Mendenhall Glacier

Gile, Ron. (2007). The Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska. Outdoor photographer: favorite places. Available at: http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/content/2007/nov/fp_alaska.shtml

This article caught my eye, because I visited the Mendenhall Glacier over the summer. We were on a tight schedule, so I didn’t have time to take in a lot of the information while I was there, but this article gave some interesting facts and things I wish I knew while I was there. The glacier is part of the Juneau Ice Field (something I did know--Juneau is the capital of Alaska). The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center was built in 1962. The article mentions how quickly the weather can change and to bring waterproof gear--this was something we found out first hand. Even though it was early June, it was quite chilly, especially since it was an overcast and rainy day. The guide assured us that it was good that it was a cloudy day, because it made the ice appear to be blue instead of white. We visited too early in the summer to see the brown bears and salmon, but we did see a few bald eagles. The best time of year to visit the glacier is at midsummer, both because of the wildlife and the colors of the glacier (the snow from the previous winter has had time to melt, thus showing the true colors of the glacier).

The reason I am sharing this article with you, is because we could use it with our basal reading story Fishing Bears. I think the kids would enjoy seeing more pictures of the Alaskan brown bear’s habitat and we could do a lot of comparing and contrasting with the Alaskan environment versus our own OR photos of the glacier in different weather (for example, compare my photo vs. the one in the article). This type of picture would also be a terrific story starter. I would be happy to share more pictures and information with you if you are interested OR you can visit the glacier’s website at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/mendenhall/

Wearable Photos

Howard, Dave. (2000). Wear your photography: From camera to t-shirt with an ink jet printer. Shutterbug: Scanners and Printers. Available at: http://shutterbug.com/equipmentreviews/scanners_printers/0300sb_wear/

I just read a great article about how to put photos on t-shirts. It sounds really easy. It may not be completely educational, but I think it would be fun. Here are the basic steps:

1. You would need a computer, printer, and transfer paper. The article used Epson, but said there were many other brands. I will be more than happy to do some shopping around for this.
2. The article also suggests putting two pillow cases on top of a table and then putting the shirt on the pillow cases. It seems the hard surface of a table works better than an ironing board. They said virtually any iron will do.
3. Each child could bring in a plain white t-shirt.
4. Then we would just have to take a photo of our class (I was thinking we could position them in front of the school sign).
5. We would then print out the picture onto the transfer paper.
6. Then iron the image onto the t-shirt.

If you find out that this ends up being more expensive than feasible (the cost of a class set of the transfer paper and ink for 8x10 pictures) then you could also do this as a gift for your room moms for Christmas or the end of the year. You could even iron the image onto an apron and then let the students paint their hand prints on it, too, and attach a card saying, “Thanks for giving our class a helping hand!” You could even have a "slogan contest" and have the students think of photos and words that could be put on the class shirts/room mom presents...there I added a little "educational value." What was I saying about clear goals and planning?? :o)

For more details and ideas, check out the article! Happy Snapping!

Sabrina

Visual Literacy and the Primary Learner

Stokes, Suzanne. (2002). Visual Literacy in Teaching and Learning: A Literature Perspective. Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education, 1(1). Retrieved March 28, 2008, from http://ejite.isu.edu/Volume1No1/Stokes.html

As a first grade teacher I feel that images are crucial to my students’ understanding of concepts. I believe that when most people think of visual literacy, they tend to focus on literacy as a skill related to reading, when in fact we use visual literacy in all aspects of teaching, learning, and daily life. Therefore, I appreciated how Stokes (2002) defined visual literacy as “the ability to interpret images as well as to generate images for communicating ideas and concepts” (p.1). Pictures, photographs, and other images are often the keys to students understanding and retaining the information I present to them.

My ultimate goal is to reach as many of my students as possible…often using a single lesson. I agree with Stokes (2002) when she says that “cognitive/learning style is an important factor in individual student differences. Instructional materials as well as teaching styles should be matched with cognitive styles for greatest learner benefits” (p. 2-3). When planning lessons, I keep in mind all of the different ways in which my students learn and incorporate varied strategies throughout the lesson in order to reach each student.

