Numerous pathways met today including Graphic Communications General, Illustration, Commercial Art, and Commercial Photography.

Our committee was made up of nine instructors from around the state:

We were lead by Teresa. We were charged with developing WHAT should be taught in the class not HOW to teach it, that will be up to each individual teacher. A great example of what we were doing is that we are writing the chapter titles and the desired outcomes. It is up to the individual teacher to fill in the process to achieve the outcome.

This is going to be a preparatory course pathway including photo 1, 2, 3, and 4. It is the intention that kids will become commercial photographers. Not all students who complete Photo 1 need to continue on to get the degree or complete the pathway, though.

The State is approving this course of study to include the standards that must be in this pathway. Schools get to decide how to teach them.

To clarify one point an exploratory class is a foundations class. Exploratory classes are a one term experience whereas a preparatory class is part of a larger course composed of numerous classes that run in sequence, e.g. Photo 1, Photo 2, etc. until the completion of the pathway. Exploratory classes explore media skills over a wide range of professional fields. Preparatory course take kids down a specific pathway to prepare them for a career in the related field.

Activities

We started working across the columns from left to right going through filling in the content based on discussion. We started with Safety. The columns are listed below:

Safety

We listed the basics students need to cover. We wrangled over including "comply" in the wording. We didn't want to be committed to teaching a detailed safety workshop which could eat up a lot of class time. We want students to know and be able to demonstrate safe practices and pass the safety test.

History

IDEA - Write a timeline of significant photographic developments.
IDEA - Have the students do a compare and contrast paper on two photographers.
IDEA - Great video to teach history section - American Photography: A Century of Images . It is a three volume set. Teresa suggested teaching it and having kids write an essay of their understanding.

Skills

We went through the list of skills that were composed during the last two meetings. This list contains the competencies that the kids will attain through completion of this course.

IDEA - Use the triangle of exposure including aperture, shutter speed, and film sensitivity to demonstrate the relationship between the components of exposure. Draw a triangle with each elements at each corner.
IDEA - Talk about Exposure in terms of lightness and darkness then talk about visual and artistic properties of f-stop shutter and film speed.

Many suggestions and strategies were offered to complete the competencies. The variations of skills from program to program informed the creation of the current list. Some long and heavy debate ensued on some topics. The group worked very well together challenging notions that seemed too vague in some instances and to specific in others. We worked hard to not dictate THE HOW to teachers while we were composing THE WHAT.

Notes

Leadership - We need to be participating in Skills USA / VICA or equivalent to satisfy the State requirement for leadership.

Program pathway is made up of 360 hours or two years. We need to structure student time per task effectively so they cover the content needed within the capabilities of our program.

Ansel Adams Zone System be darned! I learned a new way of expanding the film's sensitivity from Andy Eads from Kennewick. Wait until you hear about this!!