Photographer Child
The use of photographs in your classroom is certainly useful for documenting learning but if given the chance, photographs can also become a tool to discovering important information about your classroom, the curriculum and more importantly, the children. When you engage a child to be the photographer, you will definitely have a powerful classroom advantage.
Why you Need a Classroom Photographer
Researchers Byrnes & Wasik (2015) have found that photographs can facilitate learning in early childhood classrooms. In their research, they found that using photographs, the children were able to capture important aspects of their learning and to revisit and extend their activities. Having a child as classroom photographer for the day or session is an excellent strategy for guiding children’s learning and for gaining insight into the child’s developmental abilities, understandings, and interests.
Assigning a child in your class to take on the role of photographer will prove to be valuable to the learning in your classroom. The children will love this important role and you will find they usually take it on with commitment. Our classroom photographer plays an integral part of our learning each day and I could not be teaching as effectively without one.
The photos taken by the class photographer can become useful lesson resources. I have noticed optimal engagement by the whole class whenever I use these photos. The children instantly relate to the photos. They are images of classroom places and resources familiar to them and they have been produced by one of their friends.
The photographer role makes children feel important and valued. They get a self-esteem boost when they present their valuable information to the class. Having the whole class viewing and discussing their photos reinforces a classroom community where each child’s work is respected and valued. The children will see themselves as essential participants in the classroom learning and lessons.
You can also use the photos to make classroom resources. Print the photographs and use them as reference cards, learning prompts or stimulus pictures at investigation areas, learning centres or in small group activities. Using the printed photos as classroom resources is another way to build the photographer child’s self-esteem and your classroom community.
Making learning visible is a concept discussed by education researcher John Hattie. He found that effective learning must be seen and obvious, not assumed. The photos taken by your child photographer will ensure that learning is visible in your classroom and can be referred to repeatedly throughout the year.
Another reason you need a classroom photographer is for the documentation of the children’s learning. The photographer’s photos will become a valuable record of your children’s understandings and thinking. This photographic evidence can then be used to inform your assessments and planning.
Documentation and record keeping are usually teacher responsibilities and yet the children are quite capable of sharing this task. I sometimes place a camera within an investigation area so the children can record their work. Just make sure they have some way to name their work or you will get a heap of work samples with no idea of the creators.
Sometimes a child will surprise me with the photos they have taken. The photos often provide insight into what that individual child focuses on and how they view their world. I am often surprised at their interpretation of the teacher directed task. A class discussion of the photos can act as a springboard for future investigations or lessons too.
How does the Role of a Photographer Child work?
Each day in our classroom, a child has the designated role of photographer. We have a checklist displayed at our meeting area. When a child has their turn to be the daily photographer, their name is checked off the list. I like to have the checklist displayed so any child eagerly awaiting their turn can see their name coming up.
You can download an editable photographer checklist along with some other useful photographer resources HERE in my FREE resource library.
Click to DOWNLOAD these Classroom Photographer Resources
We start each day with a morning session at our meeting area on the carpet. Together we set our daily learning intentions, mark the roll, discuss the class calendar, and introduce our photographer for the day. The photographer comes to the front of the class to collect the camera or iPad and I assign the child a specific photography task. The task is linked to our current curriculum and learning intentions and will benefit the learning outcomes for the individual photographer child too.
It is important to explain the task in front of the whole class. This further revises our curriculum learning intentions, ensures everybody is aware of the photographer’s role and adds to the understanding that this role carries responsibilities and expectations.
Sometimes a child will require a peer buddy to help them with their task. I find it useful to clearly explain that this buddy is assigned to assist the photographer only. It is not the buddy’s role to take over the task or to do it for their photographer friend.
At the morning session, the photographer is one of the last children to leave the meeting area. When all the children in the class have settled into their morning investigations, I spend some time with the photographer. Working with this child early in the session ensures he is clear with the set task and gives me the opportunity to review the photos. The class will view these photos later in the day so they must be suitable and reasonably focused.
Investing time with the photographer also gives me an opportunity to observe and get to know this little person. I can continue to build a supportive relationship with him and scaffold his learning if need be.