The following is an example of how I have used visual literacy strategies to enhance the learning of my students. The writing lesson described involves live-action, photographs, and written language to help students understand the concept of sequencing when writing a set of directions. Our weekly basal story, All That Corn, provided the prefect segway to having the students help me compose a set of directions on how to make popcorn (using seeds and an air popper). Before the lesson I took photographs of the steps involved and put them into a power point. I began by bringing out the popcorn popper and modeling how to make popcorn. I could have just had the students go from the memory of what they had just seen and heard to write the directions. However, I agree with Stokes (2002) when she says that “visual literacy precedes verbal literacy in human development, it is the…foundation(s) for reading and writing” (p. 4). Ifelt as if the students didn’t have enough experience with this particular concept to achieve a detailed set of directions. To supplement this lack of experience, I used the power point photographs, because as Stokes (2002) states, “pictures or illustrations are analogs of experience and are only one step removed from actual events, these visual representations may be able to capture and communicate the concrete experience in various ways” (p.5). The first slide had all of photographs of the steps, but they were out of order. I called on the students to help sequence the photographs correctly. Then the next slide had the first photograph and the students had to help me write a sentence that described that step (First we put in the seeds.) and so on until the last step. Finally the last slide joined all of the sentences into a paragraph that described the steps needed to make popcorn. The students then wrote and illustrated the directions independently. We discussed how they would be able to take the directions home and their parents could follow them to make popcorn. They loved it and were actively engaged for the entire lesson and really understood the concept…something that I truly believe would not have been possible without the cues of the photographs.

I feel that it is important to not only use visual literacy strategies when teaching students, but to allow students to use the strategies themselves. Stokes (2002) says, “Students develop their visual abilities through use” (p. 4). Therefore, I would like to continue the above lesson by allowing the students to choose an activity they could teach someone how to do. With lots of guidance (and parent volunteers) I would like to have the students follow the same steps as above (pick a topic, photograph the steps, describe the steps in writing, make a power point to share with the class) to complete the activity. This lesson would cover many aspects of learning that I feel to be important such as: a defined purpose, student ownership, integration of subject areas, and the use of different forms of technology. I truly believe that for students to be successful in the future of this technological age we have to give them the skills necessary to achieve and we can never start that education too early. Hopefully by integrating these areas I can reach each learner and help him/her achieve to the best of his/her ability!

I tried to upload the power point, but I guess that doesn't count as a movie. If anyone knows how to do that, please let me know! Thanks!

Sabrina

Multidimensional Learning

Supon, Viola. (2006). Using digital cameras for multidimensional learning in K-12 classrooms. Journal of Instructional Psychology. Retrieved March 28, 2008, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Using+digital+cameras+for+multidimensional+learning+in+K-12+classrooms-a0148367623

I enjoyed this article because it emphasizes the fact that digital camereas can be educational tools. According to Supon (2006), "Digital cameras are educational tools that support purposeful instruction with a clear vision on curriculum, instruction, assessment, and reflection." She goes on to state that, "Teachers need to adapt their instructional methods to enhance the visual literacy abilities of students while enabling learners to develop higher level thinking processes" (Supon 2007).

Here are some main points from the article:

Classroom Impact

• Our society has become incredibly dependent upon images.
• "More details and data are obtained visually than any of the other senses" (Supon 2007).
• Teaching our students to become visually literate will help to prepare them to enter the modern workforce.

