Looking Back, Looking Ahead

As an art teacher in an elementary setting, I feel that my use of technology has a place in my curriculum. However, I feel that place is limited. Am I more prepared to teach students using technology, of course I am. I learned about many different areas of technology in my Edu776 class and how to integrate this technology into my classroom. Do I see a place in my curriculum for all that I learned? I see a place for some of it. One of the purposes of my class is to teach students to be creative using their hands and their imagination. I can use technology to enhance my lessons, and I do that consistently. I don’t feel that technology can replace what we do in the classroom or that it should become something that overtakes my classroom. There is value in using some of what I learned, but each minute ‘on screen’ takes away from the student creating something with their hands. We have to keep in mind that students creating things with their hands is something that can never be replaced. The other day, my students were rinsing their brushes in a cup of water after using metallic tempera paints. They were fascinated!!! The water looked different than it does when using regular temperas…it had what looked like specks of gold swirling in it! Our class had a discussion on why it’s different, how it’s different and what can we compare it to! This was their ‘primary source’ just like going to a library or a museum to see a true ‘primary source’ when doing research. Art was science, science was art and the kids were loving it! It was spontaneous, it was a learning experience and it was fun! My students were engaged, they were thinking and they were learning. It’s not the same when you’re looking at it online on a screen. I was not uncomfortable using technology before this class. I took this class to learn more about how it can be helpful in my classroom. What I find uncomfortable is the expectation that tech should be a given and not a choice in some instances. I believe it’s different in a regular classroom and I still feel that much of what we learned is more appropriate for older grades. I understand that the use of technology in the classroom prepares the students for the future that lies ahead for them, but I think that as 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 years olds there is a time and place for using these tools and that there needs to be a balance….their world should still be about playing, and creating and learning through all five of their senses.

Art Work made by my 1st, 2nd 3rd and 4th grade students.

Digital Tattoo and YOU!

I try to never say never, but I don’t think I’ll ever get a real tattoo! There is something about a permanent mark on my skin that makes me feel very uncomfortable. I feel the same way about having a permanent mark on my digital data, my ‘digital tattoo’. I remember a couple of years ago when my son was applying for a job after graduating from graduate school. The first thing he did before he even sent out his applications was to search for himself on the internet to make sure that what was out there was not something that would prevent him from getting the job that was the right one for him. Not that he would have posted something inappropriate, but you never know what someone else might post. So he did a data mining activity on himself. Our activity and what we found the other night did not surprise me at all. Does it concern me? Yes it concerns me. We do not have a right to privacy anymore, everything seems to be up for grabs. I believe this is a topic that absolutely should be taught to students. However, I think that it is more appropriate for middle and high school than it is for elementary school. With the use of iPads and SmartPhones, students have instant access to the internet and social media, yet they are not aware of the consequences and the permanence of the their date on the internet. I believe that students that age do not always think before they post or even search the web. It’s scary to think that everything one does is recorded and that there is a digital record that will never go away. I think middle and high school students need to realize that like a real tattoo, anything they do on the internet is there to stay and that someday it may come back to haunt them. Even if it is something small and cute.

(Image downloaded from the internet)

Infographics

The third grades in both my buildings are studying Native Americans as part of their Social Studies unit. I am a firm believer in integrating curriculum and always do a weeks long unit with the third grades on Native American art. One of the areas we focus on is the Southwestern United States. For my third Tech Tac Toe project, I chose Piktochart. I didn’t know anything about this Infographic site before I started. It was an interesting experience for me because a very long time ago, before I was a teacher, I was a graphic designer. When I was in college, there wasn’t a computer to be found anywhere in our buildng. As future graphic designers, we learned to do everything by hand from scratch. We manipulated shapes and cut and paste type to produce our poster designs, book layouts and logo designs. My how things have changed. I don’t mean to sound like I didn’t know these sites weren’t out there, I just never used them before. For my sample, I am showing the landscape of the Southwestern United States where the Native Americans lived. I am also showing some of the flora and fauna from the area as well as images of weaving, sand painting, cliff dwellings and Kachinas. For what I did for this poster, I would say it was pretty easy. I would need to play with it a bit more to see how easy it would be to come up with my own layout for the poster instead of using one of their ready made ones. For my art room, it would be another visual to have up on my screen and I don’t think it really would be part of my student instruction. I would prefer to take the photos and use them in a running slide show with Native American flute music playing while the students are working. I have actual weavings, sand paintings and Kachinas in my classroom for the students to touch and look at. These are displayed for the duration of the unit.

Blab Blab Blabberize!

