GETTING STARTED WITH PHOTOGRAPHY
New to using photography in the classroom? Wondering where to start? Here are two quick ideas to get you started.
Jump in with photo walks: Photo walks are the simplest way to get started. Grab a handful of devices or a class set and get up and moving. Photo walks work across the curriculum and for all grades. From shapes to angles, letters to interesting fonts, plants to stable structures, the possibili- ties are endless. I also find they make a great quick opportunity to teach a skill before we head out. Sometimes it’s as simple as how to focus on the tablet or introducing the rule of thirds.
Flat lays: With flat lays we move into composing an image. What is a flat lay? I guarantee you have spotted one on your social media feed. Most simply, a flat lay is a pic- ture taken from above of items that are lying on a flat surface. I love formats that are flexible and work across the grades/curriculum. We have done everything from a found object colour wheel to identity flat lays to a colour I Spy.
SHINING THROUGH – LAYERED SELF-PORTRAITS
Our last project was going to allow us to further explore the connection between our identities and photography. It would also be a great opportunity to dive into those ele- ments of design highlighted in the arts cur- riculum. Our goal was an augmented reality portrait gallery. Sounds fancy right? Simply put augmented reality is adding a digital layer over the physical world – a perfect me- dium for students to explore the layers of our identities, what is seen and unseen. Students would capture a self-portrait that they felt represented them best and then create a digi- tal animation capturing various elements of their identities that we would later connect to create our digital overlay with augmented re- ality. Te final art pieces would be exhibited to the community at our end-of-year event for families and learners. We once again started by analyzing the
text form, this time narrowing in on por- trait photography. Troughout this process, we wanted to highlight diverse voices and make sure students knew photography was a possible career path. A curated collection of stories highlighted diverse photographers to learn from. We also were lucky to learn the basics of photography with a DSLR camera from a retired educator and photographer. As we worked on aperture, shutter speed,
16 ETFO VOICE | WINTER 2023
angles and leading lines, it was awesome to see learners engaged in the creative process. As much as we were supporting learners in understanding the tools and the technical vocabulary of photography, it was amazing to see how much they brought to the task. It seemed like poses just flowed out of many of the crew and they eagerly tried multiple shots. Suddenly we were seeing really quiet learners shining in this medium. Something about using professional tools also brought a level of sophistication and motivation to the exploration, as one Grade 7 friend pointed out. It was important as educators for us to acknowledge that not everyone found being in front of the camera comfortable, which led to some quick teachable moments exploring unique reflections and angles. While we created, classrooms ensured
a shared vocabulary and understanding of identity using Tiffany Jewell’s book Te An- tiracist Kid. Once learners chose the portrait they felt best represented them, we moved the images into the free Keynote app for iPad to doodle more layers, then exported the fi- nal animation as a GIF. Te Grade 2/3 stu- dents levelled up even further with voice re- cordings of poems they had written. Ten we connected the media using the EyeJack Edu augmented-reality app before our art exhibit. It was powerful to stand back and see this varied collection of images on display, a rep-
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