Look at the world through a lens!

Photography is a great connector, since as the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words," and pictures also speak a universal language. Technology has gives us lots of options of things that we can do with photos. This past week in class, we created short photo stories with pictures, using two different methods, Animoto and Photo Story. These a both really easy to use, since you just upload photos, arrange them in the order that you want and then add anything extra like music and text. The pictures are then turned into a video that goes through them automatically, showing off your treasured memories. These could easily be used in a classroom, getting students to create a digital family tree in social studies, or putting photos to a novel in ELA to tell the story that way. Students can also use these in technology focused classes, to showcase all of their projects in one.
We also looked at how you can edit photos, which is what the top photo on this page is, it is the before and at the bottom is the after of my editing. Teachers can use this in the classroom, since they could add text to a photo to illustrate a key concept, or change a photo and then use that as a starting point for a piece of writing or a discussion. There are many different websites that allow you to edit photos, so it is just a matter of trying them out and seeing which ones you become comfortable with.
Photos are a powerful tool, and the sheer number of photos that are available for use, means teachers should take advantage of them. This means using interesting photos to start a conversation or writing piece in class, or adding photos to a lesson on any topic, as images really grab student attention. Not all the photos a teacher uses need to be sourced online either, teachers should try and draw photos and images from the world around them and their school, since these are very relevant to students. This means teachers should learn some photography themselves and look through old photos. If you have gone on a trip, don't be afraid to bring the photos into class, if they are related to what you are talking about, the students will love to see them.
The next step from photography, is video, and that is next week in class, so I am looking forward to sharing that with you.