Effective Use

• "Consider the usage of digital cameras to determine the extent of how the usage is aligned with the curriculum, one's teaching, and the classroom assessments" (Supon 2007).
• "Abide by school district policy and make certain the available documentation is in place before allowing individuals to be photographed" (Supon 2007).
• Provide the students with
• instructional tasks
• instruction in how to use the equipment
• instruction of basic photography principles
• guidelines of use
• feedback on use

Multidimensional Learning

• "Multidimensional learning integrates different memory strategies to facilitate the learning process and is heavily dependent on illustrations and graphics" (Supon 2007).
• students must use their memories to generate new information
• digital images act as triggers to help students retain information
• digital images often encourages/motivates children to write (and write better!)
• developing a fluent writing style then leads to write better for other purposes
  
• having students actually "take" the photos promotes ownership and leads to a higher quality of work
  
• Example: "Kerri Peloso had second grade students at Nescopeck Elementary School (Nescopeck, Pennsylvania) take pictures of objects in the classroom. They used their pictures to create writing pieces that were showcased in the room. A compilation of the pictures was made and this became a classroom book that was checked out by students to take home to develop/increase their literacy skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and spelling. Digital camera usage increases analytical skills and can be used as a means of assessing student performance. Having students know what high quality performance is can effectively be documented through photographs. When students recognize similarities and differences of their performance through photos, students become more reflective and effective with self-assessment. This process increases better performance" (Supon 2007).

I hope these points will help you think about the ways a digital camera could enhance your own curriculum/learning tasks. Happy Snapping!

Sabrina

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

Prensky, Marc. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

I thought I would take a break from only talking about digital photography and take a moment to address WHY I think technology in education is so important. Our students are different today than they were even twenty years ago when I was in elementary school. They are used to a fast paced, instant access, image overload, multi-tasking kind of environment. I have always enjoyed using technology and was playing games when I was young, used it for research and writing papers in college, I keep in touch with friends and family through email, and can't begin to describe/list how many things I use it for on a daily basis in the classroom teaching and in this virtual classroom of being an on-line grad student. I feel I have done a relatively "good" job of moving forward as each new advancement has come out. But now I sometimes feel that things are coming out so fast now that it is hard to keep up with everything, but I have to say I am "proud" of myself, because right now as I am typing this I have CD playing on my computer, which I am both listening to and downloading to my iPod! I have four Internet tabs open...one for this, one for the Prensky article, one for APA formating (I can never remember that even though I do it constantly), and one for our on-line class. I feel like I have mastered the art of mulit-tasking!! I see the same thing in my students. Some may call it ADHD, but I think a lot of those tendencies are really due to the fact that kids expect to be throughly engaged at all times. While this is not meant to be an excuse for bad behavior, I do think it is important to understand all the contributing factors to issues such as that. I think one of the ways to help students become more engaged is to provide them with strategies and tasks that are more suited to how they learn. I believe that most of our students would be more engaged in academic tasks through the images, speed, interactivity, and FUN of using most technology applications. These points are highlighted in Prensky's article. Here is an excerpt of a review I did of the article for another class:

I read a wonderful article titled “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” by Marc Prensky in which he describes most educators as Digital Immigrants. This terms means that we are new to the digital world, most of us didn’t grow up with cell phones, iPods, and the Internet. These advancements are new to us and we have had to adapt our way of thinking to make use of them in our lives. Most of our students, however, have always had these things in their lives (especially my six and seven year old first graders). They haven’t had to adapt to these things, it is in their very nature to use them. Sadly, he states that “Digital Immigrant teachers assume that learners are the same as they have always been, and that the same methods that worked for the teachers when they were students will work for their students now. But that assumption is no longer valid. Today’s learners are different” (Prensky 2001).

I took that statement into account as I reflected on my use of technology in my classroom. I have a computer schedule where each child has one full day to work on a computer. Each morning I load the software that is appropriate to their level, and they spend the day doing educational games. The students love their time on the computer and it provides a good review of previously taught material, or sometimes even introduces them to new topics. I have a website at School Notes where I list the homework and any reminders for the week, and it also allows the parents to contact me via email with any questions or concerns. (I love email for quick questions because it allows me to provide immediate feedback to parents, instead of playing phone tag for days on end.) I have also begun incorporating movies, video clips, and images into my lessons from United Streaming. I especially like the video clips, because it allows me to pick and choose the exact portion of videos that are relevant to my specific topic without having to waste the time it would take to watch an entire video. I am lucky enough to have a laser projector, so the students can watch these things on the “big screen” which is a favorite of theirs. I created a classroom blog, but as of yet I have only used it to post information about activities that the students have done in the classroom. As I reflected on these things, though, I realized that none of them changed how I fundamentally thought about educating my students. The only technology I was really incorporating into my curriculum was video clips, and educators have been using videos for so long that I can’t really call using them an advancement!

