Class Website

This project was the process of creating a website using google sites, which is a free tool offered by google.  This is a great tool to take advantage of as a teacher for communicating and providing resources for students and parents.

What went well?

Once I worked with it a little bit, I thought the process of creating the site went pretty smoothly. I like my end product and think it is easy to navigate and looks nice.


What went wrong?

Some simple things like deleting and rearranging pages was confusing at first, I could not figure it out so I googled it and found the answer, so that problem was easily fixed.  I wish that there were more templates to choose from, but that is probably just because I am an art major and want mine to be pretty, but I am ultimately happy with my final product.


What I will do differently next time:

I would not really do much different next time, the process went well and I do not have any major complaints, hopefully I can continue to update this site and use it in my future classroom.

How I will use a class website in the classroom:


I will use this site to show my work and the students work, to share resources about artists we are learning about and different art sites that you can interact with at home to learn more about art.  I will use this website as a tool for the students and teachers to get to know me and keep up with what we are doing in class.

Link to website:
https://sites.google.com/site/mrshammersartclass/

Digital Story Telling

You can also access this video through youtube at http://youtu.be/G91BCOqfgGo

 This is  a video I made using iMovie.  I think that this was a successful project overall.  The process of diagramming a storyboard before we made the movie was very helpful.  Some obstacles I faced were finding pictures that were high enough quality to use on the web, but I managed to find them through some searching.  iMovie was easy to use and very easy to export and share.

This tool will be great to use in a classroom. You could do movies on class trips, other artists, art movements, student's art, your own art, etc. It will be helpful when in the school to be able to use a wider variety of music, because you wont necessarily be posting to youtube and having to worry about copyright laws.

I did my movie on Andy Warhol. There is a short biography of him, definition of pop art, examples of his art, and a few of his famous quotes.

Flip Chart on Complementary Colors

 

This is the cover page to my flip chart that I made covering complementary colors. I made the flipchart using the Active Inspire program.  This program allows you to make, in my opinion, really interactive, fun, powerpoints.  One thing that is great about the program is even if you have powerpoints or slides from a different program you can still upload them and use them in active inspire.

I think after a while the format of the program would get easier once I got used to it, but for this first time project it was a little tricky.  Overall, I had a good experience working in active inspire though.  I feel like you do need to me creative to think of good ways to incorporate the interaction of students. It requires you to think outside the box with how you format your pages.  

This tool obviously is going to be a great asset to any classroom.  It allows you the flexibility to create slides on whatever subject you want and gives you the opportunity to get your students involved with activities at the board, which most students LOVE! They can write on the board the answers, or erase to find answers, move the objects around to match, and many other possibilities.  I hope that I get a chance to work with this program in my future classroom, because I think it is a perfect way to incorporate technology in the class and provides a new, exciting way of learning for students.

Google Forms

This is my example of google forms.

Digital Diagram

We learned how to use the Inspiration software to create digital diagrams in class.  This can be a very useful tool in any classroom because it helps to break down concepts to make them simple for kids to understand.  Many children are visual learners and diagrams are a great way for kids to understand information that might seem complex.  This tool can be very useful in my art class by showing relationships and examples and how all the different terms connect to each other.

I really enjoyed this project and organizing the diagram.  I wouldnt do anything different in this project, but I did think of other ideas I could have done, and will do for my future classroom.  Some of these ideas include color mapping, art movements, and principles of design.

For my project I did a diagram of the elements of art.  This is set to meet the state standards for second grade visual arts.  It has the main idea, the seven componets, definitions of each, and examples of each.

Smilebox!

Today in class we learned about Smilebox and how you can use it in your classroom! It is an easy and fun tool that the kids could even use. You can make newsletters, collages, invitations, calendars, etc.

Scavenger Hunt!

The passed couple of weeks we learned about digital images and different tools for publishing them on the web.  The top example is a Picassa Web Album  that I made containing pictures of a digital scavenger hunt I did that shows all different types of lines I found.  Picassa Web albums are a good tool to publishing pictures and sharing them with others. It is easy to use and FREE! The second example on this page is a google presentation. Google presentation is a great tool to use in the classroom, just like google documents it allows you to collaborate with others and work together on the same project. It is similar to powerpoint. This tool is also simple to use and share, which is perfect for student use. It is also a great way to keep students up to date with class assignments if they were absent, all you would have to do is upload your presentation to your class blog or website and the students can look up anything they missed.

I think that this project went very well, and I would change anything about it. I also think the scavenger hunt is a great idea that I can use in my classroom one day, it's a good way to get students creatively thinking and looking for examples of art in things they see everyday!

getting started on my website

https://sites.google.com/site/mrshammersartclass/



http://editor.wix.com/editor/061b15f2-e790-11e0-9121-5de74ea2fbd9?requesterAppOpGuid=CCCFC668-05B9-4E17-A21B-338D5AB5831E

Example of Glogster!

