We had a Wonderful week!

Wow, what a week! We started with yet what seemed like another hurdle to overcome, but which turned out to be a blessing. It was decided I could not take academic time away from the classroom teacher, and would need to select a group of students from fourth, fifth and sixth grade to meet before school or after school. It was tempting to choose the brightest and the best. However, since we are a Title I school, the one that were selected were those with the least opportunity. The behavior interventionist requested I include “a couple of students who needed a second change.” We met before school two morning this week. We had such a wonderful week. The students are so excited to have been chosen to participate and to have the opportunity to learn about photography. Also, they were very excited about the field trip, we have planned.  The first day, several students came in early and were talking, before class began. A boy said, “It'll be fun to learn about pictures, but you know you can't make any money taking pictures.” This led to a discuss about careers in field of photography. I had not plan on going in that direction, yet I went with the teachable moment.

With the first class, students ask, "When do we get to take pictures?" I explained, "“The first few classes may not be exciting, but we need to lay the foundation for good photography so you can take outstanding pictures. In basketball, you have to learn the rules before you even get on the court.”

This week we discussed what we would be learning in the class, the picture they would be taking on the field trip and project to be complete. In addition, we discussed the different types of photography: landscapes, portrait, action, candid pictures, architectural photographs, macro-photography, nature pictures, and black and white pictures. I show several examples of each type and asked “What do you see?” Then, “What do you not see?” Students came up with their own definitions for each type of photograph.

After the first lesson, as everyone was leaving, a student ask a science question about one of the example of micro-photography pictures. Because I knew he rode the late bus, I asked him to return after school. I did a google search and found a short video that answered his question. After viewing it he said, "Cool!" Not only did he learn about the micro-photography, he learned about the metamorphoses of butterflies. Wow, talk about a teachable moment!