Knowledge sharing! This is so much fun. I had a bit of a slow start but I think I am starting to get the hang of it and I continue to see a lot of potential.

A few things I’ve noticed so far..

-The time of day is important. I posted during the early afternoon with the initial post and got interaction right away. I posted late Sunday afternoon and had less traffic. It will be important to think of schedules for this audience. During the summer months, I will likely aim to catch them in the late morning/early afternoon when a large percentage of them are waking up and looking at the phones. During the school year, I will aim to reach them in the afternoon after school or later in the evening after sports. I will continue to experiment with weekdays versus weekends to see which seem to be more productive.

-Instagram is kind of clunky to work with from a computer…. I didn’t want to sign in to the school account on my personal cell phone. I downloaded an extension to my computer and I can post one photo at a time. It’s is a bit more challenging to format and crop the photos in the frame, which is something to be mindful of when searching for infographics… The longer/larger graphics just don’t work. I also cannot find a way to tag profiles, which is how I credited the first graphic I posted, or post more than one photo, which is a format I will continue to work with to demonstrate examples. I logged in on my phone and quickly tagged and posted and then logged back out. I will continue to do this but also poke around to see if I can find any other more useful laptop extensions.

-I am excited. I have to choose my focus this week still and I think I am going to work with something connected to shutter speed. Firework photos can be really fun to capture and I think students would find this easy to connect with this week 🙂

Three things I am grateful for. (As I have mentioned, I have been in and out a funk. The high’s and low’s of summer, I suppose. I am going to start trying to write down three things I am grateful for a few times a week so I can be reminded to reflect on how amazing my life truly is.

1. My best friend is coming to town this week. Courtney is my soul sister. We have been friends since we were seven years old and I love spending time with her. She will be here Tuesday to celebrate my daughter’s birthday, the Fourth of July and her birthday– all right in a row! She lives in Portland and our schedules just happened to align in that she could make it here on the same week I happened to have off. We are going to spend time paddle boarding, sitting at the beach, going down giant water slides and watching fireworks go off at the end of my block. I am so excited!
2. I am really lucky to have the family I do. My kids and I just got back from my in-law’s. My husband worked a ton this week and to help save my sanity we took a quick trip over to their house and had a blast. We spent just enough time in the sun… and maybe too much time in the water and it was just what we needed.
3. The rest of the family is coming up too! My sister and brother-in-law, niece, nephew, mother and father-in-law will be here Wednesday and my brother will be here Thursday for the festivities. Dylan is really excited and I can’t wait to celebrate that little lady turning five. She has more attitude and spirit than anyone I’ve ever known, which is trying, but I know will take her places. She is such a special kid and I can’t even put into words how much I love her. I can’t wait to give her the dinosaur yoga mat, dragon figure and nail polish that I know she will be so thrilled about!

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

I felt a bit more at peace after reading the most recent class blog post. I have had an up and down few weeks with staying organized and on top of work and have working in more spurts, which is not my norm. I usually have a pretty solid schedule that I stick to throughout the week. The order is important for me because I work remotely and get distracted easily. The summer has thrown that all to bits. My husband worked Sunday/Monday, Wednesday/Thursday and Saturday/Sunday this week. My kids are wild animals and relentlessly bored. My brain is fried. It’s. So. Hot….

I feel a little bit blah. I am off of work this week and am looking forward to a bit of down time but family is also heading in town to celebrate the Fourth and my daughter’s fifth birthday. I hope I can find balance and recharge to finish the summer strong in more ways the one. I have been really focused on work the last few weeks and am excited about some new social media projects there. I hope this becomes something we can maintain and take advantage of for years to come. Aside from that, I need to refocus and find new energy to finish up my classes strong and finish up my summer-momming strong. It’s such an odd feeling wanting to speed things up but slow things down at the same time. They are driving me nuts, but the slow summer mornings make everything worth it… Maybe I’ll apply some of the social networking techniques to that and find some more reasonable and reliable mom resources. Some activities and ideas to keep them entertained later during the afternoon showers, because I have a weird feeling I’m not the only one feeling this conflicting energy!

