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Teachers on the Horizon

Joanne Krajeck
Canton South High School, Canton, Ohio

Subject: Career Education
Grade: 12 (Gifted/Talented)

"Capturing children's expressions [on film] helped the cadets see that teaching is more than tests, rules, and low pay. Teaching is helping, shaping, and refining young people."

Purpose and Description of Project

As a means of encouraging gifted students to enter the teaching profession, five senior students were given the opportunity to serve as cadet teachers for fourth- and fifth-grade gifted students. Their lessons were designed to stimulate creativity and to generate critical and divergent thinking through the use of still photos of unusual objects, unique settings, and facial expressions. The focus of this project was to demonstrate that teaching is a rewarding profession by providing meaningful experiences for students ready to make career choices.

Activities

The five cadet teachers met for one 40-minute class period each week to plan lessons that revolved around stimulating 8" x 10" black-and-white photos. It was especially necessary for them to analyze and synthesize the content of the photos chosen for the creativity and thinking lessons. The cadets taught 40-minute sessions with the elementary students over a period of three months. After the photos were shown to the children, the cadets generated brainstorming sessions that encouraged divergent thinking. Eventually cadets had the children create short stories and poems by arranging and rearranging photo sequences. The students also analyzed and imitated facial expressions from the photos.

A student photographer was present during the teaching sessions and took numerous candid shots of the interaction between the cadets and young children. These photos were invaluable to the evaluation of the cadet teachers work after each lesson, during which they discussed with Krajeck the children's motivation, discipline, and creativity; and described what the cadets did or did not do to generate creative and divergent thinking. After the final lessons, the cadets used the candid photos during an oral or written review of their successful and unsuccessful moments. Krajeck rejected the use of evaluation sheets or checklists as she did not want structure to take the fun out of the extracurricular teaching experience or to stifle student-cadet relationships.

Materials, Resources, and Expenses

The students used a 35 mm camera, black-and-white film, and mounting board for the 8 x 10 enlargements. The school's Camera Club offered photography tips and processed these enlargements. The elementary teachers monitored the teaching sessions in their classrooms, and the high school media specialist offered valuable advice.

Outcomes and Adaptability

The quality of the children's discussions, essays, and poems indicated that the photos were helpful in nurturing creative and divergent thinking. The fresh approach of photo-oriented lessons added excitement, and the children enjoyed the opportunity to use their imaginations freely. The candid photos of the cadets and their students documented the learning experience, measured by the cadet's written evaluation, a personal interview with Krajeck, and a portfolio of enlargements of the candid shots. An added benefit was that the school's Future Teachers of America club, dropped years before, was reactivated and renovated to fit into the new curriculum. Krajeck states that photography "captured on film [the] positive proof of the real rewards of [the teaching] profession."

Krajeck feels that the project is ideal for adaptation in science, social studies, and geometry classes. She considers the extra expense of 8 x 10 enlargements worthwhile because they emphasize the meaning of the subject matter. She also recommends careful planning and coaching for the cadets on handling small discipline problems.

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