Today in class we made a Glogster poster! It is a simple and fun way to spice up a poster to give information to your students, and it is simple enough that the students can either make their own!

Wordle Example

This is an example of a wordle that I made during class.

Audioboo Web 2.0 Tool

 Website: http://audioboo.fm/
 Wiki 2.0: http://web20wikisection3.pbworks.com/w/page/50657087/Audioboo

Audioboo is a free web 2.0 tool that allows your to record and upload very easily from a smartphone or computer.  This tool can be very useful in a classroom. Especially because it is so easy to use that even the children could create an account too! Nothing really went wrong for me or my partner during this process.  We both learned how to use Audioboo quickly and there was a video tutorial to watch that explained everything as well on the websites home page.

I can definitely see how Audioboo is a valuable tool.  I dont know how much I could incorporate it into my art classroom, but here are some ways I considered: uploading any homework assignments I might give them, so they can access that if they forget what to do. Also making a boo of are terms that they can review to help their "artist minds" grow and learn more even outside of school! I could also let the students leave feedback for me about how they liked the project and what they learned from it as extra credit.  Art is a very hands on subject to teach so using Audioboo would be more for reminders rather than something the students would be uploading.

I am excited to learn about all the other Web 2.0 tools and see if there are other ones that will be helpful when I become an art teacher! And I am looking forward to sharing Audioboo with the class because I think that they will find it very helpful!

Thoughts on Wiki's in the Art Ed. Classroom!

Over the past few classes we have been learning about and discussing Wikis.  I have never used a wiki before, other than looking up information on wikipedia, so I learned a lot from these class sessions.  Wikis are a tool that can be used by an individual or a group depending on how much editing rights the administrator gives to the other members of the group. This is the Wiki that our class made: http://allaboutme26593.pbworks.com/w/page/50155723/FrontPage

What went well:
*The user interface is very simple and easy to navigate.
*It is user friendly, even for a younger crowd.
*I thought the project went well with everybody having the chance to edit and work on the wiki together, it went smoothly for the most part.
*I think that it was a good way to introduce ourselves to the class in a timely and organized manner, and our information is still on the wiki so it can be reviewed if needed, after our in class presentation.

What did not go well:
*I really wished there was more editing features, although I understand the importance of having a clean and simple format.
*It was sometimes frustrating to wait to get on the homepage for editing because you have to wait for the person before you to be finished.

At first I didnt think there was many ways to incorporate Wikis into the art class, but after brainstorming and reading some of the examples we were given, I realized I was wrong.
You can use Wikis for:
*Create exploratory projects: If you’re teaching a new subject, ask your students to collect and share information in the wiki so that you can learn together. -This is great for art projects and planning out what subject you will address in your work.
*Glossary: Get your class to create a glossary of terms they use and learn about in new units, adding definitions and images. - This is a great way to list art terms and artist that the kids can access when needed.
*Student portfolios: Assign portfolio pages to each of your students, and allow them to display and discuss their work. -PERFECT FOR ART CLASS!
*Classroom scrapbook: Share news, photos, and current achievements in your classroom on a wiki page.
* Calendar: Create a calendar on the wiki and encourage students to add their own personally important dates. 
* Hall of fame: Highlight students’ exceptional achievements on the wiki.
* Share achievements: Let parents log in to the wiki to see what their children have accomplished.

All of these examples could really be useful and an asset to my future classroom and I am glad that I was made aware of this tool to aid me in instruction.

Website Evaluation

During the process of evaluation a website I learned several things.  One of the most important things that I learned is what to look for in determining the credibility of the website.  You have to be careful what you show the children and expose them to while they are in your care, and preparation is vital in reviewing and assessing websites you will have them working on.  Another thing I did not realize was so important before is that you have to make sure the computers and technology at your school can handle the type of website you expect your students to use.  I realized with my website evaluation of the NGA Kid Zone that there were certain plug ins that are vital to the functionality of the site.  If the teacher is prepared and has the computers set up correctly then the website could be a great asset to her, if she did not review it, the website would be a complete waste of time.

In the art classroom I could see a website like this be a great activity for students that finish their projects a little early.  They will still be creatively thinking and learning art terms and concepts, but will not require extra materials and make an extra mess or be distracting to other students who are still working.

Expectations for This Class

Welcome to my blog! My name is Caitlin Hammer and I am studying art and art education at the University of Tennessee. Throughout this semester I will use this blog as a tool for reflecting upon projects I am working on in TPTE 486.  

My expectations for this class are to learn different ways I can incorporate technology into my future classroom.  I think by learning to use these resources it will make my class more interesting and fun for students and give them an option of learning tools to use. I am not a pro with technology by any means so hopefully this class will allow me to gain a better understanding of the tools that are offered.