Flat Stanley
My good friend Jeff Greene has a son in elementary school who is currently participating in a Flat Stanley project. The basic idea is that the kids color in a paper figure (Flat Stanley), and then try to get photos of Flat Stanley in as many cool places as possible.
Now, the first part about this that caught my attention relates to Jeff’s competitiveness. He’s pulling out all the stops to help ensure his son has the best photos of Flat Stanley. I don’t want to steal his thunder, so I won’t mention the cool shots he’s already gotten as part of the project. Oh, and if any of you know NASA astronauts, big-time celebrities, or others who might be able to assist with some great photos with Flat Stanley, do let me know.
What really caught my attention here was how digital photography is finding its way into so many aspects of our lives. When I was in elementary school (I’d rather not say how long ago that was), we didn’t have any projects involving photography. You can imagine what a hassle it would be to have to take pictures, get film developed, and bring prints to school. Now using digital cameras the whole process is much easier.
More to the point, digital photography has become so mainstream that it is actually on the radar of teachers, and being used to liven up many school projects. I love that photography has become such an integral part of education, and Flat Stanley is only one example of that.
You can learn more about the Flat Stanley Project by visiting www.flatstanley.com. And if you know of other cool projects using digital photography in education, do let me know.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Cool project! For those wanting to help enable more teachers to do photography related thing, Donor’s Choose is a non profit organization that lets teachers post specific projects they are hoping to get funding support for. Donor’s choose has won many awards for their efforts. You can search projects specifically related to photography here http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?page=1&zone=0&keywords=photography&y=0&x=0
Anybody know of any organizations that take used photography equipment and distribute it to the schools that can make best use of them?
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:02 pm
i am currently participating in the flat stanley project. my great nephew zachery sent him to me from defiance ohio and he has been with me at my work all week long. so far he has helped with putting out freight and even took a ride on a wild bucking horse. he even got to meet the store cat cowgirl and they got along very well. he will be going home soon and i hope he enjoyed his trip to montana.