Final Blog Post: Backing Up My Theories

To end this class is a sad note, but to look ahead and see how far I have come is exciting and filling me with anticipation.

As I reflect upon my Personal Theory of Learning and any changes that I may make I find that I am very satisfied with my theory. The art room is a very special place for a student; not only to create art but as a beginning for a child to develop their self-expression skills and a chance to develop new learning strategies to develop their thought process and the confidence to express their opinions.

In addition, my theory uses the incorporation of technology in the art room opens up the door to endless possibilities that students can learn from more than in a regular academic class. With the use of Web 2.0 tools and other computer aided programs for student use in presenting art facts and knowledge to fellow classmates.

Any adjustments that I would make would be to the process of how my art students attain the knowledge and facts that are needed to understand art in a fun and interesting manner. The use of a blog is the first implementation that I am using. The history of art can be very mundane, but if you add a little technology and a little imaginative teaching, the students will learn more and be able to use what they have learned in art and apply that in other classes. If you read a book and try to memorize artwork it becomes very repetitive and boring. But, if you use a blog with an art history subject and create a social network between classes, they will be able to voice their opinions and questions within the blog so other students can make comments and create topics for discussion and promote open expression of their views. To follow up with the blogs, the use of Power Point presentations will be used to demonstrate the student ot students understanding of the material and give them a source of pride for the work that they have done and what they have learned.

To conclude, I want to set two long term goals changes I would make to integrate technology into my classroom.

Goal one: To create a technology based engaging lessons that challenge the student’s skills and allow them to gain the knowledge and confidence to explore and express themselves by the use of blogs, internet research, and Power Point presentations. The incorporation of technology in the art room opens up the door to endless possibilities that students can learn from more than in a regular academic class.

Goal two: The implementation of a Cooperative Learning based group project that uses the Voice Thread online application. It would allow a group of students to post their research and findings in video, slide presentations and the use of audio to enhance the presentation. This also allows others to make audio comments on their Voice Thread and get instant feedback on their findings.

My Voice Thread Link

Just in case you didn't see it on my blog:


My Voice Thread Link:
http://voicethread.com/#u535376.b660910.i3494456

No Wallflowers Allowed: Students Being Heard

With the use of multimedia, it allows students to be more open in their project that they are working on. Some kids may be more vocal and others are not and with technology their voice will be heard. In addition, it allows not only the teacher to see the progress but also the members of that group to use group processing 9reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how to function even better). (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007) There are lots of social learning theories to choose from, but the right one to use has to be based on the teacher’s teaching style.

The Voice Thread is a great tool and one for students that are used to the blog and want to input more verbally than just typing in a comment. To hear another person’s voice is more meaningful that reading what they are wanting you to read. To hear a voice you can tell by their tone, there speech, the speed in which the talk, and of how passionate they are of something or how strongly they believe in what they are saying just by listening to their voice.

References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.


My Voice Thread Link:
http://voicethread.com/#u535376.b660910.i3494456

Project-Based Learning in the Art Room

Art is a flexible subject, a lot like play dough, no matter what color it is, what shape you form it into, or activity that it is used in it is still play dough. Students have to learn about where it comes from and how to work with it. You have practice using it to master it and share your ideas with other people and learn from their experiences. Are we still talking about Play Dough or Art?

As with both, to learn these subjects the style that best incorporates the best is the project-based learning (PDL) style that engages experiences that involve learners in complex and real world projects through which they develop and apply skills and knowledge. (Orey, 2001)

Project-Based Learning (PDL) allows the students learn from a developed idea through the use of the three phases of planning, creating, and processing. When learning about a new subject or medium to work with, student artists must research the medium, how to work with it and incorporate it into different projects that demonstrate their understanding and mastery of the medium. The student then shares their understanding with others and share the ideas that they have with others. In turn, the other students share their ideas with examples, Power Points, or open a blog posting for others to give feed back.


This learning style promotes self-expression in the fullest way within the art room. To be able to express one’s self is important but to understand and learn from the activities and project that they have just completed.