Blabberize! Blabberize is an appication! This application allows one to speak through a picture. With Blabberize, a picture can be manipulated to say whatever you want it to say. When you go to their site, they suggest it be used as a resource for students to retell a story, review books or create biographies. I think it can also be used by the teacher to tell a story to students. When I first looked at Blabberize, my thoughts went back to my childhood. I remember coming home after school and watching Garfield Goose and Friends with Frazier Thomas. One of the cartoons that appeared regularly on this show was “Clutch Cargo”. I remember, because even as a child, I was amused that it was only the lips that moved on the characters when they spoke. And here was Blabberize doing the same thing, showing only the lips moving! My first thought was that this would be a good way to introduce artists that we are studying and to show the artist talking about him/herself and their art. I started looking through my iphoto pictures and saw a Mayan Jade mask that I thought would lend itself well to use with Blabberize. Introducing a world culture by using a talking mask might be a fun way to do it! My Mayan Jade mask tells us a little about how important Jade was to the Maya. I wouldn’t say that Blabberize would help with student instruction. I think it might be fun to use a couple of times because students would enjoy and maybe get a chuckle out of seeing it. I see it as more of a gimmick and something that would be a novelty at first, but after a few times, I think the novely would wear off. I might use it in my classroom to see how my students would react. If I had more time with the students, it might be interesting to have students do a report on an artist and present some key information using Blabberize.

Thinglink is FUN!!!

I am a first time Thinglink user and I think it’s great! As an art teacher, I can see using Thinglink to introduce and enhance many of my lessons. I especially like the tool because it is visual and you can create links that are easy to use with photographs and videos. I also like that I can type in my own text.

For my first Thinglink, I chose a subject that is near and dear to me, Pre-Columbian civilizations! As a graduate student of Art History at Cal State Northridge many, many years ago, my area of concentration was Pre-Columbian Art.  Believing that the best way to learn was to get first hand experience, I travelled to the ancient site of Teotihuacan.  The time and date of travel was very calculated! I was at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun at noon on the day of the Summer Solstice. At exactly that moment, the sun was streaming through a tiny hole at the top of the pyramid to a cavernous chamber many feet below the pyramid. 

My sample is showing the Pyramid of the Sun. My points of interest show a Youtube about the Mystery of the Pyramid, a map of ancient Mexico, an example of a mural found at Teotihuacan and a photograph of the Pyramid of the Moon. 

Thinglink was easy to learn.  Although I am still learning how to navigate the site, I find it is not overwhelming. 

I believe Thinglink could be a good tool to use in the classroom for a number of lessons that I do with my students. I could already think of lessons that it would useful for.  We are in the middle of a unit on Native American Art with my 3rd grades.  I could see how Thingling could be a great tool to show where the different Native Americans lived, the types of homes they lived in and how the landscape differed geographically.

I would absolutely use Thinglink in my classoom with my students!

Digital Stories Are Fun!

I enjoyed doing my digital story, although I need a lot more time to play with all the different things one can do with iMovie. My biggest hurdle with the digital story was deciding on my topic. I had many choices and found it difficult to narrow them down and choose one. Ultimately, my choice was on a topic that I was very familiar and comfortable with, my closest friends. I enjoyed putting together the story because it was fun to look through old photographs and reminisce about our adventures together. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been together for over fifty-five years. 

I think a digital story about a particular person, or an event can be a wonderful way to share with others. I enjoyed re-learning iMovie which I had learned ten years ago but which has changed quite a bit since I last used it. I liked playing with photographs and manipulating them to fit the needs of my story. I enjoyed choosing the music and narrating. I am looking forward to putting together more “short stories” for my family and friends.

Because of the limited time I have with my students in the art room, I feel that putting together a story would be difficult for each of my students. However, I think that using digital story telling could be a good way to introduce a new lesson on a particular artist or culture. This would be a good way to tell a story about an illustrator and any book they may have published. Digital stories could also be told about my art room to share with other teachers or parents during open house or conference time. A story could even be done with the help of all the students, maybe one for each grade level, or perhaps on a certain project that the students particularly enjoyed. 

                                            (My personal photograph of Bachelor Buttons)

Tweet Tweet

The first time I heard about Twitter and Tweeting was during a class at Dominican University when I was a grad student in the MLIS program in 2009.  It was briefly talked about and I didn’t really pay much attention to it. It was introduced as something that was more for just up to the minute news.

The next time Twitter came up for me was during the Maidan Revolution in late 2013 in Ukraine. Following closely the events happening in Ukraine on the Maidan in Kyiv there were many calls for Twitter storms to local and high profile politicians. My children insisted I get a Twitter account and participate in the Twitter storms.  I got an account, I think I Tweeted once or twice and my Tweeting ended before it even got off the ground.

Fast forwarded to the fall of 2015 and here I am at Dominican once again and Twitter is still here with me. It is quite different from what it was 6 years ago, at least in my mind, because now it seems that everyone and everything is Tweeting on Twitter.

So far I have 14 followers and am following 32 Tweeters! I’m overwhelmed by the amount of Tweets I have even from the time school starts to lunch and find it hard to keep up.  As I pick and choose what is most interesting to give a second look, I have come across some articles and information on different things happening in art rooms across the country. 

I participated in my first Twitter chat with #k12artchat.  This group has their chat every Thursday night, with a new host each time. They also have different activities to share for each day of the week. My first time was a learning experience and I wasn’t sure if I was doing everything right….apparently the others saw me and responded so I felt my first attempt wasn't a total failure! 

There were a few things I would have liked to participate in but unfortunately the meeting times were during school hours.  I’m hoping to find more Art Groups to participate with in the future.

(Both images are grabbed from Twitter)