Being in the right place at the right time sure can pay off! When I went kayak fishing last summer in Southern California for white seabass, a giant school of squid appeared at the surface. I dove in with my camera and lucked out with some amazing underwater squid photos.
My squid pictures made the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune, were featured in the Audobon Magazine, Dive Photo Guide, and numerous major websites. I was even featured on TV (click on the below clip to see that). Not bad for a chance encounter!
My luck continued when Oxford University Press's London bureau contacted me and asked to use one of my squid photos for the cover of their scientific publication Journal of Molluscan Studies. What a gas! I can't make much sense of what they talk about inside the book because it's very technical, but I'm flattered that such smart people liked my squid pics.
If you want to read the entire story with more photos, check out this article here.
In addition to being a fishing photographer and travel writer, I have been teaching elementary school for 15 years. I use my passion for fishing, writing, photography, and technology to engage my students.
This fall I was recognized by the California State Senate and the Technology Training Foundation of America as a "2011 Tech Hero" for my "Commitment to providing students with the necessary training and tools to compete in our technological world."
Specifically, I have been teaching students how to use blogs, photoshop, and video editing. I also teach them digital citizenship, the evolution from print to web, and search engine optimization.
I was asked by the prominent educational website Edutopia (funded by the movie mogul George Lucas of Star Wars) to write an article on using student blogs to help English Language Learners cross the Digital Divide. You can read the article by clicking here.
My class was also featured on TV (see below video) and our work was written about in several different publications, including Education News and Converge Magazine.
If you have any interest in checking any of this work out, please visit my site at www.kidslikeblogs.org. My next project involves using billfish and marine science to teach my students the science, math, and writing.
To see examples of how I use fishing and technology to engage my students, click here and here. Stay tuned for updates from our exciting classroom.
