Learning 2 Look

Author: tom | 21 January 2009 | No Comments
Categories: General

Resources for Looking

Video

• The Miniature Earth, presents facts about the world as if it were a village of 100 people.
• Hiroshima Day BBs – Ben (of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream) demonstrates the size of the US nuclear arsenal.
• Mankind is No Island – 2008 Tropfest short film winner – shot with a camera phone
• Everyone Knows Your Name – about posting personal images on the Web

Interactive / Web

• Global Rich List – compare your income with that of others others
• Thesis Builder – write a persuasive thesis statement
• Loopt – GPS application for the iPhone

Artworks & Images

• From Chris Jordan – (learn more?)
• Saddam’s Statue (compared to this?)
• Nude Descending a Staircase – What world view make this painting?
• Cadeau – by Man Ray (”gift”)

Sites for Repeated Visits

• Running the Numbers: an American Self Portrait, by Chris Jordan, photographic artist – An amazing collection of photographs that capture rampant consumerism and waste.
• TEDTalks – Director’s Channel on YouTube (or via ted.com)
• Tag Galaxy – see what the world thinks in pictures
• Video on Demand – watch ABC news shows like 4 Corners, Chasers War, Rage and Lateline as well as clips from the past 24 hours.
• Pictures of the Week – from Time Magazine – Use this feature regularly to keep up with current events as well as challenge each other to interpret the message and perspective of the photos.
• Sydney Morning Herald Daily Snapshot – Similar to the Time feature above, but on a daily basis and less about the news and more about culture and the unusual. Question: What would a space traveller decide life was like on earth from today’s photos?
• Scratch Media! - Australian Political Cartoons from David Pope (better known by his signature Heinrich Hinze).
• 10×10 – Every hour, 10×10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time.

Prompts for Thinking Critically

• The Intelligent Eye – outstanding questions from David Perkins, in his book by the same name.
• Socratic Questioning Stems – from ChangingMinds.org
• “Seeing Questions” – a fine series of questions intended for the visual arts, but which could also apply to photography.

Thinking Routines

The main idea behind Thinking Routines is that it’s not enough for students to learn “critical thinking strategies,” but research from the Visible Thinking group at Harvard’s Project Zero has found that students also need to develop the disposition to engage in such a process. One approach is to promote a culture of questioning and thinking in the daily life of the classroom. To quote from a recent paper:

The effective schools research has shown that teachers establish housekeeping, management, and discourse routines earlier in the school and that this establishment is important in the long-term smooth running of classrooms. Teachers that fail to establish routines may struggle to keep their classes focused and orderly. Just as it is important for teachers to focus students’ behavior so that classrooms can run smoothly and students can learn, teachers also need tools for structuring and scaffolding students’ mental behavior. In brief, Thinking Routines:n

1. are explicit;
2. have few steps (typically 2 – 3);
3. are instrumental (designed solely to scaffold thinking);
4. are used repeatedly;
5. work across a variety of disciplines; and
6. promote both group and individual practice

from Thinking Routines: Establishing Patterns of Thinking in the Classroom,” a paper prepared for the AERA Conference, April 2006 by Ritchhart, Palmer, Church, & Tishman

SEE-THINK-WONDER

1. What do you see?
2. What do you think about that?
3. What does it make you wonder?

CLAIM-SUPPORT-QUESTION

1. Make a claim about the topic
2. Identify support for your claim
3. Ask a question related to your claim

HEADLINES

1. If you were to write a headline for this topic or issue right now that captures the most important aspect to keep in mind, what would that headline be?

WHAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT?

1. What’s going on here?
2. What do you see that makes you say that?

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