Link to Matrix
My final project is based on an Art lesson of the symbols used by the Aborigines in their artworks (taken from CURR 310).
Selected technologies + Identified teaching strategies = Achievement of Standard
The formula above has been used & proved throughout my matrix. First I obtained my educational goal. Then I started analyzing my lesson & selected standards to line up with my educational goal. I began to think about what strategies & then technologies I would have to use to achieve the initial standards. I kept asking myself, "Does this technology support this strategy and if yes, together will they help my students achieve the learning targets/standards?" I also made sure each assessment, formal or informal, both measured the students comprehension of the content materials relating to the NJCCCS standards, but also provided opportunity to demonstrate their achievement of the NETS-S standards.
Day 1 of my lesson would be spent lecturing students about elements found in Aboriginal Art, projected on the SmartBoard. I would use the SmartBoard to mark up artworks so students could visually see the elements discussed. Next students would choose a work to dissect & engage in research & inquiry using appropriate technology. Finally students would put together a brief presentation using the SmartBoard to mark up their work. I would use their presentations as an informal assessment to judge their depth of understanding on the content/achievement of standard and their use of technology as a tool for research and presentation.
Day 2 would reflect on our prior knowledge. Students will engage in research & inquiry again using appropriate technologies. Individually students will compare & contrast the symbols (their meanings) & elements found in Aboriginal Art and record/reflect their new knowledge on our art class website/blog. After, peer reflection will take place by commenting on students posts. Class ends with a large group discussion mediated by the students & teacher using the SmartBoard to mark their points & make educated assumptions based on their findings. This will serve as another informal assessment to determine their depth of understanding of content materials & use of technology as a tool for research, evaluation, & reflection.
Day 3 will be art-making. I begin with a demonstration using the ELMO camera. Students will then individually create works that reflect their understanding of the Aboriginal Art elements & their cultural/social commentary using Model Magic. I contemplated on substituting this material for KidPix, Paint or an iPad, which would ultimately teach the same concepts. Students will share their works in progress via our art class website/blog & students can
collaborate/record their progress. Their final pieces & art class website/blog progress is another informal assessment to determine if their works demonstrate their understanding of Aboriginal Art, & if their progress shows comprehension of the simulation.
It would be interesting to make demonstrations into student-centered strategies by assigning students a demonstration to research & prepare to teach the class.
Day 4 would be a class critique. Students will prepare a presentation using appropriate technology. All students will fill out self-evaluations & peer evaluations using rubrics on Google Docs Forms (I fill out a teacher evaluation). To end class we engage in a large group discussion using the SmartBoard to project students works as we discuss them, this time 'formally'- using proper terminology while marking their work. The critique & discussion are informal assessments (for teacher to adjust lessons) to evaluate &assess students understanding 1) in a casual setting & 2) 'formal' setting. Evaluations would be formal assessments used to give feedback from peers & teacher.
The final day provides students with closure through a large group discussion using the SmartBoard to project & mark images, and provide one last reflection. The discussion would initiate student thinking on the context of the art & help students determine if they consider these works, Art. Students will gather information to support their beliefs using appropriate technologies. They will create presentations to share using Google Docs Presentation, our art class website/blog or other appropriate technologies. This lesson ends with Q&A supported by visuals on the projector. Everything except the information gathering, would be an informal assessment to determine if we achieved standards, & if students are in line with the NETS-S standards.
The formula mentioned in the beginning proved to be the ultimate tool in transforming a lesson to have technologies that support learning strategies, & together create the opportunity to achieve standards while assessing students to ensure the greatest learning outcome possible.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
[15] What have I learned?
