Thing 11

1. I found several great tools. Poll Everywhere, Wallwisher, Harmony Draw, Hyper History Online, Imagination Cubed, and Kerpoof. I plan to do a research project on my iPads. Kids will look up information on the web about a topic such as styles of art and post their findings on Wallwisher.
2. I can't say that my thinking about the learning that will take place in my classroom has changed. As an art teacher, I am expected to focus on a project based learning experience. I only have about 40 min. of working time per class with the new schedule this year. This doesn't allow for much deviation from completing art projects for all the contests and events that my kids are expected to enter. But I will be able to use more technology with the new iPads that I will be getting. I will use groups and give each group an iPad so that they can research, use Pol Everywhere, and Wallwisher. I will need to figure out how I can keep everyone in the group engaged since only one iPad will be used per group.
3. No unexpected outcomes really. I am pleased that I am communicating with an art teacher in New Zealand and another in Puerto Rico about exchanging student art work. This would not have happened if I had not learned of Art Education 2.0 and Swap Bot. I have learned a great deal but I will use technology differently from a core teacher because my needs and the needs of my kids and my TEKS are different. I still have parts that I wish to revisit and spend more time on such as learning Skype and Podcasts and I will do so after I learn how to use my iPad.

Thing 10

1) I want to make sure that students verify sources when doing research and try to acess several resources when reserching on the net. Secondly, never share your personal information such as passwords, phone numbers, erc. with others. Also, respect fair use laws and unstand what they mean.
2) I found that the Texas School Safety Center had excellent resources for explaining digital citizenship. I have bookmarked this site. It discusses topics such as bullying and internet safety.
3) I would teach the idea of digital citizenship to students by modeling it as I go through the assignment. Teachable moments always arise as students work and I will take advantage of those. Also, I will discuss things such as copyright laws and fair use rules before we start an assignment.
4) I found a Parent's Guide that will be useful to print and send home from the Texas School Safety website. http://www.txssc.txstate.edu/media/K12downloads/iNetSafety/Teens&Families/Parents_Guide.pdf

Thing 9

1) I think that, for art, it is important to tie technology to an objective from time to time but not for every project. Art is very "hands on." Sometimes that means using technology and sometimes that means using art media.
2)Students should be held accountable for stations/centers because they must have a purpose for using them and they must be able to take care of the equipment.
3) I really enjoyed Learning Games for Kids and Thinkfinity. These could be used in stations to do research, visit museums, and create digital art. Time at the stations using these links could be monitored by having students find answers to questions pertaining to the activity and to reflect on their work in their journals.
4) I could not get any of the apps links to open but I will try again tomorrow. I am interested in several: Harmony Draw, HyperHistory Online, Imagination Cubed, and Kerpoof. I see students creating art timelines, designing digital art, and working with math concepts as related to art. I see stations where kids are making decisions together about how to solve problems and how to answer questions regarding the assignment. I can hold students accountable by monitoring the room, assigning journal reflections about the assignment, and saving work to the server when possible.
5) I will discover other ways to use the iPad as I learn how to use it. Right now, I can see kids looking for art demos when they have a questions about technique or to research a topic online. In stations, they can post on blogs with other students in other schools either in the US of other countries.

Thing 8

I have learned that the iPad can be used for research and that multiple iPads can be synced with my laptop. I will have to practice how to do this since I am not familiar with using an iPad. I will use the iPad mostly as a research tool, to review techniques or directions for projects through video or slide shows. There are many interactive sites such as Adventures in Art and Sanford ArtEdVentures that provide authemtic learning adventures. I will set up bookmarks for tutorials and research. Looking forward to using this new tool.

Thing 7

I created a collaborative project in Edmodo called Artists @ SOMS. The objective is to describe the properties of water through observations made during practice of watercolor painting techniques. I plan to implement this project during the fall or spring semesters. I will use watercolor painting materials. Students will practice watercolor techniques such as wet into wet, wet into dry, scratching into paper, and painting with water. Conclusions will be compared and shared with science classes.

I just found an interesting page, Art Education 2.0 and joined several blogs regarding connecting classrooms, sharing art, working with disabilities, middle school art teachers, technology and art, and others. http://arted20.ning.com/

I will be pairing with an art teacher in Belgium in the fall. Our 7th and 8th graders will be trading Artist Trading Cards and perhaps get to know each other a little better.

I discovered a new site for technology to create a "wild" version of oneself and learn about wild animals. http://www.buildyourwildself.com:80/

Spaced Learning: A Better Way To Remember

Spaced Learning: A Better Way To Remember