In order to implement the first goal of my GAME plan, I needed to learn how to construct an online course in our school management system, ANGEL. This was a priority that had been on my list since August, and due to the process of setting goals for my GAME plan, I have, finally, pursued the instruction I need to begin the New Year with the first facet of my online classroom, which will entail blog responses every two weeks. Therefore, due to the extra impetus of our course requirements, I am on my way to discovering the other end of online learning, from the instructor’s point of view. I am excited about beginning a reflective blog in my course because, very often, I neglect to pause for reflection during class time. Since visual arts is a hands-on lab, much of the course material is difficult to effectively teach on-line, therefore, I find that teacher-student interfacing is best served while working on art projects. The on-line option has provided additional opportunities for reflection and art history.
Developing an on-line learning community is still a work in progress. The form and quality it takes will depend on my persistence in making connections. I enjoy getting on the Internet, and exploring. What a wide open world it is, too…… I’m really looking forward to sharing thoughts with others to deepen my professional scope, and due to my GAME plan, these goals now have a sharpened focus in my workday. All in all, these goals can only improve my practice, and I’m satisfied that they are good choices for me, personally, as well as, professionally.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Using My GAME Plan Process with Students
The GAME Plan is really a very logical process for implementing goals at any age. To develop goals, implement activities or an action plan, monitor the progress of the plan, and then evaluate the plan will fit the pursuit of almost any set of goals, whether they are NETS-S goals or state standards. Yet, in this post, the focus is on the NETS-S standards. When considering these specific standards, I am interested in developing reflective blogs, as mentioned in previous posts, multimedia projects such as digital stories, and, finally, using applications for illustration and photo processing in the classroom, but I do have parameters in which to operate.
First, our school district allows no collaboration outside of the sanctioned learning environment called ANGEL. Blogs and wikis are possible through this interface, but only in a school-wide and/or classroom environment. We do have free applications that have been allowed on our network; such as, Inkscape, Gimp, and Windows Movie that can be used for the creative explorations in which I am interested. Therefore, many of my goals for the students can be realized, with the exception of blogs and wikis that would include a wider, global audience. Maybe these options are around the corner. We can only hope…
Any suggestions for creative uses of technology in the art room are welcome! No idea is without merit. Other points of view and thoughts stimulate creativity, at least for me, and I am always searching inspiration.
I have enjoyed collaborating with our group, and hope that we may continue exchanging ideas in our final stretch. Two more classes, and the next class has a really skinny book! Maybe that means we can spend more time exploring the Internet. Good luck to all of you
First, our school district allows no collaboration outside of the sanctioned learning environment called ANGEL. Blogs and wikis are possible through this interface, but only in a school-wide and/or classroom environment. We do have free applications that have been allowed on our network; such as, Inkscape, Gimp, and Windows Movie that can be used for the creative explorations in which I am interested. Therefore, many of my goals for the students can be realized, with the exception of blogs and wikis that would include a wider, global audience. Maybe these options are around the corner. We can only hope…
Any suggestions for creative uses of technology in the art room are welcome! No idea is without merit. Other points of view and thoughts stimulate creativity, at least for me, and I am always searching inspiration.
I have enjoyed collaborating with our group, and hope that we may continue exchanging ideas in our final stretch. Two more classes, and the next class has a really skinny book! Maybe that means we can spend more time exploring the Internet. Good luck to all of you
Friday, December 25, 2009
Revising My GAME Plan
What have you learned that you can apply to your instructional practice?
I have reflected upon the first approach that I would like to make on ANGEL, our online learning environment, and taken the first steps to building a reflective blog to use with my student after the new year. The first blog will still be a reflection on the description and interpretation of a famous artwork. Two weeks later, the second blog will be a reflection of their first project. At first, I thought this would be difficult because of the memory required to upload that many jpegs into the system, but the IT specialist figured out a way it could be done easily. I am hopeful that this plan will work. Therefore, I feel confident that I have learned what is required to begin building my online environment.
In attempting to build an online professional learning community, I have work to do. I have learned that simple attempts to begin collaborations (i.e., starting a blog, joining a group) are not sufficient to engage individuals in a fruitful collaboration. It is a busy time of year, and I need to be patient. Yet, with the coming of the New Year, I also, need to be more persistent in the exploration of Art Education 2.0, and find other venues in which to collaborate with other art educators.
What goals are you still working toward?
As explained above, I am still in the process of designing an online environment in which my students can reflect upon their own artwork, as well as, the artwork of famous artists. My development of an online learning community will also, take more time and persistence. Goals I will pursue as soon as Christmas, and this class are over. Time is a key element in realizing these goals.
If you are not ready to set new learning goals, how will you extend what you have learned so far?
