Arts and Tech Blog

I am now a part of Twitter, and I think it will be quite fun. I have already found a number of interesting people to follow as well as news feeds. Having little to no experience, this will be a learning process but it seems to be interesting and something I can do to take my mind off of homework and work. On that thought I have a 40 – 60 minute presentation on the Art of Africa before 1800, challenging due to the lack of resources I can find in the library at school and the lack of quality information I have been able to find online. This should be an interesting subject and that is why I signed up, with little to know prior knowledge I will learn a lot, and hopefully be able to use this newly aquired knowledge in my teaching. I am also working on a series of digital photos, as well as computer generated images in my spare time.

I have now used blogging as a strategy to work on my student’s writing skills.  It seems as though the students are more motivated about their writing because their ideas are being posted on the web.  After setting up edublogs accounts the students got to work blogging about their artistic inspirations and evolution as an artist.  Next I had the students research an artist of their choice and blog their responses to the artists work.  I tricked the students into writing, then gave them feedback about their writing.  It is clear that blogging will be a useful tool to help my students improve their writing.

Webquests are great opportunities to create hands on lessons that get students involved, and are based on activities that students could experience in the real world.  This real world relevance should serve as a wonderful motivator for the teenage students that I work with, and because teenagers can be very challenging to motivate, webquests will be a wonderful tool for me to use in the future.  Although the webquest took a bit more time than I had expected to actually put together, it is something that can be used over and over.  I worry that my planning for the webquest was not as developed as it should have been because I was a bit confused about how to put everything together.  Once I viewed the webquest template that Dr. Ransom sent out, I was able to better plan what I needed to do, but was still a bit confused as I thought the webquest could have been designed for either an individual to complete or a group.  My initial planning was for an individual to complete the activity, then when class began I realized that the assignment was to design a group activity.  This caused me to have to quickly modify my original planning, and turn the webquest into a group activity.  What I realized is that despite wathcing the webquesting videos, and doing the assigned reading, webquests are one of those things that were a bit confusing to me untill I actually had a chance to design one and put it all together.

Now to the final exam.  I cant say that I am excited and confident about the final exam, but its not something that scares me either.  Because we are allowed to bring in some notes, and having the opportunity to see some of the possible questions gives me a place to start preparing.  I am having more trouble believing that the final week of the semester is over already.  I am less worried about the final exam than I am about finishing the Dreamweaver web design assignment because of my lack of familiarity with the program.

Lastly, please remember that this time of year requires a LOT of patience as the holiday stress sets in on people.  Everyone finds this time of year stressful for different reasons so it is important to be very patient with friends, family, students and the strangers you will encounter when out in public.  As the trampling and subsequent death of a NYC Walmart employee on Black Friday shows, people need to slow down, take a moment to gather themselves, and show caring and compassion towards the people they encounter every day. 

The past week has given me many things to be thankful for, including some time off from grad classes as I have moved, and needed time to get organized.  As I sort my life out of boxes, I have been reflecting on the semester so far, and all of the resources I have been introduced to.  This class has made me much more aware of the many educational resources available for use, and given me a lot of ideas on how to implement these resources within my classroom.  The week also gave me a chance to realize how important Internet use is to me, I felt very isolated not being able to see the news, access my email or change my fantasy sports teams.  Finally I have Internet back and will be able to complete my web quest homework, as well as keep up to date on what is happening in the world.  Now its time to finish getting settled into my new home and play catch up on the important things that I had to put aside for a few days.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!

So I thought Garageband was the coolest program, and still think it is great, but did not realize the pressures of recording my voice.  Before I started teaching, public speaking was one of my biggest fears, fortunately I was not only able to overcome that fear, but now feel very comfortable speaking to a group of people.  That being said, for some reason I froze when it was time to record my voice for the Garageband Podcasting assignment.  I must have rerecorded it 15 times, and still was not happy with the way it sounded.  Maybe I don’t like the sound of my own voice, maybe it was the added pressure of having the microphone in front of me and seeing the audio register in the program.  Whatever it is I think I will need to do a lot more recording before I am completely comfortable with the process.  Oh well, I guess its like anything, practice makes perfect. 

Podcasts are wonderful resources for information on a wide variety of topics.  The ability to produce your own podcasts is a valuable asset as an educator and the Garageband program makes it so easy.  Not only can you lay down the vocal component of a podcast, but you can add background music and sound effects as well as a slideshow to compliment the vocals.  This program would be a tremendous asset to anyone in the music field, but it excites me as an art educator because you are able to produce something for students that shows them images while explaining and analyzing them.  This software enables educators to really hit a variety of senses for their students, and podcasts can be used anywhere there is Internet access for iTunes.  Students can also load the podcasts on their mp3 players, making your classroom portable.  I cannot wait to get into the Garageband program and produce my own podcast.

