Providing secondary students and educators with critical tools for literacy, learning, and civic engagement.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Virtual Field Trips: Social Documentary Workshops for Your Students
Long-Term Programs for Students
Online Educator Trainings
WHAT WE DO
Online Educator Trainings
The Visual Literacy Project offers three core trainings designed for secondary educators interested in integrating documentary practice into their schools, classrooms, and curricula. The trainings are designed to be taken together in sequence, or individually in any order. The focus of each is on practical ways to integrate documentary media into different subject areas, and connect these practices to larger learning goals and curriculum standards. These workshops are available virtually to educators anywhere.
Please check back later in the summer for fall 2022 dates.
Contact us if you are interested in scheduling a private training for a group, either virtually or in-person.
All training sessions are $150 and two hours long
See below for payment and package discount information.
Scholarships
For each Educator Training VLP runs, we offer one scholarship spot to a participant free of charge. If you would like to take one of the Educator Trainings but your financial situation precludes you from doing so, please email program Director Kate Way at kateway.vlp@gmail.com.
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Reading Documentary Photography
Images as Resources for Critical Thinking
This training introduces participants to educational uses of the Social Documentary Network’s website, a source that has been publishing documentary photography from around the globe for over a decade. The training explores how secondary classroom teachers can use documentary photography as a source for student research and critical thinking about contemporary social issues. Drawing on examples from the Social Documentary Network’s vast website library, we explore methods and best-practices for regularly using documentary photographs as tools to strengthen visual literacy and close-reading skills, and to engage students in deep, critical research and thinking. Participants will leave the training with concrete materials and resources to use in their classrooms, having had a chance to try hands-on activities, and to explore specific applications to their own teaching.
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Making Documentary Photography
Engaging Students in Project-Based Learning
This training is designed for educators interested in working with students to do hands-on, social documentary photography projects in their schools and communities. Producing a documentary photography project can be incredibly engaging, empowering, and educational for students, and can be integrated into project-based study in any discipline. Participants will learn all the steps necessary to guide students through a project, including preparation, planning, and research; bringing students into the field to photograph subjects; and editing work into a final project for school or public exhibition. In addition to gaining first-hand experience studying real-world issues that matters to them, your students will develop critical academic and vocational skills that can last a lifetime. The training will also cover various possibilities for publishing or exhibiting students’ work, and for using it as a tool for wider civic engagement and education.
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Digital Photography 101 for Educators
This training is for educators interested in teaching students the fundamentals of digital photography so that they are able to produce quality work and develop critical visual literacy skills. In this hands-on training, we will cover the basics of how digital cameras work (from cell phone cameras, to point-and-shoots, DSLR and mirrorless cameras), and fundamental camera controls such as aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Through a series of hands-on exercises, we will learn which camera controls allow us to capture and create various types of images we seek to make. Participants will leave the training with a solid understanding of the foundations of digital photography, and with ideas for how best to integrate this work into an existing classroom setting. Access to a DSLR or mirrorless camera is strongly recommended for this training (a cell phone camera or point-and-shoot will do, but will not allow for full participation in the hands-on exercises).
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Package prices (available in fall 2022)
We are offering a 15% discount for a 2-class package and a 20% discount for 3-class package. You will need to add each class date individually to your shopping cart, and upon checkout use the following discount codes:
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2-class package: Enter 15%DISCOUNT on checkout
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3-class package: Enter 20%DISCOUNT on checkout
Payment
You can pay with a major credit card or PayPal using the registration links above. If you prefer to pay by check, please contact us. Payments are processed through the Social Documentary Network/ZEKE magazine.
Visual
Literacy
Project