Course Reflection

Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design for Learning can be an intimidating concept for educators. Teachers see those educational terms and assume they involve exhaustive planning, hours of developing individualized lesson plans, and frustrating sessions learning complicated technologies. But incorporating DI and UDL in the classroom, as I have learned from this course, is far from it.

At the beginning of this course, I saw DI and UDL as concepts that were foreign to my art classroom and would be difficult to apply to my curriculum. But when researching DI and UDL for my group's "Differentiation Station social network" I learned that many of the tools and techniques I already use in my classroom, help me engage all of my students. Simple technologies like using my digital projector and document camera allow me to differentiate instruction daily. I also learned about a variety of learning technologies that will help me develop differentiated learning opportunities for my students, web-based art applications on art museum websites like The Getty Institute (http://www.getty.edu/gettygames/) and Mr. Picasso Head (http://www.picassohead.com/).

Along with researching learning technologies to differentiate instruction I also learned about technologies to help me learn about my students' interests and learning profiles which can help me develop lessons that will be engaging to all learners. By taking the time to have my students fill out learning profile and interest surveys, I can create a more comprehensive picture of who my students are and how they learn.

Differentiating instruction, student learning profiles, and integrating technology are all ways great ways to customize a classroom to reach all learners but it is important to remember that differentiating a classroom or a curriculum doesn't happen over night. Teachers can take "baby steps" when it comes to incorporating technology into the classroom. The first steps I am going to take with in my own classroom is to start providing students more opportunities to use technology as a creative tool and as a way to assess my students' progress and readiness.

This course has taught me a lot about DI and UDL but it has also giving to opportunity to use a technology I had no experience with, Google Groups. It was a great way to collaborate with group members and I can see myself using this technology in my own school and district to work together on curriculum and educational resource development.

GAME Plan Reflection

For this course I created a GAME plan to assist me in my goals to:

1.Learn more about integrating online collaborative (global) art projects with in my curriculum and seek out professional development about educational technologies like Web 2.0.
2. Continue to develop my Art classroom blog as a way to inform parents and community about my classroom, curriculum, and student art gallery.

The GAME plan model was a great way to help me not stay focused and organized but also helped me monitor my process to accomplish my goals.

During the “Action” part of the GAME plan, while researching art classroom blogs, I found some inspiring blogs, great art lessons, and learned about a new educational presentation tool called Prezi. I was so impressed with Prezi, that I have started using it as part of my instructional practice. I also discovered a great resource for student global projects.

Now that I have learned and developed art lessons that include online collaboration, educational networking, and digital storytelling, I feel more confident to include these learning strategies as part of my curriculum.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

After using the GAME plan to help accomplish my own NETS-T goals and researching the NETS-S, I can see how beneficial using the GAME model would be with my own students. Within both the student and teacher NETS, is the goal of using technology for creativity and innovation. This was one of my own goals for this assignment and I think this would be an appropriate goal for my students to work with and create a GAME plan for.
In the Art classroom, there are a variety of technologies that help students be more creative and to develop critical thinking, from graphics programs to digital storytelling. VoiceThread is a educational tool I am beginning to very comfortable using and would love my 3rd grade students to create their own VoiceThread post about their artwork. For years I have do a "create your own superhero" drawing assignment. This would be a perfect lesson to incorporate VoiceThread and a GAME plan. It might look something like this:
GOAL
To create new superhero. Post drawing and narrative on VoiceThread
ACTION
Create a graphic organizer with Kidspiration to develop details of superhero (what does the outfit look like, super powers, name, arch nemisis, environment, etc)
Create drawing of superhero.
Photograph artwork, upload to VoiceThread and record narrative about artwork
MONITOR
Does my final drawing of my superhero show all the details. Have I done a complete drawing? Have I created a narrative that tells my audience about my superhero?
EVALUATE
Is my superhero original? Does my artwork show my best effort? Have I reviewed and commented my classmates artwork on VoiceThread?

The GAME plan model is a great way to keep students not only on task but motivated to accomplish their goals.

Revising the GAME Plan

As I mentioned in the previous post, the GAME plan process has been a great learning experience and I have found a lot of great resources, lesson ideas, and educational tools that can easily be integrated into my classroom. As for my two original goals to:

1.Learn more about about integrating online collaborative (global) art projects with in my curriculum and seek out professional development about educational technologies like Web 2.0.