***Usually the first thing I do when I sit to write is come up with a title. My brain is often firing on more than one cylinder and a simple title helps me to get focused and decide which direction I want to go in. I am so spaced this week that I just published this entry without any sort of title. Just dove right in and started spilling with no plan in mind. If this doesn’t give you an indication as to where I’m at, I don’t know what does!***

It’s official! I released my first Infographic on our Instagram page. This week I am focusing on aperture and depth of field. I was hoping to get started earlier in the week but I am actually interested to see what happens if I post back to back late in the week versus next week on a more spaced out schedule. I plan to post a photo visual of different depths of field tomorrow and ideally on Sunday I will post student examples that are submitted over the weekend that implement the techniques shown in the visuals.

I posted around 12:10 on Thursday 6/27. As of now, the post has 10 likes and 1 comment. I chose a number of hashtags to incorporate related to the content and created the hashtag #flvsphototips

My hope is that eventually that tag will become a resource in itself. When working with students, instructors can simply reference that as an “on the go” guide. I also sent out an email to my students today to help promote the site. We send out welcome emails and monthly updates, just to name a few of the regular contacts that go out. Incorporating verbiage into these or even signatures in my email are likely ways in which I will try to continue promoting the site. I am excited to see where this goes. I will be logging simple stats here as I collect my thoughts into how to organize the data and interaction!

Any thoughts for next week’s focus? What would you be interested in learning more about when it comes to photography? Composition? Lighting? Camera settings? Help guide next week’s infographics with your thoughts below!

The social aspect of this class and finding a groove and space(s) in which you can communicate with peers in a productive way has been so rewarding. A comment on one of my recent blog posts made me think about a digital detox in a slightly different way this week.

My kiddos- Luke is 8 (“and a half, Mom!!!!”) and Dylan will be 5 next week. Oy… Dylan will be 5! Holy cow…. Anyway, we are about a month into the summer and they are bored. Like ask me 40 questions in a minute, mentally moving on to the next activity before the first is even finished, bored. They love screens. My daughter could watch animal shows and Disney movies all day long. My son loves to play racing games on his Wii. They both know that on most days I won’t even consider screen time until around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had our Saturday morning movies and coffee, but for the most part I try to put the screens off for as long as I can. Despite this, they ask for them usually within an hour or two of waking up. This got me thinking… they see me get on my computer almost immediately in the morning Monday-Friday, and usually on at least one weekend day if I am being honest…. Blogging and coffee is actually a lovely way to spend a Sunday….but what example am I setting for them? How can I help them to distinguish my screen time from theirs? Are my habits something I need to evaluate in general?

I will try to make it a point to refrain from any screen time until the afternoon on one weekend day. Unfortunately, aside from that, I just can’t see other changes that are realistic. Working and going to school remotely with two kids at home usually means I am most productive before anyone gets up and then again when everyone is asleep. That said, I am realizing that I do need to be more cognizant of the fact that my kiddos are watching, and try to follow some of my own rules. Oh the joys of parenthood…

I am realizing a little bit this week that I have never really had a professional network. In some sense, I suppose I do with my co-workers and colleagues, and there are definitely mentors and friends I’ve made along the way, but the majority of our communication happens with our work Instant Messaging application. It sounds a bit outdated, but that and email is how we most frequently connect. We do meet via Blackboard, but that is more for professional development than anything else.

This class and the program in general has been really eye-opening for me. For nothing else other than reading different peoples’ opinions and perspectives. I have been teaching the same course in the same basic format (as far as the bulk of the content goes) for close to 5 years. Sometimes it feels so second-nature to me that I forget what might be new for someone else. I am also a bit stubborn and set in my ways and know how I like to learn. I also know how I like to teach and it’s easy to get comfortable and settle in. This program and this class has helped me to shake things up. Simply connecting with others to bounce ideas off of or read about how they might interpret an article or concept has been really beneficial. I saw this via the discussion boards in my first few classes and have seen different ways that I can maintain this after the course and program are complete. The ease of establishing a professional community online is something I look forward to developing!

