New resources on my VLE

I've started to put new resources on my VLE. Pinterest is my most used teaching tool, I use it practically every lesson when I am introducing a new subject, photographer or project. On the VLE I have put a section called Pinterest boards, Pinterest allows you to create small 'widgets' (just a smaller version of Pinterest with a link), where my students can find all the images and resources I used in a particular lesson. The students have found this really useful, and no longer ask me what photographers we looked at last lesson. 
 Something that I really want to do with my VLE was to create Photoshop tutorials for my students. Tutorial videos are huge and you will see thousands on Youtube. But I want to create specific tutorials, looking at what we have done that lesson, or what I think will be useful for the future.I have learnt loads off video tutorials, they are quick and easy to follow as you can pause it whenever you need to, and you can watch it as many times as needed. 

A downside to using the weebly for education site is that to upload video you need to be paying the subscription fee, and my VLE is a free web page so I don't have this feature. But you can have HTML code. So I uploaded the tutorial to my Youtube account then took the HTML and copied that onto my web page. 

It was really quick to do and the video can play straight from my website. So it doesn't send you to the Youtube channel, which I like because I wanted the video actually embedded onto the website, I didn't want it to send the students to the Youtube account.


 

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.

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!