Community Connection

While working on my development of a couple of learning events that would be a part of my curriculum class for practicum, I stumbled across a video that thoroughly distracted me. Then it inspired me. As an introduction, I am an unashamed and lifelong nerd. At four or five, my father and I found a small box of miniatures from a table-top wargame called Warhammer. The display box had a picture of these miniatures painted by the development team, and I was hooked. I wanted to paint them. Of course, the miniatures were not that fancy, they were painted in a simple but clean way. For the time, that was pretty decent, but not that impressive. Fast forward roughly twenty-five years, I discover that there is a growing community of hobbyists and painting enthusiasts that are all centered around painting miniatures. Now, however, these painters are creating works of art, just at a small scale. One such creator has a YouTube channel, 52 Miniatures. His most recent video, The Monster Hunter, includes a short video introduction that was inspired by a book. He then goes on to build and paint a diorama that was also inspired by the content of the book. Then it hit me: why not incorporate one of my passions into another? Simply put, I am going to include painting miniatures in my learning event for my Weird Fiction writing unit. It will involve art, creativity, and provide students with a chance to approach this unit in yet another way. 

credit: collector-info.com

Needless to say, I am very excited by this idea. I want to include one additional aspect to this lesson plan, however: a community connection. It has taken many, many years, but being a nerd has become more 'ok'. It took a strong community to do it, though, a community of supportive individuals that can span distance with ease. So, the next part of the lesson is to be sure to include other content creators to work with my students. There are several in the U.S., alone, that would be great resources. Alex, of 52 Miniatures, is based in Sweden, but would be perfect so long as time zones aren't an issue. If forming these connections is not possible, each of these content creators has YouTube channels that I could use, instead. The connection might not be quite so strong but would still afford students the opportunity to see what is out there in the world of creativity. We will see what we can manage, but that is the point. A community does not have to be just based on geographical locale; we can be a group supported by each other while "leveraging technology", which is a key piece to one of Maine's Common Core Teaching Standards (Standard 11 Learning Catalyst). With the support of technology, my students will have a larger support group to use a resource for creativity within my class. 

As a thorough explanation, here is the Maine Common Core Teaching Standard, the applicable indicator, and how it all fits into the unit that I am planning from my portfolio. You can find my portfolio at this link. To see my full write-up for my Weird Fiction writing unit, follow this link. 

11.4. Collaborator: Educators dedicate time to collaborate with both colleagues and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems.

Indicator

11.4 (a) Dedicate planning time to collaborate with colleagues to create authentic learning experiences that leverage technology.

​Rationale

I have dedicated planning time to collaborate (Alex from 52 Miniatures, art teachers and professionals) to create authentic learning experiences (hands on building of a diorama) that leverage technology (video editing, lighting) for this lesson by seeking a prominent member of the community and incorporating him into the plan using video calls. In this lesson, I have dedicated time to collaborate with both colleagues and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems. My colleagues will help provide additional resources and insight, while my cooperative work with the students will occur in and out of class by creating my own diorama.