G8 E-learning C

Dear all,

Class 21 (8R 13th May, 8S 14th May, 8Q 15th May)

Welcome back, today it is the summative day, so what that means is that you will need to upload your tasksheet an your ppt by today 9pm Beijing time. (If for whatever reason you cannot finish, please upload what you have and email me telling me that it is not complete)

What does your tasksheet need to include?

  • C0. final exploration that you choose in B3
  • C2. collection of 10-15 final pictures that you uploaded to Seesaw
  • C3. screen shots of your final layou
  • C4. changes that you made during the process

We already talked about C0,C2, C3 last class. Today I we will talk about C4.

Task 11. C4

You can only write C4 if you are done with your layout since you need to reflect on all the changes that you have made.

You will need to list the changes made (3-4) and explain them, by indicating what was the purpose of them and what happened to your overall project after you made that change.

Ex. I had chosen “hope” as my exploration, however after looking at the photos of my classmates I realized they were too similar and not too personal, so I chose to focus on the corners of my house, instead. The related concept for this unit was perspective, so it is very important that my pictures were unique and said something about me, so that is why I decided to make this change. After I did it, I realized the project was showing more depth and was creating a more intersting and less literal connection to my poem.

In C2 you can talk of the changes you made and also of changes you thought about but did not end up making. You will need to explain why you decided not to make them.

Remember that not having any changes is not a good thing. If you are thinking through the making process, you will come up with lots of ideas of things that you could change, so this is the time to show us that thinking.

Please call me or email me with any questions. Please upload your tasksheet and powerpoint with your 4 pages in the layout to Managebac before 9pm Beijing time.

See you next class!

Class 20 (8Q 11th May, 8S, 8Q 12th May)

Welcome  back. As we approach the end of the unit, we have lots of little tasks to complete to start getting ready. In order to be able to complete today’s class, you should have already done 2 things:

  • 1. uploaded  your poem Chinese/English to Seesaw
  • 2. presented your final collection and got approved to move to the layout phase.

Task 7. IDU Reflection (2)

Before we start talking about layout, we will have our 2nd IDU reflection.

Please remember you will get a different grade for the IDU and this will be based on the 3 reflections we will complete. Reflection 1 and 2 will be uploaded to Seesaw adn the final one, including all the previous ones, will be uploaded to Managebac for grading.

In the first reflection (task 2) you created a note on seesaw answering 2 out of the 3 the following questions:

  1. what connections can you se between your Lang & Lit class and Design class?
  2. How do you think writing the poem wil help you take better pictures?
  3. Would you have preferred writing the poem first and then take the pictures? why?

Today, we are going to go deeper into the rubric. You will create another note on Seesaw answering these 2 questions:

  1. 4. Synthesize means: “to combine different ideas in order to create new understanding” How have you done this in this IDU ?
  2. 5. describe how your learning in this unit has been different to the learning that happens in single subject units.  Please cite sources that have been useful to go back and forth subjects

Task 8. Understanding the rubric

We will start by revising the rubric, so we all understand what are we going to be graded on. Due to the circumstances we will skip the first strand (C1), so you will only be graded on the last 3. The complete rubric is on the last page of the student guide (you can find it under files on Managebac).

We are not doing C1 this time.

In C2 we will be looking at the technical skills when taking your pictures (composition, color palette) as well as how you are showing the RC of this unit perspective (how unique are these photographs, do they give your personal point of view on the common topic? living through the coronavirus).  For this the Checkpoint 2 and the comments you got there, should give you an idea on how you are doing so far. Please make any changes to your final collection now.

In C3 we will be looking at the final layout and how your pictures and poems work together. Are these pictures/poem reflecting your unique point of view as it was the requirement of the design task? (function). Did you do a good job at laying it out? (presented appropriately). Layout is the class we will have today, so we have not started this part yet.

In C4 we will reflect on all the changes we went through since B3 (our inital exploration) to your final layout (C3). I will explain how to write this on the next class and will give you some examples.

Task 9. Finding the task sheet

To make it easier, I created a task sheet indicating what do you need to include fort the summative. But do not worry, if you have been following, you are on track. The task sheet can be found under Files in Managebac.

Task 10. What is layout?

Now that you have your final collection of pictures, we need to place them on the page. The art of “designing” the way your pictures are going to look, it is called layout. In the live class today I will introduce you to some basics in layout design, that you can find also on the student guide:

  • The grid (b1 on page 11)
  • Drawing conventions (b2 on page 12)
  • Infitive layouts (b3 on page 13 to 19)

Task 11. How do I create my layout?

After looking for some layout inspiration it is now time to go back to our layout. Our book will be A5 landscape.

To create the layout you need to follow this video created by Mr. Tweeney. We will be using Powerpoint to make it and the size of the page will be 21×14.8 cm.

