Friday, June 13, 2014

Friday the 13th

Today is the last day of the 2013-14 school year - one of the most (if not THE MOST) difficult class of students ever.  Funnily enough, it's also Friday the 13th!  Coincidence?  I think not.

In 5 hours and 15 minutes it will be summer break!  Woot! Woot!


18 comments:

  1. Ohkaay, I can hear the weeeeeeeeee from this distance. :-D :-D :-D :-D
    I hope you are going to relax for a few days before getting going. A few days in the jammies to recharge would do you good. But I expect you have plans. Anyhow, big squeezy spin about hugs.

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    1. I cheered up until I fell asleep about 30 minutes after getting home, not waking until about 6:00. I even dreamt about classroom issues and was so relieved when I woke up and they weren't really issues. :)
      I do have to work at the district next week on curriculum and then there's the conference in DC, but it's different work. After that though, it's definitely jammies-time! :)
      I'm getting the camera out this weekend, and I look forward to that.

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    2. I sincerely hope they are paying you for the extra. They try to convince people here and the UK that non classroom contact work isn't work. And this BS usually from those that bill by the hour.

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    3. Well, yes, technically we are getting paid by the hour for our work. On the other hand, districts pay millions of dollars for curriculum from publishers that is crap, and because it's crap we write a lot of our own. The plumber, the mechanic, even my mow and blow gardener make more per hour than we do writing curriculum.
      There is a ton of work this summer, but I'm only doing this next week because it's for writing and I train that during the year. Even though I feel bad about it, I've declined working the rest of the summer because quite frankly I'm tired and getting rather burnt out.
      Here, at least in the small districts in town (I don't know about LA Unified), they do compensate us for most out of classroom work, at least for the work that benefits the entire district. Any work done for our classroom isn't compensated, that's part of the salary.

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    4. I should clarify, the classroom work isn't compensated beyond the salary we are paid.

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    5. I'm not getting at you !. The 180 of it in fact.

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    6. I was on about the treatment of teachers as somehow having a vocation that meant they should do things for free.
      Here you usually hear that type of comment/expectation from those that bill by the hour like Dr's and lawyers who charge for everything under the sun and then some.

      Oh I was thinking about your camera. I don't know if a polarizer would make a difference in your light conditions outside. But it might. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarizing_filter_(photography)

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    7. I have seen those and wondered the same thing. I like what they do with enhancing the color.
      Today's shots weren't so good...I can see that they will get there, but they're not yet. I have a lot figuring out to do. It was very bright today, and after looking at them on the computer I'm a little disappointed. Learning curve, learning curve...... :)

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  2. Congrats on summer!! Are you still happy you moved schools? I am :)
    Wishing you a wonderful, relaxing summer!

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    1. Thank you! Yes, yes, yes! I'm very happy where I am. It's been two challenging years student-wise, but that can happen anywhere. The school is so calm and ego-free...no drama. My kind of place! I'm glad you are happy at yours too. It does make a world of difference when getting up and going to work, doesn't it. You're on your countdown now. :)

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  3. What does the histogram look like, it should look like a upended curve. It almost never does,but it should not be at one side or the other. Upload one, one you think is average, and the f/stop,iso, and shutter speed. Oh, shoot in Raw files not JPEG. You'll recover far more information that is contained in raw.

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    1. I haven't figured out raw yet. I forgot that's the best format. I think that my biggest problem right now is just not knowing all the "how tos" on the camera yet. I didn't have the time before now. So when I was ready to shoot something I either didn't know how/what to use to best take it or it was taking too long as I fumbled through it and lost the shot. I was also under a tent for a lot of the time listening to the bands and the camera wanted me to use the flash, but it was still so bright in the tent. Those photos are either too dark or blown out by the flash. Anyhow, I think now I've got some issues to study up on so it becomes more automatic for me.
      I'll pick a couple and put them up in a post later today.

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    2. I climbed to Coumshingaun (Come-shin-gaun) corrie lake 1300ft up a mountain and miles in from the road and totally cocked up the entire shoot. Almost every photo was a dead loss. But I thought I was getting quite good ones.
      So the best tip I can give you is if you need the shot put it on Auto and see what happens. If then you havent got it fully you can push it about a bit with speed, ISO or aperture. Auto will meter the entire frame, so inside, unless you are shooting at or through light you should be peachy. Then if say you wanted a subject, and only that mattered, put it on Spot Meter and you can move the spot about the frame.

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    3. You're the 2nd person today to tell me to try auto also. I would have thought that would be sacrilege for a photographer, but it sure makes me feel better. :). I was thinking of starting with that just as I learned to use it and then branch out from there. I'm glad to have gotten permission...twice. :)

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  4. Once you realise that the camera grabs a range of light, say 5 for the fun. And when it sets the agenda it will be between 3-8, but the thing you wanted is at 4. So while it's OK, it would be best if the range was between 2-7. And with the one you have now you can move it, or narrow it, say 3-5 or even just the 4.
    You will grasp the idea very quickly because of the work you do with art.
    As to the automatic setting, who cares how you get it, as long as you do get it.

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