Week 14

I feel very strongly about the articles and videos we saw this week. When I was in high school a girl in my grade sent naked pictures to her boyfriend. After they broke up the boyfriend emailed the photos to half of the school. I did not know her well but I am sure she suffered some torment. Texting and emailing videos and pictures of any kind started with my generation of kids. We were some of the first to be instant messaging, visiting chat rooms, and texting. People don't like what they can not understand. Teenagers will do anything for attention, especially the attention of the opposite sex. Many teens have low self esteem causing them to act outrageously. I feel bad for the girls who send pictures or videos of an x-rated nature. Young girls and young boys are under a lot of pressure. I feel the punishment placed on Hope Witsell was unfair. The fact that she received punishment from her peers, from her family, and from her school was unnecessary. The fact that the school decided to punish her months after the event occurred. This story isn't about sexting its about teenagers learning to respect their self and one another. The students should be taught about relationships. The girls should learn to be confident enough to say no to a boy making those requests. The boys should be respectful enough to not even ask that kind of thing. Parents and teachers should be able to talk about what makes some people uncomfortable to talk about.

Week 13

Ethical and Legal Use of Technology

I didnt realize watching a movie in your class was copyright infringement. I show videos to my preschool class all the time on rainy days and holidays like the day after Christmas. I understand that downloading music and movies from the internet is illegal. Even though a lot of people do it. But I did not know that showing a VHS that you purchased with your own money was copyright infringement.  I would be curious to find out how often schools get fined for issues with copyrights. Does that mean sharing a video with a friend is copyright misuse. As an art teacher I would have good reason to take photos from the internet of famous artwork. How would the students receive an art history education if I can not legally use pictures from the internet or photocopies from an art book? What about the music I like to play while my students are working? Does that mean a student can not bring in a CD or ipod to share with the class? On one hand, I feel that using media for educational purposes should be excused. However, I would teach my students about copyright laws in art. I feel that limiting students access to video, music, and images effects their creativity and their ability to get inspired during the art making process. Being able to use artwork that I access online to educate my students is limiting my abilities as an educator.

Week 10

The students will research shoes on the internet and post their findings to an online pinboard on Pinterest.com. Each picture they post must have 3 sentences accompanying it. After brainstorming and researching the importance of footwear the students will design their very own shoe using paper, pencils, colored pencils, and markers. They will create 5 different sketches of footwear that do not look like modern shoes. They must think outside the box and create something imagination and original. 

Week 9

Here is my back to school video presentation. I feel this video tutorial would be like a take home sheet for parents. They could look back at it to see what their students will be learning in class. Perhaps the teacher could share a video tutorial of each lesson with students and parents so that the parents feel connected to the classroom. This would also be helpful for the parents who missed back to school night to see what your class is all about. I also used this presentation as a way to advocate for art education. If administrators were to view this presentation they could understand how important the arts are in schools.

Week 8

Here is my presentation for back to school night. I have taken each of the 21st Century Skills and explained how students will use those skills in art class. I really like how you can embed a slide presentation. It looks very professional and allows you to outline things in a visual way. Embedding a slide presentation to a website will allow you to access it from anywhere with use of the internet. That way if you are giving a presentation you do not need to carry around a flash drive or laptop.

Art is in danger of being cut from many school programs. It is important for me to be able to tell parents and administrators what students can learn from an art education. So many life skills can be taught from art. Art requires students to think outside the box and create something new and original. Art inspires creativity and imagination. These abilities are invaluable to society and allow for new inventions and ideas to take form.

Week 7

Here is my podcast about an art assignment using audio recording.


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Week 5

Response to critics and supporters of 21st Century Skills...

I believe it is very important for children to know how to work collaboratively with their peers, think critically, and think creatively. At the same time I want my students to have a complete understanding of the art making process and an art history background to carry with them through life. I feel art lends itself to creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. Autonomy and independence are other qualities I would like to foster in my students. When they need help I want them to try to figure out a solution on their own or with the help of their classmates. It may sound silly but in my preschool classroom I have my students eat their lunch on their own. If someone needs help removing a lid, opening a bag or putting the straw in a Capri Sun they have to ask each other for help or get a scissor. They need to learn that they cannot rely on grown ups for everything. I praise them for getting their coats on by themselves and I show off their work when they think outside the box. This may be a silly example but I would like my art students to be able to think this way at their own level. I want to encourage group brainstorming, collaborative art projects, and assignments that allow students to think outside the box. For example, having my students redesign something we use every day, like a shoe. They need to use to think critically and creatively to come up with a design. Perhaps their needs to be a balance. Maybe we can combine 21st Century Skills with traditional teaching practices. All that matters is the method that keeps students engaged and performing to the best of their ability.