I think it is definitely time for me to take some excellent advice from Prensky, “So if Digital Immigrant educators really want to reach Digital Natives – i.e. all their students – they will have to change. It’s high time for them to stop their grousing, and as the Nike motto of the Digital Native generation says, “Just do it!” They will succeed in the long run” (Prensky 2001). That really sums up the reason I enrolled in this program. I feel that for students to be successful in the global community, we as educators have to provide them the skills necessary to do so, and that means changing how we teach. I realize this is a big step and isn’t something that will happen overnight. Right now I feel as if I’m taking baby steps, but baby steps forward have to be better than standing still in my old ways.

Creating this curriculum unit has forced me to take some more new steps. One of the things that I really wanted to do was use technology to have my students create something. In my unit we will use a digital camera to take pictures to illustrate a story that students will type (with assistance) using MS Word to make a classroom book. I also created games to review concepts using MS PowerPoint, something I think my students will benefit from and enjoy. I would also like to use my classroom blog in a more interactive way. I would love to post student work samples on-line for their parents to see, record students reading stories that they wrote, and have them comment on each other’s work. I think seeing their work presented in this way would motivate them to do their best. It would also help me, because it would be an awesome way to keep a record of student work (and growth) throughout the year. The benefits of technology are simply overwhelming and outweigh the time it would initially take to implement. With all of these amazing possibilities it is crucial that we focus on the objectives we expect our students to accomplish, though. I am really looking forward to this challenge!

I hope that from this article you will feel the same way!! Good luck!!

Sabrina

Increasing Visual Literacy Skills

Lance, Wilhelm. (2005). Increasing Visual Literacy Skills With Digital Imagery. THE Journal. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from http://thejournal.com/articles/17145

I enjoyed this article because it gave ideas on how a teacher could use a digital camera to both increase their own productivity, as well as increase the visual literacy of their students.

Ideas for the teacher:

• Take a photo of each child on the first day of school and put in a book along with contact/important information to help you learn more about your students
  
• Take photos of your white board instead of copying all notes
• Teach students how to import and organize photos
• Teach students how to create slide shows of images
• Teach students how to photograph a process (like planting a seed)
• Teach students how to make a photo journal (maybe from a field trip)
• Teach students ethical aspects of using other's images
  

Ideas for the students:

• Put students in pairs to go out and take specific photos (if they are young, you may want a volunteer to go with them, too)
• Students import photos
• Students edit photos
• Students create using photos (slide shows, photo journals, steps of a process, etc.)
  

To do all of these wonderful things, you do need one thing in particular: A DIGITAL CAMERA!!
Here are some things to keep in mind when selecting a camera for student use:

• If the school is purchasing, make sure all cameras are the same (this helps cut down on learning time)
• Camera should be durable
• Camera should be user friendly
• Camera should easily allow you to store/export photos
• Cost: compare mega-pixels to price

Other tips:

• Set up a procedure for erasing images once they are uploaded
• Keep the batteries charged
• Learn and teach about the camera's specific settings

These are just a few things to keep in mind when thinking about using a digital camera in your classroom. Remember, that the instruction should come first...the camera should be a tool to achieve your learning goals. As previously stated, the use of digital cameras does tend to motivate students to stay engaged and do better and higher-level work. According to Wilhelm (2005), "The use of images is becoming more pervasive in modern culture, and schools must adapt their curricula and instructional practices accordingly. Visual literacy is becoming more important from a curricular standpoint as society relies to a greater degree on images and visual communication strategies. Thus, in order for students to be marketable in modern society, they must acquire visual literacy skills." These statements really underscore the need for educators to provide more practice and application of digital media in the classroom...the cameras just make it FUN (I think)!! Happy Snapping!

