Heaven on Earth

A few days on Lake Superior with a whole lot of people I love is the perfect way to get ready for a new school year. Beautiful days, wind and waves and more stars than one can imagine. It is what it is.

M333: Why Art is important for the elementary teacher

I believe learning about art and making art is important for all students because it makes us all better humans. But in the days of No Child Left Behind, time, energy and money are being used for those areas being tested. Recent studies show the arts are important in developing the brain in children.

flickr in an art room

I found flickr to be easy to use and plan to use it more in the future.

Imagining one another
http://www.fwmoa.org/education/selection_9.htm
A few years ago I worked with the Fort Wayne Museum of Art on a digital photography project that kids and parents loved. There was only had enough money to do this for a few years and limited schools to a one time thing. With flickr I think it would be possible to do this in school without quite the expense.

I have three digital cameras at school and would bet a lot of my students would have one they could use at home. I could let the students take cameras home over a weekend and create a photo essay. The more students have their own phone the faster it could be completed, but it could be something we worked on for a longer period of time while working on other things in art class. We could put the photos on flickr, they could choose one to be printed and could share their photos with family and friends they choose.

Of course not all my students have internet access, the digital divide is not as evident in elementary school but certainly can cause issues. I could let students access their photos at school for those without a way to do it at home.

Using YouTube

I use YouTube in my class a lot. It is a great resource for elementary art. I know some schools block YouTube, so I am very lucky and am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to continue using it.

Here are a few videos I've found:
Vincent
A lovely slide show of art work by Vincent Van Gogh set to Don McClains "Vincent". I use this after showing students a Powerpoint presentation on Vincent Van Gogh's life.

Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htQwnFVikmo&feature=related
video of butterflies and windflowers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe1YRC18U7E&feature=related

During an integrated unit on Butterflies using art and movement I used the first video of musicians playing a beautiful concerto while the students act/dance the life cycle of the butterfly. Using the video of butterflies in flight I have students create music and art to show how it feels to fly like a butterfly.

Origami
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iVP0tzwhVc&feature=related
Fun video showing the creation of an animation of a origami crane. It shows making an origami crane a couple of times, which is nice for kids to see.

Not so bad

I am still struggling with technical difficulties. But it is pretty amazing what you can do.
Using GarageBand you can easily add images and record audio over those images.
- Students could scan their art and discuss/critique their own artwork.
-Adding some photos of local architecture and students could read reports on the history of the buildings.
-Interview with a famous artists would be a great way for them to display their knowledge of artists.
-Cultural artifacts could be another way to share reports.
-As a teacher, I could use a podcast to explain some basic technique, like perspective drawing that is usually pretty cut and dry. Students could rewind if they need to.
With more practice I think I would find other applications.

Podcast

Not having a lot of fun.

Part of my problem is I am so NOT an auditory learner. I have a hard time listening to information without pictures, and I know I can add pictures or do video and once I make it all work out I may do that. Technical problems are frustrating me at this point.

Maybe its a male thing. My husband, son, and daughters' boyfriend were definitely more interested in this than I was. All of them are musicians and more performance oriented than I.

I am much more comfortable putting up photos than comments. I'm working on it.

critical thinking and technology

Creating these blogs, wikis and podcasts for this class makes me think about all the information out there that anyone can put out there, even me.
We need to teach our kids to look at what they find and think about what they read, hear and see.
This site offers teachers and students some ways to help evaluate information they find on the internet.
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/eval.htmle