Weekly Recap

Wednesday
I meant to teach a lesson during the first period and to take the kids out after lunch, but that didn't work with the staff's schedule so we flipped it. We took the AEP boys through Belmont, much like I'd done with the St. Kateri girls on Sunday. Actually, we just walked along the street that the home is on until we reached Belmont park, spent some time there and then walked back. I showed the boys their pictures from the week before while everyone ate lunch. The second session, which I knew would be a problem, took a very long time to settle into and the boys were very worn out from the morning's excitement. We had a quick talk about settings and angles we could use for different animals, as we were going to the zoo the next day. They learned how to turn off the flash for the animals behind plastic, and we dismissed them early.

Thursday
I came in a little bit earlier than normal and the kids' lunches were already made. We packed into three of the staff members' cars and drove to the zoo, which is nearby. The boys were essentially left to wander the zoo in their pairs, with staff initially roaming around to ask leading questions and help out. Eventually, we all sat down in the picnic area and the kids came to us when they were done or needed us. They took pictures for ages, running around and getting low to get their shots. Eventually, when all of the 12 batteries had run out (for 5 cameras), the boys ate picnic style. One pair had taken 410 pictures. Somewhere in the middle of the day, one of the staff had bought them all ice cream. They agreed that it was a good day. We drove back to the home and dismissed them immediately.

Friday
The AEP staff have been having professional development days on Fridays for a few weeks. This was my first involvement in the process. I facilitated a 3 hour workshop on the language of photography, camera basics and visual literacy. I didn't seek out feedback from the group, but I heard that it was generally successful, which was nice. It was a lot of information that I presented to them in a very short period of time, and everyone was coming with a different level of knowledge. I gave Mr. Mader a copy of the power point presentation so that concepts can be revisited later.

Saturday
I was supposed to take the St. Kateri girls to the zoo, but it has been very rainy lately. And not just one rainfall midday, like usual, but several throughout the day. To make matters worse, my friend who helps out with supervision was out of town and some of the girls had stayed up late to watch tv and were dead on their feet. We decided to raincheck the zoo and have a catch up kind of day. I accidentally replaced two of the girls' photos from the first day, so they went out to take some shots, along with the girls who have moved into the house since the beginning of the program. Two of the girls who I know well and who have been there since the beginning stayed back with me to look at their photos so far, as well as my personal pictures from my time with them in the summer 2007. We even found videos of them dancing in their living room that I didn't know I still had. When the group came back, they all watched them together and laughed. They proceeded to make several new dancing videos that I have yet to upload, but I look forward to the accompanying giggles.

The girls and I all wanted to go take some shots at a nearby beach. I had discussed the idea with administration, who were facilitating transportation. Then admin let me know that the girls might have a brunch to go to on Sunday, but if not, transportation was available. The girls didn't know anything about it on Saturday. We agreed to go to Chagaramas if possible, and to do a fashion photo shoot at the house as a plan B. I went back to admin to see what was up, and it turned out that some of them were going to the brunch, they just weren't aware of it yet. I asked about taking them to the beach afterwards, which I was told would be fine, but that no one had discussed transportation with them so I was on my own.

Sunday
I was woken up at 8:30 am, and I promptly called the St. Kateri house to tell the staff that I would be by at 3 pm to take their headshots and to ask the staff to tell the kids to be dressed and ready for when I got there. At 3 pm, there were some girls lying around the living room and colouring. The rest were in their rooms. No one was dressed; no one had told them to get ready. I gave them 30 minutes to prepare. They proceeded to model one by one in front on flowered curtains. The shots are cute, but they are stilted and despite my best attempts at lighting, the necessary flash had a harsh effect on a lot of the girls. They are not bad pictures, but portraits taken in natural light would have been ideal. But the girls had fun and I think they enjoyed the attention. We talked a bit about the art show and they seem to be excited about it.