James Nachtwey's Photos from his website

These are my favorite photos I found on James Nachtwey's website.

By Charlie Sweeney

I am taking a digital media class at SOAR. This week I researched the war photographer James Nachtwey. You can see some of his work here:

http://www.jamesnachtwey.com/

I noticed his photos were mainly about war scenes and all the people were in pain.. He also had photos of prisons and fighting. The cities were destroyed. His photos were of places that were having problems.


I’ve posted my favorite photos by him.
Charlie Sweeney

By Mitchell Wilkinson-Harrsion

This photo was taken last expediton At Mesa Verde. I learned that the people living in Mesa Verde are call Pueblo people.

Photo by Mitchell Wilkinson-Harrison

This photo was taken by Mitchell at Mesa Verde during his most recent expedition out West.

Hueco Tanks, Texas

This photo was taken at Hueco Tanks, Texas,

Photo by Kenji - research by EJ

Below is some information I found on the following website about Mesa Verde:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/meve/cliff_dwellings/cliff_dwellings_home.htm

We visted Mesa Verde during our last expedition.


Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling (Cliff Palace and Long House are larger), was constructed between AD 1211 and 1278 by the ancestors of the Puebloan peoples of the Southwest. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural cave measuring 216 feet (66 meters) at greatest width and 89 feet (27 meters) at its greatest depth. It is thought to have been home for about 80 people. Spruce Tree House was opened for visitation following excavation by Dr. Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Fewkes removed the debris of fallen walls and roofs and stabilized the remaining walls. Due to the protection of the overhanging cliff, Spruce Tree House had deteriorated very little through the years and has required little supportive maintenance. The cliff dwelling was first discovered in 1888, when two local ranchers chanced upon it while searching for stray cattle. A large tree, which they identified as a Douglas Spruce, was found growing from the front of the dwelling to the mesa top. It is said that the men first entered the dwelling by climbing down this tree, which was later cut down by another early explorer.
Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling (Cliff Palace and Long House are larger), was constructed between AD 1211 and 1278 by the ancestors of the Puebloan peoples of the Southwest. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural cave measuring 216 feet (66 meters) at greatest width and 89 feet (27 meters) at its greatest depth. It is thought to have been home for about 80 people. Spruce Tree House was opened for visitation following excavation by Dr. Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Fewkes removed the debris of fallen walls and roofs and stabilized the remaining walls. Due to the protection of the overhanging cliff, Spruce Tree House had deteriorated very little through the years and has required little supportive maintenance. The cliff dwelling was first discovered in 1888, when two local ranchers chanced upon it while searching for stray cattle. A large tree, which they identified as a Douglas Spruce, was found growing from the front of the dwelling to the mesa top. It is said that the men first entered the dwelling by climbing down this tree, which was later cut down by another early explorer.

Strengths Finder

Strengths Finder

Psychologist Dr. Donald O. Clifton (1924-2003), in partnership with the Gallup Organization, worked together for decades to study, quantify and survey the unique strengths of individuals. Through careful examination, 34 themes emerged. The creators of Strengths Finder believe that gaining an awareness of personal strengths and working in an environment that celebrates and fosters further development of the strengths of employees generates improved productivity and job satisfaction.

All employees of SOAR, including semester staff, have taken the Strengths Finder questionnaire and consciously integrate their strengths into professional pursuits. In addition to SOAR's full time staff, all semester course students complete the questionnaire. Strengths Finder plays an integral role in our overall goal of increasing student self-awareness.

