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Here are a few more ways that photography can be used in the classroom!

1.Photographer Badge: Give the camera to the student and ask them to photograph their “learning story”. This will give them a chance to show their perspective of their learning. Allow for a place to post these photos like a class blog.

We think that you could set up a google drive folder that is accessible to all students to upload their learning pictures. These could be used in a Reggio Emilia approach to displaying children’s learning.

2. Participating in Project 365: Take a photo of something good each day. This could be done as a whole class or independently. Again have a place for students to upload their photos.

You could put all the pictures together at the end of the year into a slide show or movie to practice the digital literacy of fill making and photo editing.

3.End-of-year-slideshow: put all of these photos into a slideshow set to music that the children can take home to have and share with parents. The article suggests “10,000 Maniacs’ “These Are the Days,” Graham Colton’s “Best Days,” Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” Rascal Flatts’ “My Wish” and my personal favourite, Stephen Kellogg’s “Roots and Wings.” as good songs to set the video too.

Choose a song that is important to your class in some way to add even more meaning. You could attach a card written to the video CD and use this as a gift for each student at the end of the year

4.Family connection: They say that pictures speak a thousand words, so photography is a great way to effectively represent classroom life to parents. With middle schoolers who respond to “what did you do at school today?” With a snarky “nothing” and kindergartners who only talk snack time, parents are rarely granted accurate insight into their children’s day to day lives. This tip from the website can be actualized to a variety of degrees. Here are some ideas (requiring different levels of commitment) as to how to use photography to communicate with parents:

Send out a monthly or weekly email newsletter full of photos from what students have been up to 

Start a class blog! Make it private, so that only parents can view the images and text about their children. For younger grades, you may choose to do all the blogging yourself, but older students could be featured as “bloggers of the week” with the duty of summarizing the week’s events to all student’s families. 

5.Multi-media art projects: The website suggests having students snap pictures of items around the classroom, print them out, and add googly eyes. This is just one of many fun ways to tie photography into other art projects! Another similar task could involve taking pictures and collecting items on a nature walk, then glueing on found items such as leaves, sticks or even litter onto printed photos. This is a great way to incorporate multi-modality into art instruction. 

6. Decorating the class with students photographs: As discussed in the article “Consider the Walls” by Patricia Tarr it is extremely important to keep walls in the classroom decorated in a way that does not overstimulate children, is not full of commercial products and has student input or work on the walls. The idea of decorating the walls with student’s photos directly supports this idea and is a great way for students to feel ownership over their classroom. It creates a safe space where students’ voices are heard and celebrated. To accomplish this there is a website called PicMonkey.com that allows children to edit photos and add text to them if they want to. Students can explore an additional technology source through this process creating edited photos or posters for the wall. All of this should be done with the students’ consent as it is important to have consent to put a student’s photo on the wall. Additionally, having the photos rotate so that all the students who want their photos to be on the wall can have a chance. In all reality, there is not enough space to fit 25+ pictures in a classroom in a not over stimulating way, so it is important to rotate the selection. 

7.Collage of the class: Create a collage of individual pictures of all of the students holding signs saying what they want for their future career. This can be accomplished through apps like PicCollage and given to the students at the end of the year as a memento of the class and as a reminder of why they are in school. 

-Katie, Alexa, Lauren M

Here is a video that can help teachers start to think about how to integrate photography into the classroom.  We have extrapolated some of the key points of the video which are listed below. Watching the video and looking at the main points we have provided will be a springboard for the introduction of photography in your classroom.

Tips for teaching photography:

• The biggest tip for teaching young learners is to teach them how to hold a camera; kids get easily excited which can lead to blurry photographs 
• Teach students to hold the camera against their face and brace their arms to their body: this helps stabilize the camera 
• Other biggest tip: have fun
• Use photography to bridge the gap between your students and the concepts you wish to teach them  

Critique: 

I agree that this is an extremely important tip to keep in mind when teaching photography, especially for younger grades. When photos turn out blurry because students have a shaky grasp on the camera, it prohibits teachers from realizing the creative vision behind the picture. It can also be incredibly frustrating for students when they go to view their photos after spending time out and about with a camera, only to realize all their images aren’t clear. 

I really like how Gabby Salazar touches on the use of photography as a tool to “bridge the gap” between your students and the concepts you wish to get through to them. Although photography is an interesting and useful skill to have, it is more important to use it in integrated lessons on other topics. 

Exploring various natural spaces with a camera in hand gives students a clear purpose for being outdoors. This leads them to be more mindful of their surroundings, and notice things they might not otherwise. Incorporating photography fits perfectly with Place-Based pedagogy and may even spark spiritual connections between students and their natural environments. Some choose to argue that increasing the use of technology in classrooms inhibits interaction with the outside world, but the use of photography in an outdoor setting proves quite the opposite to be true. 

 Suggested equipment:

• “Give students the tools and encouragement they need and you never know what they will create” 
  • This quote depicts the whole reason for photography. It is such a unique tool that allows for endless possibilities in fostering and developing creativity. Students express themselves in a new way, giving insight into their individual perspectives. It might just surprise you how intuitive they are behind the lens.
• Cell phones 
• Basic digital cameras such as a point and shoot camera 
  • These tools can be shared with a partner, in a small group or used individually.