2.Continue to develop my Art classroom blog as a way to inform parents and community about my classroom, curriculum, and student art gallery. ,

I am still in the middle of the learning process. I have decided to do a global art project with my fifth graders next month and I am starting to document my art lessons and photograph student artwork to add to my classroom blog.

For my next NETS-T goal, I would like research more educational technologies that involve students using computer software to create digital art. During this GAME plan I also discovered a great presentation software called Prezi that I want to start incorporating more into my classroom.

I really enjoyed using the GAME plan approach to help me stay on task and have my final goal in mind, I will probably use a similar strategy to help me accomplish my next goals.

Evaluating my GAME Plan Progress

So far I feel that my GAME plan progess is going well. I have learned a lot about global arts projects and recieved some great advice about keeping a classroom blog. While researching Art classroom blogs I discovered some great project ideas, classroom management and organization tools, and a technology tool, called prezi, that I have already utilized in my classroom. I also recieved some great advice and encouragement from my fellow classmates, including the advice that it is okay to pace myself and that my entire curriculum doesn't have to change to integrate more technology into my classroom. I really like that my GAME plan has allowed me to stay focused and makes me accountable for my goal. I still would like to research more classroom blogs and talk more with teachers who have more experience doing global arts projects in their classrooms.

Monitoring GAME Plan Progress

As the research for my GAME plan is continuing, I haven't come across many road blocks preventing me from accomplishing my goals of:

1.Learn more about about integrating online collaborative (global) art projects with in my curriculum and seek out professional development about educational technologies like Web 2.0.

2.Continue to develop my Art classroom blog as a way to inform parents and community about my classroom, curriculum, and student art gallery.

So far the I contacted three teachers (two in my own district) who are thrilled at the idea of doing a collaborative art project with my classes. We have discussed many lesson ideas including the following:
1. Have the students "skype" each other to share information they learned about Vincent Van Gogh

2. Do an art materials exchange challenge (where two schools switch art materials and students have to create art using the switches materials)

3. Take part in the gobal Art Trading Cards program

Now my only problem is pacing myself and not doing too many global projects at once!

As for my classroom blog, I have spoken with my the technology experts in my district and my adminstrators about posting photographs of students. In our district we have a parent permission slip that goes home to all students that addresses student privacy and covers yearbook, newspaper, and websites.

Overall things have gone very smoothly in achieving my goals and I feel I have recieved great support from my district and my collegues.

Carrying out the GAME plan

In my last post I created my GAME plan that included the following goals:

1.Learn more about about integrating online collaborative (global) art projects with in my curriculum and seek out professional development about educational technologies like Web 2.0.

2.Continue to develop my Art classroom blog as a way to inform parents and community about my classroom, curriculum, and student art gallery.

To carry out my GAME plan I will utilize the resources and guidance of Art teachers on the Art Web 2.0 website. In addition to the website, I will researching professional development opportunities to learn more about technology in the Art classroom. I also plan seeking the advice of fellow art teachers in my district who have more experience with incorporating global art projects into their curriculum.

As I continue to develop my classroom blog, I will need to find more information about district policy concerning using students in photographs and videos on the blog. I will also need to contact the district technology support to find out more including a link to my classroom blog on the district website.

I have taken the following steps towards attaining my goals. I have started to research other Art classroom blogs and taken notes about certain features I felt would also work on my blog. I have also researched global art projects on the GSN Internet Projects Registry, focusing on projects that are appropriate for my grade levels and curriculum.

The GAME Plan

In this week’s video many teachers discussed how they analyzed their curriculum and looked at how technology could be integrated to enhance their lessons instead of developing a lesson around a certain technology. I too share this belief that technology is meant to assist teachers, not intimidate. As an art teacher I have experienced how technology has opened “the walls” of my classroom and allows my students to virtually visit art museums and watch videos of artists at work. Technology not only assists teachers, but is a great motivator for the 21st century student, and “while technology is not essential to creating authentic, learner-centered instruction, it offers a powerful resource for engaging students in authentic experiences” (Cennamo, 2009).

One way to make sure my classroom continues to be a learning environment that not only supports critical and creative learning but creates self-directed learning is to set a GAME plan to continue to learn and apply educational technologies in my classroom. After reviewing the National Education Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T), I feel I do an efficient job in applying NETS-T Standards 1, 2, and 4 in my curriculum but I still need to work on Standard 3 (Model Digital-Age Work and Learning) and Standard 5 (Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership).
I have created the following GAME plan to assist in my goal to implement and strengthen my application of educational technology Standards 5 ( Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership) in my Art classroom.

