EarthWorks

My 8th grade students attended Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, Minnesota during the week of November 12 - 16.  During that time, the environment was their classroom.

In one class, EarthWorks, the students used the environment as their canvas.  Items they found in their environment were their media.  The Earthworks objectives, listed on the Wolf Ridge Web site, gave students the following experience:

"Students will experience seeing and expressing themselves creatively through contact with the natural world. Drawing activities, site-specific sculpture, and group discussion generate awareness of one's own influence on the environment and appreciation for artistic expression."  http://bit.ly/S1veUf

During class, students looked at and talked about a variety of environmental artworks created by a variety of artists. Then, the students hiked to the site where they were going to create their works of art.  As they walked, they pointed out items in nature that were sources of inspiration, stuck out, etc.  When they arrived at their site, as an individual or in groups, students had an hour to create a work of art with the natural media they found around them.  Finally, they shared their works of art with their classmates.

The link below contains photos I took during the EarthWorks class.

http://bit.ly/RJZPVd

September issue of Edudemic Magazine

Last summer, while checking my Twitter feed or by just clicking on an Edudemic link, I can't really remember where I saw it, I stumbled across a survey, for teachers, asking about ways we use technology in the classroom.  I filled out the survey, and in August, I was surprised to hear back from them.  They wanted to know if I was willing to be profiled during the month of September.  I said, "Yes."  If you are interested in reading my profile article, you can get it from Edudemic Magazine.  For $1.99, you can download a .pdf  version of the September 2012 issue, or if you have an iPad, you can upload the Edudemic app and order the September issue that way.

http://edudemic.com/magazine/

Digital Citizenship - Digital Footprint

Students in my 6th-8th grade art classes reviewed the elements and principles of design.  They also learned about the Zentangle art form. First, each student drew their footprint and added the details they saw on the bottom of their shoes.  Then, they used a variety of lines to divide the background, and they filled in the spaces these lines created with Zentangle designs.  Students used scanners and saved their completed work to their laptops. Next, they used iPhoto, ipiccy.com, picmonkey.com and/or image tricks lite (free app from app store) to edit and digitally manipulate their drawings.  After saving their digitally manipulated work to the laptop, they uploaded one or several images to collage creator lite (free app from app store).  Then, students watched video clips about their digital footprint and how the words they write could be interpreted by others.   Finally, after discussing Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship (http://digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html), they wrote about ways to leave a good digital footprint or ways to be a good digital citizen.  They also picked 5 words to describe a good digital citizen.  This was all done to prepare and train students about writing appropriate comments on students' Artsonia.com posted works of art.

Claymation

Claymation

During the past few weeks, my seventh graders have been creating Claymation videos.   This is the first time I have done this project and I learned a lot.  Based on the feedback I received from a survey I had my students complete using Google Docs, I will make a few changes next time.  For example, next year we will use tripods for the cameras and I will also have my students pick a theme relating to one of their classes and create the video relating to that theme.  Some students also said they would like me to pick their groups.  This time, I allowed students to pick their groups.  I was thinking that since they may need some study hall or at home time to complete the projects, I wanted them to be with students they would typically hang out with.  However, most of the work was completed in class.  Also, even though the students created the set and took the pictures as a group, I had them individually upload the pictures to their laptops.  I wanted each student to learn the process of editing the photos in iPhoto and iMovie, add sound clips created in GarageBand, and add slides in iMovie.  I thought that if they completed the final product as a group, only one student would be learning the process as the rest of the students stood around them.  Since they each have a laptop, I figured that they could each create a final movie.  I really liked completing the project this way and was very pleased at the way students helped each other when they were having troubles.  I was also very pleased that they had already learned how to add sound clips using GarageBand during music class.  Thank you, Mr. Lenz!  I didn't know how to do this and it was neat to see students apply skills learned from other classes.  Another concern students had was with the length of their video.  I assured them that I wasn't as much concerned about the length of the videos as I was about them learning the process involved in creating the videos.  One final lesson I learned was with the length of time it took to complete this project.  My first group of students wasn't able to finish the project before their final switch for the quarter.  They were able to finish taking the pictures but didn't have time to edit them or upload them to iMovie.  I told them they could come in during study hall and I would help them complete it or I will save their photos for next year.  At the beginning of the year, those students can finish the project.  From here on out, this will be one of the first projects I create.

Overall, I am pleased with the results and the learning that took place.  I told my students that the next time their teachers from other classes ask them to do a project summarizing a concept, they could create a Claymation video and insert in it a PowerPoint.  In addition, students in younger grades were excited to see some of the end results.  They are eagerly anticipating the time when they get to do this project. Some kids said they already do a version of this using their legos and watching the pictures as a slideshow on their iPods.

I am going to post a couple examples of our first attempt at creating Claymation videos.

QR Codes Linked to Artsonia.com

QR Codes Linked to Artsonia.com - Student Online Art Museum and Art Show

                     

In this post, I will be writing about a couple ways I use QR Codes in Art.  I will also share with you some of the hard lessons I learned about using technology.

