Finding An Expert

Many of you are struggling with the idea of how to start your project, because there is an overwhelming amount of information on the Internet. As you know, information is nothing unless you are able to comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate it. In order to help find some guidance we will be searching for experts, or people who have already applied the kind of higher order thinking you will have to, to help us out with the project. 

We happen to live in a city of experts. In terms of your projects, many of you will be able to find help and ideas within the school and others will have to look beyond the school walls. How you do find an expert? You search for people and contact information in the industry you are researching and you reach out to several of them until someone responds. I was contacted by a student at the Young Writer's Academy to talk about my work as a writer in Brooklyn. I sat down for an interview about my writing process. The student found my email on the Internet and contacted me. I responded because I thought it would be good for the community. 

Before you start searching for an expert on your project (or area of interest), you will need to think of several questions to ask your expert. For example, Milaida  wants to make a film about her dancing. She might ask an expert on film "Why did you get into film-making?", "What are the basic steps to making a film?", or "How can I plan out my film?", "What should I learn about editing?"

Before we move on to writing our questions, you need to search for a published interview with someone in your field or area of interest.  For example, Kenyetta could search for an interview with a famous Jamaican or Jamaican-American to find out if they talk about their background and culture.  Nephteli could search for an interview with one of her favorite dancers or choreographers.  Jeff could search for an interview with a famous graffiti artist like Shepard Fairey or Banksy.  When you find a good interview, copy and paste the link into your RESEARCH WORKSHEET in google docs.  

Each of you needs to write a series of at least seven questions for an expert about your project. They should not be yes or no questions, but ones that will help guide your work. Add your 7 questions to one of the boxes in your Google Research Worksheet.  

If you finish your questions early, start searching for people in your field of interest or if you know a faculty member that might be able to help.  So, if you are making a video/film search for "Brooklyn, Film makers, production companies". If you are doing fashion, search for "Brooklyn, fashion designers," If you find any contact information, save it in your RESEARCH DOCUMENT in google docs.