Back to School with Cameras

Here are a few ideas to ponder as the start of school draws closer....

In most elementary classrooms around the country you find teachers taking digital photos of their students on the first day.

What can you do with those pictures? Do you need some new, fresh ideas?

Here are some ideas:

*Create a bulletin board with the individual photos and then continue to build a collage of the learning that happens inside your classroom. This could be a yearlong project!

*Take a photo on the first day of every month of each child to show how he changes throughout the year.

*Put the photos together into a slideshow to be used during Open House/Curriculum Night.

*Have each child fold a piece of construction paper in half like a greeting card and put their photo on the back. Describe themselves inside, and decorate the cover. If you keep them secret while working on them, the teacher could pull one out, share with the class, and have the class guess which classmate it is about. A great way for getting to know each other!

*Make trading cards with the photo and key information on the front, and interests on the back.

*Make a "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Who do you See?" book with the classmates. "Sarah, Sarah, Who do you See?" Students take turns taking the book home so families become familiar with their child's class.

*Create picture schedules for the class to follow. Photograph locations and activities in the building and classroom.

*Have students bring in photos from around home and memorable times with family and friends to keep in the writing folder to eliminate the "I don't know what to write about" complaint.

*When discussing class rules, take pictures of what correct behavior looks like in order to reinforce the rule. This could also be a school-wide display of proper etiquette in the lunchroom, playground, library, hallway, etc.

*Do your students work in teams or table groups? Instead of just hanging up a group name, have the group pose in interesting manners and use that as the group label.

*Put a different child's picture in the newsletter each week and write an article about him.


*Send your students out with the cameras on scavenger hunts. (Have you picked up your
f*ree packet of scavenger hunt ideas from http://teachingwithcameras.com ??)


These are just a few ways to start the school year with your digital camera. The camera can play such an instrumental role in your classroom.

Enjoy the Day!
Kathy Cothran
"The Original Gadget Girl"

Capturing Family Memories

Today I am reflecting on my weekend which included the best family reunion we've had in years. (OK...we haven't had one in years, so this was by far the best in quite some time!)

I had the little Flip Mino camera running throughout the day and night in hopes of capturing some real memories of my family members. Now that I've looked at some of them I bet many might hope to never see these again, but it really made me think. We spend quite a bit of time capturing the antics and smiles of the little ones of our family, but do we get enough of the more mature members? Instead of groaning that we've already heard that story over and over again, why not capture it on video to remember later when you'll want to hear it again? (A sign of the times is also seen when I was filming and family members would ask "Will this be on YouTube tomorrow?")

For the celebration of my grandmother's life I made a memorial movie. In there I was blessed to be able to add lots of video footage from the 1940s and on as my grandfather was an avid movie camera man. And, to top it off, I was able to find video clips so that we could even hear her laughing at her 73rd birthday party! Those are the memories I'm talking about capturing!

So, this message might not have anything to do with your classroom or your students, yet I find the use of today's gadgets such an important aspect of preserving our family memories.

I've managed to post a link to the memorial movie I made for my Grandma back in 2002 not because I think you want to see my family, but in case you'd like to gather some ideas for your own family. Near the beginning you actually see my dad as a child along with his sister. I'm sure that when the original filming took place the focus was of the children, but years later we like it since we can see the older folks. My aunt weeps every time she is able to see her dad wipe her hair out of her eyes. Even later I show up as the baby that is passed among the family members and I sure do like that since I don't even remember my great-grandma let alone remember her holding me.
Click the link below to see my Grandma's celebration of life movie:
http://www.me.com/gallery/#100090
And here's another one without video from my sister's mother-in-law:
http://www.me.com/gallery/#100026

So put those gadgets to good use as you see the important people in your life so you can be filled with celebration in the years to come. The more you integrate these great tools into your own life the more uses you will easily find in your classrooms.

Enjoy the summer, I know I am! (And as a side note...I will be so excited to soon announce that every current member of the Mastermind Group of Educators will automatically receive a complimentary copy of my newest book about using cameras in the classroom mailed to them without any charge!!! Whoo Hoo...that means it is almost finished....for real!!)

Kathy Cothran
"The Original Gadget Girl"

Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Are your kids bored and looking for something to do? Watch this video for a few ideas:



Then, go to http://teachingwithcameras.com or http://technologylessonsforteachers and download the free activity packet.

Veteran's Day Planning

I would presume to think that planning for Veteran's Day (Nov 11, 2009) wasn't on your list of things to do today, but I wanted to make sure you had a chance to sign up for this event and contemplate how your students could benefit from having a real live veteran come to visit their classroom.

Learn more about Take a Vet to school here:

http://www.history.com/content/veterans

Also, while you are thinking about Veteran's Day, I still have that whole packet of activities posted and you might want to check that out too along with all of the other packets still posted there!Be sure to click in the circle by the red arrow to get to the page with the other activity packets.

http://technologylessonsforteachers.com

Playing with Cameras

Here is a fun way to experiment with your digital camera.

I don't know about you, but I am pretty much just a point and shoot kind of girl. I set my camera on Auto and take tons of photos and then sort out the good ones later.

The professionals use special lenses and all kinds of equipment and I have learned that I can use some of those too, even with my point and shoot camera!

Ready for the tip: try shooting some photos through your sunglasses!

Yep, that's right. The pros use polarized lenses, and you can too with your sunglasses! Polarized lenses can deepen the contrast andenhance the colors.

Now, a couple of things to play around with:

1. The color tint of your polarized sunglasses will have an effect on your photos. Some colors cool a photo while others warm up a photo. Try both!

2. Play around with the angle of your sunglasses. Rotate them around until you see something you like in your LCD viewer. Fiddle with it until the image looks right!

3. Keep an eye on the sun's position in the sky. Polarizing filters work best when the sun is to your left or right, and they have no effect if you've got your camera pointed directly toward or away from the sun.

4. Try all kinds of adjustments and combinations.

The hardest part I've found with playing around with these options is that when I bring my photos into the computer I can see all kinds of variations yet I can never remember what I did to each of the photos in case I'd like to try it again! But, I guess that's the power of digital photography and we can just delete the ones we don't like.

Put the camera and some sunglasses into the hands of your children and see what creative enhancements they can make.

Be on the lookout for another tip soon.....

Enjoy the day!

Kathy Cothran

"The Original Gadget Girl"

Stairway to Jail? Do You Have a Guide?

In this short video I am highlighting an important reason why we all need a guide to help us when we get into areas where we aren't real sure of what we are doing. Take a look and leave a comment!

Survival

For many teachers the beginning of June signals "Survival Mode" as we see the end of the school year quickly approaching.

As I work to shut down our library by collecting, shelving, and inventorying all of the books, I am also looking for meaningful projects that the children can do on the computers. What I've been working on last week and this are "Thank You" books for their teachers. Each child makes a page and then we bind them all together into a book for the classroom teacher. These have been such a big hit!

I spend a bit of time getting the kids to focus on specific ways that their teacher has helped them this year so they don't all write how "nice" their teacher is to them. I also try not to help with spelling during this activity so it is an authentic piece of writing. Hence, we get things like, "You are the beast!" or "Thanks for teaching me regroping" or "You are the best tether." And really, the child who thanks her teacher for teaching her how to spell, and mispelling every word in the sentence! These are priceless.

If you'd like to see some examples of this project, click here.

So, as we survive during the next week or so, know that I'll be back soon with lots of ideas to keep you thinking over the summer as we plan for another successful school year together!

Take care,

Kathy Cothran

"The Original Gadget Girl"