Hmm . . . 32,249 photos in my iCloud account?
Yes. I’m one of those people. I’m one of those people who are constantly taking photos. Looking back through photos allows me to relive life all over again. The art of taking photos has come a long way. Nowadays, you can take amazing photos with a smartphone. There are filters and effects that can enhance any photo taken. In my personal life, I feel like I’m writing a book through the pictures I take. They provide hours of inspiration, especially if I decide to take it further and write about the experiences.
Taking photos on a daily basis has not only made a book out of my own personal experiences but also enhanced my professional life in several ways. There are many ways to use photos in the classroom. After all, we all know that the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” is a universal truth.
It’s a wonderful way to review our learning from the previous day
One way I use the photos I take in the classrooms is to activate our memory, connect with our previous learning, and have them act as a bridge to what we will be doing together that day. I work with multilingual learners, and using photos in my classroom has been a life-changing experience for them.
I try to be very intentional in the ways I select photos. I choose five photos that represent what we have been working on as scholars. Then I greet my students in the morning with those photos displayed on the board. After personal greetings and after they settle down, we gather on the carpet, where they have access to the big screen. I often say, “Welcome to a new day. I’m so excited you are here today. We get to do more learning and growing together. Yesterday you did so much thinking, wondering, and learning. I’m going to show you some photos of our day yesterday. Tell me what you notice and what you remember about our learning.” I use hand gestures to indicate yesterday because it is one of those words that multilingual learners tend to confuse.
After that, I listen to what children say. I love noticing the ways in which they slowly wake up to the learning as they remember what they were doing the day before. Students’ sharing also serves as a review of what we are working on. It serves as a way for any students who were absent the day before to witness the thinking/learning and experiences. For students who might be experiencing short-term memory loss, this also helps them connect with themselves and everyone in the community.
Photos are natural storytelling prompts
Often on Fridays, I print some of the pictures on the school printer and spread them on tables. Then I invite the learners in my classroom to choose a table where they would like to start. I try to keep it to about four students maximum per table. Then I encourage them to share their observations with one another. My role during these interactions is to listen and move between groups. I try to capture language as it is being shared. I usually type the phrases I hear into my iPad so that I can easily display them on the board later.
There is a lot of oral language growth during these conversations, and the photos provide an entry point for all students because they represent their learning throughout the week. Even if they were absent one day during that week, they are able to access the conversations. For students who are emergent bilinguals, I provide sentence starters on cards that say, “I see ________”; “In this picture ________”; “I like ________.” These cards have their home language printed on the back for the multilingual learners who are literate in their home language.
Photos as Visual Biographies
Another way I use photos in the classroom is by asking students to create a visual biography that represents their learning. Not only is this a wonderful way for students to share their own learning with families, but it also keeps them accountable for their growth. I ask students to be mindful and intentional in the language they use in their visual biography. Language such as “I am still learning ________” denotes that this is a work in progress. It also indicates that they have not reached mastery yet. Language such as “I learned ________” shows that the child feels very confident about that specific skill. “I’m working to understand how ________” points out that this work is ongoing.
Then students create their own reflection through these digital visual biographies. I ask them to do this work at least every three weeks so we can keep a great account of our learning. Another aspect of this kind of work is that it puts the responsibility on the child to be honest with their own learning journey. These visual biographies are later shared with parents and guardians as a way to share our learning with them.
Using photos in the classroom is a powerful tool for critical thinking and resourcefulness. Photos also allow students to process deep and complex learning as it happens. Students’ oral language skills flourish, and their listening skills get sharper with every interaction. The photos I take of my classroom learning and of my students remain one of the most powerful tools I use for reflection and next steps. Also, I’m grateful to live in a digital world where iCloud exists and we have systems that easily support this kind of practice.
