June 27, 2016

Visual Assessment of Teachers: How Best Teaching Practices Make This Photographer's Job Easier!


One of my photography clients is Stoneleigh-Burnham School, a college preparatory boarding and day school for girls, grades 7-12, located in Greenfield, MA. 

I realized that elements of best teaching practices (see photo captions) created a classroom environment favorable for me to capture lively and engaging images.

Student engagement 



It was a delight to photograph science teacher Andrea Carnes' class as the students fine-tuned rockets they had built from scratch.

Hands-on activities


They also went over paperwork for the mock rocket companies they created.

Real-world, collaborative, project-based learning





Then Carnes introduced how to use quadrant astrolabes.  

Teacher modeling of activity


The students will use these devices to calculate the altitude of their rockets' flights.

Visually rich classroom


 Active learning 






Peer to peer teaching



Appropriate challenge



In the moment formative assessment


Student focus




Learning enjoyment


The visual impact of these best practices deepens my understanding of their value and encourages me to refine their use in my classes.

Professor John Nordell teaches courses in the Visual and Digital Arts Program at American International College in Springfield, Mass. He blogs about the creative process at CreateLookEnjoy.com  Instagram: @professornordell

2 comments :

Ms. Tehan said...

Oh, wow! How unexpected to read this this morning! What a delight! Thanks so much for coming in that day and capturing the girls at work! I love this :)

John Nordell said...

Thank you Ms. Tehan. It was a delight for me to photograph!