"Think Openly, Draw hard!"

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Retaining a Artistic Mind.

The art room is a great place to create art, but it also is a place to learn how to use your creativity and imagination in more than just art class. As we have already learned from last week’s strategies, the child’s mind is a precious thing, and as teachers we must do all we can to fill them. The instructional strategy of cues, questions, and advanced organizers focuses on the enhancing the student’s ability to retrieve, use, and organize information about a topic. (Pilter, 2007) The art room you have to learn from what you see and what you feel. Your success is based on what you see and how you mimic it in your own work. Then you develop your own style from how feel as you work on the projects.

There is a lot of organizing and brainstorming software but to me nothing beats a sketchbook and a teacher that pushes the students to better themselves every day. The sketchbook is an invaluable tool when a student is developing their skills. It also retains the info that they have retained and they can return to when doing projects. If you will, a cheat sheet that they can refer back to years down the road. They still will be referring to these books when they are in high school.

The one thing that I really enjoyed a lot this week was the concept map theory. It can help so much when the class does it’s art history projects. The map allows the students to see the basis of all the facts and it gives the students that visual learning style that helps the mind retain more. An important fact within the art room.

"Think openly, Draw hard!"


Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

The Colorful View of Behaviorism in Practice.

When you walk into a strange class room for the first time, you wonder what it is going to be like and am I going to succeed. My art room is very inviting, with the ceiling tiles all painted and the walls all painted elaborately with zebra stripes, camouflage, cheetah print, and Matisse Puzzle pieces, and my door painted as a Andy Warhol soup can. From the first day, students are aware of how to get a good grade within my art room. It is one single word…“Effort”. I grade primarily on effort. How can I expect students to produce anything at all with knowing in the back of their mind if they make a mistake they would lose points? This is middle school for god sakes and I grade from the effort that they put forth not whether it looks like a masterpiece or not. That is ridiculous in my opinion to put that kind of pressure on such a fragile mind.

Reinforcing effort is something that I strongly believe in. It does have a few minor draw backs, but for five years I have been developing a great art program in the middle school I teach. The Effort scale gives the students a piece of mind knowing that it is OK to make mistakes. I was take many years ago that, “In art we don’t make mistakes, we make new discoveries!” and it works. No matter what learning level or artistic skill they have, when they walk into my room they are more worried about running out of time each day than making a mistake. In addition, the technology that is available to promote this is a website called Artsonia. Not only could it enhance the initiatives but that could be the basis for a bulletin board, but could be used as an online tool for collecting a digital portrait of what is going on in the art room.(Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007) It allows art teachers from any grade level to put their student’s art work on display for free on this website. The art site can be viewed by all parents and grandparents from down the street to Florida. It gives a description of the projects and the students work. The families have a chance to order mugs, shirts, mouse pads, etc, that have their student’s work on it. The proceeds go to the art room of the teacher putting the students work on display. It a great use of technology.

For homework and practice it is hard to make heads or tails of this strategy. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with the importance of homework and how it increases the understanding of a subject or skill, but in the art room it is a rarity until 8th grade. Even then it is sketchbook assignments that are due Friday. Nothing real big and not worth a whole of points but it makes the students think more openly outside of the classroom.

There is one aspect of the Homework and Practice strategy that would work in the multimedia areas. Practicing with multimedia allows students to shape experience to their individual learning style and increase their level of understanding and mastery. (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007) Every grade level can benefit from the use of technology and use it to their advantage. I am currently developing and in house blog for my art students to use to comment of each other’s art work in a critique forum. It allows the students to demonstrate the understanding of the art piece and how it was made. In addition, it allows the students to pick each other’s heads for input into their art works meanings and why the created it. You would be surprised to see what these kids can think up. The other teachers of the building want to come in and read the comments and make some comments of their own and the students really enjoy that surprise.


These strategies are what works in my art room and the opinions I have are based on what is working for me. I am not against any other methods being used; in fact I am open to anyone that has any comments or suggestion that may work with children of the middle school age regardless of their learning ability or artistic skills.

