Diversity in the Art classroom

I would set up a class blog that students could comment and post on. In today's classrooms diversity is unavoidable it is my job as a future teacher to educate and challenge my students so they are college and career ready. The art classroom blog will allow class participation for those who are more comfortable writing than speaking, and also provide a medium where thoughts are allowed to materialize before being shared. I believe once everyone becomes comfortable with the technology, it will certainly add value to my art classroom. Having a universal place for students of all cultures, race, religion, ethnicity, sex orientation, etc. come together and share their thoughts about a particular art technique or artist they may like. No matter what we are discussing in class this blog would be a way to create a new culture that involves my content area of teaching. Also, as the teacher I'd be able to post links to local art gallery exhibitions, or summer art camp opportunities that if checked at home may reach the parent versus writing it down in a notebook and forgetting about it by the time the student arrived home from school. 


I was impressed by Storybird. It allows users to read, create and share books to view online using original art provided on the site to fuel their creativity or enhance their ideas. Artwork can be searched by artist, themes or random browsing. Once a work of art is chosen from the site’s image library, a page is created with a place for text. The user then types directly onto the page. 
Three things that stood out to me after using Storybird: 
1) Attention: Students would be engaged and think creatively while building skills in vocabulary, sentence structure, and creative and conceptual writing skills.
2) Depth: This empowers student engagement in all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, culminating in the creation of written works.
3) Efficiency: The site is user friendly, requiring skills that most students already have, such as simple word processing, clicking to choose and scrolling to browse. 
Also, collaboration is also an option. Within a class, students can select a classmate from a drop-down menu of student names and send an invitation allowing another person to add to the story. Work can be kept private or be shared via email links. As a future art teacher this technology would be a great tool in my classroom. 


Since my last post I've learned a new technology called "Glogster". Everyone who’s had to make a poster for a class project at one time or another, this piece of technology will excite you. Glogster is a tool to create online multimedia "posters" that can incorporate all types of elements into a visual space: links, images, text, videos, music, and more. My future students will have multiple ways to express themselves and to learn from each other, making it easy for me to differentiate and engage each student. As a future art teacher I would use this technology as a tool to introduce a lesson to my students. For example, I would create a "glog" about Andy Warhol, including images of his artwork, links to professional sites about him, and audio/video giving the students a chance to hear someone critique his pieces of art. Also, I could have students create a "glog" at the end of an unit as a way of assessing if they clearly learned the material, vocabulary, step-by-step processes, etc.  The student then could present their "glog" to the class or I could grade them without having a class discussion about them. As a graphic designer, I was unaware of this technology but I think this would be a great tool to use with both elementary students as well as high school students. I think it's a great multimedia tool that allows literacy to be a focal point in the classroom. 


This is a glog I've made for my education literacy class: Carrie's Reading Autobiography

Along Buster's Journey by cklestinec on Storybird

Does blogging help educators in their content area?

Five way to establish Credibility as a blogger! 

1) State your credentials: you must inform your audience of your qualifications or lack of. 

2) Write what you know: when you write about content area that you have in-depth knowledge about, your feedback is richer and more meaningful than when writing about a topic requiring extensive research. 

3) Use credible outside sources: I believe "you are judged by the company you keep" also applies to writing. Make sure your sources are worth defending and not just convenient. 

4) Write with authority and accuracy: It's important to show confidence in your writing and how you write is just as important too. Information with spelling and typographical errors will be thought of as not credible by readers. 

5) Respond to comments: Interactivity is a key element of all online communication. Make sure you show willingness to engage in further conversation with your readers. 

http://www.schoolartsroom.com/

After reading  I've learned how valuable this blog is for art educators. This blog provides insight into the minds of other mature students preparing to become teachers. This blog is both educational and provides credible outside sources to encourage learning in the classroom. Many of the blog posts speak about teaching philosophies, lesson plans, and the importance of advocacy for the arts. This blog provides a link to a monthly magazine (SchoolArts). This literacy tool would be a great asset in my future classroom! Lastly, on blog post that stood out from the rest was titled, "Beginning with Bloom's". "Bloom's revised Taxonomy put into words what art teachers have known for years: It is much more difficult to create something new rather that to apply to evaluation." The idea of creating a poster with each level of Bloom's Taxonomy and having this in my classroom would serve as a fantastic reference tool. 

I would use Wordle in my classroom as a tool to help my students remember key vocabulary, artists, and techniques and tools used in the art-room. An example would be my students will take a well-know work, such as Starry Night by Van Gogh and use Wordle to create a word cloud to describe what they see?, how it makes them feel?, what was the artists intentions?, where might this scene be located? This tool would work well with Object Based Teaching. Furthermore, I would begin a lesson and allow my students time to absorb and think intuitively about the artist and his/her piece.

Prior to this assignment I had used Wordle in several different classroom discussions. I think when used properly Wordle can excite students and give them exposure to a different type of literacy tool. When searching different blogs I noticed the different ways to incorporate short video clips into an art lesson. The video could be taken with a simple Flip Video camera and then uploaded onto a computer and shown with Quicktime or any video compatible software. A great example of this tool is have your students help during a demonstration on "How to make clay". The next day during an introduction replay the short video clip of them preparing the clay and follow directions. This will get everyone attention and at the same time allow them remember what you taught in the previous class. I think this would be a great technology tool for the classroom!