Below are each team member’s Top 5 Strengths:

Spencer:
Adaptability
Strategic
Ideation
Input
Restorative

A.C.:
Adaptability
Command
Maximizer
Strategic
Woo

Mitchell:
Harmony
Activator
Individualization
Communication
Arranger

Charlie:
Context
Consistency
Empathy
Futuristic
Learner

EJ
Strategic
Input
Achiever
Communication
Activator


Below is what each student wrote about their discoveries:

EJ:



What strengths I would like my peers to see in me

I am an achiever so that means that I like to have a set plan of attack with all of my goals in life; I always go 110% with everything I’m doing. I’m the kind of person who never likes to be in one place for very long - I like to get up and go (kind of like the energizer bunny). Ever since I was a child I’ve always had a drive that makes me want to be the best at everything I’m doing at that time.

I’m an extremely athletic person and I have been a part of numerous sports teams throughout my life (football, crew and basketball) and I’ve always pushed myself to my physical limits whether or not I think I can continue. Being a semester student at SOAR has shown me an interesting perspective about where my untapped skills lie and areas where I could perform better.

I like that SOAR has a different style of conditioning its students physically than traditional school systems. I understand that sometimes being an achiever means that I must, like everyone, do certain things that I don’t always want to do (such taking the SAT), but like everyone learns in life: you’ve got to take the good with the bad sometimes. I’m proud to say that I have been achieving my goals while being a semester student at SOAR; I’m maintaining an A average in most of my classes and I’m having a great time while doing it.

I’ve always been the type of person who loves going to school for my friends and playing sports, not so much for the work itself. While I was a good student I put more effort into sports and that ultimately affected my academic success. I now know that I can have my cake and eat it, too!
SOAR has taught me how to maintain being an excellent athlete while being an excellent student. I’m happy that I have had the chance to experience such an amazing program that has taught me many life lessons that I know will stay with me long after my graduation.

By EJ KORNHAUSER

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Spencer:

I have always been a strategic thinker and I have known this early on. However, there are some ups and downs to being a strategic thinker. For instance, I might come off as being a know it all.

Although my processing and strategic thinking can be viewed as a kind of know it all behavior when I say what I processed, I do not intend it to come across that way.

The positive aspect of this type of thinking is that I am able to process and assess things at a high level.

I have another strength I would like for people to recognize and remember me by which is ideation. Ideation means what it sounds lik - I have a lot of creative and good ideas. The downside to having this ability is that it can make others jealous or think that I’m trying to be better than them.

This is so because I love to share my ideas. When my ideas are practical people love them use them. Sometimes people use my ideas and forget about others' ideas, which sometimes causes conflict. This gives the impression that I want to take the focus away from them, which is not what I want to do.

But the good side is that I am great at creative projects and artistic things such as cooking and music.

If you know me then you probably know all of this. If you don’t then it is a good thing to know about me.

We all have different strengths and these are some of mine. They are good to know if you want to understand me better.

Spencer Malecki


___

Mitchell

I discoverd that these are my strengths by doing the strengths finder test:


Harmony
Activator
Individualization
Communication
Arranger

Although I know this about myself, this test confirmed that I'm a good communicator. I talk a lot which can be a good thing. I know how to ask teachers questions when I don't understand something and that helps me with school.

I try to be polite when I talk which makes me a good communicator.

I also learned that I like harmony. In this context it means that "I look for areas of agreement."

We discussed all of our strengths in class and realized we all have different strengths to add to the group.

___



This is the Strengths that I found by A.C. Berry
1 Adaptability
2. Command
3. Maximize
4. Strategic
5 .Woo


The most interesting thing that I discovered was that I have strength in being Strategic. This means that I am an outsider when it comes to work. That means I think a lot differently then others. I do not argue about everything that people say.

The Woo Strength means I can go and meet new people without getting scared. Also it means I am a good talker when it comes to important things.

The Command strength means that I’m in control. I agree because I am often very commanding when I am playing sports.

However, I am not such a commanding person when I’m not playing sports.

Adaptability means that I can adapt well to a new group of people. It also means going I’m easy going.

All of these strengths describe me well.

Cherokee Indian Project

This week we worked on our project about the Cherokee Indians with both groups. You can see some photos and writings here:


http://digitalheritageproject.blogspot.com/