My goals to build a course in ANGEL, is a work in progress. After I get the blogging underway, the possibilities are numerous. Maybe working on a collaborative report in small groups, using a wiki, as a culminating project each 12 week session, or making an infomercial on a famous artist. Can the students convince their audience that their chosen artist is unparalleled in the world of art, and that they must have the available artwork as an investment?
A professional learning community has unlimited potential. At this juncture, I don’t have plans to set new goals, the exploration of the potential of online collaboration is enough for me to pursue. Once I have gotten deeper into the process, more layers of discovery and communication will reveal themselves. I look forward to the adventure.
What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?
There are many applications with which I would like to experiment. I have downloaded Inkscape and Gimp onto my laptop, and they are also available on each computer at school. It goes without saying, the academic teachers have been quite busy building their courses on ANGEL, and haven’t had the opportunity to become familiar with these more creative applications. Logically, these new applications are under my umbrella, and I would like to become familiar enough with them to help the staff expand their curriculums to include projects that incorporate the “new visual literacies”. If we all take a piece of the challenges ahead of us, and train each other, technology in education will seem less daunting.
I have reflected upon the first approach that I would like to make on ANGEL, our online learning environment, and taken the first steps to building a reflective blog to use with my student after the new year. The first blog will still be a reflection on the description and interpretation of a famous artwork. Two weeks later, the second blog will be a reflection of their first project. At first, I thought this would be difficult because of the memory required to upload that many jpegs into the system, but the IT specialist figured out a way it could be done easily. I am hopeful that this plan will work. Therefore, I feel confident that I have learned what is required to begin building my online environment.
In attempting to build an online professional learning community, I have work to do. I have learned that simple attempts to begin collaborations (i.e., starting a blog, joining a group) are not sufficient to engage individuals in a fruitful collaboration. It is a busy time of year, and I need to be patient. Yet, with the coming of the New Year, I also, need to be more persistent in the exploration of Art Education 2.0, and find other venues in which to collaborate with other art educators.
What goals are you still working toward?
As explained above, I am still in the process of designing an online environment in which my students can reflect upon their own artwork, as well as, the artwork of famous artists. My development of an online learning community will also, take more time and persistence. Goals I will pursue as soon as Christmas, and this class are over. Time is a key element in realizing these goals.
If you are not ready to set new learning goals, how will you extend what you have learned so far?
My goals to build a course in ANGEL, is a work in progress. After I get the blogging underway, the possibilities are numerous. Maybe working on a collaborative report in small groups, using a wiki, as a culminating project each 12 week session, or making an infomercial on a famous artist. Can the students convince their audience that their chosen artist is unparalleled in the world of art, and that they must have the available artwork as an investment?
A professional learning community has unlimited potential. At this juncture, I don’t have plans to set new goals, the exploration of the potential of online collaboration is enough for me to pursue. Once I have gotten deeper into the process, more layers of discovery and communication will reveal themselves. I look forward to the adventure.
What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?
There are many applications with which I would like to experiment. I have downloaded Inkscape and Gimp onto my laptop, and they are also available on each computer at school. It goes without saying, the academic teachers have been quite busy building their courses on ANGEL, and haven’t had the opportunity to become familiar with these more creative applications. Logically, these new applications are under my umbrella, and I would like to become familiar enough with them to help the staff expand their curriculums to include projects that incorporate the “new visual literacies”. If we all take a piece of the challenges ahead of us, and train each other, technology in education will seem less daunting.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Evaluating My GAME Plan
As I reflect on my GAME plan, I see that my goals were fairly realistic, although the rigors of the holiday season, as well as, professional demands and my current academic pursuits caused me to adjust my timeline. At least, I now know how to design a course in ANGEL. The IT specialist gave me great instructions; therefore, it is my turn to do the rest of the work. My goals for the new semester will be dependent on my efforts to design basic blog requirements in Angel over the holidays, so that I can implement my GAME plan for the new six weeks. Although there are many events planned with friends and family, I will spend the few hours needed to take the first steps in designing an online learning environment to be used for the purpose of critiquing art and self-reflection.
I have not been as successful in creating an online learning community. To date, I have joined two blog groups, and uploaded many examples of student artwork to the site at: http://arted20.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=2nmgv5x93cc4d A few were even featured on the home page, yet no conversations have evolved. My approach has been to ask questions about online learning, and put them “out there” in cyber world for sage responses. Maybe everyone is as busy as I am, and January will prove more fruitful. I had high hopes for this website because I admire Craig Roland’s insights on the integration of art and technology, and hoped that the site would have more activity. Yet, maybe I need to search for like-minded art educators on the site, follow their activity, and become a part of their conversations. Another Craig Roland site that I found suggests other sites for future collaboration that I intend to pursue.
In evaluating my GAME plan, I must admit it is still a work in progress, yet I am committed to accomplishing the goals I established in the beginning. Its success will depend on an increased amount of time and tenacity on my part. Sounds like a New Year’s Resolution, huh?