“Think Openly and Draw Hard!!!”
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Responding Effectivley to Disruptive Student Behavior

To be a successful teacher at any capacity, you must first have a way to deal with student behaviors and how to respond effectively to behavior problems. Within this blog I will go over strategies that I will use in my own middle school art room and the outcomes I want to happen. Finally, I will explain how these strategies will help my students learn to make responsible choices about their behavior.

The first strategy is to avoid being an inappropriately angry teacher response that would cause tension and increases disobedience and disruptive behavior. (Jones, 2007) To be able to implement this into my classroom I must be able to identify when a situation is getting out of control. I must remain calm and non get into a war of words with the students. For this will cause a bigger distraction than it already has. If the teacher does not remain calm and keep his or her voice down in a calm tone and use non-confrontational and non-threatening body language to maintain a level of professionalism and saying or doing something that a teacher would regret. Students will then see to handle a situation in the right manner within my classroom and be respectful about someone needs. By promoting this type of behavior, students will not allow their behaviors or the behaviors of others disrupt their creative flow within the art room.

The second strategy is to remind students of the classroom rules or procedures they are not demonstrating. (Jones, 2007) Implementing this is an easy technique, especially with middle school age who is adjusting to the work load of school and they do not want any more work than what is needed. The classroom rules are written and set in place for a reason, classroom control and safety that insures that creative and imaginative flow stays flowing. In order to do this, I want to make a hard copy of the rules , that are posted in the front of the classroom, and when a student acts out and does not follow the class rules, then the student is not allowed to create anymore art work and write out the rules of the class and then explain what rules he/she has broken and explain why. This will be part of their classroom participation grade. In the end, the students quickly adapt their behavior so they do not have to complete this writing assignment. It teaches them a lesson, but a lesson that only they control if they do not want to write again.

The third strategy is to provide students with choices. (Jones, 2007) Teachers are there for the good times, the bad times, and of course the sad times. We have to have open minds, hearts of gold, and skin of leather to deal with some of the problems that come through our classroom doors. If a teacher shows compassion in a time of mental breakdown or anguish, the teacher must maintain that student’s dignity and show compassion to the student, all the while maintaining his/her composer to their class not to make a big deal of something private. Showing this behavior to students allow them to have and show respect for other people and their problems that do not concern them and give them the space and privacy that they need.

Fourth and final strategy is the increase interest by using humor or connecting to the lesson to some topic in which the student may be particularly interested. (Jones, 2007) Being a teacher, this is the easiest for me to implement in my art room. Humor un-restricts the creative flow of students that are self conscience about who they are and what people would think about them and their work. It is a powerful tool for teachers to use and relax a very tense academic attitude that students have when they come in to the art room. Humor can make light of a serious situation is a positive manner and increases the morale and motivation of the students within the classroom. The students will ultimately learn that humor makes the creating art easier and allows the class to bond together and makes friendships that will last for years.

Overall I feel that the implementation of these strategies is going to benefit the over attitude and classroom environment in my art room. The atmosphere in an art room has had many components for a successful classroom. There are the organization, materials, the environment itself, and yet all this doesn’t matter is there is no classroom management plan in place for the teacher. The behavior problems, no matter how small or big, will happen without warning. Teachers must be prepared and know how to deal with these situations when they arise. How we teacher as react to these situation is how students will see and feel that they should react also.

If teachers incorporate such strategies as these it will help bring the attention back to the society that we live in. If at school students are being taught to behave in such ways and they bring that home. It could very well have a positive effect on the student’s home life and how he/she treats and reacts to situations at home.

References:
Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2007). Comprehensive classroom management: Creating communities of support and solving problems (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Closing one door to open another: Another Great Class Ending and Another Beginning

While going through college I had one thing in mind and that was to become the best teacher that I can. I understood the uses of the computer but I had no idea how much of a role that it can play within my classroom. My professors in college only brushed the subject and said that it was beneficial. HA! If I only knew then what I knew now, my teaching style would be far more advanced that what is now.

