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☺