As the end of the semester draws extremely near, I look back and consider all of my projects, and what I have learned from them. From the start of this course I identified my beliefs and thoughts on technology, and over the course of this semester I have edited and enhanced them. I have discovered my belief on student-teacher relationships, and how I believe it is important to be able to relate lessons and lesson objectives to students current, daily lives. I stated an on-going goal of mine- which was to promise to keep up-to-date with technologies, so I can incorporate these devices into my lessons supportively and educationally. I want my students to develop skills that they can continue using in their daily life outside of school. I also identified and recorded important old and new technologies in an Art Technology Inventory list, which I will constantly update and refer to during lesson making. I also discovered that being a teacher is a lot more than it seems.
In the end, CURR 316, CURR 314, READ 411 and my methods courses have all impacted me in a great way. I learned that I want to be the best teacher I can, and I want my students to enjoy learning. I don't want them to struggle. I want my teaching strategies and lessons to reflect the characteristics I believe a good teacher and lesson creator should have. I will combine all skills learned from this semester to become the ultimate educator and assessor. I look forward to continuing my journey in education, and even more so to being in the classroom. I believe education is finally getting the attention it deserves and hopefully with a new generation of teachers we will be able to completely transform the field of education.
In the end, CURR 316, CURR 314, READ 411 and my methods courses have all impacted me in a great way. I learned that I want to be the best teacher I can, and I want my students to enjoy learning. I don't want them to struggle. I want my teaching strategies and lessons to reflect the characteristics I believe a good teacher and lesson creator should have. I will combine all skills learned from this semester to become the ultimate educator and assessor. I look forward to continuing my journey in education, and even more so to being in the classroom. I believe education is finally getting the attention it deserves and hopefully with a new generation of teachers we will be able to completely transform the field of education.
[14] Making up for Lost Time
ARTICLE
A big concern I recently stumbled upon was lost time in the classroom from absences. This whole concept began when I found an old article, from 2009, that asked teachers what technology and equipment they would buy if they had an unlimited budget. One of the teachers replied they would buy an ELMO camera. This is a specific brand name, but in general the camera this teacher is referring to is used during demonstrations- a technology every art room should have! This camera points at your desk area, and projects onto the TV or any screen. This allows students to remain in their seats, and get a closer view than they ordinarily would when they are all gathered around the teachers desk for a demonstration- another great device to add to my Art Technology Inventory (Interactivity #3).
Anyway, this lead to me thinking about using the camera to record demonstrations and post them online for absent students (or even for students to review). I thought this would be a great way to ensure no time is lost reviewing demonstrations during valuable class time. BUT- this could backfire and cause students to take attendance lightly. "Why go to class if I can just view Ms. Kelly's demonstrations online?"- is what I imagine my students would say. This camera proves to be a useful technology, but how can I ensure my students will show up to class?
There are many other uses for this camera if I ultimately decided not to use it on a blog. I could always send students personal emails with attachments, or I could use the recordings and have my students each take turns creating a blog post everyday for each demonstration. This would allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the covered materials for that day, while also using publishing and producing technologies. There are many thoughts and questions that still linger with the idea of a class blog, but I believe as I implement my ideas and test them out, the answers will become more clear to me.
ARTICLE
Monday, April 23, 2012
[13] Google Docs
After reading Google Documents for Teachers by Richard Byrne (taken from the CURR 316 blog) I began thinking more about how one can use Google Docs to their advantage. In my Assessment course we are learning about the importance of using assessments constantly, yet appropriately throughout the year to check for understanding. This allows teachers to pin point students struggles and immediately alter the next days lesson to address the misconceptions before moving on to new materials. This method of formative assessment can be beneficial if used correctly in any classroom. By this I mean not only do teachers have to create accurate, valid and reliable assessments, but after administering them and grading them, they need to analyze their data! We learned it's common for teachers to use assessments as a check for understanding, but that they also fail to use the results to alter and edit the lesson (based on students' misconceptions).
Here is where I made the connection- Google Docs Forms allows teachers to create easy to access assessments that can be administered weekly and taken from any computer (with internet access), but then also grades them for you. Using this feature on Google Docs will allow the time that used to be spent grading, to now be spent editing lessons according to students scores. This is only one way Google Docs Forms can be used to a teachers advantage.
