Final Refelction

I think that I have met the goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the semester. I have become more familiar with different types of technology. I have discovered ways to use that technology in the classroom.  I hope that I am able to use technology in my future classroom to engage students. 

My favorite projects in this class were

1. Imovie

2. the website

3. smartboard

One project that I don't see myself using as much as the others is the inspiration project. I feel like I do like graphic organizers, but I think I like to make them by hand better. 

This class really opened up my eyes to the different ways that I can use technology in my classroom to interact with students, to motivate students, and to provide students with endless amounts of resources. 

Blogging in the Classroom

I will definitely use some sort of internet tool to communicate with parents and students when I am a teacher. I love looking at art teacher blogs to get ideas for lesson plans. Hopefully I can make a blog that has lots of great images of the student work to share with the world wide web. Students will love seeing their work online and parents will love finding out what is going on in the classroom. Keeping a blog could also help me with keeping up with ideas for lesson planning.
Hopefully by having an online avenue for parent/teacher communication, I can get some more involvement form parents that may be too busy to come in from conferences. Some parents may feel more inclined to reach out if they are kept in the loop on the blog.
I would also like for my blog to be a place where I can show students different artists that I would like them to learn about. I can post paintings and information about the artists and students can comment their opinions on the paintings.
Blogging is a great tool for teachers/parents/students to share information and ideas with one another and I will definitely be using it in my future classroom.

Safety Minutes

I really enjoyed hearing the safety minutes each weak.  The most powerful safety minute was the one where we watched the video about texting and driving. I know that I am guilty of being distracted while driving on occasion. After I saw this video, I have made a conscious effort to be focused on the road. I don't know how I would go on if I hurt or killed someone because of making a choice to be distracted while driving.
I think that you should continue doing the safety minutes with your future classes.

I Movie

I movie was a some what tricky tool to use. Trying to get the music to play the whole time and fade out was something that perplexed me for a while. I finally figured it out, but I couldn't tell you how I did it. I really would like to learn how to use I movie because it would be a great tool to teach a high school art class how to use.  I feel like i movie is the kind of tool you have to just play around with and become better at it.

Digital Diagram

Digital diagrams are a great way to make information visual. I am a visual learner so that I think this would be a good tool for me to even use not only in the classroom for studying or making lists. The tool was a little complicated to use.  I think that they could have made it more intuitive to use.  Hopefully they come out with some new additions that streamline some parts of it.

Flip Chart

Flip charts are so cool! They are basically a more awesome version of powerpoint. Kids can get up out of their seats and interact with your presentation. This will keep them engaged and interested in your lesson.  I had a good time making my flip chart but I feel like there are tons of things that I need to learn about making them.   There are so many different features that teachers can add to flip charts and I feel like I could use my whole teaching career making new things.  I definitely  see myself using this tool in my future classroom.                                                                                  

Mid Term Reflection

It's crazy to think that the semester is almost over. I think the thing that I am most proud of that I have accomplished this semester so far is creating the website. It was not too difficult to do and I can see myself playing around with it and using it in the classroom to communicate with parents and students.  Right now I am working on a Promethean board project about Australian Aboriginal Art.  I think that this would be a fun topic to present to a class. I'm excited to get to work on it during class.

Google Presentation

I finished my google presentation and I thought it was pretty similar to making a power point. I feel like they made the tool really intuitive and easy to use.  The only part of this assignment that I thought was a little tricky was uploading it to the website. I had to play around with embedding it for a little bit, but I eventually figured it out.  I envision myself making power points to begin almost every lesson so I think I should just start using google presentation and uploading them to a blog so that students that might have missed a class can catch up.

Digital Scavenger Hunt

This week my group and I completed a color scavenger hunt. We had a fun time taking photos of things we found around the building that illustrated the different colors.  The part that I found most difficult was being able to take the photos that were shared with me on google drive and putting them into Picassa. Through trial and error, I eventually figured it out but it was a tedious task. I'm pretty sure there is an easier way than downloading each photograph and uploading them individually in Picassa. I had fun edting the photos in the software and adding text to them.  I can see myself using a digital scavenger hunt in the art classroom for things like colors, shapes, or different types of lines. I think this is a really great tool for teachers.

Resource Wiki

I believe that we are still the first class to be able to work on the wiki. So far I have added a contacts page, a  page about the elements and principles of design, and a page that would serve for sketchbook ideas.  I'm excited for the other art ed students in the other TPTE sections to be able to add to the resource page. I hope that we can make this resource page that we will really be able to use when we become teachers.

Inquiry Based Assignment

I actually very much enjoyed making the Inquiry Based Assignment. I could imagine asking students to complete one of these as homework or if they finished an art project early. It could reinforced ideas that would be on a future quiz.  Creating the IBA was not very difficult. I just added pages and created the worksheet and teachers page. I think this will be a great resource for my future classroom.

My Thoughts on Web Quest

I think that Web Quest could be a good resource for teachers to create their own simple websites. They are simple enough to make and seem easy to maintain. On a more negative note, I feel like they all look like they were made in the 1990's. I feel like I could make a similar website using Google sites where students could follow directions and complete a task.  I don't know if I will create my own Web Quests as a teacher but it is good to know that they are there as a resource.

Web Quest

http://questgarden.com/02/66/9/050926195820/

I found a Web Quest about Van Gogh.  In this Web Quest students look at a website that has biographical information as well as art samples of Van Gogh.  Students are to read the biography and find their favorite painting by the artist.  Students will then print the image of their favorite painting and create their own painting in a similar style.

Website Evaluation

 For my website evaluation project, I chose to evaluate a site called The Art of Ed.  It is a great resource for art teachers for lesson plans and information on classroom management.  The project shed a lot of light on the process of evaluating a website. The checklist showed all of the criteria that a "professional" website would contain.  It really makes me think twice about what kind of websites I will use as a resource in the future. It is important for me as a future teacher to be able to discern a website with factual information from one that is full of misinformation. I will certainly be using this check list as a resource whenever I come across a site whose credibility is questionable.

Course Expectations

From this course, I hope to gain a better understanding of how to use technology in the classroom.  Hopefully I can use a technology skill set to help my students learn and explore the exciting world of art. I would also like to establish in this class an interactive website that I can use in my future classroom. I'm excited about the opportunities that having a teaching website provides for connecting with the parents and students. In addition, I can imagine myself sharing through the web site great works of art, links to museums, and even power point slides used in class with students. I am also hoping to learn how to use the interactive whiteboard, as I see it being a great resource for the art room.

Lauren

Welcome to My Blog!

Hello Everyone!

My name is Lauren Bubulka and I am an Art Education student at the University of Tennessee. Welcome to my blog. This blog will be where I can reflect on the trials, tribulations and triumphs of learning how to use technology in the classroom. Stay tuned for the exciting next episode.... :)