Flat+Sanley-Process+and+Reflection

Flat Stanley Project


For EDT6010 we were required to take pictures of Flat Stanley in various places of interest, such as in our classroom or out in the world. All the examples of Flat Stanley's adventures for this class can be found at http://edtflatstanley.wikispaces.com/. Since I am only in class once a week, I chose to bring Flat Stanley with me to work at The Comcast Network. The project required us to take well composed digital photos and make them "web ready" for easy browser viewing. I used Adobe Photoshop for some image editing and resizing before uploading the pictures to my Wikispaces page which can be found here: http://edtflatstanley.wikispaces.com/Russ+Lichterman

I was familiar with Flat Stanley-type assignments having seen friends and family participate in them in the past, though I'd never been involved in one myself. One of my former coworkers took some photos with Flat Stanley's friend Flat Sophie a few months back, and it seems Flat Sophie got the better end of the deal:



Although I didn't get any pictures of Flat Stanley with celebrities, I did find that my coworkers were generally enthusiastic about the project. I was a bit concerned they would find it silly or unprofessional, but they all seemed to enjoy it, and a few even posed for pictures with Flat Stanley. I was able to compose a loose narrative of Stanley's visit to the TV station, and the project turned out to be an entertaining endeavor without being to condescending to the reader. I know this is a project generally aimed at elementary-age children, so for my purposes I wanted to keep a lighthearted feel without spiraling into "kidspeak."

I will probably not use a Flat Stanley project in any of my own classes, as I teach in higher education. However it is always useful to get more experience working with a digital camera, framing shots, working with photo editing software, and interacting with people on a more personal level in general. Even the most stoic individuals tend to smile when you ask them to take a picture with Flat Stanley, and building good social skills is an excellent experience at any age. If I were ever teaching a public speaking course, even at the college level, I might use a project like this as an ice-breaker and confidence builder.