Digital Cameras

What:

This weeks class was short, sweet, and to the point. We had a brief lesson on what kind of digital cameras there are and how to pick out a good one. I was surprised at how many people didn't have a camera with them. I had my camera on my phone. It takes much better pictures than my regular digital camera. After that, Doc Waters told us that we would be working with our groups again choosing a core curriculum and taking pictures to help teach that concept.

So What:

My group, Fifth Element, decided that we would do our project on visual arts, Standard 2

(Perceiving): The student will analyze, reflect on, and apply the structures of art., Objective 1
Analyze and reflect on works of art by their elements and principles., Identify the natural aspects of distorted forms in art; e.g., a deflated tire still has the texture and color of a tire, a reflection of a tree in water still has the color and general shape of a tree. We had a lot of fun going all over campus taking pictures of different structures at different angles and seeing how different they look from those different angles. For example, I spent an entire semester in the Computer Science building and never really noticed the floor. If you just look at one or two tiles close up they just look like weird tiles but if you go to the top floor and look at the entire floor it makes the design of a computer mother board. It is really cool looking. We also decided that we would take photos on our own this weekend, if we found something interesting.

Brie offered to create a Photo Bucket account that we will use just for this class so we can share our photos. I had never heard of Photo Bucket before but I really like the idea. I think I will open an account to share pictures with family.

I can't wait to see what we will learn to do with our pictures this coming week. I know my husband likes to get on the computer and take family pictures and change them by putting horns on peoples heads or drawing a smiley face on the dog. He and the kids know how to do this but I don't. I just hope he was doing that on the originals and not on the digi-negs.

Now What:

Reading the three articles was really good for getting some ideas on how to use digital cameras in the classroom. Some of the ideas I had already thought of but there were many more that I had not thought of that I really liked. I have been a substitute teacher for two years now and without fail, every year you get a class with a couple of students that think they are smarter than the sub. and change seats. I love the idea of having the students pictures as part of their name tag on their desk. This not only helps a sub know who everyone is and stops students from changing seats but it helps the regular teacher learn the students names faster at the beginning of the year.

When I become a teacher one of the things I would like to do is create ether a memorie CD for each of my students or a memory book. I can assign a student each day or week, as one of the classroom jobs to be in charge of the camera and take pictures throughout the day, including recess. There are a lot of wonderful things that can happen in a day that the teacher never sees. Also I would like to create a Photo Bucket account that is just used for my class so that when parents come to help with class parties, activities and field trips they can add their photos to be used for the memories CD. I know when I go on my children's field trips I always get some great photos, especially on the bus ride, that I would love to share with the teachers. I would also like to get the students involved in creating this end of the year project.

The things that can be done with the digital camera in your classroom are only limited to your own imagination and then there is always other teachers to get new ideas from.

Video:

The first video : Ten Things They Don't Tell You in College About Teaching" just cracked me up because every thing in there was so true. As a sub. I carry a very heavy bag full of my " Tricks" I have a decorated "secrete box" and if they are all good they get to see what's in my box. Right now it's a snake skin. I also have several books and activities just in case the teacher didn't plan quiet enough things for us to do. I have a note book that I write in when I see something a teacher is doing that I really like and want to incorporate into my own class some day, a folder that I keep hand outs, lesson plans and worksheets that I like and the teacher says I can have and I have a ball for quite ball or to use for many other games. I laughed so hard with number 3. Differentiating instruction, I think we are now being more prepared on how to do this but it's still not easy.

The second video " mashup" was amazing. It's hard to believe that the music was not just something some one overlaid on the videos but that it was the true sound of what came from putting all those videos together in that order. I remember when I was a kid and home video cameras were just really starting to come out. My brothers and their friends loved making movies. They would use all kinds of props like hats, jackets, and fake mustaches and what ever they could find to use for special effects like fireworks ( I did not grow up in Utah, I was in Iowa were fireworks were legal). Their movies were always fun to watch but I wonder, with all the technology available today and YouTube, what their movies would be like.