I have not been as successful in creating an online learning community. To date, I have joined two blog groups, and uploaded many examples of student artwork to the site at: http://arted20.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=2nmgv5x93cc4d A few were even featured on the home page, yet no conversations have evolved. My approach has been to ask questions about online learning, and put them “out there” in cyber world for sage responses. Maybe everyone is as busy as I am, and January will prove more fruitful. I had high hopes for this website because I admire Craig Roland’s insights on the integration of art and technology, and hoped that the site would have more activity. Yet, maybe I need to search for like-minded art educators on the site, follow their activity, and become a part of their conversations. Another Craig Roland site that I found suggests other sites for future collaboration that I intend to pursue.
In evaluating my GAME plan, I must admit it is still a work in progress, yet I am committed to accomplishing the goals I established in the beginning. Its success will depend on an increased amount of time and tenacity on my part. Sounds like a New Year’s Resolution, huh?
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monitoring My GAME Pan
At this juncture, the implementation of my GAME Plan is on hold. I have attempted to set up an online blog through Angel, but have been frustrated with conflicting schedules. Our Instructional Technologist is often busy when I am free and visa versa. I still have a week to get this simple project done before the winter break begins, so modifying my plan does not seem necessary, yet. Recently, I have located resources on the Four Step Art Criticism process, which will be helpful in structuring my learning environment. The first steps were to have the students critique artwork in a class blog on a bi-weekly basis, alternating between critiques of student artwork and famous art pieces. Hopefully, I can get this accomplished according to my plan.
Our HEART committee has not met in December, due to the holiday rush, but my commitments to this committee have already been established for the New Year. As far as, engaging in professional blogs, I have established my blog, but more connections need to be made. By developing my own personal learning community, I think I will find more fruitful interactions between myself and other art educators. This will require more research and time on my part. Finding quality blogs that are of interest to me, as well as, researching group blogs is the next step. Then, I must establish RSS feeds on those blogs in order to follow the conversations and exchange of ideas taking place on a daily basis. Not finding time for this has been very frustrating, as well, because I am very motivated to construct a learning community. Maybe the winter break will give me enough time to build the interactive environment that I envision.
Our HEART committee has not met in December, due to the holiday rush, but my commitments to this committee have already been established for the New Year. As far as, engaging in professional blogs, I have established my blog, but more connections need to be made. By developing my own personal learning community, I think I will find more fruitful interactions between myself and other art educators. This will require more research and time on my part. Finding quality blogs that are of interest to me, as well as, researching group blogs is the next step. Then, I must establish RSS feeds on those blogs in order to follow the conversations and exchange of ideas taking place on a daily basis. Not finding time for this has been very frustrating, as well, because I am very motivated to construct a learning community. Maybe the winter break will give me enough time to build the interactive environment that I envision.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
My Efforts to Carry Out My GAME Plan
Standard 1C- “Any academic or creative process will be a richer, deeper experience if it is accompanied with some sort of reflection. My first goal is to create a student blog using ANGEL, our blended learning management system. I will utilize this blog to encourage them to reflect on each others artwork, and famous artworks, as well.”
Above is the first goal of the GAME plan that I described in my last post. In order to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate that plan, it is necessary to feel confident using the technology that our school provides. To prepare for a class blog, I will first need to form my classes within ANGEL, and then take my students to one of the school’s computer labs to register. This is an important step because, to date, I have not learned the process. ANGEL was newly launched this year, and getting the academic courses up and running was administration’s first priority. Now, that the demands on our IT Specialist are less acute, these few weeks before the holidays would be an ideal time to enlist his help in structuring my classes, and registering my students. After winter break, I will have six weeks to use the class blog with my second group of students. According to the action plan that I proposed, reflection on artwork would be required in a class blog every two weeks. By learning the first steps in conducting on-line instruction, with a due date in mind, I plan to proactively pursue a better quality learning experience for my students. If reflection is required as part of my on-line class structure, I no longer will be able to shove it aside in my hurry to introduce new projects. One site that promises to have great material for blogging is http://www.smarthistory.org/ My first impulse was to choose an abstract artist’s piece to discuss, since abstract art can be controversial, it provokes discussion. I thought that the video on Kandinsky’s “Composition VII” http://www.smarthistory.org/Kandinsky-CompositionVII.html relayed an important message about Abstract Expressionism, which involved the integration of the senses. I would be interested in reading responses to this website and the potential it might have for a middle school blog. I love the casual conversation between the art historians, but I question whether it would be too advanced for the middle school student, or maybe the material offered would be an excellent way to increase rigor in the visual arts classroom. I welcome any and all opinions.
