Top 10 NDCE Ideas

Here are my top ten ideas from the course. Being a teacher (and in a teaching curriculum) I listed and talked about most of these in terms of how I could or did relate them to education. Listed from least to most amazing.

10. Compelling Videos. This sit at the bottom of my list. Not to talk down on any of my classmates but I think I interpreted our Work of Art assignment very differently. The project was to make a video about something compelling. My classmates did just that. I read the assignment as "make a compelling video about something that is normally not compelling". Which meant at the end of the day most of the videos produced were about something compelling but not compelling on their own. For this fact the WofA video project is at the bottom.
9. Fashion. I am not a fashion forward thinker. My blog for this week took a very literal look into fashion and talked about school uniforms. I think after discussing with my group it opened my eyes to the idea that fashion can be compelling beyond the literal what are you wearing. But to me I will always see fashion as something to photograph (and that makes the top) but not as a piece of art in itself.
8. Music. Like fashion I find myself not a music lover either. I prefer to think rather than listen. Although I did very much enjoy learning about breaking down music and looking for a 'hook'. Mainly because I like how one could relate this to writing/reading which I find much more compelling.
7. Movies. To me the movie industry is too broad to fit a category or a place on this list. Just because there are movies for everything. You can find slow-paced art movies with little talking, comedies where they never stop talking, or all the way to fast-paced action flicks with little talking. It seems that movie makers make one of each type every few months. I am not as compelled by the movie industry because they don't try to make a compelling film for everyone they just make different types and people will see what they want.
6. Commercials. I find the fast paced nature of commercials very disheartening. Although a very compelling topic (thus it is in the middle of this list). In relation to students it seems that advertisers have picked up on the frantic nature of young minds. Commercials are one of the best indicators of what their target audience is thinking and wanting and how they are acting. If you teach young kids but haven't watched commercials on Nickelodeon lately then you'd be in for a shock on how different they are from when you were a kid.
5. Architecture. The top of the top were mainly still images. I find quieter and less "in your face" components to be the more compelling. And it starts with where you are sitting and where are looking when creating things. Most students sit in boring rooms with dull interiors. I think chaining that up and bringing aspects of compelling architecture to school buildings would add to the learning environment.
4. Graphic Design. I very much enjoyed picking apart print ads for this unit. Getting opinions from all the group members also gave me a good sense of what and where people are looking when they see a flyer. We discussed ideas of color and fonts. And the strange concept that bigger and bolder doesn't always gather more attention was interesting. Then being able to take those ideas for classroom handouts was excellent.
3. Editing. While most of my top picks are still images I found great interest in video editing. Being able to combine pictures (whether moving or not) with music to create a new experience to be extremely compelling. Being able to create educational materials this way (taking bland images and editing them with sound to increase the appeal for students) also intrigues me.
2. Architecture. I really enjoyed the discussion from this week's unit about work spaces. I have never held a cubical job but found the motivation behind many desk arrangements to be fascinating. The psychology of getting people to work productively and happily is fascinating.
1. Photography. And the top. I was a photography student in undergrad and loved it. While my flatmates were sitting down to their piles of engineering math homework I was running around with a camera. And the best part to me is that it was all film. The compelling part of photography came from finding and working for the perfect shot. Digital has taken most of that away as you can take thousands of shots and see them right then. And if you still don't like them you can edit it all in photoshop. True photography is routed in getting the right shot the first time. Having to know what makes that shot compelling before you even take it is what attracts me.

Work of Art videos

So this week as a class we have posted our work of art videos. And in watching all of them I can see the different views of compelling. There were so many different subjects done in such a wide range of styles that it made me stop to think about the different styles found in a classroom. After watching all of them I realized that I can work for weeks on something to make it compelling but someone else might find it as dull as dirt. which makes sense since everyone is different.
So in a class room we (as teachers) have to take in everyone's interests when making educational material. What may be compelling for me probably wouldn't be for young kids. I have to remind myself that often when lesson planning. What I try to do is put myself in their age and position and what would be fun and interesting.
 I do think I have found there are some "Universal" aspects to making things compelling. From all the videos I think there were four things that made each person's project better. First was adding a soundtrack. Music has the ability to hook people in so adding it to a presentation draws more interest. Second having a point of focus. Whether in a presentation or a film there has to be a focal point. It might not be the main subject but something will always draw the audiences' eye.  Third, the use of color. While black and white does have a space in art I think that adding color to projects will always add an attractiveness to a project. And last, I think the pacing of the project or video is very important. Too fast and people can't pay attention so they stop trying. Too slow and people get bored and start looking at other things.
 With all those in mind I think that just about any project can be more compelling even if it is a subject that not everyone is interested in.

School Uniforms

While this week's lesson on fashion is more aimed at how a teacher can pull the compelling desire of people looking at fashion into their classroom the first thing that came to my mind was the use - or not - of school uniforms and how it can change a school's atmosphere.
 I have attended, work at, and visited many different private schools in my time and all with different ideas on how their school should dress. Growing up I attended one of the few private schools i have ever accounted that does not require a uniform. Their feeling was that individuality and creativity should not stop at what students do in class but should also be able to be reflected in what they wear.
 Later I spent a few years working at the other extreme when it comes to dress - a military school. There really isn't any room there for interpretation (even your socks had to match the kid next to you). Their feeling? that clothes shouldn't distract from the school atmosphere (this is one among a few other military reasons for uniforms).
 So do clothes really distract or add to a compelling student? I could argue both. I could argue that there isn't much inspiration in a grey uniform everyday. But there is also something very distracting in a skirt that is well above the required length.
 To me? I would have to agree with the uniform. while fashion can be a large contributor to turning something bland into something compelling I'm not sure if that type of compelling is right for the classroom. You should be able to see outside of the box and bring out yourself rather than your clothes.
 - Carolyn

Music that Moves

Here is my Music that Moves video.
I picked my all time favorite song: You''ve got to Hide Your Love Away by the Beatles.
Enjoy!