Photos taken by our child photographer are viewed by the class during explicit teaching and reflection lessons. Usually the photographer sits at the front of the class with me to discuss and explain the photographs. Whether the photos have been taken on a digital camera or an iPad, it is an advantage to have a large screen to display them on. It is possible for the whole class to view the photos on an iPad, but a large screen allows all the children to easily see the photos clearly.
Freebies to Help You Organise a Classroom Photographer Child
I have seen photographer vests or lanyards being worn by children in other classrooms. This helps to distinguish the child photographer. It also helps to make the child feel they have an important role to play in the classroom that day. Other classrooms have a sign announcing the name of the child photographer for the day.
If you would like to adopt any of these ideas in your classroom, I have the printables to help you in my FREE Resources Library HERE.
I have Investigation Display Packs available in my store. They will help to keep your investigation routines organised and clearly visible in your classroom.
There are 3 different themes to choose from. They all have editable text boxes so you can quickly and easily personalise the pages before printing.
How to Start the Photographer Child Role
At the beginning of the year or when the role of classroom photographer is first introduced to the class, it is necessary to train all the children how to correctly use the camera or iPad. Explicitly teaching the correct and safe use of the equipment and clearly defining the role expectations of the class photographer are vital introductory lessons for the whole class. The first time a child has a turn to be the photographer, I invest plenty of time with this child to ensure he is fully trained around the correct and safe use of the equipment and that he also understands the responsibilities of being the class photographer.
It is also helpful to keep the photographer tasks simple at the beginning of the year. The children should have every opportunity to feel successful with the task. The focus at the beginning should be on setting role expectations and the training of correct equipment use.
How to Choose a Task for Your Photographer Child
The teacher designates the photographer task each day. Remember that the tasks should link to the curriculum learning intentions and if possible, personalised for each child depending on their strengths and needs. The photographer tasks and how the photos will be used are always teacher planned and directed.
When choosing a task, I first look over the learning intentions and lessons planned for the day. I use these planning documents to guide my decision for the photographer’s task. So, for example, if we are learning about patterns in Maths, the photographer’s task might be to take 5 photos of patterns in our classroom, or to use the loose parts to make 3 different repeating patterns and then photograph them.
Some children are snap happy! Giving the photographer a specific number of photos to take ensures you do not end up with a hundred photos to view when you meet with the class later. Setting a small number of photos also helps the photographer to plan and prioritise his work. The photographer task should not be a long arduous assignment. Limiting the number of photos required will present the task as a small, achievable job.
Next, in my planning, I decide when the class will view the photos. I could choose to view them at the learning reflection time we have after investigations each day or we could view them as a warm-up in the explicit teaching lesson planned for later in the day. It is important to view the photos that day. The photographer is always keen to share their photos and we must value them as important classroom resources.
If we need task cards in group rotations, reference cards or charts for a math investigation area or if we are making a book about patterns, the photographs may be printed and used again. If they will be printed, I will still ensure the photos are digitally viewed by the whole class the same day they are taken. Classroom community is important to me and I want to instill the messages that these photos are valuable resources and our photographer plays a vital classroom role.
Some Ideas for Your Classroom Photographer Tasks
Numeracy: taking photos of numbers represented with loose parts, photographing evidence of Maths in the classroom (eg. 3D shapes in the blocks area or a clock on the wall), taking photos of objects longer than a pencil or an object 10cm wide, photographing collections for the class to subitise.
Literacy: photographing objects starting with the /b/ sound, photos of sight words found in a big book, photographing the beginning, middle and end of a story from the class library, taking a photo of something interesting the class can write about, photographing the steps of a procedure.
Science: taking photos of living things in the playground, photos of wooden, plastic or glass items, photographing clouds, photos of objects that can roll.
Social & Emotional: photographing peers demonstrating cooperation, taking photos of children using resources respectfully, photographing a good friend (discuss why at the class reflection time).
Want more ideas for your classroom photographer tasks?
I have compiled over 200 different photographer tasks. These tasks cover the Maths, English and Science curriculum areas and are aligned to the ACARA P-2 curriculum.