Week 4

This week we are looking at the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards for technology and 21st century skills. I will outline a learning experience that uses technology in the art classroom. 

Strand: Creativity and Innovation

Grade Level: 8th grade

Content Statement: The use of digital tools and media-rich resources enhances creativity and the construction of knowledge.

CPI: Produce a media-rich digital story about a significant local event or issue based on first person interviews.

Technology Integration: Students will be creating their own blog, posting weekly entries, and commenting on their classmates posts.

Art: Every week students will research an artist of their choosing. They will post 3 pictures of the artists work and 3 facts they learned about the artist. The students will also write in their blog if they liked or disliked the artist's work and why. Everyone in class will look at each others blog posts and make comments on 3 classmates blogs that sparked their interest. 

For a final project the students will create a fake facebook account for their favorite artist including information about the artist, profile picture, and pictures of their work. They will also create a piece of artwork inspired by the artist.  

Week 3

This week we learned how to create a Wiki. I created a simple Wiki about cartooning for my potential art students. I understand how a wiki can be beneficial for organizing information and teaching a lesson I just don't know if I would use them. Maybe it would be a good assignment to have students add to the wiki their favorite cartoon characters. I love cartoons but I am not up to date on all the new shows. Kids could even post videos from Youtube of clips from their favorite shows. It would be great for students to compare and contrast their favorite shows and characters. Children could then design their own cartoon characters and a short 10 panel comic strip. We could scan the comic strips and character designs and post them on the wiki for friends and family to see. This would be a great way to get parents involved. Parents could post older cartoon characters and clips the children might not know. I feel this project would work well with a wiki.

Week 2

In looking for teacher websites I found two examples that I would like to share. I am going to be an art teacher and I think having a blog of student art work and a website detailing my expectations and schedule would be a great resource for students. I could also post art websites for students to access. The Clifton school district has an online art gallery of student work. The art teacher I work with in Morris Plains Borough School also has a nice simple website for students and their families. I feel making a website of student work would be exhausting. As nice as it would be to look at all the wonderful artwork online it would take a lot of time. At the minimum, I believe teachers should have an online presence telling the parents about themselves, about their program, the tasks each grade will accomplish  and their beliefs.

Week 1 Technology Integration

Respond by describing your technology background and feelings about technology. In addition, define what technology integration is.  Be sure to refer to the articles above or to any other sources that you may have come across...

I have always had a computer in my household. My father works as an IT Analyst so I was always learning how to use the computer. Now, I teach him about new programs and websites. During my undergraduate studies I was apprehensive about the use of technology in art making. I had a very difficult time grasping how to use programs to create art. After a lot of practice, I can now use Photoshop and I even learned how to use Flash. Having a tablet helps when it comes to making art on the computer. As an art teacher I will use technology to facilitate my lessons. I am constantly looking up ideas for art projects on the internet. There are so many blogs created by art teachers with wonderful creative ideas. All of my reference photos come from the internet. You can easily research artists and their work on the internet. I will use a projector in my art class in order to present my lessons and show my students famous works of art. I also use the computer to access music for my art classes. 

The article Four Takes on Technology was very inspiring. Critical thinking and research skills are being used when students use the internet to learn. I believe technology integration caters to all different learning styles. Children who learn best by watching a video, listening to a recording, reading an article, or seeing pictures can all benefit from using the internet as a resource. When students connect with other students from around the world they learn communication skills and about other cultures. They learn by teaching. My favorite part of the article was about the teacher who was empowering her students while teaching graphic arts. Her lessons did not need to be about African American culture but by relating to her students she was able to inspire them. 

Learning to Change - Change to Learn talks about how we should be using technology that our students use such as, facebook, twitter, blogs, instant messaging, texting as a resource in the classroom and not something that we prohibit in the classroom. Use of technology in the classroom allows children to think outside the box. It promotes critical thinking and communication skills, community and teamwork. Teachers can use technology to network and connect with other teachers to share ideas. We as teachers need to grow and learn with our students using all of our technological resources.