Sabrina

Annette's Blog

Here is a link to Annette's Blog: Finding Purpose for Educational Technology in the Classroom. I wanted to share it with you, because we both have similar goals with respect to technology integration and visual literacy. In her heading Annette states, "I created this blog to explore the uses of visual literacy in the K-12 classroom. My goal is to determine the benefits and practical uses of visual images and how they can improve student achievement" (Annette, 2007). I have really enjoyed the articles she has referenced and found them useful in thinking about how we can use not only digital photography, but images in general to promote literacy in the classroom. She also has some awesome resources on her blog. Check it out!

Reference

Annette. (2007). Finding Purpose for Educational Technology in the Classroom. Available at: http://annettesteachertechtips.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-growing-area-of-interest.html

Awesome Activites Power Point

"Digital photography activities aren’t about taking pictures, but using the camera as a tool to
help you explore and understand other subjects" (Holbrook & Frazier, 2007). I LOVE that quote, because it really sums up why I have chosen this topic as my area of interest! Holbrook and Frazier have created this AMAZING power point presentation called Digital Photography Activities and Projects for the K-5 Classroom (once on the web page, click the link on the right to download it to your computer). Not only does it have FANTASTIC ideas on how to use digital photography in the classroom, but it also SHOWS you the photos of how it was done. For example, when it talks about making an "Environmental ABCs" book, it actually shows photo examples of the kinds of things the kids could look for. I loved it! There are 158 slides, so it takes quite a while to go through them all. Take your time or just do a few at a time. These are definitely practical and "do able" ideas for classroom use. Not only do they give you great ideas, examples, and resources, but they also provide a rationale for WHY these activities are important. Here are some of Holbrook and Frazier's main points:

•Today’s students have been exposed to digital and video images all of their lives.

•The need for visual literacy skills rivals the need for traditional literacy.

•Activities and projects completed with digital images compliment all curriculum areas and most learning styles, especially visual and kinesthetic.

I really hope you will take the time to view this power point! Happy Snapping! ~Sabrina

Reference

Holbrook, Melanie & Frazier, Candace. (2007). Digital Photography Activities and Projects for the K-5 Classroom. Retrieved March 19, 2008 from http://www.rockdale.k12.ga.us/personal/mholbrook/dig_photos/default.aspx

Easy Classroom Activites Article

I found this article on Education World (which is a fantastic resource if you are not familiar with it...it has a whole section on technology integration). It's called Smile! Digital Cameras Can Make Your Day. In the article the writer talks to classroom teachers who share ideas and tips on using digital cameras in the classroom. Here are the highlights:

• Teach students how to handle the camera to prevent damage
• Teach students basic photography principles (like how to choose good shots)
• Discuss privacy issues/review your school's policy on photographing/publishing students and their work
• Read your camera's manual and don't be afraid to try things out (like all those cool buttons!).

Starr also gave the following eight ideas on how to use the camera in the classroom:

• Snap pictures of body parts and allow students to make puzzles with them.
• Photograph important places in the school, such as the main office, nurse's office, and media center, and display the photos to help students visually identify key places in the school.
• Photograph parts of the daily routine and using them for sequencing activities.
• Photograph objects that are the same color.
• Take pictures of students and let them make trading cards with facts about themselves. Print the pictures and let students write basic favorites or facts. This is a good activity for the beginning of the year when they're getting to know one another.
• Take pictures to represent nouns, or of students in action to show verbs.
• Take pictures related to whatever topic you're studying. Display the pictures and have students write journal articles or short stories about them. The pictures provide a good visual prompt for creative writing.
• If you really want to be creative, let students save pictures of their favorite cartoon characters. Have them take pictures of their own faces. Then, using a graphics-editing program, let students brush out the character's face and insert their own.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought of photographing important places at your school! I have also done a sequencing activity using photographs. My students were having trouble when asked to do a writing prompt where they had to give directions or tell how to do something, so we did this activity as a class "model" lesson. I photographed the steps of popping popcorn (I did that step ahead of time, but I really popped it in front of them, too) and put the photos out out of order in a slide show (also done ahead of time). The students then had to correct the order on the first slide. Then we put each photo on its own slide. Then I called on students to tell me a sentence describing what was happening in each photograph. It really helped them to learn about writing directions and logical sequencing.