I have learned a lot, not only from this course, that technology is going to be the key in the future of education. I have learned about the uses of Blogs and Wiki’s and how it can aid and connect art rooms across the world to better my student’s experience. I am working with our corporation’s technology department this summer and have learned firsthand of what technology is out there and how it can help in the classroom. In my art room I have already made many changes in my classroom to the point of getting rid of my chalkboard and putting in an interactive white board. In addition, I have incorporated Web 2.0 tools and activities within my curriculums for next year. And to top it all off I have asked the local teacher’s union of being part of the technology committee that presents technology programs that can benefit my school and try some pilot programs.

As I read about other teacher's curriculums and articles that deal with the different teaching styles, I stop and think of how technology can aid in their endeavors. I look at the curriculums and of some teachers and can’t help to think of “What if they did this…, What about using this to introduce their subjects and projects….” then I reflect on how it can aid me in my goal of creating a “Artistic Revolution” through the hearts and minds of my students. I go to museum websites and find myself asking questions and reading blogs and leaving comments and picking the minds of the artists and curators of how art has impacted the way the world can see and create within art with the use of technology.

I also find myself about wondering what if Leonardo Davinci had access to these types of 21 Century tools. What inventions would we be using and art work would we be seeing? Imagine seeing a Monet painting done with Adobe Suites and the brilliant images and colors that he would use. Technology would bring a new form of art creation to millions of art students making them into a new age multimedia artist and making me a more versatile teacher.

What is a textbook? Is it a source of knowledge that is versatile and resourceful for many uses? Yes it is. Compared to what technology can offer, it can make a great paper weight, door stop, and a great paper press for printmaking and bookmaking projects. Textbooks are valuable resources don’t get me wrong, but they can only take you so far and the children cannot interact and express themselves as much as they could. Seeing that the world is turning more and more to technology based programs, I see how much I need to learn to get to a point to where it is second nature for me to use technology within my classroom.

To be able to incorporate technology within my curriculums gives me back the excitement I first had when I started teaching. I was starting out with the basics and my motivations were fast approaching the burnout stage. It showed in my actions and the reactions of my students. Projects were fun, but kids became unengaged easily and needed to be brought back on track. When I started to incorporate Web 2.0 tools to introduce projects and show example the students began to ask more questions, sit up in their seats, and pay attention a become totally engaged with the projects.

To keep my technology up to date or to keep the “creative juices” flowing I can attend the increasing number of technological conferences that the many computer and software companies offer during the summer months. The conferences that teachers can attend have seminars and lectures to introduce the latest and greatest tools that teachers can use within their classrooms.

This also gives the teachers that attend these conferences a chance to socialize and talk about their different schools systems and the amount of technology they have in their schools. The teachers can learn from one another and get an outsider’s perspective into their situation and give some ideas that you may have not thought of. These teachers can continue to build a bond of knowing that they are now learning together about the “digital” world. They could collaborate and communicate about their endeavors for years to come.

One of two goals that I would like to set for the next two years is to try and make my art room the first 21st Century art room within the county. By incorporating different technology tools (i.e.; LCD projectors, interactive white boards, computer tablets, art software, Weblogs, Wiki’s, and the use of technology by both students and teacher for creating a successful learning environment. To have this come to reality I must have the cooperation of my school’s admin and the corporations technology department and superintendent and school boards approval and support. With demonstrations, school visitations, grant writing, and the determination to make this happen. The obstacles within my corporation are not only funds but the accepting willingness for change from the other teachers and the other schools within corporation. All my T’s must be crossed and my I’s dotted, and of course the alignment of the planets would help, must be done for the “WOW” factor to take place and the process can start. It will not be easy but the benefits alone will be un-measurable.

The second goal I have is going to be the toughest. As I learned in this course, I found that the state that I teach in is not one of the states that are participating in the 21 Century Partnership Program. I would like to change that and bring our school to incorporate technology a part of our entire school curriculums and become part of the 21stCentruy Partnership. This is a very big undertaking and the challenges would be endless but what we, the teachers, can give to our students would be a great step towards their future within the real world outside of school.

