Ann-Marie Nulty’s ePortfolio

Photography in the classroom is an interesting issue. Most of the children in the classes have grown up with the concept of digital photography while i am positive there are quite a few of us teachers reminiscing about the good ol’ Polaroid! There is no denying that photography would be very valuable in the classroom however there are two immediate issues that spring to mind.

1) Child protection policy - Photographs that display children’s faces are generally in breech of this protection act. Many schools ask parents to sign a release to allow the school to use photos such as in advertising, the weekly newsletter,  school website or displays. Mostly they are only available in areas that can be monitored. If a teacher does take a photo and it winds up on the internet, many people will be able to access this, therefore caution in storing these photos must be advised.

2) Access to Cameras - Many schools cringe to see a digital camera in the hands of a student (and occasionally the teachers!). Asking children to bring their own can be a liability concern and of course, could discriminate against children who may not have access to a camera.

These two points aside, most schools now have access to at least one school camera that you may be able to sweet-talk around justify using. It is also interesting to note the extensive use of photography in early childhood centres, digital photography is vital in many centres in documenting particular elements of development for parents. Many a child centre wall can be seen sporting images of the children deeply immersed in learning and play.

Assessment – Capturing the Moment:

Art Lessons

Cameras are a great way to document children’s progression, particularly in physical education or when children are engaged in activity. For example, the kindergarten class had 10 minutes to complete a puzzle before going out to lunch. One student had been eyeing the 30 piece giant floor puzzle but knew he could not complete it on his own. He asked another 5 boys to assist him. They each took responsibility for different pieces and an elated cry of joy went up as they placed the final piece in the image. They had achieved something no one else in the class had previously and thankfully the lovely teacher had available a digital camera to document the process. Even though it had to be packed up, parents could come and see the photo of their child busily working cooperatively with others and the teacher could later identify that the first child had demonstrated some vital social skills that had previously been of high concern for his parents.

Depicting the Immediate Environment – People, Places and Things

Photos can act as work samples and depict the life of the classroom. At another school ESL children highly benefitted from a big book of places and people around the school, even if they could not read the caption, they could identify the person or place with very little difficulty. Photos can bring a familiarity to the classroom. The digital cameras are usually in full swing when children go on excursions. Later, the photos can be printed out, ordered, captions written and made into a book. They can also go into the newsletter to let the rest of the school know what they were doing. Real photos can also be used for flash cards with sight words such as “chair” as well as to assist with documenting specific lessons such as a science experiment, performing a procedure, creative arts lessons, or dramatic performances. Another great idea to for children to document their maths learning through photos, ie finding symmetrical items in the playground, taking a photo of a pattern they have created.

A Display I Made Of Children

Cameras are also great to get a strong understanding of the children themselves. On a particular excursion I leant my camera to one child, she was asked to take photos of the nature walk. I was amazed when I got some of the photos back, of course a lot were of her friends, but she also captured some exciting scenery photos that I’m sure I would have missed such as the patterns on the tree bark, the pebble formation, the ant nest, a spider web. These photos were later printed and placed on the sacred table to remind children of all the beautiful things they saw on their excursion.

For more information feel free to click on the links. Some of the following websites have additional suggestions:

1000 Uses for a Digital Camera – Catergorised into specific subjects, includes lesson plans!

Education World – Quick! Get the Digital Camera – Many links, Camera tips and more suggestions of camera use in the classroom.

Waylinks English – Using Photography in the classroom - Specific ideas linked directly to English activities.