I hope these suggestions help! Happy Snapping! ~Sabrina :o)

Starr, Linda. (2004). Smile! Digital Cameras Can Make Your Day. Education World. Retrieved March 18, 2008, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech147.shtml

Digital Language Experience Approach

I found a great article on-line called “Digital Language Experience Approach: Using Digital Photographs and Software as a Language Experience Approach Innovation.” I really related to this article, because it was a real-life case study that explored ways in which digital photography could enhance the literacy learning of kindergarten students. The article begins by giving you a snapshot of the classroom. The teacher was using a traditional, research based approach to teaching literacy to her kindergarten students called The Language Experience Approach (LEA…I was not familiar with this approach, so for more information click the highlighted link). She had given an assignment for the students to draw and write about what they want to be when they grow up and allowed them to work together in a small group. The group we zone in on is of three girls, all of varying backgrounds/ethnicities and literacy levels. The teacher believes that they are all working together to help one another, but as often happens in the classroom, the teacher is not able to fully “see” everything that is going on. Once they are finished with their small group time, the teacher calls them back to the whole group for them to share what they have drawn and written. Two of the girls share their stories and the third little girl (the lowest) is embarrassed by her drawing and string of letters. When the teacher calls on her, she responds by saying she doesn’t know what she drew and that she doesn’t like it. As a teacher of young children, it absolutely broke my heart to read that! So the research team that has been observing the class decided to step in and work with the teacher to try a new approach: The DIGITAL Language Experience Approach.

The teacher in this study was like most teachers. She wanted to incorporate technology into her daily literacy routine, but didn’t know how. “She indicated that she had very little district- or school-level support for using available technologies. More important, she had little time to figure out ways to integrate computer technologies into literacy experiences, such as LEA, on her own” (Labbo, Eakle, & Montero 2002). Sound familiar??!!? This is where the researchers stepped in. They suggested that “computer technologies may play an important role in facilitating or transforming LEA [because] multimedia features of word-processing and “creativity software” (tools for drawing, creating graphics, importing video animations, adding sound, utilizing speech synthesis, and writing) offer a unique means of support for young children’s efforts to compose stories” (Labbo, Eakle, & Montero 2002).

The researchers began to study the three original girls, one of high literacy abilities, one of average abilities, and one of low abilities, to try to find the answer to the following question, “What are the opportunities for literacy development among young children of different literacy abilities when digital photography and creativity software are employed in a Language Experience Approach?” (Labbo, Eakle, & Montero 2002).

Here is an overview of The Digital Language Approach (Labbo, Eakle, & Montero 2002):

What Is the Digital Language Experience Approach?

Setting up the Experience 1. The teacher or the teacher and student(s) together select a stimulus experience (teacher offers suggestions, scouts out a location, discusses expectations for students, gathers materials, decides the duration of the activity, etc.). 2. Teacher and students make decisions about picture taking: Who will direct photographing (when and which activities) The type of photographs that will be taken (candid or posed) The number of photographs to be taken Photographing the Experience 3. Children engage in the stimulus activity. 4. Teacher photographs children engaging in the stimulus activity, using a digital camera. Composing a Multimedia Story or Photo Essay 5. Children use digital photographs to prepare for composing by Importing photos into creativity software Viewing photographs and recalling the stimulus experience Discussing and selecting photographs that may best tell the story Arranging photographs in sequence or story board 6. Children compose a story about the stimulus experience: Teacher types student dictation for each photograph (or student types with teacher support) Teacher (or computer voice synthesizer, if available) reads the text Children decide if ideas are stated appropriately; if not, revisions are made on screen and on the spot As an optional extension, children multimedia effects to enhance the story (music, sound effects, animation) Children may record their voices reading the story Engaging in Follow-Up Activities 7. Children interact with the story for additional literacy learning: Multimedia interactions -- children may read chorally with the multimedia story on screen, echo read, listen to the story read aloud by different voice synthesizer characters, etc. Teacher may make print-outs for each student to encourage reading at the word level and to promote fluency Stories may be saved on the computer or in print form as student or class sets of stories for review or as reading practice materials

