student applies for a twelve week residency (there are shorter options if you cannot spare the whole summer) that they will devote to a specific category of photography. Some of the choices include:  Digital Photography & Printmaking, Traditional B&W Printmaking, Alternative & Historic Processes & Printmaking, Fine Art Photography, Documentary & Photojournalism, Nature, Landscape, & Travel Photography, and Commercial & Studio Photography. If accepted into the program the student is given a mentor that is an expert in the category they chose. The student will spend their twelve weeks being taught one on one by this mentor as well as attending master classes and workshops. When they are not in class or meetings they can spend their time on the beautiful Maine campus near the sea and develop a project to work on for the summer. They also can choose to design a program that combines multiple categories if they cannot pick just one. It is open to all levels and allows the student the opportunity to escape the demands of real life and focus on developing their craft and a fully realized project that they can use for a portfolio.

 

To learn more about the program and how to apply visit:

www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/photography/photography-residency

To see work produced by previous students:

www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/galleries

Categories
Education

How to teach…Photography

blog
The Guardian is one of the UK’s leading news sources and has a strong interest in education trends and support. They created the Teacher Network to help teachers connect and share lesson plans and curriculums. This article from The Guardian Teacher Network highlights a bunch of resources to help teachers get their students photographing.

“Students of all ages are fascinated by taking photos – and, now photography has gone digital, it is easy and cheap to get your students snapping. The Guardian Teacher Network has resources to help schools harness the potential of photography and use it as a really powerful cross-curricular tool.”

They have collected a large number of activities, lesson plans, and resources that are a great starting point for teachers of any subject that want to integrate art into the classroom. Art, in this case photography, can really help a teacher engage their students with any subject. The activities could also be useful in a photography class; especially an intro class, where students are just getting comfortable with their cameras.

Check out the resources and get your students snapping today:

http://www.theguardian.com/education/teacher-blog/2013/nov/04/photography-amnesty-international

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Education Resources

Visual Literacy Strategies

Great resources about visual literacy from Aperture

Visual Literacy Defined – The Results of a Delphi Study: Can IVLA (Operationally) Define Visual Literacy
Jennifer M. Brill, Dohun Kim, Robert Maribe Branch, PHD; Journal of Visual Literacy, Spring 2007

“Chapter 3: Visual Literacy,” from MEDIA LITERACY in the K–12 Classroom
Frank W. Baker, International Society for Technology in Education
Download the PDF: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

The Visual Literacy White Paper
Dr Anne Bamford. Director of Visual Arts. Senior Lecturer in Interactive Media, Art and Design University of Technology Sydney

Visual Thinking Strategies
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a method initiated by teacher-facilitated discussions of art images and documented to have a cascading positive effect on both teachers and students. It is perhaps the simplest way in which teachers and schools can provide students with key behaviors sought by Common Core Standards: thinking skills that become habitual and transfer from lesson to lesson, oral and written language literacy, visual literacy, and collaborative interactions among peers.

Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development

What is Visual Literacy?

 

 

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Education Resources

5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students

5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students | Edutopia

Incorporate wait/think time….

#1. What do you think?

This question interrupts us from telling too much. There is a place for direct instruction where we give students information yet we need to always strive to balance this with plenty of opportunities for students to make sense of and apply that new information using their schemata and understanding.

#2. Why do you think that?

After students share what they think, this follow-up question pushes them to provide reasoning for their thinking.

#3. How do you know this?

When this question is asked, students can make connections to their ideas and thoughts with things they’ve experienced, read, and have seen.

#4. Can you tell me more?

This question can inspire students to extend their thinking and share further evidence for their ideas.

#5. What questions do you still have?

This allows students to offer up questions they have about the information, ideas or the evidence.

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Nice to know about this blog where story came from > Edutopia

 

Categories
Education

Global Action Project Curriculum

Global Action Project, an organization that works with youth most affected by injustice, has a rich website full of curriculum that is free to download and use in your own classroom. A quick sign-up gives you access to PDF lesson plans. Global Action Project notes that these lesson plans are by no means a solid blueprint. They are meant to explore and add to the workshop as you see fit. They also encourage you to share with them how you’ve adapted their curriculum to suit your classroom needs.

I downloaded workshop entitled Power that deals with the vast gap between the rich and poor in the United States. By identifying the cause of this inequality, we can work together to bring about social justice.

The workshop is full of interactive games to get the students involved. One game is a question and answer game about the media. You discover that the power the media has in today’s society dictates what we hear and most importantly, what we do not hear. This use of corporate media oppresses the interests of the minority. Did you know that only 3% of the 1400 local TV stations in the US are owned by people of color? Staggering statistics such as this are knowledge you gain from this workshop. You can download this workshop on Power here.

Be sure to check out the other amazing guides to workshops on Global Action Project’s rich website to bring to your classroom.

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Education Media Projects

Alexis Lambrous Photos of Young Brooklyn High School Teacher

Alexis Lambrous Photos of Young Brooklyn High School Teacher
NYTimes.com Lens blog

Today’s lens blog feature begins:

Any thought of law school vanished the moment Ferrin Bujan stepped into a classroom as a student teacher. It was her last year at Queens College, where she was majoring in math and education, and she had been a little uncertain about her future.

“The world turned,” she said. “This is where I wanted to be. I enjoyed helping students who were struggling and knowing I could make a difference for them.” read more

The article continues to tell us the inspiring story of the dedication of Ferron Bujan as a teacher. It is also the story of Alexis Lambrou, a photographer who has dedicated herself to telling the story of new teachers in public high schools. A powerful photoessay is on the lens blog and more photos from the series on Lambrou’s site.