Reaching Resolution

Photograph taken for the multimedia project.  I usually take very tight shots of people.  This was an experiment in trying to capture a slice of life that would fit well with video footage of the urban campus setting.  (Photo by Bonnie Katzive) 

Well, there is a more than double meaning to my post title.  First of all, we are about to leave the most wonderful summer camp.  In spite of the roasty Phoenix heat, I have loved getting to know this city (food trucks!  Farmer's market!  art galleries!) and all the wonderful instructors and my 34 learning partners.  It has been a transformative journey with the best traveling partners.

I am grateful because I know that I will feel the power of this experience for a long time in my teaching. From the many demonstrations of how to use the 10-2 strategy to the  professional modeling of writing, social media, media literacy, editing,  photography, design, coaching, and presentation, I feel refreshed and like a much better resource for my students.  Thank you so much to all the professionals who generously gave their time to help us learn and teach.

PhotoShop enhancement of a photo taken from my hotel room window using a Canon "nifty fifty" lens.  I only used the 50 on my DSLR while in Phoenix.  Great experiment in learning the virtues and limits of the lens. Levels are a more powerful adjustment than I had previously realized and I like how I used this one simple adjustment to make the photo pop a little more.  (Photo by Bonnie Katzive)

But I did experience many frustrations with technology and I learned great lessons about how much my students might have to constantly retool their efforts to meet requirements.  My keyboard died right after arriving, the email client on my iPad keeps failing, my iPad has problems running Blogger correctly, and my photo card had a heart attack this afternoon before I could get all my photos downloaded .  It has been workarounds and adjustments on a daily basis for me.  And I guess that's how it is when we work under deadline.  Between those difficulties and the craziness of completing the multimedia project and helping today with resolving some hiccups with SNO, I have grown in my empathy for how complex doing schoolwork with tech platforms gets for my students.  I owe them structure and support to be successful, even when the tools won't cooperate and I have a MUCH stronger sense of what it feels like to be a modern reporter or editor.

On the bright side (and truly, all I really will remember is that), technology instruction has been unwrapped so beautifully for me.  Thank you to classmates (Aaron Fitzpatrick, Mike Simons, Eva Coleman and everyone else who showed me something new I could do with my phone, iPad, or camera) and to Steve Elliott, Alan Weintraut,Tracy Collins, Dave Seibert, Steve Doig and the other experts who modeled for me HOW to teach Adobe Creative Suite, computer-assisted reporting skills, and more and reminded me of how these tools and design skills function in our efforts to tell a story.  I previously knew a lot of miscellany about how everything worked and could sort of problem solve around my training gaps (or say to the kids, "Hey, here is where to find tutorials and models"), but I didn't really understand how to explain aperture or the power of fixing the leading.  Just because we know something does not mean we have figured out the best teaching strategy.  Now I have the tools to teach how to use the tools. 

I feel lighter inside, like a ball of tension around that responsibility has melted off.  I am ready to go home, but I am taking this whole experience (and many handouts as well as 4-6G of digital files) back to help me, my students, and my colleagues in Journalism and ELA.




Bonnie Katzive
Monarch High School
Louisville, CO