Today’s Weekly Photo Challenge on the Daily Post is eerie… And here is my entry:
Lots of people decorate their houses for Halloween, but not all of them have big open windows that offer a glimpse of the eerie inside.
What do you see when you at this photo?
Today’s Weekly Photo Challenge on the Daily Post is about horizons…that place where the earth meets the sky.
And as I headed to the beach to capture one of my favorite horizon vistas, I found myself thinking about the comfort of familiar places like the beach…and the stretch of reaching for new horizons.
In some ways my horizon photo this afternoon represents my feeling of reaching for new horizons and feeling the “edge” of learning as I work with my students to learn computer programming. There’s that sparkle and shine and thrill of the new along with the hazy sun and encroaching marine layer representing all of the unknown and uncertainty.
Today a parent in our classroom came in and shared his work as a video game programmer with our students. He showed us a few of the games he has made…
the first with a team of three including him. The most recent included a team of 1,000!
Then he helped to connect this work that he does with our work on Hopscotch (an app), built on the shoulders of Scratch (a program developed at MIT). He showed us a few kid-made Scratch programs and had the kids make suggestions for changes. In a matter of a few minutes, he showed how the iterative process is essential for programming.
At this point there were about ten minutes before recess, so we offered our students this short time to return to Hopscotch and try their hand at some more programming. Students were quick to get set up…and were immediately focused and engaged with working with code.
I watched them try something and then go back and make a change and run their program again. When students showed me something they had created, I also asked them to show me the code–and in many cases asked them explain their thinking behind the code–so I can learn along with them. When it was time for recess, we offered students a choice…they could put their iPad away and go out for recess or they could stay inside and continue their coding. Only 8 of our 44 students chose to go out. The rest were totally absorbed with programming on Hopscotch!
I’m working at my edge on this new horizon of learning to code with my students…and it’s uncomfortable at times. But knowing that this is also where learning happens is exciting. I’ll probably spend some more time on Hopscotch (or maybe even Scratch) this weekend. If you have any coding advice, I’m happy to receive it!
Here’s a great TED Talk by Mitch Resnick, one of the creators of Scratch, explaining why students should be involved in programming. Maybe we should all try it out!
And if it’s not coding, what new horizons are in your future? What are you doing to find the “edge” of learning?
Living in a place like San Diego, seasons are all about subtlety. Rather than piles of fluffy white snow or icy winds in winter, we have chilly mornings and nights and mostly sunny, cool days. Spring is our rainy season (note: 10 inches of rain per year is our maximum!), the nights and mornings are a bit warmer than winter and most days are cool and sunny–although late spring brings the dreaded “May Gray,” that marine layer that pushes the sun away from the coast. Summer in San Diego starts slowly. June is characterized by “June Gloom” (just like May Gray), with the sun appearing for a cameo in the late afternoon before the fog rolls in again. And fall in San Diego is gorgeous! It’s warm and sunny, often well into November and even December. But it can also be scary with dry Santa Ana winds that whip up the fire danger in our arid, desert-like climate.
Today we decided to trek up to a local mountain town about an hour east of my house in celebration of fall. Julian is known for fall…filled with apple pies, apple cider, and other iconic fall features. But those vivid red and orange and yellow leaves that shout fall in other regions, whisper fall in San Diego. And even in Julian where San Diegans go for fall, the autumn hues are subtle.
And they’re positioned between the greens and browns and reds of the pines and manzanitas and California live oaks that are native to the region.
And then there are the iconic fall images we know so well…pumpkins, scarecrows, apples.
So, the hues of you for me as a San Diegan in fall are a rich, but subdued, palette of oranges, yellows, greens, browns, and reds. And I can feel them and smell them and taste them as much as I can see them. Warm and dry and spicy…and yummy. Like this apple dumpling I had today.
What hues evoke fall for you?
When I saw the Weekly Photo Challenge on the Daily Post this week I realized that even though I am a morning person, I don’t take many photos in the morning. So the prompt, Good Morning, has made me think about that.
Saturday, because I was at a conference at UC Davis, I stopped by our favorite bagel shop right next to the Starbucks for a quick and carry breakfast. And while I was waiting for my order I noticed the beauty of the donuts in the case near the cash register. That shiny chocolate was tempting…I resisted the donut, but did take a photo!
I also took a photo of the sun through the fall trees…and then played with it in one of my photo editing apps.
Earlier in the week I spent some time with my son and daughter-in-law and stayed in this funky little hotel. I took this photo as I headed to check out in the morning.
I like the hint of light over the top of the hills in the distance. And then at my son’s apartment I noticed the tools in his shower. Why don’t I have a pad of waterproof paper and a pencil hanging in my shower for those soothing water-induced inspirations in the morning?
I found this one this morning on my way to work as the sun rose through the Torrey pines.
What says good morning to you?
In our classroom we like to give students lots of ways to process information. They listen, they speak, they sketch, they observe, they write, they read, they move, they sing, they paint…
They are saturated with learning experiences. Today we painted. But it was just a part of a series of experiences to help students look closely, notice details, and then learn to sketch roundness by using curved lines and shading with their sketch pencils. They started with pumpkins harvested from our school garden. They moved to tomatoes, also harvested in the garden. They studied Vincent Van Gogh and learned about the concept of still life. They arranged their own still life composition and photographed it using their iPads. They used the photo as a guide for sketching their unique composition–and also learned some techniques for showing the overlapping of the fruits and vegetables. And then today they tried the same techniques using watercolor paints.