Set Goals
Learn more about about integrating online collaborative (global) art projects with in my curriculum and seek out professional development about educational technologies like Web 2.0.

Continue to develop my Art classroom blog as a way to inform parents and community about my classroom, curriculum, and student art gallery.

Take Action
Seek out and confer with Art teachers in my district who use Web 2.0.
Research collaborative art projects.
Research Art teachers’ classroom blogs on Internet.

Monitor
Create a list of web resources for collaborative (global) art projects.
Update classroom blog once a month to keep parents and community member informed.

Evaluate and Extend
Identify which collaborative projects best fit my curriculum. Seek out other technologies to help students and community art awareness.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Reflection EDUC-6712I-3

One of the most striking revelations I had when creating the lesson plan that focused on new literacy skills for this course, is that I already incorporate many of the new literacies in my curriculum. That made me feel less apprehensive about learning about learning the new literacies. Many of my lessons start with class discussions where the students are working with an essential question, they have dialog with peers, seek information through technological resources, and use their artwork as a way to answer their essential questions/ artifact of knowledge. I utilize self and class critiques as in a safe way for my students to reflect on their experience and artistic growth. This course helped me better define and expand my knowledge of 21st century skills and new literacies, so that I can easily incorporate more of them into my classroom.

One of assignments that really stood out to me from this course, and is the one I would like to pursue as a personal professional development goal, was from the week 6 discussion where we had to research collaborative project ideas on the Internet. I found some great resources for collaborative project ideas and I am inspired to have my students participate in a global art project. After doing some research and looking at what I could fit into my curriculum, I have chosen to have my 5th grade students take part in the global project called Mysterious Munch. I will be working with the general classroom teachers to help with the writing portion of the project and the technology teacher to assist with technological aspects. I am excited to have the students share their artwork with the other classes involved with the project and to find out student reaction and feelings about collaborative projects. I am sure they are going to love it!

Final Reflection on Personal Theory of Learning

After reviewing my initial “personal theory of learning” and the learning theories discussed in this course I see some modifications that can be made. In my initial response I focused on my need for my classroom to be an environment open to many styles of learning and include hands-on activities, this course has shown me that my personal learning theory actually aligns more closely to the cognitive and constructionist learning theories. I want my classroom to have student-centered activities and technologies that allow students to become the “teacher” and have an active role in their learning. By utilizing technologies like virtual field trips and Voice Thread, my students will get the opportunity to gain critical thinking skills that will help them in the future workforce.

Two goals I have for my classroom involving technology integration is first to continue to learn about learning technologies for that art classroom by researching educational blogs and seeking out professional development opportunities. My second goal is to ask my principal and PTO to help me attain technology tools for my classroom. Getting student computers and digital cameras for my classroom available for my students to use will make it easier to incorporate lessons and activities that support learning technologies.

VoiceThread

Here is the link to my very first voicethread:

http://voicethread.com/share/1032398/


I am so excited to learn about this technology! I know my students would love to use this to share and comment about their artwork. I also think this would be great to post my "artist challenge of the week" on.

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Social learning theories indicate that in order to help teach children to solve realistic problems, they must be placed in an anologous situation. Students can be told all day how to solve problems in realistic (read: collaborative) situations, but without actually experiencing it, lecturing will not achieve much. I found the idea of using simulation games to be an intriguing approach to implement social learning theories.

Games derive their fun from some aspect of realism. Good games are designed to appeal to and challenge our senses – not only physiologically but psychosocially as well.Social learning theories focus, in part, on facilitating students' understanding of how their choices and actions affect others and their environment. Web-enabled multiplayer simulation games are geared towards this component of social learning theories. Students are placed in realistic scenarios (an important component of social learning theory) and are challenged to make appropriate choices based on available information.

In the art classroom, while I do not have the ability to engage students in online multiplayer games, I do have other strategies at my disposal. Using Moodle (which our distric supports) I could create a class webspace where students work could be posted and commented on. This simple approach will offer a basic way for kids to experience some sense of what it is like to have work published for public exhibition. It would be my goal that, through this approach, students begin to gain an understanding of how their decisions and creations in the art classroom can have wider significance, even a global audience given this web-enabled technology. Realizing this would hopefully initiate self-reflection in my students and get them to think about how their talent and creativity can be received by others. The ultimate goal, of course, is to get students to take pride and ownership of their talents and ideas by assigning them a realistic, out-of-classroom significance.