Each of the three researchers took one girl to work one-on-one with, outside of the regular classroom environment (they worked in the hallway). All of the girls enjoyed working with the digital camera and editing software. Their favorite program seemed to be Kid Pix. The digital software and specialized adult attention gave them more confidence with their abilities (especially the lowest girl) and kept them highly engaged in the activity. Obviously, this was not a real-world scenario, but it did lead the researchers to the following conclusions (Labbo, Eakle, & Montero 2002):

• Technology allows quick access to photographs through use of a digital camera
• Digital photos serve as a memory link to a child’s experiences (including those experiences that occurred over time)
• Digital photos are tangible prompts for descriptive language
• Digital photos are a tool children can use to organize a sequence of events
• Children can manipulate digital images for various purposes (e.g., stamping a portrait, labeling a diagram, writing a story about a photo)
• Multimedia interactions support development of multiple modalities for communications
• Software supports recursive and on-the-spot revising
• Voice synthesizers that read on-screen text make stories accessible to children who cannot read conventionally
• Publishing features allow children to engage in follow-up activities at their skill level

I believe that those reasons are proof enough to begin/keep trying. We all want our students to be proud of their work and in turn themselves. It seems that working with the digital software helps them to achieve that goal. I think having a parent/older student as a volunteer once a week to work on activities like this would be well worth their time. A teacher could also model how to use the features of a particular program (you could set the photo and just allow them to do the editing) and then allow students to work in pairs on the editing/publishing process. How exciting! I will end with this awesome quote from Labbo, Eakle, & Montero, “What I think about, I can talk about. What I can see in a digital photograph, I can talk about and remember. What I can say, I can write down. What I can write down, I can revise on screen. What I can write I can read or have read to me by the computer. I can read what others write for me to read” (2002).

Reference

Labbo, L.D., Eakle, A.J., & Montero, M.K. (2002, May). Digital language experience

approach: using digital photographs and software as a language experience approach innovation. Reading Online, 5(8). Retrieved March 14, 2008, from http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/labbo2/

Microsoft Photo Story 3

Hey everyone!

I realized that I have talked a lot about this in my posts for this class and showed you an example of a Photo Story (see Diamond D Field Trip below), but I have not actually shared the link to the website and WHY I think it is such a fantastic resource. Too make it even better, I also included a kind of mini-lesson to get your started...just ten steps and you're finished!! :-)

• Photo Story is a FREE download for registered Windows users. You should even be able to put it on a school computer (if it uses Windows...if you are not allowed, contact you school's tech person).
• It is SUPER easy to use. It would be too advanced for younger primary students (like my little first graders) but I think students from third/fourth on could definitely handle it. Basically you follow the on-screen directions to do all of these fun things:
1. Import Pictures (just select your source...hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple pictures from the same folder)
2. Arrange your pictures in the correct order (click and drag to the correct position)
3. Click on a photo to edit it (red eye removal, crop, rotate, add a special effect like making it black and white, etc.)
4. Add text to the photos if desired.
5. Record a narration to your story if desired (I've never tried this, because I tend to talk too much!!)
6. Customize the transition between slides if desired (It also does this for you automatically, but if there is something special that you want...like for your face to come out in the middle of a star...you can make it happen!!)
   
7. Add background music if desired (I love this feature!! You can either select from a library of a variety of music and Photo Story will customize the timing to your own show OR you can rip music from a CD/iTunes. Definitely click the link that says Learn more about adding background music for helpful hints.)
8. Preview it to make sure you like it.
   
