Nobody's left behind...

Can I take time out to say how well everyone is doing on the course, however can you all take more time to comment on each others work please as this will help push the group on together. It is really important that we encourage each other to move forward together and achieve higher.

Also when you do this you will see the amount of work other people are producing. If you see that yours is a bit light then now is the time to kick on and get this sorted.

This cannot be left as it will impact on your work. Ask yourself, are you researching enough 5 photographers for each theme, and 10 images for each plus the written work. And this is for both themes remember, don't leave it too late and do less for your second theme.

I need to see that everyone is producing work, can you make sure that all draft blogs are published and not left, you can always go back into them later to add more written work or images, etc...

If you miss out either research or taking images the learning cycle will not move forward at all so keep both moving please in equal measure.

Have you looked at Blogger lately?

Can you look through this and you may find that there are certain facilities on blogger that you may find of use to you on this course, if you weren't aware of them already. Enjoy.

Following and comments..

Can you all make sure that you are following each others blogs please from next week. There is a full explanation of how to do this on the blogger guide on this website. It is vital that you are able to follow each other and able to add comments about each others work.

Peer feedback should be relevant and constructive, but also you must use the correct vocabulary to describe what you see. Can you all make sure that you are commenting on each others work please, and you never know you should benefit from it, which should help you obtain a higher grade.

As part of this weeks session can you all please ensure that you comment on each others work so far, can you do this for everyone within the session please.

And I'm feeling left out as not many comments are being left on my blog about any concerns , problems or successes you might be having with any aspect of the course. 

I'm watching you!...but in a good way

To make sure that everyone gets the support they need but might not ask for I have a method in place which shows me how you learn, how often you learn and what you look at on the tutor site even when you are not at college.

Also I can even tell whether you are using a pc, mac, ipad or mobile to learn with. In this way I can monitor areas to improve and prompt anyone who isn't using the site enough to help them with their work.

This is a revolutionary way of looking into the 'statistical data' and how often you learn. I can offer better methods or plan how you can improve you grades whilst on this course.

This has been proven to work as all of the students in the last group managed to achieve distinctions. Its my personal aim that everyone who comes onto any of my city and guilds photography courses is not only supported in every way possible, but has the ability to challenge themselves to achieve higher.

I will demonstrate how this system works so you can all see the benefits of it. When I have shown you how to look at the stats, you can then look at them on your own site.

Also I want everyone to spend time to comment on other peoples sites during tonight's session. And to make sure that you are following everyone in the whole group, this must happen to ensure that we have a strong team spirit.

Research and beyond.....

With all good research there has to be a thorough investigation into the whole theme. This can only be done by collecting all the evidence you can find and then to examine each piece to see what value can be drawn from each one. In a similar way to Sherlock Holmes and then deduce what best action to take.

This is the week where we really need to dig deep and concentrate on research in all its forms. Then collect at least 10 images from at least 5 photographers in the area you have chosen. Then produce the written analysis based on the critical vocabulary we have discussed before on this site.

From that you will become informed and inspired to produce work at a higher level. Then we will move into the preparation stage where you put all that knowledge into practice.

And don't forget alot of you are running two themes as well so make sure that you time manage your weeks now to avoid a log jam towards the end of the course.

Labels, Labels, Labels oh and Criteria!

This is the week where we look at the work you are generating to make sure that each blog has a reason and a structured purpose. Each entry has to be targeted at meeting a certain criteria so as to ensure what you have written has a very clear purpose and aim.

To know how to label properly look at the how to blog guide, and read the section on labels are how to embed them onto the design of your website.

Also each week you need to have the units you are taking in written form in front of you to refer to at any time. The computer will automatically stack all the labels into your website. You will meet criteria again and again throughout the course but just label each blog for the criteria you are aiming it at.

Some blogs will meet various criteria and be appropriate for more than one, just make sure that you put a comma between each one so the computer can seperate them out into the label stack.

By using this method you will be able to take ownership of your own learning and be able to tell where you are and on which missing or weak criteria to target next. In this way you will be able to raise the level of your work to achieve a higher grade.

Remember all the criteria that you need to get a PASS , MERIT or DISTINCTION is included within each of the units you have selected to do, have these to hand to refer to at all times.

Gain Momentum Again

Tonight has been slightly revamped into a session where we will, under the circumstances, catch up with the blog and the work cycle that you need to be producing. As we have had an enforced break at the wrong time really, so I will also cover any areas of confusion

Can everyone spend the main part of the lesson making sure you are;

1. Linked to each other via following as this course is dependent on successful feedback from everyone to each other. And I want everyone to look at at least 5 other blogs and leave comments on each others work in an encouraging and constructive way

2 . Make sure that you are also linked via the RSS feed to get the latest updates.

3. I have commented on everyones work, can you make sure that you read these as well.

4. Add more images that you may of taken over the past 2 weeks with all technical data and written work of how, when, what and why, etc...

5. Did anyone do the recommended homework to produce images around objects, in squares, see blog week 2 homework in the archive.

6. Make sure a clear statement of intent is done and blog written about it along with the unit numbers you have chosen, also a blog about all your kit available to you.

7. Rest of session spent developing research in to your chosen areas and gathering images you like from the internet and loading them onto your blogs.