Another interesting feature (I found out by creating a "test" using Google Docs Forms) is that when all the answers have been submitted, the teacher can view the "Summary" and it is shown using a line graph. This allows the teacher to judge how many students got which questions wrong. Teachers can then use this information to see if the wording was confusing or if the material needs to be re-covered in the next lesson.
Since I couldn't take the test I wonder what the student receives after completion? Do they get a summary feedback of which answers were wrong? This would be another great aspect where students could use the information to self assess.
Google Docs proves to be an innovative, effective source for all content teachers, but should not be relied on fully. Teachers need to administer more than online tests to check for deeper/higher understanding of materials (Bloom's Tier II and III). As a future teacher it is important to keep up-to-date on the evolving and developing tools for us to use in our classrooms and Google Docs is just the start!
Here is where I made the connection- Google Docs Forms allows teachers to create easy to access assessments that can be administered weekly and taken from any computer (with internet access), but then also grades them for you. Using this feature on Google Docs will allow the time that used to be spent grading, to now be spent editing lessons according to students scores. This is only one way Google Docs Forms can be used to a teachers advantage.
Another interesting feature (I found out by creating a "test" using Google Docs Forms) is that when all the answers have been submitted, the teacher can view the "Summary" and it is shown using a line graph. This allows the teacher to judge how many students got which questions wrong. Teachers can then use this information to see if the wording was confusing or if the material needs to be re-covered in the next lesson.
Since I couldn't take the test I wonder what the student receives after completion? Do they get a summary feedback of which answers were wrong? This would be another great aspect where students could use the information to self assess.
Google Docs proves to be an innovative, effective source for all content teachers, but should not be relied on fully. Teachers need to administer more than online tests to check for deeper/higher understanding of materials (Bloom's Tier II and III). As a future teacher it is important to keep up-to-date on the evolving and developing tools for us to use in our classrooms and Google Docs is just the start!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
[12] Advocacy for Technology
This post developed from a connection I made, originating from my content area. In our methods course we learn about all aspects of teaching art and being an art teacher. One of the topics we debated about was advocacy for the Arts. How does one promote the Arts? In our class we had to develop a plan which enabled us to spread news of the Arts and their importance in education. It was an interesting activity because you need to think about money/budget (or a free promoting event), what points you want to communicate with the public (keeping it clear, comprehensible and precise can be tough), how your students will be involved (are we displaying their work, is it a fundraiser) and what extra information (a worksheet or pamphlet) can you provide to further educate the public on the topic (and what points do you include, or what points would encourage the public the most)?
The connection I made came about when I read an article on school budgets. I started to think about the lack of funding all the areas of the Arts department has, and how I would attempt to raise extra money or get students supplies they needed if our budget couldn't. I then connected advocating for the Arts to advocating for Technology. These two areas in the budget are similar- the Arts has a lack of funding and as of now Technology in most schools has a limit too. As an Art teacher is there a way I can advocate for both the Arts and Technology- at the same time and same event? Would it be a stronger message to hold two separate events? How would one go about advocating for Technology compared to the Arts? What proof could one provide at the event and what information would I want to include or exclude? There's a ton of questions that emerge from what I thought was a simple thought. But as a future teacher it is important to consider that the school I will be working at might not have a huge budget for technology. What technologies would I want to include, or in an extreme case (low income areas) what technologies, programs and devices would I want to spend the budget on so my students stay up-to-date and remain educated in the technological field (relating this back to Olivia's case).
One final thought that lingers (which I constantly create infinite answers for) is how can I use technology to benefit disabled and ESL students in an Art classroom?