9. Save it!
10. Share it!

I hope that you will take the time to try this one out...both for yourselves and for your students! Here's how I plan to use it in my classroom: At the beginning of next year, I plan to put my students in pairs and let them go out with a volunteer to take pictures of all the important people/places around the campus (each pair will be given a few specific people/places to photo) and then use Photo Story to create a virtual field trip for the parents to view on Open House night. I am going to let the students add the text to their photos (or maybe even let the RECORD a sentence) and as a class we will choose the music and preview/save the show. At their age, I think even modeling the use of technology is important, because it gets them interested in it and will hopefully motivate them to learn and do as they get older. At the bottom of this post you will find that I have added a Photo Story of a trip with friends to EPCOT. It was before Christmas and as you will see, it ended up being a "How many different silly hats can we photograph ourselves in??" kind of day...which was really fun! For each different region/area I did a different kind of music that I felt related to that area. Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions (or think of fun uses for it in YOUR classroom)!!

Sabrina :-)

On-Line Resources

http://www.adobe.com/education/digkids/lessons/

You just never know what you will find on-line until you really start looking! The above website is a great resource for teachers of all grade levels that are trying to incorporate digital photography into their classrooms. On the left navigation bar you will find links to introductory sites on using digital photography, video, and storytelling. On the main page it has lots of great lesson plans. (Some of the lessons for the upper grades would even be useful to me for learning new elements of the program, because it goes step by step...awesome for teacher reference). The site is maintained by Adobe, who manufactures the program Photoshop Elements. I have the program on my home computer and it is fantastic for editing and doing fun things to your photos, but we don't have the program at school. However, I found that I could still use many of the IDEAS from the lessons without having the program. :-) For example, there was a lesson for first graders using the paint portion of the program to illustrate Dolch word list sentences. I could do the same thing using MS Paint which IS on my computer. I was a little disappointed, though, because the lesson did not have the students out there taking photos...but that would be easy enough to fix as well. Students could be given a Dolch word and asked to think of a sentence relating that word to something in the classroom that he/she could take a photo of. For example:

We ate big pancakes at our party.



I hope this can help you get some ideas on using digital photography in YOUR classroom!
Happy snapping!

Sabrina :-)

Digital Photography and Education

I love digital photography and teaching children!! This blog is going to be all about ways that I can combine my two passions. Here's a little of why I chose this as my area of interest:

I have so much fun being able to take endless pictures and not worrying about whether or not I should take so many! Here's what I mean: I went on a two week tour of Europe back in the summer of 1997...way before I had a digital camera. I had to keep up with film, worry about running out of film, and constantly think "is this shot really film worthy"?? Because of course when you come back, you also have to go to the expense of having that film developed to see if it turned out or not. What a bunch of worry and hassle! I came back from visiting France, Switzerland, and Italy and had 200 pictures and after waiting a week to have them developed not all of them turned out so well. Now enter the digital camera....taaadaaaa! My world has changed! Now I could go on a two HOUR trip to the beach and come home with OVER 200 photos and not bat an eye lash!! Why? Because it's free and there's that whole instant gratification thing. Right away I know whether or not I should try the shot from a different angle, or if my subject blinked, or if there's a funky shadow. Then when I get home I can IMMEDIATELY download them to my computer to view on a large screen. I can pick and choose the ones I want to keep and not have to spend any money on developing a photo that I don't absolutely love! I also enjoy the ease of editing the photos, organizing them on my computer, and turning them into slide shows to share with friends and family.

Not only do I love digital photography as a personal hobby, but I also love it as a teacher. I am constantly taking photos of my students when they are doing fun projects, have made adorable artwork, or are having fun at a classroom party or field trip. I made a slide show of their field trip to the Diamond D Ranch last fall and they loved it (see below). We used it as a writing prompt as well (no more I can't remember!!). Now I am working on ways to get them involved in taking photos, too. It's been a lot of fun!

I'm looking forward to using this course and blog to learn and share more about digital photography and how it can relate to education, specifically the education of primary aged children like my own first graders. I think one of the things that helps them to learn most is being able to connect concepts to the real world and digital photography is a great way to do that. So here we go!!

Sabrina :o)