Constructivism in Practice

The constructionist/constructivist learning theory focuses on cognitive "project based learning", where students are actively involved with the learning process.Through the active involvement and hands-on learning, students create "artifacts of knowledge" that result increased comprehension as Dr.Orey described in 2009. Majority of working world utilizes this learning style with everyday.

For this weeks assignment I decided to explore some of the constructionist learning resources that dealt with the visual arts. As an art teacher my classroom revolves around project based learning, I give my students a theme or a media to work with and they get to have a hands-on learning experience that often involves critical thinking and self-discovery types of learning. At the Edutopia website, I came across a real life example of how project based learning is integrated at a high school in San Fransico. The students worked as "interns" in an architectual firm in San Fransico in partnership with their high school. The students were treated as interns and the projects they created utilized the technology tools that the actual architects work with. Each student was responsible for creating a presentation and model of their designs and were held to the same criteria as if they were hired employees. What made the course really effective was, "that participants [were] exposed to the unvarnished realities of life in the highly competitive and often-contentious world of design and architecture" (Rapaport, 2007). The constructionism involved with this lesson definitely provides the students with a personal and meaningful artifact that taught them real life skills and showed how they will apply them in real life situations.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Rapaport, Richard. "Immersing Students in Civic Education | Edutopia." Improving Public Schools & Public Education | Edutopia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .

Virtual Field Trip and Concept Map (Application 3)

Here is my virtual field trip and concept map for a unit on Leonardo Da Vinci.

Cognitive Learning Theory and Technology

The purpose of cognitive learning is to “allow students to interact with information in order to acquire, synthesize, create and share new knowledge” (Orey 2007). Strategies like “cues, questions, and advance organizers” give students the ability to analyze information, connect with prior knowledge , and spark interest. I like to start lessons with either a specific question like: “What is a mosaic?” “What is a seascape?” or “Do you know who Roy G Biv is?”. I also ask abstract questions, “If you had a fantasy tree house, what would it look like?” A combination of these types of “questions and cues” allow my students to think critically and cognitively about the theme.

Concept mapping technology allows students to have a more personal “student centered” learning experience. Having students create a KWL chart and use educational technology to expand their knowledge, “empowers learners to become active and responsible filters of information in which they engage in directing their mental processes; therefore, the role of the teacher resumes the “guide on the side” (Orey 2001).

Virtual field trips is also a technology that fosters cognitive learning. Virtual field trips and interactive websites allow students to, “learn ‘with’ as opposed to ‘from” (Orey 2001). It is one thing to see a stagnant picture of the King Tut’s tomb but to get a chance to virtually explore a pyramid, like Dr. Howard Carter, would result in a more enjoyable, personal, and meaningful educational experience . Although I haven’t had much experience working with virtual field trips, I am excited to see how they can be integrated with the lessons I already teach and inspire new projects.

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

March is National Student Art Month

In honor of National Student Art Month today is the start of our community student art show "Got Art?" at the historic Opera House. Twenty-two of my talented young artists are featured for the community to see. Not only is it exciting for my students but for me as well. I love seeing the artwork from other schools and I always come away with some great new project ideas. Here are some highlights!

Behavior Learning Theory

The main focus of behaviorist learning theory is to teach students the routines of learning and the unwritten rules and responsibilities of being a productive member of society. Although my art class is a place that explores a student’s creativity, I also emphasis how important craftsmanship and effort are to their artwork. As described in 2007 by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, “not all students realize the importance of effort” (p.156). At the beginning of majority of my art lessons I show student samples, in a Powerpoint presentation, to help inspire and assist my students to create successful artwork. The students evaluate their peers’ artwork and determine the successful and unsuccessful aspects of the projects. By having the students see the direct correlation between effort and success I am teaching them that it is artistic effort not talent that is important in my class.

Behaviorist learning theory also emphasizes the understanding of basic skills, in order for students to confident with skills, homework and practice are necessary. In my classroom I often have student practice many artistic skills, how to use tools correctly and take care of art materials. Although I don’t assign homework, I do encourage my students to keep a sketchbook at home so they may practice their drawing skills outside the classroom. I often have students who bring in their sketchbooks and show me their artwork I also have weekly artist challenges that allow students to hone their skills. Recently I have come across some great cartooning website that have videos and step-by-step instructions for students to practice with.

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