For My ROP Students

Every Monday and Wednesday I TA for the photography class Jack teaches in the ROP room. What really impresses me every time I go in are the students. They are all such great workers and they really slay when it comes to creativity. They are dedicated to their work and trying to meet the standards the rubrics call for. Two days ago I was honored to be there as their TA.

The A-Z project is a project in which the students try to make a children's book using pictures. They photograph objects and photoshop the first letter of the object on to their pictures. It sounds simple but the process is very long and taxing. Trying to find objects that start with certain letters is tedious. On top of maintaining pictures, photoshopping each multiple times, keeping them in order, and finding an object for every letter, they must boil everything down to a simple form. It's a picture book for children and not all of them understand what the pictures are trying to convey. It is their end of the semester project, worth 104 points, their biggest photography task yet.

That last day they had to work was the most focused I have seem them. It was a race against time and it was interesting seeing them pulling everything together. There was a group of students that stayed behind longer than the rest, working fast yet still managed to stray behind. I remembered when I was in their shoes. You feel the rush, the drive to keep on going. It is stressful and it feels like you are getting nowhere. In the end, my students completed their projects. The relief of knowing you don't have to worry about the project anymore, that it's over, is very rewarding. Later you think of improvements you could have made, but a lll together you are proud. It may not be the best looking to everyone else, but it looks like the best to you. You know what went into it and you are proud.

In honor of the kids I TA for and all of the hard work they've done this semester, I will be posting my A-Z project. Their projects may have a few bugs to fix but I know what they did to get there, and I am the most proud TA in the world.

Some of them were asking about my A-Z project and I told them I might show them if they finished. My gosh did they finish. And with flying colors. The pictures are embarrassing, it was a whole year ago and I have learned from my mistakes. If you guys actually check my blog, this one is for you rascals.