Creative Process

My Creative Process

As an education major, I had a lot of prior knowledge on teaching when coming into leading this workshop. I combined these with the additional techniques and skills on engagment, discussion-based learning, and classroom management that we learned about in CPSA260. When planning for each week's lesson, I would spend time researching the type of photography we were learning that week and finding out information about famous photographers from that genre. I also researched various editing techniques I taught as well as created in-depth tutorials on how to use Photoshop to edit. Since I wanted my workshop to be interactive and engaging. I incorporated time to take photographs in my workshop so that students were able to apply the knwoledge they learned right away. This also meant that I was able to help them problem solve and give feedback while they took their photos. Feedback is a crucial step in creating art and I knew I wanted it to play a role in my workshop. I did this through the introduction of Liz Lerman's Critique Method which both I and my participants had used in prior Arts Scholars classes. We had three main critiques in our class and these were used as ways to check in with students and ensure that they were participating in our in-class photography shoots. I also used discussions as a way to have participants engage. I incorporated strategies from "How to Hold a Better Class Discussion", an article provided in CPSA260, to improve our discussions through the use of the Think/Pair/Share method and asking better questions. Overall, through the use of engaging lessons and impactful discussions and critiques, my students learned a lot about photography and have skills they can take with them. I learned a lot about my classroom management style and how to create a community within my classroom.