New resources!

                                  






Previously I didn't have specific resources for topics on my VLE, and I had links to pinterest boards, video tutorials and handouts. But I realised that this isn't enough, I decided to create a section which contains various resources for certain topics.

On each topic there are various resources to help the students either revist the lesson or learn more. 

Specfically on the Digital SLR section I have added another link to the Pinterest board I used during the lesson. I created a quiz using quizlet to try and get the students to remember the different pharses they learnt for this lesson. Finally I have also included 3 images from the workshop which the students liked.



I'm glad I went back and added these sections because I felt there was a lot missing. If I hadn't put these in I think I wouldn't be using the VLE to it's full potential. The extra resources available will help the students remember the work they did during the lesson as it was at the beginning of my placement. 

Student's work!

 http://creativemediastudents.weebly.com/

I have finally had time to upload the students work onto my VLE. I was really happy with the work they did for their last project and I'm excited to share it with you. Now on the homepage of my VLE there is a slideshow of all the students work from the last project 'Dreams'. Changing the home page for the website to the students work makes it look a lot more personal. It looks like their website rather than mine. 

Creating the slideshow was extremely easy. In edit mode I went under the basic tab and they have a varitey of free things you can add to the website. I chose slideshow in the end instead of a gallery because on a slide show all the work gets seen and it keeps moving rather than having to select.

 











I asked the students to pick their favourite image from the project (they had to produce between 4-6), and I used it for the slideshow. Each image gets around 4 seconds, I tried out which speed would work best because I didn't want the slide show sitting on one image, I wanted all the work to have a chance at being shown.

I'm also glad that the slide show function has an autoplay button. At first I thought you could only use the slideshow if you hit the play button. But under advanaced you can change this.

Pinterest has become my best friend

I show a lot of photographs in my classes, and I mean a lot! I think I have used Power point once out of all of my lessons, as it's just so much easier to use a photo friendly site like Pinterest. 

 Where I am placed they don't use Pinterest as a teaching tool, because they never really had too. There isn't a lot of 'chalk and talk', because that's the nature of the course. I don't do a lot of 'chalk and talk', but I am aware that I need to introduce the students to different photographers, and I like to show video clips or articles to go along with the subject. The other lecturers have been doing this for years and don't hesitate to just bring up the videos or websites during the session, but this is because they have the confidence to do that. I am very new to this teaching malarkey. Having all my resources in one place makes my planning and my life easier. 

 In my more recent lessons, when I have been looking at photographers, I have put a lot more work on the Pinterest board than I'm actually going to look at. I leave this page open on the Interactive whiteboard and during the lesson if the students want to go up and look at some other work, they can do so. Just by clicking directly on the board. This gives them more access to resources if they want it.  I have circled the images I actually used to present the lesson.

The last great thing I'm going to say about Pinterest, is that my students have instant access to all the resources I used in class. All they have to do is go to my Pinterest page and all the lessons are there! This helps them find exactly what they are looking for when doing visual diary work. Of course like other colleges and universities they have a virtual learning environment (VLE) that they use, Moodle. But in my lessons I am mainly showing photographs and videos, Pinterest is a much easier platform to look at images and video rather than Moodle. Pinterest is for me, the most useful teaching tool out there.

We now have Interactive whiteboards!

I say that we now have Interactive Whiteboards, but they have been there since I started back at my placement, I just never blogged about it! 

The course I am at placement on, had moved to different block a year ago. The course I am on has amazing resources, but the interactive white boards weren't installed in there new rooms. But they have just had ( about a month ago) new ones installed! Previously, they were using flat screen TV's to teach, which was good, but the Interactive white board is about twice the size! Which means the students can see more and learn better. 

The students enjoy being able to walk up to the screen and take part in making notes and picking images to look at. It is a lot easier to teach with an interactive whiteboard, mainly because I have to demonstrate tools on Photoshop all the time.
 

For anyone who hasn't seen Photoshop before, this is what it looks like. All the menus and tools are tiny! Trying to teach a class of 16 how to use this is pretty complicated, especially if they are all struggling to read off a tiny screen across the room from them. The size of the interactive white board makes it so much easier for students to learn and see, and for me to teach.

My first two weeks at placement

It's coming to the end of my second week at placement and I am really enjoying it. At the moment I have two sets of first year BTECs teaching them the photography unit. They are two great classes. They are all really creative, but I have direct opposites in the class. I have students who are too nervous or shy to share their ideas, and I also have students who are equally as creative but they let themselves get too carried away and lose sight of what they were asked to do. In a way I'm kind of like that this has happened because it challenges me; 

1) To encourage the nervous to be believe in what they can do
2) Rein in some students and help them use their creativity in a more constructive way

My first real lesson with both groups was at the beginning of this week. I get to see the groups twice a week which is really good. My lesson was on the Digital SLR, ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture. Which I think is a really hard topic to teach. I never liked the way it was taught to me and I still see how confusing it can be when I explain it to people. But I found this really helpful chart on Pinterest that the students seemed to like too: 

 

For the class I decided it would be better to learn these hands on. So I split the classes into two groups, gave them a camera and let them experiment with the settings and see what they could create. I was so pleased with the result, especially as before my lesson the students wouldn't even pick up a digital SLR.

Don't worry I asked their permission before posting them here. But I was really proud of how creative they were and I wanted to share! 

Hope everyone is having fun!