I spent the good chunk of my “weekend work” curating what I plan to release over the next two weeks in my classroom. I really hope this is approved (yikes!). I did not receive word of whether or not I would have access to the account until late in the week so I hope that two weeks is enough time to release and track some content for the assignment. I plan to go ahead and get started with the cycle tomorrow because either way I see this as having a lot of potential in my classroom. I am going to start with a focus on aperture. I found an infographic on Pinterest that has a visual that I always find helpful. Those numbers are the size of the opening always feel backwards in my head so I imagine a number of my learners feel the same way. I will release the initial visual on Monday and follow up Wednesday with another selected infographic regarding aperture and depth of field. Friday I will showcase two student examples in a slide format on Instagram and explain how the examples relate to manipulating depth of field. I hope this gets them excited. These summertime learners are amazing and I think they will be a great group of kiddos to role this out with. There is something a bit more freeing about taking a photo class when you can get outside a bit more often and they feel that!

I am going to write up an email to send to my classroom and send it out to my team to promote this as well. I am confident that they will share it with their kids and hopefully we can get some more activity on the page. Actually, let’s write that email now…

Hello Fabulous Photographers!

I wanted to take a moment to remind you about our awesome Instagram page. We showcase student work and release helpful tips that can help you find inspiration and improve your work! Please give us a follow @flvs_creativephotography and feel free to tag us in your best shots!

See you out there!
Your Excited Teacher

I will send that out to my kiddos tomorrow morning and incorporate a text as well this week. I am hoping some of my co-teachers do the same!

Side note… I just thought I lost this post too and my relationship with blogging was about to change drastically. Thankfully I found the draft section and my heart is settled a bit. I love blogging again… I think…

I had a bittersweet journey with technology this week. I wrote a blog post earlier and my power and wifi went out so I lost it. I was a little frustrated and rewrote it in Word. I of course feel like the second entry was not as good. There is something about the raw writing of a journal entry that is really liberating and reblogging an entry wasn’t quite the same. I also think I prefer writing on the platform directly, but here is the reblogged entry from Word 🙂

I was approved to take over the Instagram account for the summer in my schoolhouse! Well, not takeover, but full access and I will be the only one posting to test out some things! I am excited and was met by equal enthusiasm from my Lead teacher. I have been doing a bit of research this week on how and when to post. I think because of the way students tend to work over the summer, I am going to start with an infographic Monday, continue posting student work of the week Thursday (this is a schedule that has been in place for the last two years so I don’t want to disrupt anything entirely… unless I have a reason! 🙂 ) and then another post on Friday. I am hoping to possibly highlight two student examples of how the infographic has been put to use.. For example, if the infographic is about manipulating your aperture, on Friday I would post two student examples of small and large apertures and explain the changes in the caption. I also plan on encouraging interaction and engagement with hashtags and through a school email promoting the source to students. I am really excited about revamping this platform in a more productive way. We have had social media for quite sometime but no one socializes through it! I am also hoping that this leads to being able to incorporate photo challenges a bit later in the summer or even at the start of the new school year. That step is something I think will really help to encourage engagement and meaningful learning in the class!

I will be sure to report back!

I could not be more excited to do a complete social media shut down this week. I found myself starting the day on my phone again and it’s a habit I am really looking to stop before it gets carried away. My kiddos don’t have any camps or practices this week so the slower pace is something I want to take more productive advantage of. I am hoping to get organized and focused this week and hadn’t thought until now to schedule brain breaks. I usually try to eat within a certain window during the day so maybe this is the same approach I should take with social media and being on my phone specifically. I am excited to hit the reset button a bit and continue working toward healthier habits!

I have to be honest… ethics makes me immediately think of the end of Billy Madison where Billy asks Eric (the most unethical character ever) to answer a question regarding business ethics. He fails miserably and proves that his character is not one that you want overseeing an empire, but I truly just cannot get the scene out of my head every time I hear the word.