These six, seven, and eight year olds saturated their compositions with the brilliant colors of fall based on their experiences with the actual objects.
In this photo you can see the gorgeous sketch (that the student made earlier this week) that guided this careful painting. Saturating students in a variety of experiences related to a topic allows for deeper and more meaningful learning. This learning is not just about art–although the art is beautiful–it’s also science and history and math and reading and writing…and so much more.
And conveniently, this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge is saturated. It talks about color…but there is so much more to saturation than color, in my opinion!
How do you saturate yourself and your students in learning experiences?
This week’s Weekly Photo Challenge at the Daily Post focuses on lines and patterns…something I have been exploring through my own #sdawpphotovoices photo-a-day challenges. In August we captured design elements such as curves, angles, symmetry, repetition, and patterns in our daily photographs.
Lines and patterns seem to be everywhere! Here’s a picture I took today on my way to a meeting at UCSD.
I like the way you can see the statue of the triton at the bottom through the lines and angles of the stairs. A few weeks ago I took this picture of a bike rack…and the shadow it casts that continues the pattern. It almost creates an image of giant paperclips!
I love to take pictures at the beach. I noticed the way the lifeguards had organized their equipment on this rack…I love the lines and patterns…and colors with the ocean in the background.
Lines and patterns are everywhere! What lines and patterns have you captured lately?
These are my representation for today’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside
Our students made masks out of natural items they found around the school. I always love what goes on inside the minds and imaginations of children. You should read their stories that were inspired by the masks they made!!!
Just what is a luxury? The word tends to bring to mind those things you buy: fancy cars, expensive homes, designer clothes…
As I mulled the idea of a luxury I wouldn’t want to live without, I found myself thinking instead of just how fortunate I am. My basic needs are met…and more. I live in a beautiful city…a place that others choose for vacations.
The natives have been restless this week, our weather has been hot (for us) and we’ve had unusually high humidity too. Weather has been the topic of conversation for everyone. Most coastal dwellers don’t have air conditioning–we’re all much more used to carrying a sweatshirt at all times since it’s more likely to be chilly (for us) rather than too hot. So we’re all whining and complaining about discomfort and wishing for greener (and more temperate) pastures.
As I headed off to the beach this evening for relaxation and relief from the heat (it’s starting to become a habit), I realized that it is our proximity to the ocean that is the luxury that I would prefer not to live without. I love seeing the ocean in the distance as I sit in traffic on the freeway. I love knowing which direction west is as I watch the sun set. I love the briny smell of foggy mornings and the woody smell of bonfires along the shore. I love the quirky behaviors of seabirds, watching them run along the shore with bills specially adapted for the food source they seek. I love the piles of amber kelp that wash up and become jump ropes and sandcastle decorations and fun poppers exploding under my bare feet.
I love long walks, especially at low tide, with the white noise of the surf soothing my soul and relaxing that tight knot that often forms between my shoulder blades. The beach is definitely a luxury–and I wouldn’t want to live without it.
What luxury would you not want to do without?
Yesterday I wrote a post about playing with frames where I was looking for different ways to photograph the ordinary in my life. This evening I headed off to the beach (again) to cool off and enjoy the sunset. And with my iPhone camera in hand I was again looking for new ways to explore the beach photographically.
When I sat down to write this post, I wondered about my topic. Would I write about my school day? Would I participate in Five Minute Friday and write about red? I took a quick look at my blog reader and saw today’s Friday Weekly Photo Challenge on The Daily Post…and discovered that this week’s challenge is just what I have been working at! The challenge is titled, “An Unusual Point of View” and talks about trying new ways to take photos of ordinary (or popular) views.
Back to the beach. The tide was ultra low when we arrived and the seabirds were feasting in the wet sand. I love sandpipers and their gently curved beaks that poke deep in the wet sand pulling up tiny shellfish and crabs. I was stalking this pair as they searched the shore and shot this photo, capturing the reflection of the cliffs in the wet sand. Can you spot my pair of sandpipers?
As the sun moved lower on the horizon, I took a few shots and then felt that they were too much like the sunset photos I took last week. How could I frame them differently? I noticed that through my sunglasses the view looks different than it does when I look without them. I decided to use my sunglasses as both a frame and filter for a picture of the setting sun.
And then as the sun sat down into the water, I tried using the people in the water as features of my photos. I tried some fishermen, some surfers…and then captured this pair which I am titling, Into the Sunset.
I love stretching and trying out new strategies. The experimentation adds a new dimension to my view of the world and has me alert to novel opportunities for photos. I look forward to seeing what others produce with their unusual points of view. What does an unusual point of view do to your craft?
Today was one of those rare hot, sultry days in our coastal community…and it’s the first week of school. I love our old fashioned school with high ceilings, big windows…and no air conditioning! By the time I left work today I felt hot and soggy–and home was also hot and un-airconditioned.
The perfect answer to almost anything in my world is a walk on the beach. Mostly I walk at the beach on weekend mornings or afternoons. But today, a Friday evening sunset walk was the perfect way to cool off and the perfect end to the week. I’d forgotten how the sun setting changes the light and creates softness and shimmers, reflections and incredible colors.
A feeling of peacefulness comes over me as I listen to the waves crash and smell the salty air. I managed to catch this seagull in flight as it headed over the breakers. There is nothing like the sea to sooth away the stresses of the week and help me feel centered and calm.
Where is your peaceful place? What soothes and calms you at the end of your work week?
Thinking Through My Lens 