C4T Summary #2

In Mr. Tony Baldasaro's blog post on September 30, 21012 What Can Schools Learn From Digital Photography? he talks about everything he does with his digital camera. He makes several points about what he can do and expands on each of them: 1.I Always Have My Camera, 2. I Need Tools to Help Me, 3. I get Immediate feedback, 4. I Have Multiple Opportunities, 5. I Can Share My Images, 6.The Final Product Is Not Done Until I Say It Is, 7. I Can Shoot in Solitude, and 8. I Get To Create. After explaining each of these points he says, "Photography has evolved to the point where an amateur like me can use tools to create stunning images. Moreover, the process to create those images isn’t judged differently because I used tools help me, or even that I had to. The point is I, and every other amateur photographer can create something beautiful." So, after all of that, What can schools learn from digital photography?

In my comment to him I told him I also love my digital camera. I vaguely remember cameras with film, but what I do remember is my parents rarely had them developed. Now, you can upload it straight to your computer and do whatever you wish with it. My high school had a class for photography, and I believe it should be offered as an art elective in all schools. It is not only fun, but students can learn how to create their own masterpieces. It will also enable them to learn how to use different tools on the computer that they may need in the future.

On October 15th Mr. Baldasaro posted again. This post "Say Yes to Drugs" caught my attention right off the bat. It is about how doctors are diagnosing children with A.D.H.D left and right. He quoted many sections of the New York Times Article from last week about doctors prescribing drugs for low income students to help them concentrate in school.

My comment to him stated that I agreed with him. Everyone has episodes where they do not want to pay attention, or they can not sit still. I do it quite often. However, it was never disruptive in my classes. I believe part of the problem is behavior issues. I have not once met a child who was diagnosed with A.D.H.D. that did not have issues with doing what they are told. That is just my experience though. “We’ve decided as a society that it’s too expensive to modify the kid’s environment. So we have to modify the kid.” I feel this is just wrong on so many levels. I know it is a cliche, but what about that child's rights?