Ok so that has nothing to do with what we’re talking about this week, but this idea of copyrights, and ethical use is something I have considered a lot in my own working environment. I read something a few weeks ago about a professor pretending to be a student to promote engagement in a course. Call me naïve, but this catfishing approach to teaching is something I had never considered. Well, I guess on some level my co-teachers and I have joked about how easy it would be for one of our higher up’s to attend a live lesson under a student name, but this is a joke based in nightmares… not something I thought anyone would actually do. I am now forced to consider this possibility and other misuses with more a truthful undertone.

I also work with a lot images. There are images in my lesson plans that I cannot control. The curriculum is set and changing it takes a lot… more than what my curriculum team is usually willing to consider on any given day. Because of this, the images I choose to incorporate, I see as extremely important. I need to supplement what the other examples do not provide and my primary focus is to showcase examples that students can actually relate to. Many of the images online are in beautiful, far away lands that lend themselves to “easy” photos. My students in their suburban environment cannot connect. This occurred me years ago when I took my own class. I worked through the assignments and as I encountered examples as an expert (I use that word very loosely) I was still unclear at times. I started to develop my own reference sheets and live lessons that incorporated actual student work. This not only helped me to avoid any copyright infringement, but also helped to facilitate more real-life examples and connection with other learners.

All in all, this week scared me a bit. I am already a bit afraid of these platforms and their potential to consume your life. Given all of these extra considerations regarding privacy, ethics, healthy habits, etc. my resulting thoughts are that social media, like most things in life, is all about balance. How can we strive for a healthy interaction and promotion of these tools to stay current and relevant, while still maintaining active learning, engagement and socialization in the real world?

So this is the week that I started to feel a bit overwhelmed. I am a bit worried that my social media habits in general are getting carried away. Unfortunately I also find myself still scrolling for fashion and dogs in addition to the other more productive pages and platforms I’ve found. My phone gives me an update of my screen time and I have reminders of how long I’ve been on, but despite that my time shot up over an hour last week.

On top of everything else it’s Father’s Day this weekend which is a bit bittersweet for me. I have the most amazing husband in the world and I love celebrating him. He is the best dad and partner ever, and I say that knowing some other pretty great guys. He is fun and adventurous… funny and caring… super cute, devoted and hard working. We are going to St. Augustine, which is one of our favorite places to visit. We’ve been going since we first started dating and something about it feels like a second home for us. I honestly could not be more pumped. Actually I could be… we are going with his parents, who are also seriously some of my best friends. His dad has stepped in for me in ways that I can’t even begin to describe… some I’m sure he is aware of and others he just stumbles into. His mom is such a positive light in my life and has honestly helped to shape the person I am. We are headed up to see an O.A.R. concert at the amphitheater. My mom, who is one of the strongest and kindest people in the world, is watching our kiddos and then driving them up first thing Sunday so we can be together. I am so grateful for my circle and I am genuinely so happy and excited to go.

…. On the flip side, this will be my fifth… I guess sixth actually… Father’s Day without my dad. My dad was the coolest guy ever. He taught me how to love unconditionally. He opened his heart and his home to everyone he met. He was always there to lend a hand, give an encouraging word, bail you out… Even literally in some cases. He was the most generous person. He lived life to the fullest and everything was over the top. He worked hard for his entire life and gave us everything we could ever hope for. He sold the instrument he used to get through his masters program at Stony Brook so he could put presents under our tree. He sent my mom a rose for every month they’d been married for their 25^th wedding anniversary…. I will never forget how the house smelled. He was an amazing cook and was always there to make me an “Egg McAmy”….. NOT AN EGG MCMATT…..when I got home after a night out with friends. He opened our home to all of our friends. Sometimes for days… weeks…months at a time. He took us… and I mean the friends too… on dream vacations and helped so many make memories they will never forget. He coached me in soccer for as long as I played. He coached everyone in soccer. Seriously…. Everyone. He surrounded us with families he trusted and loved… sometimes too much. He always kept his heart open… even after so much heartbreak. He spoiled me but kept me grounded at the same time. He built a life that was secure and indulgent but gave as much as he could, in every aspect of the word. His humor is the reason I think of him every day. He was a bit crass, but hilarious. Except in Germany…. his sarcasm did not travel well over seas.

