Art. Education. Technology.
Academic Aesthetic 168: Quarter End Reflections [ 12:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1263)Today I teach my last classes of the Quarter, so as I reflect on the first 9 weeks I’ve asked my students to do the same. Next quarter will be different. Why? Because it has to be. Oh, and the programming language I couldn’t remember? Scratch.
It’s about time I started publishing these again. Show Notes: Today is Day 3 with no intranet in my computer lab. More like this and I’ll start showing withdrawal symptoms. Replacement Technology = switching pencils for pens, but having students write the same things. Disruptive Technology = throwing out the pencils and pens to do something that pencils & pens would not help with at all. Even with only replacement technology in your lessons, you can be very dependent on technology. Always have a Plan B.
Want to know a secret? A deep, dark secret that I’ve kept off this blog for over a year now? One that will shock you? Well, too bad. I’m going to tell you anyway. Ready? Here I go … I’m not a part of my school’s Art Department. Yeah, that shocks me, too. Here’s a guy whose screen name on an umptillion of Web 2.0 sites is “The Art Guy,” who may or may not have been the first art teacher podcaster (at the time…Continue Reading “What I Teach”
School starts on Monday. No, no that’s not true. For me, School started several weeks ago when I came in during the Summer to put my lab back together. (The custodial staff needed me to break it down so they could move the desks and wax my floors.) I found out only recently that many of the students I had last year will also be returning. I met this news with mixed feelings. First, I had some awesome kids last year. There was more than…Continue Reading “Return to Technology Concepts”
The photo above is the front wall of my school. On the day I stopped by to interview for my position (one of the best career choices I ever made, in my honest opinion), I saw this wall and thought “If I was a few decades younger, I’d try climbing that.” Indeed, with all of those bricks pushed away from the flat surface, this wall was full of hand holds and toe holds. Perfect for climbing, except for the concrete and asphalt below you. No,…Continue Reading “Climbing The Wall”
The image is kind of text-heavy. Click to see the full size version. If anyone’s curious, this was about 5 minutes worth of work in Frames. It took longer because I’m apparently very bad at spelling words correctly.
Presented by Ryan Schaaf of Howard County. The last time I attended a session on using games in education I was under whelmed, but I think that was more from the presenter than the subject. I am cautiously optimistic. First paper handout I’ve seen this conference. Printed PowerPoint slides. “Let’s start with your Door Prize! … I left it at home.” It was cards for a contest for a game called “Legend of Zork.” In games the teacher is the guide and students learn through…Continue Reading “#MSET Session 4: Digital Game-Based Learning in the Classroom”
Presented by Roxanne Dean & Linda Jones, both from Baltimore County. Honestly, could anyone who knows me expect me to attend any other session? It’s Art! It’s Technology! This is what I do. Demonstrating Voicethread used to teach a lesson on drawing a human face. “At this point they haven’t thrown me out.” Said RE: How many Voicethread pages she has. 5th graders drew self portraits then turned them into contour line drawings and learned about Andy Worhol. “Why do you think we need to…Continue Reading “#MSET Session 2: Integration Technology & Art in a Lesson Study”
Presented by Diane Boarman, Howard County This is possibly one of the smallest rooms I’ve ever been in, and there are few if any empty chairs. Meanwhile the walls are doing little to block out the noise of convention center staff moving things around. Nevertheless, the show must go on. Created her first animation using Layers in Photoshop, but her school didn’t have Photoshop. Switched to placing images in PowerPoint. Suggests PlayDoh for claymation. If the lesson takes a while the PlayDoh can dry out,…Continue Reading “#MSET 2010 Session 1: 411: Easy Animation for Time-starved Classrooms on a Shoestring Budget”
Twitter. Almost everyone (online) has heard of it. Anyone can use it. But are they using it well? Some would argue that depends on what you’re using this microblogging platform for, but nevertheless I’ve collected a short list of Twitter dos and don’ts for your consideration. You may or may not agree with this list, and that’s fine with me. Still, I reserve the right to say that people who don’t take these points of advice are “doing it wrong.” Your mileage may vary. Bullet…Continue Reading “Twittiquette”