Shannon's Photo Story

Shannon gave this project a lot of careful thought. In selecting and framing her photos she showed not only considerable flair for visual liteacy but also a depth of thinking that we can all aspire to.

Laticia's Photos of the KC's in action

The subject that Laticia has chosen for her study is another member of her class. There is clear evidence of 'Participating and contributing' in these great images.

Ms O. Images by Kimberley

This is the outcome of Kimberley's photo assignment. What I like about this is the way in which Kimberley has played with the images to make a variety of styled photos. Kimberley quickly grasped the power of Picasa to help her take some risks with her editing.

Great images to display our school values

Scott has used the subject of an oak tree to demonstrate our Key Competencies. The oak tree has iconic status at our school. Planted in 1964 as a memorial to it is in a dominant position outside the school office. Often used as a meeting point for the children, the tree acts as a witness to the day to day happenings at Puketapu School.

Key Competencies and Digital Photography

I am a great advocate of the New Zealnd revised curriculum. The key competencies are the foundation for preparing our 21st century children for a 21st century where the rate of change is exponential. At Puketapu School I believe that the key competencies are visible in the classroom, in relationships and at playtime. What I was a little unsure of was how explicit we were in teaching and talking about these competencies. Always looking for a way to do things smarter, I wanted to integrate the promotion of ICT and a natural forum to promote class blog sites. To do this I promoted a scheme of work where a group of gifted and talented children worked with me for one afternoon per week to develop a blog which we could use as a platform to exhibit the key competencies through the use of digital photograpy. I was ably assisted by a parent who works as a professional photographer and I think the results speak for themselves. Check out these outstanding pieces of work.

Stop Motion

A few weeks ago a member of staff was discussing with me what the direction of her inquiry topic would look like this term. When we got around to what the students would produce as a way of sharing their learning she mentioned that she would like to produce a "Stop Motion Movie". Intrigued by the idea and always looking for opportunities to enhance our ICT skills and knowledge, I was happy to send her on a half day professional developemt course to learn how to make a movie. Since then I have been looking at a couple of 'stop motion movies' on YouTube. The following movie is also posted on Educating the Dragon blog spot - see my blog list - by the very person who led the professional development. This movie is very clever and I'm looking forward to what the Room 8 students will be able to produce. I hope you enjoy and appreciate it as much as I did.

Using Picasa 3

This photo of Puketapu School was edited and uploaded using Picasa 3. I have recently been introduced to this photo editing software by Shayne Jeffares who has been supporting an extension group for pupils who have an aptitude in the visual arts. Picasa is a software download from Google that helps you organize, edit, and share your photos. It's free, and easy to use. As the advertising blurb says, 'Using Picasa and Picasa Web Albums together, you can now organize, edit, and upload your photos to the web from your computer in quick, simple steps. Arrange your photos into folders and albums and erase their blemishes using powerful editing tools in Picasa. Then use Picasa Web Albums to share those perfected photos online with family, friends, and the world.'
The point is that this software is easy to use. The guides are detailed and yet written in plain language that even us digital novices can follow.