Blog Post 3 - PBL Implementation – Learning to make better projects

So this is a bit more of a “What I used to think/what I know now” kind of topic, but two of my upper-level students are finishing up a PBL project that is a culmination of the last three semester of my program. Last year, Dawn had me make put together a video with cell-phone photos and videos that she had collected of the induction teachers I her class in order to put together a video for them. After looking at them, I knew we could raise the quality on the images this year. So, we talked about how to incorporate students into the mix. The idea finalized as a long-term project for a couple of my more advanced students.

The task was large: photograph 62 induction teachers spread out across most of the schools in the district, and provide Dawn with portraits and pictures of the induction teachers in action. This project is basically all authentic assessment in that they were to deliver a real product to a client in a set amount of time.

Prior to the start of the semester, I talked with our administration about treating my upper-level kids like Teacher Cadet students, in that I felt like they should be able to get real-world experience tackling projects on other campuses during class time. So, they were allowed to work on projects off campus. So far, that has been mainly this project, but also some other projects, like doing interviews in my video class with faculty involved in cool projects (e.g. Farm-to-School).

I worked with the students to help them divide up the list, based on geography and number of teachers to be photographed. The students were responsible for coming up with a schedule, notifying the teachers when they would be coming to take photos, rescheduling shoots if necessary,  actually taking the photos, editing them, and finally delivering them. They have until the end of this week (end of March), and they got started late February, so about a month, and I think they are about 90% done. I’ve helped them along the way with scheduling, coordinating with the teachers, how to go about getting the shots, editing, and delivering. Even though that sounds like a lot, it’s been pretty hands-off. The core of this PBL implementation comes from two points. One, they’re using skills they’ve developed over the past three semesters in terms of photographic and artistic technique, and two, they’re working on what is a pretty common style of assignment for photographers in the real world, go out and shoot this on a deadline. I’m not there with them to supervise at all; they’re doing this during class time. They’ve been responsible for coming in and picking up the appropriate gear, getting themselves there, and actually taking the pictures; I’ve had 0 to do with that. And I have to say, it’s tough. I have a tendency to micro-manage things, and I have a certain standard I feel like we should always been achieving, and they don’t always quite hit that mark. I see the pictures and I’ve helped them along the way with critique and advice, but I can’t be there to help them set up the shots and pose the subjects. They’re having to do all of that on the fly on their own. Of course there have been a few panicked calls during class (“Help, the flash isn’t working!” or “I don’t know how to get the light right in this room!”), but overall, they’ve had to work through the problems on their own and come back, good pictures in hand. I think it’s been a valuable learning experience for them (and me too, but I’ll get to that).

For one, they’ve learned how to really implement a lot of the techniques we’ve talked about in class. Many of the things I’ve stressed that might not have made an impact before are suddenly staring them in the face; they’ve had to reach into their photography “bag of tricks” in order to make the required shots happen. In terms of photography, they’re learned about timing (in terms of packing gear, travel, getting the shots, and editing/delivery) and they’ve learned that some of their time frames have been unrealistic. They’ve learned about working with strangers to get great portraits (one of the most challenging aspects of photography in general), and they’ve had to work with real people to get the shots…real people who have good days and bad days, are under stress, and are busy. Regardless of those factors, their job is to get the shot, and, for the most part, they have delivered. They have had to work under deadline, another requirement that is both authentic and difficult.

I’ve learned a lot from the project too. One, no matter how mature they are, they’re still kids, and I need to stay on them a little better about making sure things get done. It’s easy to forget they’re teenagers, especially the upper-level ones, who regularly produce good work and are pleasant to be around, but like anyone else, they forget, they procrastinate, and sometimes they panic and mess things up. I’ve also learned I need to break things up into smaller chunks. I think handing them a list of 31 people with email addresses and telling them to make it happen might have been a bit overwhelming, even though in the real world, that’s exactly the kind of thing an editor or project manager would do. I’ve also learned to let go a little. What I mean by that is in terms of the project. In my head, I have a very clear idea of what the pictures should look like and how they should be done, but, in reality, photography as much an art as it is a science. There’s not always a right and wrong way to do things, and sometimes they come up with ways to tackle things that I never would, because of their unique perspectives, abilities, and talents. Back when I first started really working towards a full-fledged PBL based classroom (back before I even knew the term PBL, actually), I had a tendency to be pretty heavy-handed in the final products the students were producing when they were for the school/district. That’s great for putting out absolutely top-quality stuff, and sometimes I still have to step in and make sure the quality is there, but for something like this, I think it’s okay to let them take a few pictures that, in a few months, they’ll look back and think “Oh God, what was I doing?!” I think that’s good for any artist, to look back and work and hate it. That means you’re progressing and growing as an artist, and that means you have a healthy level of self-awareness. I constantly stress to them that photography is something you can ALWAYS get better at, no matter what level you’re at. If, at any point, you think “that’s it, I’m done, I’m the best I can be,” then it’s time to find a new endeavor…or at least, step back and take a long, hard look at what you’re doing. All that being said, here’s the TL;DR version of what I’ve picked up from this first implementation of a long-term, complex, PBL implementation:

1)      Clearer goals/expectations

2)      Large goals broken into smaller chunks

3)      More frequent check-ins, critiques, etc.

4)      Clearer timelines

5)      A bit more up-front direction in terms of techniques/strategies/etc.

I’m including a few of the photos so that you get an idea of what they’re accomplished.