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Deborah Dudzak
Hopatcong High School, Hopatcong, New Jersey
Subject: Special Education
Grade: 9-12
"Students were initially afraid of the camera. After taking
a few pictures, they became less intimidated....Using photographs
of familiar places and people seemed to make it easier and more
fun for the group."
Purpose and Description of Project
Working as a group on the project, Deborah Dudzak's classified,
perceptually impaired students created a booklet using text and
photographs to describe the courses offered at their high school.
In addition to teaching photography and design skills, Dudzak
sought to improve her students' writing skills through application
to a concrete product, to allow them to contribute to the project
in their own areas of strength, and to familiarize them with their
school and what it offered.
Activities
First, students discussed the existing course studies booklet
to see how the entire booklet, and particularly its visual presentation,
could be improved to make it more interesting, eye-catching, and
informative. A pretest of the students' knowledge of courses and
requirements at the school was followed by a discussion of the
various courses and an introduction to the project including
use of the group camera and individual possibilities for contribution,
and components of the individual products. With some group assistance,
each student listed ideas for photos to illustrate her or his
topic. A three-day
introduction to photography and the use of
the camera was given by Dudzak and a Special Education teacher.
The students needed approximately three days to complete their
photos. They used magazine and newspaper ads as the basis for
a discussion of design concepts - i.e., balance, lettering, contrast,
and simplicity. Then each student prepared a rough layout. Individual
writing of the actual text was assisted by group input. Then the
students spent five days pasting up their final page layouts using
actual photos, typing their narrations, and adding lettering and
any finishing details.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
School resource persons included the audiovisual coordinator;
the art teacher; and the Special Education teacher.
To take the photographs, students brought their own cameras or
borrowed ones from Dudzak and the school. The ISO 400 black-and-white
film
they got from the Audiovisual Department was commercially
processed. To prepare the booklet pages, Dudzak obtained press-on
letters, stencils, rulers, construction paper, markers, glue,
and tape from the Art Department.
Outcomes and Adaptability
A very important aspect of the project, according to Dudzak, was
that each student could contribute to the group project in her
or his areas of strength and get assistance from classmates in
areas of weakness. Getting started was somewhat difficult. The
students had trouble dealing with new ideas and materials. Taking
and using photos of familiar places and people seemed to make
their work easier and more enjoyable. As they worked together
on their layouts, sharing ideas for design and narration the students
showed even more interest and enthusiasm.
The completed photos, informal discussions, and written quizzes
showed increased knowledge of the camera. The final projects were
well-planned, mechanically well done, and complete, indicating
they understood and could apply design, layout, and paste-up techniques.
Student writing skills had also shown definite improvement. "Pride
[among the students] was definitely justified by the caliber of
the completed projects," says Dudzak.
Dudzak's program consciously combined visual, verbal, manipulative
and written aspects in a concrete presentation, which made it
especially useful with her perceptually impaired students who
needed as many channels of learning as possible. However, she
feels that by altering the emphasis in terms of design, photography,
written narrative, or subject, the project could be used with
other courses and at other levels.