You will have 4 pages to do this. You could create a quick paper sketch before going to Powerpoint. Please consider how the pages will look when placed together as a double page.

You will have 2 classes to work on your layout. And you will also be asked to upload your ppt version, apart from the task sheet.

This is all for today. See you next class! It will be the day to upload the summative.

Class 19 (8R, 8Q 5th May, 8S 6th May)

Last class we looked at what happened when we put together the pictures we have been working on in Design, with the poem you wrote in LL class. We talked about the process and how you were not aware of your final exploration when you wrote the poem.

Task 7

Today we are going to look at your final collection of pictures (10-15) and how they work together. To see that please chose your final 10-15 pictures and place the on a A3 document (landscape orientaton).

When you place your images please leave some white space around them so we see the end of the pictures and the pictures can “breathe”.

This is the collection of Selena, 8Q

This is Melanie’s collection, 8Q

Look at your final pictures as a group and start thinking about:

  • do they have the same color palette?
  • do they seem to fit together?
  • how would I group them in pages?
  • what are your best pictures?
  • do all the pictures need to be the same size? maybe your best pictures can be bigger and the not so good ones, a bit smaller.
  • is there any picture that does not need to be there? (if so, please remove it)

Play with all this for a little while and upload the final A3 into seesaw so we all can see your final collection. Next class we will introduce you into how to lay them out to make a book. See you then!

Class 18 (8R, 8Q 24th April, 8S 27th April)

Today we are going to look at what happens when we put together the pictures we have been working on in Design, with the poem you wrote in LL class. that is why I asked you to upload your poems and translate them into English. We will also talk about the Interdisciplinary process in this IDU and how it worked. We will have live group sessions to look at your photos together and give you some suggestions so you can go out, one last time to take pictures. You will need 10-15 pictures of your final collection next class.

We will talk about what “literal” and “figurative” mean. Have a look here.

How does that play in this unit? Do we need to be literal? What would literal look like?

You write a poem about a yellow rose and show…. a yellow rose!!

That is what we are trying to avoid in this unit and that is the reason we created this unit, to broaden your abstract/ methaphorical/ figurative thinking. I know, it is hard, and we don´t get many chances to do this, but that  what designers need to do all the time. This is where creative ideas come from.

The related concept for this unit is perspective, so what we are doing here is looking at the same topic (living though the coronavirus) through different lenses (subjects) and what ultimately want to know is how YOU lived through this and need to say about it.

Task 6

Think about how your poem and pictures work together. Think about what kind of connection the have. Is it literal, is it figurative? Is this going to help you select your pictures better?

Class 17 (8R, 8Q 24th April, 8S 27th April)

We won’t have a live session today,  so I will give you time to continue taking pictures for you final  exploration.

Class 16 (8R, 8Q 16th April, 8S 17th April)

Before we move forward we want to remind you that the purpose of this unit is to encourage you to think visually. Visual thinking is more abstract, more methaphorical, not so literal. Not so rational.

Task 3

Just for fun we are going to take this test to see what kind of person/learner are you.

Task 4

Today we are going to break in groups of 3 to do digital critique sessions. Please check  what time is yours (on the email I sent you through MB) and be ready to share your thoughts.

Photographers often use critique sessions. It is very useful to see what other people understand and see in our pictures because sometimes we are so used to them that we don’t see them completely. It is the importance of having fresh eyes. We were going to do this in class but due to our situation, we will do it on seesaw. Not the same, but I think it will work.

These are the things we are going to think about:

  • Is the exploration clear?
  • We will look into the composition of pictures (rule of thirds)
  • Do the pictures go together? Do they add to the exploration? Is there a connection?
  • Are the pictures uniqeu and personal? Do they show his/her perspective?

Task 5

Please post your Chinese poem to Seesaw and an English translation.

Class 15 (8S 15th April/ 8R and 8Q 16th April)

Here we are starting the making process. We are simplifying the writing work so you can really spend your time taking your pictures and laying them out.

Inspiration

We will start the class sharing some inspiration from photgraphers from all over the world. We will discuss together how these photographers are capturing their individual perspective.

Task 1

In the last live class we chose what direction we were going to go for (the pannel or exploration you chose in B3). Today we are going to create a new post on seesaw with this pannel and all the pictures you have taken so far that you like and could match this exploration. (Please do not upload the same pictures many times, choose the best one of the set).

Task 2

Since this is an IDU we are going to start reflecting on what that means. So you are going to create a note on seesaw answering 2 out of the 3 the following questions:

  1. what connections can you se between your Lang & Lit class and Design class?
  2. How do you think writing the poem wil help you take better pictures?
  3. Would you have preferred writing the poem first and then take the pictures? why?