TeachBetter Conference
I had the opportunity to shoot the first Teach Better Conference in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The dedicated Teach Better Team behind it, including Jeff Gargas, Rae Hughart, Chad Anthony Ostrowski and Tiffany Sabin Ott, along with an army of supporters and collaborators focus their efforts on helping teachers across all subjects and grades to steadily improve their craft, a little bit everyday.
My perspective going in was different from most, since I am not associated with the education industry and didn't have context on what goes into teaching. However, I was completely blown away by the outpouring of passion, ideas and support that the group displayed towards one another. There were over 60 speakers from across the US came in to give a variety of workshops on ways they can better reach students. Keynotes were given by some of the best and brightest minds in the field of education, people like Adam Welcome, Dave Burgess and so many others. If this is a reflection of where education is being taken, then despite the challenges faced today, the future is bright.
The team organized this event over many painstaking hours of preparation, video conferencing and online promotion. Keep an eye on this team, as they have a lot more planned! Over the two days, all attendees collaborated, built connections and learned from each other.
One standout element of Adam Welcome's keynote emphasized the importance of finding the best technological and creative ways to provide opportunities for children to learn, then, get out of their way. The collaborative nature of our current environment needs students who can meet challenges using a variety of skills, different from what has been taught in the past. Start them thinking independently and creatively, as early as possible, and allow them to learn, fail and succeed. There were so many incredible speakers, that many times, when I turned the camera to the audience, there were tears in the audiences eyes.
You would be surprised at how much a 5th grade teacher goes through. Not only is it often a thankless job, but they invest themselves, emotionally, physically and intelligently into each student. You don't always see the frustration, anxiety and difficulty on a teacher's face when class is dismissed, but it is often there. So please, thank your teachers when you get the chance!
I am sure that all of us have that "one teacher" we remember from our formative years. Well whoever that "one teacher" was for you, they most certainly didn't have the tools we have today, so take the opportunity connect with this group and bring your teaching to that level.
As long as there are educators as dedicated as those who attended, the next generation will be off to a better start.
#TeachBetter19 #Educators #Learning
https://www.teachbetter.com/
I shot the majority of the conference using a Panasonic Lumix GH5 and the 12-35 and 35-100 f2.8. The hall was dark but the lens was bright enough to render the scenes. The IBIS and lens stabilization allowed me to shoot handheld video in most of the breakout rooms and move quickly around the packed hall. When shooting A-Roll, I used a long lens and monopod for stability. Since capturing audio was key, I pulled an aux out from the house system, which I ran into a Zoom H5, then wirelessly transmitted that to the secondary static camera. Success!
After the event, we used the captured media to create a variety of social ads, promotions for their upcoming conferences, website imagery and internal documents and pieces for their press kit.