To achieve a great goal like this, I must request help from fellow teachers that would have the same goal and understand what it would take for our school to be part of this. That means that I would have to explain to them the benefits of this programs and get them on board to help share the load of the step we must take to get ready for our presentations, paperwork, fundings, and ease the load of one person doing it all.

Indiana's need for a 21st Century Partnership

I was pleasantly surprised to see such a site. It speaks a lot about how far behind the educational systems are when it comes to technology and our students.
One thing that I found so surprising was that out of the 50 states that we live and teach in, less than ten is part of the 21st Century Partnership. I looked through different websites of where I teach and surrounding corporations, there was nothing that I could find that dealt with a mention of this partnership program.
This site said a lot about the four skills of life and career skills, learning and innovation skills, as well as information media and technology skills are explained to encompass core subjects and 21st century themes. They were all backed up by lessons, curriculums, and assessments to better the learning environments of both teachers and students.
To me the site was very informative and had a lot of positive things that I can use and learn from, especially the communication building activities and the sites that had a great deal of art resources from art history to creating art. They were sites that I had never heard of before and were very informative.
For this to work in my corporation it would have to have studies done, presentation to school boards and administrators, and most of all the parents. It seems that I am in community that is afraid of change that is what this is all about. The need for this much change would go on deaf ears at first, but the teachers have to take the initiative to make this change a reality.

Link:

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Where has all the PASSION gone?

Art is a salvation for many people with in the world that we live in. Is possess them in a way to live their life in a way that allows them to see everything in a simplistic form and then break down by colors, perspectives, and proportions. It consumes you in a way that shuts out the world and allows the artists to enjoy the “high” that it gives you.
I try to take a piece of that feeling and share it with my art students and allow them to take a glimpse from the artists view. Most humans, any age, lack the confidence to create a single piece of art. The scariest thing to a person about to draw or paint is to look at that blank piece of paper or canvas and make that first mark or line or brush stroke. To some it is more horrifying than a scary roller coaster. I encourage anyone to make that first mark or brush stroke even if it is a doodle, it is a start. Once you make those first marks don’t stop! Keep making marks until something catches your eye. It could be anything or nothing but patterns and shapes.
This is the beginning of one the most powerful combinations within art; Creativity and Imagination and so starts the beginning of the passion that comes from art.
Without these two powerful words there would be nothing in this world to live for. Life as we know would become dull and plain like a blank piece of paper or canvas….
Seek out life and paint it your own color!!

Taking Art beyond the Classroom

For years the art room has been the hub of of all art education. Little to no technology being used and the occasional field trip to the art museum that the ride there would last longer than the visit itself.

But what if that wasn't the end of the trip? What if you your classroom was visiting the Louvre museum in Paris and you have never left the building? With the use of an educational blog students can respond to blogs that are posted by art historians, artists, and other art classes that are posting on the blogs. Students could read about and respond to historical facts about artists, even respond to artists blog that talk about their own work and want feedback.

Being a middle school art teacher in small rural town, the students I teach know little to nothing of the artistic world that they live in. I want to to offer my students a different way to learn and art and being able to express themselves in ways they would have never imagined through a mixture of technology and artistic expression

What a magical way to get the students of today's society back into seeing the world from a new artistic view.

Why is technology so imporatnt to art?

Gone are the days of the slide projectors and the large reprints of artists works from the past. Now in the art room there are rows of computers, ceiling mounted LCD projectors, Smart boards, and students that are waiting to see what is next. As an art educator, it is my responsibility to keep my students engaged and creatively stimulated. I was taught long ago from my professor, "If you lose your students, then you lose yourself."

You must keep the students involved, and by the use of technology I can create interactive lessons that the students can use and take with them into the science, social studies, or literature classes. I feel that the art room has been neglected long enough with the absence of technology. Now it's my turn to change that!! I owe to the kids and my love of art.