When I first went away to college and was overwhelmed and the thought of choosing my path he gave me the best advice, “It’s not about where you go, it’s how you get there”. It is something I still remind myself and share with my students and children often. He instilled in me a love for writing and art. He was a “grammar nazi” and made my brother go to summer school in 7^th grade because he couldn’t spell “becouse”. (I support that decision and my son spends a lot of time in “reading camps” over the summer). He was literally a master musician and filled our house with piano music in the mornings… Or very loud Jimmy Buffet is he suspected my older brothers were hungover. He also played the guitar, bass, trombone, harmonica, drums… you name it. He sang Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” to my mom. He also would discreetly mention from time to time that his band did in fact open for Billy Joel’s on Long Island in the early 70’s. He had wanderlust that I admire and moved my mom to Colorado, Ohio, back to Long Island and then Florida. When my brother enrolled in Kindergarten she insisted they lay down roots. He just happened to agree to do so in the place 15 minutes from where my mother’s parents had retired. He gave me that sense of travel that I still carry with me today… He knows more about me that I’d care to admit. He’s seen all the demons but helped keep the light shining bright.

The fact that he is gone is not something I really deal with. I miss him so much and I think about him every day. I hope that I am making him proud, and I think that I am. I wish he was here to see my kids grow up. He loved my son and I swear he stayed with Luke for a bit longer then he stayed with the rest of us. I see him when I look into Luke’s face. Even though his eyes are my most favorite shade of cloud blue…. Those eyes are the perfect combination of my husband’s and my father’s. He would love my daughter so much. I don’t know that it would be possible to spoil her anymore than she already is, but I’m sure he’d find a way. I hope to keep his spirit near her and I think we do a pretty good job of that. She had a special relationship with his dog Griffin, and they might even still visit her every now and then. She sure brings them both up a lot…

I think he’d want us to all live our best life….

Get a hobby and dive in…. Maybe don’t buy every single accessory and version of it like he did immediately… with everything… (because then when you mom sells your childhood home there is quite a bit to deal with, but we’re getting there)…. But still dive in.

Laugh everyday. That’s important. Find someone who you can laugh with. That’s really important too.

Work hard. My dad came from very humble beginnings. He grew up on the south shore of Long Island and I actually just found my Linderhurst sweatshirt this week. The timing of that is only now hitting me.

Keep on truckin’. Everyone has the shit. Life is hard but stay positive. Have fun. Eat something covered in butter. Have a cocktail by the pool…. Maybe not seven… that’s something that’s important to be mindful of too.

Be near water as often as you can. Lay in the sun but wear sunscreen and a hat… and sunglasses… And actually if Jeff is anywhere around you should probably be in the shade that he brought with him and set up for you because otherwise he is going to follow you around with an umbrella and yell at you about getting sunburnt. But open the blinds and let the sun hit your face in a responsible way.

Plant something. Make something… any type of make… cook, paint, draw, write, take a picture.

Stay moving. Exercise and stay in shape. I wish I had the balls to run a marathon like he did often, but I don’t. I do go to yoga as much as I can. I feel really close to him there. Especially with Jill and Robin. He visits me through their music sometimes. And actually Jess and Alexis too. Oh and Erin, of course Erin. Ya, I feel really close to him there.

Never stop learning. I really hope I can take up the piano again one day. And I really need to get Luke some lessons. I am grateful for the tiny bit of music I often play… [Insert Rivers of Babylon, Wish You Were Here, Tora Lora Lora, Ode to Joy]… I think he’d be pretty happy that I went back to school. I am still not entirely sure about my destination, but I always remind myself of that same great advice and remain grateful for, and fully involved in, the journey.

I really hope I get to see him again one more day. For more than just the visit in my dream… or savasana… more than that second in my kiddos’ eyes. More than in the words and guidance I try to share with others. More than a sunset with my family or a beer in a dark bar where I am oddly good at pool and darts. I hope he is happy and pain free and that he sees himself in us. That everyone that he touched helps him to live on and live life well.

I love you Dad. I miss you so much.