An Analysis of Items to be Procrastinated

Ben Guest Assignment: Review the portfolios from last year, and discuss the lessons that can be drawn in regards to the creation of our own portfolios.

As one reviews the portfolios from last year, particularly in the quest to determine "what worked well," one cannot ignore Ms. Ruddock-Harris's use of side-by-side comparison and a unifying theme. It does not take a very close inspection to determine why she had been awarded Best Portfolio with all of her comparisons between her first and second year laid out in such a visually appealing mannor.

Both Ms. Sharp's and Ms. Levine's portfolios make excellent use of photographs interspersed throughout. I've always been a fan of taking pictures, but actually doing so has had it's ups and downs. Given that one can never predict a portfolio worthy event, I suppose the best plan of action is just to start photographically documenting everything. I did a pretty good job with this last year, but I'll be sure to step it up in the coming months to ensure a more than adequate selection of material come spring time.

Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Patterson's page on classroom management. All of her changes are well outlined, and the page includes a variety of different forms of media to exemplify her points. One thing I will need to start thinking about is how my procedures and management have changed over time since beginning Teacher Corps.

The portfolios from last year definitely provoke a plethora of thoughts in regards to how I will go about creating my own, and one could easily spend hours peering over them, trying to discern the aspects that work from the ones that are better left out. It's a lot to think about, but probably the best lesson learned from this experience is that documenting everything is a necessity when it comes to creating a good portfolio.

America the Beautiful

Ben Guest Assignment: Post a photo essay on any topic that has a minimum of seven photos.

This summer, Emily and I went on a three-week road trip from Mississippi, to California, and back again. As we passed through the various cities on our way, we ended up couch surfing with eleven different people. But when we weren't being hosted by incredible people willing to let us spend a night or two, we were holed up in a cheap, little tent that leaked when it rained in some of our country's most amazing national parks, really getting our money's worth out of our national parks pass. This photo essay highlights our stops in the national parks that we came across on our journey.

El Malpais National Monument (New Mexico)

Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (Nevada)

Golden Gate National Park (California)

Muir Woods National Monument (California)

Yosemite National Park (California)

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Arizona)

Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado)

Comanche National Grassland (Colorado)

Ozark National Forest (Arkansas)