Critique:

While many people have cell phones in this day and age it is still important to recognize that not everyone will have a cell phone or a smartphone that has the ability to take high-resolution photos. Additionally, the age of the learners determines the percentage of people who have a cell phone. Younger learners will not have a phone and as you move into upper elementary and middle years students, the age at which students will acquire a cell phone is large. Buying cameras for the class does come at an expense as well.  This would be a great opportunity to ask PAC for money or even create an artist and residence experience by applying for a grant through ArtStart. 

 Project Ideas:

• Make eye contact with a subject
  • Get on the subject’s level and find eye contact between the lens and the subject
    • This could be with a pet, an animal at a pet store, a friend’s pet, an animal in nature etc. 
• Photography competitions 
• Model behaviour towards nature and create a project to photograph students’ relationship with nature and how to be respectful and responsible for it. 
• Capture different perspectives of the same object
• Have one photo that demonstrates the different a different principle of photography and/or the composition rules 

– Alexa, Katie, Lauren M

By: Alexa, Lauren M, and Katie

Summary

The article The Benefits of Photography:Let kids use your camera explores why it is important for children to use cameras and to explore photography from a young age.

Photography can be a way for children and their families to connect. Stories from the past can be shared and help bond families and friends together. It is important for children to learn how to use a camera and focus it so that they can begin building their own memories to be shared in the future. It gives them a voice to show their day from their perspective.

Photography is also an easy way to show students how to be creative. They can begin looking at the world and how you can see it differently by adjusting your angle and lighting. Through different challenges and projects, students can experiment with composition and photography techniques.

The big question is what students should be using to capture their photos? It is not necessary to purchase a super nice camera. You can use a phone, which can have different apps created for kids photography, or you can use a disposable or point and shoot camera.

Overall, Photography is a place for students to explore their creative voice, and discover the world from their perspective. It can help students, teachers, and families bond during the process and for years after. Photography also helps with students’ fine motor skills as they grow and become more precise with their work. It can offer an important time for all of this to happen, as it may not be experienced otherwise.

Analysis 

  Photography has become ever more present in society with an increase in accessibility to cameras in students’ lives. It is something that is not a necessary skill, as that may be leaning into the social media need to overshare your life, but it is something that approached from the side of an artistic outlet or as a way to preserve a memory and to share a story, can be an educational tool that bridges the gap between the outdoors, technology and education. 

The article talks about taking pictures of nature as a way to curate composition skills. Utilizing photography in an outdoor ed setting can hit two of the most pushed concepts of modern curriculum. Providing outdoor time in an autonomous, artistic and literacy filled experience helps students sense of mastery and independence in the classroom. 

Providing photography experience safely can help students learn the rules and etiquette that comes with it. As stated in the article, teaching about the consent of taking someone’s picture and how that picture is shared is really important in the age of social media that learners will enter in their adolescent life. Teaching these skills while also teaching about the art of photography, and the digital literacy that comes with it allows for multifaceted lessons. 

Utilizing photography in a cross-curricular way by telling the stories related to the pictures taken, is a really interesting and memorable way to help develop listening skills, storytelling skills, and digital literacy skills. Overall, there are many benefits to teaching photography, but it needs to be done in a way that frames it at an age-appropriate level where it is not teaching students how to be social media influencers but how to be storytellers through the lens. 

How might we incorporate photography into the classroom?

The benefits of learning photography are boundless and multifaceted. By tapping into this in our teaching practices, we can enhance our student’s educational experiences. 

Integrating photography does not have to be done through the lens of art education. Just like other artistic mediums, we can look at photography as a tool to enhance learning in other areas. 

Below are some examples of how to actualize this for different age groups

•  Creating a photography scavenger hunt- where students are tasked with documenting objects in their surroundings that relate to a certain unit or theme. (grades K-4)
• In the instruction of other languages (such as French,) have children take photos of everyday objects around the school or in their homes. Then have them determine the name for the object in a second language, and write a sentence about it (grades 2-5)
• Take a class nature walk and task each student with taking a picture of an object they find interesting along the walk. Have them write a story about the object; where it came from, how it ended up where it was found, ect. (grades 3-7) 
• Have each child create a blog, and respond to weekly prompts with text and photos that they take on their own (grades 5-8) 

Implementing photography into the classroom may be easier said than done- as the logistics of tasking children with taking photos can become complicated. Even in an age where smartphones are commonplace and equipped with high-resolution cameras, it is unrealistic to assume students have access to this high-end technology at home. Regardless of the socio-economic restrictions involved, many adults are apprehensive (to say the least) when it comes to allowing young children access to their personal technology.  Therefore, it is important to teach proper camera care and etiquette before beginning photography projects with younger elementary students.

In addition, it is important to teach students to be respectful when it comes to the photos they are taking. Let them know they must always ask for permission to take photos of somebody else, and that they should be mindful of the photos they take. Although we live in an age of smartphone cameras where people take dozens of photos of the same scene or object, having children put thought into what they choose to take photos of will lead to higher quality work. 

All things considered, photography is an amazing tool to explore and incorporate into classroom instruction as elementary teachers. By being aware of the repercussions and cautions to take before implementing photography units and lessons, we can help our students grow behind the lens of a camera.