lodeStar Learning Web Journal

For our 29th anniversary, my wife and I spent the week end in Ely, Minnesota. Besides kayaking on the Kawishiwi River, and howling at wolves under a full moon, we had the wonderful experience of revisiting Jim Brandenburg’s collection of photographs in his shop on Sheridan Street.

Jim Brandenburg, an inspirational nature photographer who is widely known for his work, challenged himself in an extraordinary way. He would take one picture, and only one picture each day. From the autumnal equinox to the winter’s solstice, he would plan his shot, wait for the perfect moment – wait for that perfect harmony of color and form and texture and light or whatever—and click. 90 days. 90 clicks. The results are astounding.

So, when I arrived home from that perfect weekend, I thought I would try it. Only, my choice was to get started right away and capture the passing of summer into fall. So, I started on August 21. Each day, one click. On some days, I accomplished exactly that. I waited for the moment, and clicked. On other days, I over-exposed or under-exposed – and so I shot again. But I found myself, thinking a lot about light. The light helped me choose my subject each day. I remained faithful to that subject, if not to the ‘first’ click.

Here are my collection of photographs and thoughts – in progress. http://www.lodestarlearning.com/samples/90_Days/index.htm

Then I started thinking about the use of this activity in our schools. In his book, Brandenburg includes written reflections of the day’s photograph. He is quite open and honest about his emotion. And so, I imagined young students thinking about their shot, committing the ‘click’, and then journaling about the experience. Perhaps they would write about their feelings; perhaps tell a little about the subject of the photo. They might write about something environmental, social or historical. The possibilities are open.

Of course, this type of activity is easily supported by LodeStar software and its templates – but there are a variety of alternatives. Students can upload to Flickr, Facebook, PBWiki or wherever. The main ingredients of this experience are the same: Reflection, evaluation, commitment, expression and publication. The last ingredient may be something that school districts need to facilitate. In inquiry-based instruction, publication is essential. Students learn that what they communicate isn’t perfunctory and for the instructor’s eyes alone. They are putting something out to the world. They need to self-evaluate and be mindful of their use of language and its mechanics.

Publication in a school district can be accomplished through a variety of means. The school can give instructors access to a web server through web-based distributed authoring and versioning. Technical support people know this as WebDav. To an instructor, WebDav can mean a folder in their file explorer. Anything dragged into that folder is automatically published to the web. This approach opens the door to the creative use of LodeStar and other authoring tools that generate files that need to be uploaded to a web server.

Alternatively, the wild west of the web offers a free means of publication. Social networking sites and wikis support direct upload of images to the site as well as widgets to add text input.

In conclusion, there are a variety of tools that will support an online version of what Jim Brandenburg created in his 90 Day collection of photographs. There is also the importance of publication. Instructors should push for the ability to publish to the web and support their students’ efforts to do so. This sort of activity will engage students and help build their ability to communicate. Plus, do I dare say it? Students will have fun!