**In order to scan the QR Code, you must have a free QR Code reader app installed on your phone.

The first way I use QR Codes is with Artsonia.com.  Each of my students has a small sample of artwork posted on Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/    Within the museum, the students all have a portfolio page that contains only their work.  I taught them how to copy the URL linked to their portfolio page and create a QR Code using this site.  http://createqrcode.appspot.com/  Because I have dived (sometimes blindly) into trying to teach my students new ways to use technology, I am learning many lessons along the way.  First, I learned that I should check to see if the technology lesson will work before introducing it to my students.  To check this, I cannot be signed on the staff server because the filters are different than the student server.  I need to sign on as a student to see if the filters will allow my students to access the sites needed to complete the lessons.   Had I known this,  I would have learned that the students couldn't get on the QR code generator site I referred them to.   If they would have been able to get into the site, the students would have simply pasted their URL in the rectangle and hit the "Create QR Code" button.  However, when my students tried to access the QR Code page, they found out the site was blocked/banned by the server. Things like this will happen.  I learned that when using technology, I am bound to run into a few road blocks along the way, but I cannot let those blocks scare me into not using technology. (This doesn't typically happen because I have also learned that my students are the experts and I am not afraid to ask them for help. They love it and have told me that's why I need them..so they could help me when I need it.)  I ended up creating the codes for each student which really didn't take long.  Once you try to make one, you will see how fast a code can be created.  I ended up saving the QR Codes for each class into a folder and sent the folders to a dropbox on the server.  (When doing this, be sure to label each QR Code with a student name or it will be an organizational nightmare later because you will have to scan each code to determine to whom it belongs.)  Students entered the dropbox and dragged their QR Code to their desktop and used it in a couple ways.  One way they used it was by pasting it to their Art Evaluation for student led conferences.  When parents attended the conference, they could scan the code with their SMART device and enter their child's portfolio page.  This was a great way to show the work without having to have over 500 works with me.  If parents didn't have a SMART device, they were able to check out out an iPod Touch from our tech specialist.  I wasn't able to attend conferences because I had tech classes that night, and I later found out this wasn't as successful as I hoped.  There were two problems that I didn't anticipate.  First, parents couldn't access the page because they were not connected to the internet and didn't have access to the guest password on the school's wireless network.  Also, I failed to remember that the iPod Touches were password protected so if people did try to check out an iPod Touch to scan the code, they were locked out.  No one else knew the password.   These things and the ones mentioned above, happen when dealing with technology and can be discouraging if you allow it to get to you.  I just learned a few things that I will plan for next time.

The second time I used QR Codes was during the nights of our Spring Musical.  During that time, I have each student from all my classes select a work of art to display.  This year, I had my 6-8th grade students attach a QR Code next to their selected work.  When people attended the Spring Musical, they could also view the artwork on display and scan the QR Code to enter student portfolio pages online.  (This time I knew to display the guest password so they could get into the internet.) Students in K-5th grade didn't have a QR Code next to their work.  Instead, I had a QR Code on a poster that patrons could scan to enter the school's page.  I'm not sure how that went because it was on Tuesday night and I was at my last night of tech class (how ironic).  We have another performance scheduled for Thursday night and I since created this video to help people understand the process.  We'll see how it goes. I will be there this time.

Click on the link to see the Voice Thread tutorial.  http://voicethread.com/share/3068298/  or scan the QR Code attached below.  Please note - You must have a Voice Thread App installed on your device in order to view the QR Code scanned Voice Thread. (I couldn't get my device to work because I didn't have the latest software.)  Someone will have to let me know if it worked.

***Students will be able to enter the QR Code, linked to their online art museum portfolio page, to their digital Voice Thread project.

Self-Portraits

Self-Portrait

In this lesson, students will be studying self-portraits.  They will learn about self-portraits by viewing self-portraits, watching videos, and completing NGA activities posted on my Glogster poster at this link.

http://cartoondrawing.edu.glogster.com/self-portraits/      

After discussing self-portraits, students will create their own self-portrait with the medium/media of their choice.  When the self-portrait is finished, students will scan it or take a photo of it with their digital camera and upload it to their laptop.  They will upload the picture to iPhoto if they need to make any changes or crop it.  My self-portrait was created with a digital camera.  I uploaded the picture to my laptop and then to Image Tricks Lite (free app from App Store) to digitally manipulate it.  When I was happy with the photo, I saved it to my desktop and later uploaded it to Collage Creator Lite (another free app form the App Store).  Here I added a screenshot of a Wordle that contains words that describe me and words that describe what I like to do.  Students can add additional pictures or symbols to describe themselves.  Students will save this photo in a folder located on their desktops for further use in their Voice Thread.

Google Earth Inspired Art

Google Earth Inspired Art

Students entered Google Earth on their laptops and had to find a map of where they live, where they would like to live, or where they would like to vacation.  Then, students took a screenshot of this location using JING or by holding down the command, shift, caps lock, 4 keys (on a Mac) at the same time and dragging a square over the image.  Next they printed a black and white copy of the map and used black Sharpie to trace the lines and shapes they saw or wanted to emphasize.  After, they traced or drew those blackened lines on another piece or paper, canvas, wood, etc.  Finally, they completed the work with the media/medium of choice.  I created an educreations video tutorial showing the steps I used in creating my work of art.  Students may transfer their map in different ways (light table, chalk transfer, projector, etc.) depending on how they plan to create the work.  In  the sample work I created, I added a few additional marks/shapes to break up larger areas and to be creative.

http://edcr8.co/IEPw0y

Welcome to my art and technology blog.  This is a new site on which I will be posting work to from time to time.  Some of these projects will be strictly art or technology related while others will be art and technology integration projects.  


Art and Technology....both areas that interest me.  My very first posts will showcase ways I have used or plan to use technology in my K-8th grade art classroom and my homeroom.  Several projects will also be completed in other classes like Science, Social Studies, Phys. Ed, Music, Spanish, Math, Religion, and Language Arts.  Some of these posts will contain samples of projects that the 8th graders will use to create a digital Voice Thread titled "Who am I?".  This Voice Thread will be completed at the end of their 8th grade year.