In this subsection, the photo shoot represents all the work and creativity behind the scenes that goes into the single photo that actually appears in a magazine. Hours are spent finding just the right model, just the right background, just the right wardrobe, and of course, just the right photographer. Just prior to the shoot, hours are spent applying make up, adjusting lights, and providing props. The photo shoot itself can last for hours. All this work is done for a single photo captured in a fraction of a second in time.

Much is the same in designing a lesson. Hours can be spent finding the right message, the right tool, the right medium, the right setting, and the right assessment. Once selected, the work begins to best assemble the parts, scaffold the lesson, and model the learning concept. The lesson itself may take an hour or several, but is usually a portion of the time that has been spent in thinking and planning ahead of the event.

The most basic element in designing derives from the very first book assigned in this program, The Saber Tooth Curriculum by J. Abner Peddiwell. It defined an educated person as one who knows what the community needs and has the will and energy to provide it.  Peddiwell encourages educators to "Live what they learn and learn what they live." In other words, as an educator, I am to daily model what I have learned, while simultaneously continuing to learn from the situations around me. This not only provides an excellent model for students to be life long learners, but also keeps the content of the lesson current and relevant.

An obvious inclusion in the design is the state mandated standards for the course. This is the essential knowledge in any particular course. However, the community also needs members that can analyze, be curious and question, reason, transfer ideas from one discipline to another, develop higher order thinking, and in all of these have a spirit of enthusiasm and will to push forward. These concepts are sometimes mentioned broadly in the standards of multiple disciplines, but are not as easily defined as the factual knowledge. It is the responsibility of the designer (creator) to craft both the requirements of the stated curriculum with the goals and needs of the covert curriculum (the thinking skills described above).

To accomplish this, there are multiple strategies. ACTS   establishes an (A) authentic problem in which learners can grasp the connection with real world professional activities. While working in the parameters of the authentic  problem, learners are given a (C) clear outcome to pursue. T and S are the identified thinking and software skills that need to be taught in the scaffolding of the lesson. This is a quick, acronym to keep in mind to include the basics of the overt and covert curriculum. An example using ACTS is the lesson plan on photography composition. The authentic problem addressed how would a young photographer convince an employer to hire them without any experience. The clear outcome was to create a portfolio that demonstrated the photographer's understanding of various photographic composition techniques. Thinking skills involved understanding the technique well enough to recreate it in an original photo. The software skills involved using a flip camera and downloading and sizing photos onto Microsoft Word.

When working with large amounts of information, the strategy of SSCC is best used. Search, sort, create, and communicate allows the learner to work their way through a problem systematically. First, a search for the information needed is conducted. Next, the appropriate way to sort is determined. Then, a product (answer to the problem is created) and finally it is communicated to its target audience.

A somewhat more elaborate acronym for lesson design is PICKLE. P-Problem solving is a fundamental task for knowledge based economies. I-Information using is paramount in gaining the knowledge needed. C-Community is more broadly defined as the world grows smaller while relationships and connections among people are global. K-Knowledge is the tool for keeping the third wave economy running.  L-Literacy is required to be able to search, sort, create, and communicate knowledge. E-Environments that recognize the deep fundamentals of time, space and knowledge are best poised to succeed. This model encompasses ACTS, SSCC and the "Live what you learn; learn what you live" philosophy all in one.

Often designers need a format to best formulate their ideas prior to presentation. In this case visual thinking is a way to make the complex understandable by making it visual. While the visual representations may look simple, this is not meant to simplify the content-just to make the meaning clearer.

LSIS (visual model) begins the process of visual thinking. The designer (or the student) is asked to L-look at available information, get the big picture, and screen out that which is not needed. Next, the designer  S-sees by organizing information and filtering for pattern and focus. By seeing, the designer answers who/what, how, where, when, and why. The I-imagine step allows the designer to account for what is not there, information or patterns that may be similar to those seen elsewhere. It is in this step that the designer can explore even further with the acronym SQVID (visual model). These help the designer to imagine what visual messages to convey before thinking about the particular picture to draw. Each letter stands for a continuum on which the designer chooses the appropriate placement.

S-Simple or Elaborate

Q-Quality or Quantity

V-Vision or Execution

I-Individual attributes or Comparison

D-Change or status quo

Completing these steps stretch the imagination and clarifies the message. Finally, the S-show step allows the designer to clarify the idea and provides visual representation to the questions answered in the See step as shown below.

Who/what--portrait

How much--chart

Where--map

When--timeline

How--flowchart

Why--multiple variable plot

In this step, SQVID is also used again, since in each drawing, the designer can choose where on the continuum the representation would be placed.

The entire concept of visual thinking is a way the designer can help clarify their thinking in creating the lesson so as to establish a clear outcome.

The strategies of ACTS and SSCC have become a staple in my lesson designing tools. I often look for an authentic problem for both engagement from the students as well as allowing them to see real-life applications of their learning. The clear outcome flows from the authentic problem and usually tends to be an excellent assessment tool to gauge understanding. Further, I like the fact that this model includes thinking and software skills that students need to master. This adds to the covert curriculum-things students need in society, but are not necessarily listed on an SOL. SSCC helps me as a designer narrow my focus to the concept on which I want to concentrate. Teaching the same strategy to students helps them to do the same thing. In a world of vast information sources, SSCC helps the student to effectively search and sort the information to obtain that which is actually relevant to the creation and communication steps.

I am just beginning to incorporate more of the visual thinking skills into my lessons. In the editorial lesson unit, I have included the LSIS and the W/H questions to assist students brainstorm their visual analogy for an editorial cartoon. As I become more familiar with the curriculum of the newly assigned Social Science class, I plan to incorporate more of the notes into visual representations.

One more addition to the Create overview is the knowledge gained in student self regulation and self efficacy. Efficacy is a key term among the faculty at the school at which I work. The term and it's implications are just as important for students. The Venn Diagram on regulation/efficacy demonstrates how educating students in strategies has benefit. Teaching students how to read for better comprehension or take notes for greater understanding is again not on every SOL, but is a required element for most classes. Using various strategies and encouraging feedback, a teacher can help students master the content of the particular class while also allowing the student to transfer that knowledge to other disciplines.

In regards to efficacy, with some coaching and mentoring, students are given the power to see themselves as having ability to overcome. Even when as assignment does not go successfully, efficacious students understand they have the tools to overcome a setback instead of residing in the feeling of failure. At my current school, we use the concept of re-teaching and re-testing to allow students to overcome a setback and see themselves as having high efficacy.