John Battle Loc: Tacoma, WA, USA

My daughter teaches art and photography in a Christian high school here in Washington State. I wondered if there is any discussion group here on UH or any good resources for ideas any of you have that I could share with her to give her ideas and enhance her teaching.

therwol Loc: USA

She might find the Photo Analysis section useful.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-20-1.html

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Frankly, I don't know if this or any other photo forum would be the best source for an organized course of study at the high school level. It can be confusing and may contain too many lees that are pleasant arguments (at times) and not the most accurate information in some cases.

Here is a link to some educational material that is specific to your inquiry.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/High-School-Digital-Photography-Intro-to-Photo-Photo-II-2-Semester-Curriculums-5195980?st=79ac109d00af0c1b19995ee90c3b77da

Attached is an image of one of the texts.

Another approach is to integrate the course with the school's yearbook or school newspaper teams. This would be practical and mutually beneficial.

Herbie1924 Loc: Woodbury, MN

It's suggested that the local camera club be contacted for assistance.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Have you/she tried a Google or YouTube search?

jjanovy Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

Have her students write short essays about their pictures. That technique gets them to look at their work in an analytical way, especially if they write about why they took a particular shot.

Hip Coyote

I suggest finding bonafide lesson plans already in existence to be used as a starting point. Day by day, week by week etc. One off ideas simply will not suffice. I’ve seen some lesson plans on the web that were pretty good. If I get time will search.

I’d also guess that there will be logistical problems having gear for all kids. As they say, “amateurs talk tactics and soldiers talk logistics.” This is also a logistics problem.

I can also recommend, as has others, to look to local photo group for help. This months PSA magazine has an article on a photo club / school youth program. One that I am going to try to mimic for our club.

LXK0930 Loc: Souh Jersey

Many years ago, I took a photography course. The class took a field trip in NYC. Students brought a wide variety of 35mm cameras, from cheap to a Contarex. The instructor brought a disposable. After we processed the film, we judged the results. The instructor won hands-down.
Moral (for your daughter): Teach that buying expensive gear does not necessarily get you better pictures. Learning how to "see" your picture and developing the skills to produce it does. Then, get the gear necessary to do what you want.
Note: I expect a lot of flack from "UHH"ers who constantly chase the "latest and greatest" gear. I have thick skin.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

John, As a teacher of "Art and Photography", I suspect that your daughter has the core skills and knowledge of the courses she teaches. I believe the most important part of teaching is to get the students engaged and enthusiastic about the subject and more importantly, fun.

We hope that teachers are technically qualified in the subjects they teach. That's by far the easy part. Getting students eager to show up for class day after day is the most difficult part. Photography is a lot more fun and hands-on for the students than a Calculus class and I am confident that your daughter will do a great job with students who have grown up with cell phone cameras in their hands.

photoman43

I have taught 6-7-8 graders photography in a one week enrichment program a few times. The requirement was that the students had a digital camera (or cell phone given today's technology.) The program was set up around basic learning, taking pictures, having competitions and final competition with awards on day five. The students spent the whole morning on photo class and taking pictures. The afternoon was up to them. The school had a computer lab so the kids had access to computers with photo processing programs.

What materials to recommend depends on what the students will have access to. Assuming that they all have computers, I would recommend a internet based source of info on photography. I used Cambridge in Color tutorials.
https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/

Students used the info here for basic understanding.

They also had access to Internet sites to see examples of good photos. Such sites had to be prior approved to make sure the kids did not see inappropriate images lie nudes, etc.

Areas to stress were Composition, Exposure Triangle, Understanding Light.

Teaching in class was limited to very short segments, like 15 minutes at a time. The best way they learned was to show them pictures with major faults and then show them (the same) picture with the fault(s) corrected. They took pictures around the school and these were then critiqued (politely). This was the major way they learned.

This approach worked for a one week program. Another approach would be needed for a longer and more formal program.

JohnH3 Loc: Auburn, AL

I am a high school band director and I also teach a semester long intro to photography class. I would be glad to communicate with your daughter and share ideas and information. I also have a close friend who is currently the state fine arts coordinator. Prior to accepting that position, he was an accomplished photography teacher. I would be glad to put her in touch with him as well.

Gourmand Loc: Dallas

A book that my students have had success with (because it is basic and well divided by topic) is "Understanding Exposure", 4th ed., Bryan Peterson, Amphoto Books. Although it was last published in 2010, it is still my go to text for beginners. Currently $17.00 on Amazon.

cascom Loc: Redmond

I talked to the yearbook sponsor at Mt Si last Friday during our football game. She seems very knowledgeable. Rod Mar, the Seahawk photographer, has a Facebook site that talks about his football photos. Where is the school?

John Battle Loc: Tacoma, WA, USA

[quote=cascom]I talked to the yearbook sponsor at Mt Si last Friday during our football game. She seems very knowledgeable. Rod Mar, the Seahawk photographer, has a Facebook site that talks about his football photos. Where is the school?[/quote

Her school is in Tacoma, WA.

MrMophoto Loc: Rhode Island "The biggest little"

I retired from teaching the end of the 20-21 school year. I taught HS photography and graphic design, actually I started both programs in 2005 and pretty much wrote the curriculum. My classes were entry level, one semester but I packed a lot of info into the class. I also relied heavily on PS for processing and image manipulation. I still have all my assignments in digital files along with a lot of related materials, composition descriptions, portrait lighting, etc. I'd be happy to share whatever I have and you need. PM me, there's no need to rediscover the wheel.