Our Final Blog

For your posting, answer the following questions:

1. You have created a Blog and have been Blogging for 16 weeks.
What is your opinion of "Blogging"?

I actually am really happy we created a Blogger account for this class. Without this assignment, I would have possibly never have known what a "blog" is. I think this is a great communication tool not only valuable in a college classroom but in any classroom. There are no restrictions to what someone may want to write about, so this becomes a versatile tool that may be used in all classrooms. No matter what tool the instructor chooses to use, I think the most important lesson I have learned from creating blogs, is that it is important to create an open form of communication in a classroom, essentially an outlet for students to have a voice.

2. Did you find this to be a useful reflection / communication tool?

If I read this question before answering my first question I would have realized I was already answering number two in number one. =) As mentioned above, I truly did find blogger to be a great communication tool and very useful in our classroom especially since we only had the chance to meet once a week.

3. Would you use a Blog in your art classroom? If yes, how. If no, why not?

I think I would definitely consider using blogger in my classroom in the future. I am not sure if I would necessarily assign assignments through blogger, but rather allow this to be an open line of communication between my students and myself. It could also be an area for students to connect to one another ex. ask questions while not in class, catch up on missed assignments or classes, etc. Perhaps I would consider using Blogger as a personal art journal for my students to keep throughout the semester as a requirement. I do find creating blogs to be a great tool and will definitely consider its use in my future classroom.

Blog Week InDesign Video

1. GO TO: http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/

2. Watch the following videos under Adobe InDesign CS3:

- Working With Master Pages

- Managing Pages

- Using Layers

3. Describe what you learned from the videos.

From the videos, I best learned how to control my master page, work with adding and moving and duplicating pages, and working with selecting objects on a page.

4. Which video was most helpful in the creation of your Portfolio? Why?

I thought managing pages and using layers was most helpful towards developing my portfolio. I felt managing pages will be useful when working with many pages for my Portfolio, and I felt using layers will be helpful when I have many different objects on each page in which I will want to put in order and move around without difficulty.

ITSE Website

Answer the following questions:

1. What educator resources would you be able to use in your art classroom?

I this I would definitely use under curriculum, special education. It seems like the Don Johnston Corporation would be really helpful for a teacher. They provide supplement instructions and adapted lessons for children with special needs. By working with a team of professionals, better outcomes can be reached and the children can benefit. I could definitely use this in my future classroom to help create useful and appropriate lessons for my special needs classroom.

2. What NETS for Teachers 2008 would you be able to incorporate in your art classroom?

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers:

a.	promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.
b.	engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
c.	promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
d.	model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

I believe I would use this because it is very relevant to a modern day classroom and introducing technology into the classroom is almost essential in today's age.

3. What resources from ISTE would you be interested in using to further your development as a future art educator?

I think one of the first tools I would use in News and Events. This can keep me updated as an educator so that I may be up to date on information and events occurring. I think I would also like to use Professional Development. This will keep me posted on events I can attend or be part of to continue my own education and keep me up to date on whats happening.

For this weekly blog posting your topic is:

1. Click on these links and explore the sites:

http://www.adobe.com/education/k12/adsc/

http://www.apple.com/education/

2. Find one resource from each site that you would use in your art classroom in the future.

Be sure to include the active url hyperlink in your blog specific to contect you would use.

3. Explain how you would use each resource in your classroom.

http://www.adobe.com/education/instruction/teach/acrobat-curriculum.html

I chose this link because I think it is essential for students to become technologically advanced as our society does as well. I also think it is important for the teacher to create an open resource for students to access and use for communication. The idea of using a program to help students create and organize and access their portfolio is a great resource. I can personally use this tool to look over and review students work in an easy, organized fashion. Also, I would be able to create my own lesson plans the students would be able to access anywhere on a computer. I know from experience this can make such a difference when students miss class or need to review the material once more. Overall, I think this resource can be very helpful for my students and me.

http://www.apple.com/education/teachers-professors/online-tutorials.html

I think this link is an excellent resource for teachers. Learning how to create online accessible sites for students to become part of opens an entirely different learning center for the children. Learning how to plan and organize, collaborate and communicate, and managing classroom work flow seem to me to be three essential elements to running an effective and efficient classroom. I would definitely use all of this tutorials to learn how to create an online learning center for my students. I would do this in attempts to benefit my students and myself.

