Final Thoughts...

Here is one of the scrapbook pages I made with Photoshop. I really enjoyed doing this during class. I do think I will be using this when I do the yearbook this year. I don't see myself using this directly in my classroom, but I will be looking for areas to implement it. Had tons of fun this weekend!! (minus the roaches)

my celeb pic

For the last two days we have been learning some techniques to use in Photoshop. Yesterday was so hot and I was getting a bit frustrated and my brain was fried. Today was much better and I got a lot of ideas really quickly. I really like the layering effect I did on my midterm project. This attached picture I used the lighting effect on it. This is my cd cover - if I ever become a recording artist. I really enjoyed working on my midterm project and have a few more ideas about what I can do. What I LOVED the most was using the band aid effect and erasing all of my "problem areas". I will be doing this on A LOT of pictures in the future.

article review

Our article was Using Digital Images to Engage Young Learners by Judy VanScoter. It was an interesting article with a lot of useful ideas for digital cameras and microscopes. The article encourages camera use to have students look closely at the world and investigate it from a different angle. Photographs offer a new perspective and is taking the text out of its usual context. I really liked the idea about making class books. Each student can create a page with an illustration and a sentence or short paragraph and then an electronic slide show can be made. I am excited to use this idea next year. Another literacy idea was to make an ABC book where each child is assigned a letter and takes a photo to illustrate that letter. Students can also use the cameras to record steps in a big project.
One great way teachers can use digital cameras is to document students work so that the originals can be sent home. The pictures can then be put in a student portfolio. The pictures can also be sent to parents through email so that they can see what their child is doing during the day. I think I would be excited to check my email and see a picture my child drew while I was at work. This allows children and parents to connect on a different level.

An important note made in this article is that technology is not a teacher. It should not replace interactions with responsible adults. I am in charge of my school's yearbook and next year I am going to dedicate a section to student photos. I am going to allow a few students in each grade to have my camera for a while and let them take pictures. They can then choose the one they want to be published.
Overall if you are looking for a way to enhance your lessons, using a digital camera is a great idea.

goals for class

I feel very comfortable with the technology we will be using. My main goal for this class is to get better at photo shopping pictures and taking better pictures with my digital camera. If I can learn three new things that I didn't know before, I will feel accomplished.

film thoughts

Born into Brothels is a reality check of a film. I fell in love with the children right away. It broke my heart to see such young children living in situations not suitable enough for the roach that has been inhabiting the computer lab this weekend. It is interesting to me that as I watched the film, I began to think about how these children see and experience so much day to day; but there is still so much they have not seen or experienced.
I felt embarrassed and ashamed when I got home and opened my fridge and the first thing I said to my husband was "I'm hungry and we don't have anything to eat." I immediately stopped myself, thought of those children, looked back in my fridge and got something to eat. To me that is hardly any food but to them it might be a few months worth.
The photography in the movie was beautiful. It was incredible to me that someone so young could see such a deplorable place in such a phenomenal way. I was comforted to see that aside from the conditions, lack of food and possessions, and constant verbal abuse, these children still act like children. It gives one lots of hope for the future.
I love watching movies that actually teach a lesson. Due to my own paranoia, I usually watch end of the world or zombie movies and the lesson I try to learn is how to survive. The sad truth of the the matter is that this film was a documentary and these children have to learn to survive every day. The film dropped a serious knowledge bomb on me, but I loved it.