The connection I made came about when I read an article on school budgets. I started to think about the lack of funding all the areas of the Arts department has, and how I would attempt to raise extra money or get students supplies they needed if our budget couldn't. I then connected advocating for the Arts to advocating for Technology. These two areas in the budget are similar- the Arts has a lack of funding and as of now Technology in most schools has a limit too. As an Art teacher is there a way I can advocate for both the Arts and Technology- at the same time and same event? Would it be a stronger message to hold two separate events? How would one go about advocating for Technology compared to the Arts? What proof could one provide at the event and what information would I want to include or exclude? There's a ton of questions that emerge from what I thought was a simple thought. But as a future teacher it is important to consider that the school I will be working at might not have a huge budget for technology. What technologies would I want to include, or in an extreme case (low income areas) what technologies, programs and devices would I want to spend the budget on so my students stay up-to-date and remain educated in the technological field (relating this back to Olivia's case).
One final thought that lingers (which I constantly create infinite answers for) is how can I use technology to benefit disabled and ESL students in an Art classroom?
[11] How to choose your Technology
A reasonable question that emerges from all the Interactivities we have done to date is how do you pick which technology is appropriate to use in your classroom, and more importantly from lesson to lesson? As I have learned, I need to first consider if the technology is supportive of my lesson. From there I would have to use the tool myself and address issues such as it is easy enough for my students to use and will it help my students meet the intended learning targets? After reading a blog post on Edutopia, I found more questions that are important to consider when it comes to technology in the classroom.
I now realize that all students will come from different households (and even personal beliefs) where each parent has a different set of restrictions and concerns. Will all students be able to create (educational) blogs if required to for a lesson? And will their parents allow them to participate in blogging or becoming part of an online community? What information will my students need to give out to create an account? All of these issues are important to address before planning a lesson to ensure participation from all students and to make sure no student is left out or uncomfortable explaining why they can't have a blog. Relating this even more to art, what about the concerns again addressing copy rights and the public stealing students art work. If my class was to create an Art blog, where they post their work and comment on each others, will the public be able to view their works and comments? How can we prevent the stealing of student work and ideas? Will all students be willing to post their works?
The only true method to finding out will be implementing this in a classroom, and even then every class will have different results and responses.
I now realize that all students will come from different households (and even personal beliefs) where each parent has a different set of restrictions and concerns. Will all students be able to create (educational) blogs if required to for a lesson? And will their parents allow them to participate in blogging or becoming part of an online community? What information will my students need to give out to create an account? All of these issues are important to address before planning a lesson to ensure participation from all students and to make sure no student is left out or uncomfortable explaining why they can't have a blog. Relating this even more to art, what about the concerns again addressing copy rights and the public stealing students art work. If my class was to create an Art blog, where they post their work and comment on each others, will the public be able to view their works and comments? How can we prevent the stealing of student work and ideas? Will all students be willing to post their works?
The only true method to finding out will be implementing this in a classroom, and even then every class will have different results and responses.
[10] Kid Pix and Cross-Curricular Lessons
As a child I vividly remember Kid Pix, I'd be curious if other students have ever used this program recently or as a child (more likely) and could contribute some cross-curricular ideas.
Either way, in short, Kid Pix is a child's version to Photoshop. I was recently wondering how I could plan a lesson, using this technology, but incorporating standards and keeping it educational. As an art teacher, Kid Pix can easily be incorporated into a lesson or two. The program allows students to create lines and shapes (to learn about line and form), use the pencil, paint brush and paint bucket tool (to learn about color), use, edit and create stamps (used for repetition), among many other things. Obviously this lesson would be geared towards the Elementary level, and if I ever wanted to create a lesson for older students I would just have them switch to Photoshop and of course edit the actual lesson goals and such. BUT- I was wondering if there was a way to incorporate other contents, or even more ideas for my content, in an academically challenging and acceptable way (unlike the Oregon Trail which was educationally based, yet students didn't learn much). There's always the easy Math connection to making pictures that illustrate numbers, but I wanted something deeper. I would love to hear any suggestions and if any one has questions about Kid Pix I can easily answer them for you.
Below I provided a Youtube video, but this is the most recent version (I have only experienced the original version).
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