Podcast Assignment: Profiling the Students of Today - Part I APP5

I learned from this assignment that not only exposure and practice of technological opportunities are important for all of us, but also the value of this audio tool, pod casting. This lesson peeled a layer of the onion skin and revealed what young people really think about learning and technology. Who are today's students? What are their varied levels of technological experiences? I hope this Profiling of Chris, Jonathan, and Nathan will bring us closer to knowing.

Podcast Assignment: Profiling the Students of Today - Part II APP5

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Preview of Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The leading advocacy organization infusing 21st century skills into education.

I am very impressed with this site we were asked to review for my Walden' Technology class. This is a Partnership of people from company's such as Verizon, Brain Smart, and Apple to name a few that have joined Ken Kay's vision to bring momentum towards 21st century learning. The list is surprisingly long. These folks will provide resources that will assist schools. You can listen to Ken on a UTube video that is linked to this site. He discusses the Partnership's plan to prepare students for the work place. They researched real working people from various areas of employment, non profit organizations, and civic life to look at needed skills. There are states that have implemented already into their Standards combining core curriculum and content. Kansas and North Carolina are two states that have joined with the program. There is great urgency on the founder's part. He says, " We cannot let another day go bye..." I was surprised to see a link to recent article authors such as Andrew J. Rotherham who cautions us to be deliberate and fare to all students as this mission to 21st c learning is reached. He offers statistics that provide percentages of how lower income economic areas may miss out on the opportunities when they come. Perhaps moving slowly into this transition of learning along with technology is the right move.

This site offers updated readings from recent publications. In the Education sector, there is a recent report about Internet-based testing. It tells how cumbersome testing will be eliminated. We all know about those booklets and erasing over marked dots during testing time. This author supports the computer adaptive tests. Another surprising piece of educational info was about simulators that are created to provide virtual learning while assessing. You can see diagrams from the actual programs.

How do you all feel about this shift? From my readings in Partnership, I worry that my county, and even myself could fall short on what should take place inside our schools and outside. Reading about this vision says more businesses need to partner with my school's system. The implications could be as said found somewhere in this great site: over planning and under executed could be the results. There are successful programs such as KIP you can learn about by going to this site. http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

http://www.nga.gov/

Best Site Ever

I almost forgot this one! http://www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm It is for all educators.
It is the Naitonal Gallery of Art. If you teach American History, or touch upon it during the school year, go to this site. There are the images you can choose according to history, time, or artist.http://www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/

This is a popular site for Art Teachers.

From Art Education 2.0

http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf Go to this site for some great reads on blogging.

From above site:

"59% Percentage of
online students who say they
talk about any educationrelated
topics, including
college or college planning;
learning outside of school;
news; careers or jobs; politics,
ideas, religion or morals; and
schoolwork".

Art Teaching Tip Sites

Jerrysartorama is a catalogue I recieved from a co worker. It now has short
video clips with art lessons. This is perfect for lessons in middle school and high school. My students loved the watercolor lessons. This initiated the lesson. Two weeks later, with a John Audubon film, my advance class created beautiful watercolors. They have a long way to go, but have experienced all the basic skills.

jerrysartarama.com/freeartlessons

babyboomer becomes better blogger

Recovering from two days of vertigo perhaps I am patient enough to maneuver
easier around my blog adding and removing sites. I can see where this can be beneficial to a class. The teacher attaches the appropriate sites that meet the assignments objectives. The students can read, answer, and respond. Then they can add a site too. They can also talk to their teacher and classmates. The more I play, the easier it becomes.

Blog Usage in Art Classrooms

Purposes and places for blogs in a visual arts class are acceptable and infinite. It would motivate my students tremendously. My eighth graders sat in the library for one period and googled types of architectural styles. Imagine giving them an objective to blog to an architectural company to ask questions on how reasonable it would be to apply their chosen styles for the mock remodel of our school? There are museums and historical centers that also would share insightful ideas to my students. Making one professional contact could be included in the assignment. This is one small step towards building their confidence. My students can be at home in the evening doing this part of the assignment. As David Thornburg implies in the segment, Changes in Societies from our Walden DVD, that it is important for students to research, find and ask their own questions. Another idea for how I would use a blog in my Art room would to allow my students to connect with our neighboring school from another art class. It could become a planned and collaborative effort with the high school teacher to have our students research one or two ideas, such as environmental art, or public space art. This could spawn a community sponsorship for an actual outdoor project! The students would communicate to public offices, environmental research companies, and learn how to tie and connect art with going green, public spaces and the such. On a smaller level, our local high school's graphic arts teacher is always looking for ideas for her students to create visual images. My students would communicate and see the fruits of their labor. Students would all be organizing this. Again, another feather for reaching proximal zone of development for my rising ninth graders. Let's talk future! As the instructor, I always bring in a few career folks to share. The eighth graders could blog to artists, graphic designers, architects, industrial engineers, designers and more to complete another classroom objective that would provide them global connections beyond their peers. Showcasing their work of course would be an ongoing element incorporated into the Blog objectives. I may add to their lessons in the blog to comment on each other's work using skills we would practice in the classroom. I would offer them several art critic sites to read and learn the skill of artfully criticizing. The list of ideas goes on. I hope that these class blog objectives utilizing technology would create a communications need for my students to inquire, research, and communicate globally.

What are your ideas? If you are so lucky to have your county allowing the technology take place, offer me suggestions as to how long your county has implemented the utilization of blogs in the classrooms. Thanks. Victoria

Expanding blogs and sites for Art Ed

Art Education 2.0 lists hundreds of sites/blogs for art educators.

conversations today

Today, I met a new assistant Principal shopping for groceries. The deli counter is always a natural place for conversations to occur. He was from across Long Island Sound, where I grew up. New to the county and having had many opportunities to take classes for teacher development at Harvard in Massachusetts we discussed the state of affairs in my county, Fayette, Georgia. He feels if we the teachers (this is my declaration for next week) lean on the BOE folks, technology will eventually take off for us. I promise to find out about permission and how to achieve an okay to start a class blog in the near future. (I still need to get kinks out on this blogging) But the end of our conversation he compared our county with a county close to the border of Rhode Island and Connecticut and said we are still so far ahead with what we have . I believe we should be careful with what we want, and tread lightly as we seek changes. Thoughts about my first Walden course on Professionalism should resound with many of us... our efficacy as teachers need to always come first. We do come first before the computer. The computer is another form of communication. vmp

Technology on Education - Week 1

Dear Colleages and Readers,
This is a newer blog because I had technical difficulties opening my first blog. Sorry for the inconvenience. I am looking forward to each technical advancement I will be making. I look forward to learning from all of you and sharing.

Victoria Menna-Perez