Design and architecture outside of the lesson

When I was looking at the design and architecture, I was thinking of it more metaphorically and how to apply this to my lesson planning. In my first post, I talked about applying the design aspect to lesson planning through differentiation, or changing the activities. Then, I stepped back and realized that I could actually take the design and apply it to the design of my classroom. One of the things I noticed in the reading was how to take a big space and create walls through furniture arrangements and placements of wall art. I can think of the furniture as the furniture in my classroom. How can I arrange it to create specific spaces to meet the needs of my students? I have started to arrange things keeping in mind that I want to make my classroom appealing to the eye, but also versatile! I have always had my reading table accessible to my students so I am able to use it for my guided reading, but based on where the furniture was when I got the room, the book shelves were scattered around the room. Last weekend I moved them so that they are easily accessible to me when I am pulling books for my students. This way I don't have to walk across the room if I forgot a book. To many this may have seemed like the obvious thing to do, but I was so caught up in other areas that I had completely overlooked this aspect of my classroom until recently. I do feel like I have always taken time to really think about the placement of my posters and things on my walls. I try to make them the most useful to my students while trying not to make it look like a car with bad bumper stickers. I try to arrange all of my writing posters together so that when my students have a questions about writing, they can look in one area to hopefully get some help. When it comes to my table groups, I try to arrange them in a way that all of my students can look at the board without having their back to it. I also like to leave a space for me to have carpet time, since I do teach first grade. Overall this module has really made me reassess the way that I have my room set up and how to make the most of the space that I am given while trying to keep it appealing to look at as well. I am all about displaying student work and having fun posters, but I also know there is a way to make it look busy and cluttered as opposed to organized and versatile!

Interior design

When I saw that we were going to be working on looking at the design of houses and structures, both interior and exterior I was so excited. I always wanted to be an interior designer, but chose to go the teaching route instead. As I have been reading the articles, Susanka does a great job for setting up what it entails to make a "house a home". When I think of this mentality in the classroom, I think of how to make my lessons matter to my kids and be meaningful to them. For example, we have to think about differentiation for each child and examine how to make the experiences compelling for each child. Every house is different, and as Susanka says, "the ways things are arranged give it an identity all it's own". I think this is true for our classrooms and lessons as well. You can teach a lesson one way, but you may need to teach the same lesson concept to a different child who benefits better from a different approach. Just as interior designers and architects are trying to design buildings and rooms that are appealing and interesting to the eye, they have to change it based on the audience. I doubt you will go into a farm town with one country store, and try to build a brand new modern home. It wouldn't work that way. However, you could build a new home and try to make it "fit in" with the neighborhood, as Susanka said she had to do for a new home that was being built in an old neighborhood. This same concept needs to be taken into the classroom. Every child has a different "eye" and a different way for learning. Part of designing compelling experiences for them is figuring out what makes each student tick and using this to guide instruction and allow them to be successful. I think this is a great concept to live by! It may seem like a lot of work, but there will be less "remodeling" if you take the time to get to know your audience and how to reach them academically so that they don't need to be retaught information because the way that you taught wasn't for them. They would pass on that house and you would end up showing them many more.

Film and Television... How Hard Can It Be?

Well, as I continue to put the finishing touches on my video project, I have since changed my attitude, that it can't be THAT difficult. Boy was I wrong. I spent so much time filming something that I felt was compelling, only to be completely unsatisfied with the result. I think I take for granted the amount of time that producers and directors put into everything behind a movie or TV show. From sound track, to lighting, and angles. I was only making a 2 minute video, and it took me forever. You may not think so when you see it, but there was a lot of time and effort put into it. It makes me think about my job. I can recall on more than one occasion when my husband and I were first married, and he thought that teaching was so easy. "It can't be that tough, you go in, babysit a bunch of kids for a few hours and come home". It wasn't until he had to begin taking a more active role, cutting out things, coloring things, drawing pictures, basically becoming one of the classroom "dads" despite the fact he didn't have a kid in the classroom. I think it was then that he realized the amount of planning and time that goes into my job. I feel like this is where I fit into the idea of film and TV now. I have had to take a more active and hands on role in it, and now I know it is not just fun and games, and that it is tiring, and time consuming. I think the point of making a compelling experience for my students means putting that extra time and planning into it so that they get to have a well designed activity. Maybe I can add more elements to it that makes it more enjoyable for them, and that they are compelled by the whole experience. As for the imaginative bridges, in the Percussive Editing article, Hirsch said, "editing can be the organization of two-dimensional movements on the screen within a given period of time." I take this statement into the classroom completely! As teachers, we are taught to be flexible the "first take" or the first introduction to a new concept might not go according to plan. We have to regroup and "reshoot" or reteach the lesson in a different way, in "different light". Then we might end up with a product that is satisfactory... our kids get the concept. Just like a film director has to film a scene only to film it again the next day. I think teachers have to do a similar thing within the walls of the classroom. We go back to the drawing board and try a new "take". Both teachers, and filmmakers are faced with a time constraint. We need to teach certain content within a given amount of time and a filmmaker needs to film a movie in a certain amount of time as well. Being efficient and paying attention to our audience, or our students will help us make compelling lessons, or movies. I guess it is apparent every art has it's struggles.

What does Compelling mean, and how can I use this to teach?

I have been trying to decide what compelling means when I think about it in my classroom. Does it mean that my kids are involved in what is going on? No, I think of that as engagement. What about that they are excited about what I am teaching? No again. I think that can best be described by enthusiasm. The more I think about it, the more I think compelling means a combination of not only how involved the kids are, and how excited they are, but also what I put into the experience for them as well. I think there are plenty of activities that can have high student engagement and not be very compelling. When I look at this week's articles, and the whole concept of t.v. and movies, I really think this helps to put things into perspective for me. The directors and producers of things such as The Godfather, or My Best Friend's Wedding don't just put something out there. I'm sure that they could, and that they would have high engagement from their audience, however I don't think it would be considered a compelling show or clip. The more time that they put into their work of art, the more they are molding it to be compelling for their audience. I think if we can take this mind set into the classroom, we will be able to create more compelling experiences for our students. If I look to not only create something that has high student engagement, but also that is compelling, I am pretty certain that my students will be more successful. This will be something to research further as the course continues!