The rule of thirds

I could use my voice today! It's a pretty handy thing for a teacher to be able to talk. Maybe yesterday had to happen so I wouldn't take speaking for granted.

Because I could not speak yesterday and because it managed to rain (and hail for a moment) in the morning, my initial plan to drag my digital media classes outside so they could take photos to demonstrate their understanding of some principles of photography was pushed to today. As I was marching my second period monsters from the stairs to the courtyard I had chosen for these photos, my principal walked by with the superintendent of the school district. So, Wednesday was interesting. 

Enjoy a photo that demonstrates the use of s-curves:

And diagonal lines:

Or the rule of thirds: 

I know- it's thrilling. I've covered the whole curriculum already with these kids. I decided to throw in what had previously been my pre-spring-break lesson on photos for this week. 

I scrapped it at the regularly scheduled time because of the distinguished teacher review evaluation. I didn't want to risk dragging my three-member evaluation team down three flights of stairs and into the courtyard. That could have gone well, but it was more likely to have spectacularly failed. 

So I did it in front of the superintendent. 

I did have my objective and such stuck to a file folder that I taped to a wall outside. The kids laughed at me, but I knew what I was doing... 

As for my recovery, I'm better today than I was yesterday, though I'm not great yet. I slept a ton yesterday, and I've already managed an hour and a half of sleep this evening. I'll be back in bed by nine. Hopefully, that will do the trick. Either that, or I'm going to have Amazon start shipping Kleenex directly to my doorstep.