Standard 5A
My second goal is to become involved in professional blogs on quality Web sites, such as, http://arted20.ning.com/ I have just begun to explore the site and it promises to be quite informative. Locally, I will increase my activities in our local HEART (Henry Educators of Art) Association.
Today, I developed a page on Arted2.0, and have posted my first blog. Although this sounds a bit ridiculous, I will include my new art blog in my academic blog. This is my first attempt to reach out to other art educators on a global scale to search for answers to on-line content in art education. The blog reads:
“My middle school has recently adopted a new leaning management system called ANGEL. This year only academic subjects have been required to develop heir classes on-line, next year, the fine arts will be asked to use ANGEL, as well.
My question to other art educators is.....
What would a quality art program look like on-line? What activities would best serve the middle school student? Does anyone have great websites that could help me develop the content of the on-line portion of my course? I guess I just need all the help I can get.
If we all work on this together, I believe it will serve us well. Soon all subjects in K-12 classrooms will have on-line access, and I would like to have the best advice available to offer content that is rich and relevant.
I want to take the leap into those cold, foreign technological waters...... “
My plan is to monitor progress weekly by keeping a reflective blog in ANGEL. As a staff, we are required to reflect each week, but I have made a minimal effort to fulfill that responsibility. If I make administrators, as well as, colleagues, aware of efforts to improve my practice, I will have a stronger motivation to stay “on target”. This approach will, also, involve a larger community in the evaluation of my personal goals and the fulfillment of those goals.
Finally, I need to develop a rubric for my students to establish the expectations of classroom blogging. Before I begin to develop and assign blogs, I need to have a goal in mind. Well, I guess I have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks, which means I need to stop writing and start researching☺
Above is the first goal of the GAME plan that I described in my last post. In order to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate that plan, it is necessary to feel confident using the technology that our school provides. To prepare for a class blog, I will first need to form my classes within ANGEL, and then take my students to one of the school’s computer labs to register. This is an important step because, to date, I have not learned the process. ANGEL was newly launched this year, and getting the academic courses up and running was administration’s first priority. Now, that the demands on our IT Specialist are less acute, these few weeks before the holidays would be an ideal time to enlist his help in structuring my classes, and registering my students. After winter break, I will have six weeks to use the class blog with my second group of students. According to the action plan that I proposed, reflection on artwork would be required in a class blog every two weeks. By learning the first steps in conducting on-line instruction, with a due date in mind, I plan to proactively pursue a better quality learning experience for my students. If reflection is required as part of my on-line class structure, I no longer will be able to shove it aside in my hurry to introduce new projects. One site that promises to have great material for blogging is http://www.smarthistory.org/ My first impulse was to choose an abstract artist’s piece to discuss, since abstract art can be controversial, it provokes discussion. I thought that the video on Kandinsky’s “Composition VII” http://www.smarthistory.org/Kandinsky-CompositionVII.html relayed an important message about Abstract Expressionism, which involved the integration of the senses. I would be interested in reading responses to this website and the potential it might have for a middle school blog. I love the casual conversation between the art historians, but I question whether it would be too advanced for the middle school student, or maybe the material offered would be an excellent way to increase rigor in the visual arts classroom. I welcome any and all opinions.
Standard 5A
My second goal is to become involved in professional blogs on quality Web sites, such as, http://arted20.ning.com/ I have just begun to explore the site and it promises to be quite informative. Locally, I will increase my activities in our local HEART (Henry Educators of Art) Association.
Today, I developed a page on Arted2.0, and have posted my first blog. Although this sounds a bit ridiculous, I will include my new art blog in my academic blog. This is my first attempt to reach out to other art educators on a global scale to search for answers to on-line content in art education. The blog reads:
“My middle school has recently adopted a new leaning management system called ANGEL. This year only academic subjects have been required to develop heir classes on-line, next year, the fine arts will be asked to use ANGEL, as well.
My question to other art educators is.....
What would a quality art program look like on-line? What activities would best serve the middle school student? Does anyone have great websites that could help me develop the content of the on-line portion of my course? I guess I just need all the help I can get.
If we all work on this together, I believe it will serve us well. Soon all subjects in K-12 classrooms will have on-line access, and I would like to have the best advice available to offer content that is rich and relevant.
I want to take the leap into those cold, foreign technological waters...... “
My plan is to monitor progress weekly by keeping a reflective blog in ANGEL. As a staff, we are required to reflect each week, but I have made a minimal effort to fulfill that responsibility. If I make administrators, as well as, colleagues, aware of efforts to improve my practice, I will have a stronger motivation to stay “on target”. This approach will, also, involve a larger community in the evaluation of my personal goals and the fulfillment of those goals.
Finally, I need to develop a rubric for my students to establish the expectations of classroom blogging. Before I begin to develop and assign blogs, I need to have a goal in mind. Well, I guess I have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks, which means I need to stop writing and start researching☺
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