I would like to take an opportunity to wish a very good friend Happy Birthday – hope your day was a good one, you deserve it.

I love the use of pod-casting as an educational tool, be them created by the teacher specifically for the class, or one of the educational podcasts found on iTunes.  It seems as though today it is impossible to get teens to put down their MP3 player, so why not harness that technology to benefit them in the classroom?  With the number of free pod-casts available through iTunes, teachers of any subject can find video or audio pod-casts to compliment lessons.  Or, if a teacher would like to make customized pod-casts, that is possible too for a minimal fee.  The use of technology could help increase student interest because the iPod or any other MP3 player is something they are familiar with using and enjoy.  As I looked through the iTunes selection of pod-casts I immediately thought of one of my students who is in the process of learning English as a second language.  The day after class I showed him the free pod-casts designed for native Spanish speakers learning English and he was so excited to have some extra tutorials.  Too often teachers think of MP3 players as something that is a distraction to students instead of harnessing the technology for the benefit of education.  It is time to spread the word, pod-casting works to complement education.

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, remember those that may not have a meal at all.  Donate food, or time to a food cupboard or community shelter to help those that are in need, and give everyone a reason for being thankful.

Warning – This blog is not for class – Sorry Dr. Ransom

As I voted this morning I could not help but feel that I was taking part in a pivotal moment in the history of this country.  Given the current struggles that our country is encountering the new President will be taking on many difficult issues.  Maybe that is why it seemed as though this election has more meaning than either the 2004 or 2000 elections did.  That is why it is important to remember that whether you are red or blue, change is coming. 

As the numbers begin to become clear, it is great to see how many people got out to the polls and made their voice heard.  I had the wonderful experience of seeing some of my students take a bus ride to their polling places and vote for the very first time.  The enthusiasm these student showed for voting coupled with the memories of my first time voting added to my excitement for this momentous day. 

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=SPECIALS39  Go to Local election photos on the right of the screen to see the students voting for the very first time

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wxxi/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1406674&sectionID=7  This link will bring you to the WXXI story about our young voters

So to all those voters out there, thank you for doing your job and making your voice heard.  And as you can see the title is a bit of a play on words.

Web page authoring is an aspect of technology and the Internet that I have wanted to learn for a long time.  Although we may only be scratching the surface of dream-weaver, and not learning any html coding, it excites me to finally have some instruction in the basics of the program.  The idea of having my own web page, be it for personal or classroom use is really exciting.  On the page I could display my student’s or my own art work, and maybe even sell some.  Web Page authoring is something I may even have to take an entire class on once I have finished my masters for certification. 

As we begin the non linear powerpoint assignment I am also excited.  Not only do I get to work within my content area, but I get to produce a presentation that I will be able to use when teaching.  We have decided to focus our presentation on Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, and I was amazed at the number of images he created that I had never seen before.  This assignment seems like it may be one of the more fun projects to complete, and a welcome change after writing a paper.

VOTE – 11/4/08 – Make your voice heard – VOTE

After writing my research paper on the many educational technologies and their effects on multisensory learners I began to reflect on my own classroom.  Although I try to create an active learning environment for my students, I question my effectiveness on achieving this on a multisensory level.  The research I completed made it clear that approaching lessons and activities from a multisensory level helps reach more individual student learning styles and therefore helps to improve achievement levels.  The addition of new interactive educational technologies, and technology in general to approach lessons on a multisensory level can only complement good instruction in the classroom.  Although the technology available to me may be limited due to inequity in distribution and availability, it is my goal to utilize what I have to the fullest to create the multisensory learning environments described in my research.  I am fortunate to teach studio art classes in which students must create and therefore become an active part of their education when they enter my classroom as opposed to passive learning environments they may encounter in other classes.  After reading about all the positive benefits of a multisensory approach to education it is my goal to continually modify my instruction to appeal to multiple senses of my students.  I hope that by integrating new educational technologies and practices, I will continue to motivate my students to not only appreciate the arts, but enjoy coming to, and actively participating in class.

A special thanks to my students for making every day of teaching an enriching challenge, and making it easier to deal with the hidden politics of teaching in a public school.  Sometimes I feel like I learn just as much from interacting with my students, as they do from me.