Project Description

I teach art to seventh and eighth grade students. Many times I give an assignment that requires students to come up with a solution on their own. A solution that is unique and creative. The project has a rubric they must follow, but the solutions that will fit the rubric are limitless. This is when a majority of my students start to become concerned. Many questions are raised. “If I do this will it be wrong?” “I don’t know what to do, can you help me?” “Will you just tell me what to do?” The process of coming up with the solution becomes something that my students fear. They want to have concrete answers. I always respond by telling them, “Art class is a place to exercise your mind in new ways. There is no wrong answer as long as you include the requirements on the rubric.” I believe that doing more lateral thinking exercises it will teach my students to explore several solutions with ease to find the one they think will work best. I do not want my students to be constrained to believing only one idea exists.

According to Wikipedia, Lateral thinking, “refers to solving problems through an indirect and creative approach. Lateral thinking is about reasoning that is not immediately obvious and about ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. Edward de Bono started writing about the importance of lateral thinking in 1967. He stated that, “Creativity is a skill that everyone can learn--It is what we call lateral thinking.” Like all skills it must be practiced to improve at it. Once it is practiced enough it will be cognitively implemented and students will start to use it independently in the future. Lateral thinking also teaches students to use critical thinking skills, allowing them to go from a familiar idea to creating a unique idea on their own.

Lateral thinking is a skill that will not only enhance a student’s success in the art room, but in all contexts of life when there is not a fixed answer. It will serve as a great problem solving tool for students throughout their education and will follow them into the work force. It will provide students with the mindset to keep working through problems. Students will learn even if they make mistakes keep going until a solution is found that works. I believe that teaching lateral thinking skills will enhance students’ educational experience and their ability to work through problems independently.

I would like to teach lateral thinking skills in my classroom by using stop motion video. Students would be creating their own storyboards, backgrounds, and characters. During the process of making a movie students will have to use their lateral thinking skills. Students will have to start by coming up with a storyline that has a purpose and meaning by working through the numerous scenarios that could possibly happen. Then decide on which scenarios will best express their ideas and receive the desired effect they want to have on their audience in the end. Creativity also plays a huge role in the process of making a movie. Students will have to find creative ways to make their movie interesting and captivating to the viewers. Students will solve the problems they encounter along the way by thinking of other solutions that would work. It is a process that students would work through and learn by experience. The movie making process would incorporate lateral thinking skills along with touching on subjects across the curriculum.

Students would be utilizing Art, English and Technology skills in this project. They would be using art skills by focusing on form and movement, along with utilizing their creativity. Students will construct a storyline using creative writing skills. Technology will be using a camera and computer developing audio documentary, video, and soundtracks. In the end, students will bring all of these aspects together to create a cohesive final project.
The technology I would need would be a classroom package of Movie Maker Pro, eight microphones, eight webcams, eight tripods and eight digital cameras. The total cost of that package would be around two thousand dollars. Movie Maker Pro gives a 60% discount to educators and other websites sell the rest of the equipment at discounted prices to teachers. The other avenue I could take to make stop motion videos would be using and Elmo teacher tool. This piece of equipment takes and SD card and can record pictures. Each of these products costs around 600 dollars. A set of eight would cost around 4800 dollars. It would be more cost effective to go with the first choice.

The movie would be created in an 8th grade Graphic Design class. It is in a computer lab with 24 computers. Using stop motion video in this class would enhance student knowledge and achievement in the graphic design field. Stop Motion pro is a standard tool used in the animation industry. This program would give the students a real experience of how professional animators make these videos. Even more importantly, it would give them a deeper understanding of the curriculum being taught by being an active part of the learning process. The students will see the computers as not just tools, but an avenue of creativity, critical thinking, collaborating, and expanding their thinking skills.

In order to be the most proficient teacher possible I am participating in professional development to enhance my stop motion video knowledge. I believe that a majority of my professional development would be free. There are many how to websites available to read and watch demonstration videos. One of the websites I found an abundance of information on is http://www.stopmotionworks.com/index.html. It contains hundreds of different tutorials.

To prepare for this project I would put students in groups of three. I would put small pods of three computers and one empty table together for the students to work in groups. The extra table would be a place for the students to manipulate their characters, create their backgrounds, and take their pictures.

When the students begin the project they will be given a rubric stating the guidelines to their storyboard, characters, background and the overall end goal of the project. The rubric also tells the students what is expected of them in order to achieve certain grades. They will also be introduced to the movie software, the process, storyboarding, character profiles and view numerous stop motion videos to get a better understanding of what they are trying to achieve. After the introduction, my role as the teacher will change from sage on the stage to guide on the side. Students will be able to refer back to all of this information when needed on my stop motion website. There will also be resources on my website that students can refer to when they reach an obstacle or they want to learn more about a certain aspect of the project. I want them to practice their lateral thinking skills by facing obstacles, failures, and realizing they can work through this and still come out with a wonderful product in the end.

Many of my students have posted videos on You Tube or created a Power Point presentations and put it kiosk mode. A majority of the students are all very interested in technology. Most of them think that they are experts themselves. While they might have a great understanding of how a program works, they are not taught how to use it in a more complex fashion or to achieve a complex end project with deep meaning and cohesiveness.

I have a wide range of learning styles in my room. This project touches on a variety of different learning styles. My groups will be formed with a mixture of different learning styles. The students will be given around three weeks of 50 minute class periods to complete the entire project. Each part of the project will be broken down smaller with due dates throughout the three weeks.

I plan to start implementing this project in the fall. I want to have my website done before the beginning of the school year. After I have had my students for a couple of weeks, and have become familiar with their personalities, learning styles and skill levels I will put them in groups. I will introduce the software and the skills to the students. Then, I will do a short ten second video project with the groups. This project will take 2 class periods. The students will come up with a character and an emotion they are going to express in its movements. Then, they will do several shots with the digital camera experimenting with movement and insert ten seconds of sound. This will give them the confidence to take on their large movie production.

Many of my students have a very high comfort level with technology. Therefore, I think that stop motion will be a familiar avenue for students to practice their lateral thinking skills in, along with enhancing their artistic, creative writing and technology skills. As the educator, I would be pushing students to address issues of morals, ethics, good judgment and exploring new ideas. I believe using stop motion video in education will be a great way to enhance students lateral thinking skills. As a result, it would enhance their educational experience as a whole.


References:
De Bono E. (1968). New think; the use of lateral thinking in the generation of new ideas. New York: Basic Books.
De Bono E. (1969). The mechanism of mind. New York: Simon and Schuster.
De Bono E. (1970). Lateral thinking: creativity step by step. New York: Harper and Row.
De Bono E. (1976). Teaching thinking. London: Temple Smith.