Blog 11

A. How did you decide which blog to review?

I chose to review Christina's and Cynthia's blogs because I know them and I thought they might have great blogs to look at!

B. Why did you select the individual posting to comment on?

For both, I chose to pick their self-portrait blogs because I found these to be most interesting to look at and review. I really enjoyed finding examples of self-portraits an reviewing their sites gave me a great opportunity to see more!

C. How could you use a Blog in your classroom as a communication tool? If not, why not?

I think using a blog in a classroom would be a wonderful communication tool! Students would be able to communicate with eachother in a structured format. They could be monitored and it would be a great way to share ideas and keep in touch throughout a class if perhaps someone might have missed or are behind in their work. Creating a way for the students to become more in touch is a great tool in a classroom.

Parental Involvement

From the RSS feeds you set up in class, select 2 quality feeds that relate to:
• the importance of parental involvement in eduation
• communication tools that educators can use with parents/guardians
• what/why/how/where/when of communication between educators and parents/guardians

Discuss your opinion on how you could use this information in your K-12 art classroom.

http://englishcompanion.ning.com/profiles/blogs/three-basic-steps-towards

I think this link explains effectively the importance of parental involvement in their children's lives. It is ultimately the parent's job to become and stay involved. Typically, children will not reach out and this is why it is essential for parents to be aware of their responsibilites and the positive outcome their involvement can have.
It is also important for educators to establish a firm line of communication with parents to keep parents informed about their childrens success, problems, obstacles, etc. I believe important tools to be used can be weekly newsletters, email, phone, more time and effort. This of course may not necessarily be practical for some teachers, but if the students best interest is truely in hand, it should not matter the time and effort put forth, because that will only result in positive outcomes.


http://www.arttherapyblog.com/videos/movie-highlights-kids-with-disabilities-and-art-therapy/
This site doesn't specifically point out the relationship between educators and parents but to look deeper into the meaning behind this idea, it is relevant that the effort and compassion put towards something can have amazing outcomes. This one individual teacher made a huge impact on these childrens lives, and I think this is a prime example of the positive results involvement can have on a child and this can be multiplied when both educators and parents both alike are contributing. Art Therapy can not only be conducted in a school setting but at home as well, and parents can become part of their childrens success. Art can be a wonderful outlet for unsettling emotions and children with disabilities can use this as their own personal outlet.

I personally would love to work with children with disabilities. Using art as a communication tool can be very successful when used correctly. I hope someday to use those tools in my classroom while also making a great effort to keep parents informed and involved in their children's lives.

Video Summary

Technical Training Video - Summary and Critique

1. GO TO: http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/

2. Watch the following videos under Adobe InDesign CS3:

- Making Selections

- Working With Text

- Working With Text Styles

3. Describe what you learned from the videos.

I found these videos to be really useful especially since I have no previous experience with InDesign. I found Making Selections and Working With Text Styles to be the easiest of the three videos to follow. Working With Text is going to be useful, yet figuring out and learning how to work with actual shapes and distortion and resizing is something I feel is essential to the program. Also, learning how to set up your text how you would like and learn about presentation of text is very important as well.

4. Which video was most helpful? What do you think of the different presenters?

As mentioned before, I found video One and Three to be most useful I believe mostly because of the presenters. I felt the presenter in working with text just dove right in and went too fast for me. I think he would be a great presenter for people who have maybe had previous experience with the program, but I definately prefer to go a bit slower. I think the first video, Making Selections, will be most useful to me. I think since I am just starting out, learning how to simply work with my shapes will be most important. In conclusion, all of the videos were certainly helpful and will aid in my self portrait.