Get Students Involved in Classroom Setup

As the new school year begins, it’s the perfect time to start redesigning your classroom. Eductopia blogger, designer, and educator David Bill has put together a three part video series on how to not only reorganize your classroom but to also get your students involved in the process. Bill suggests using techniques such as drawing a map of your current classroom and having students mark areas that they would change by giving students post it notes and having them right their suggestions and posting them around the room.  There were some great tips for repurposing materials that many teachers already have in their room to help organize supplies. Bill suggestions have put a new spin on how to get the classroom ready for the new year and I am excited to try several of his suggestions in my own classroom soon. 

8 Tips and Tricks to Redesign Your Classroom

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-tips-redesign-your-classroom-david-bill

Virtual Worlds Could Be the Future of Learning

Imagine a classroom underwater, on the moon, or in a medieval castle; with virtual worlds the fantasy is now becoming a reality. Used traditionally for online gaming, virtual worlds allow users to interact through avatars in virtual worlds of their own design.  Educators are taking note of virtual worlds and the unique opportunities they could provide learners.  Universities like Dartmouth are even experimenting with the uses of virtual worlds to train emergency response teams. The current generation of young learners are becoming more and more comfortable communicating through virtual avatars and the idea of creating virtual worlds where students from around the worlds will have the opportunity to interact and engage in constructivist learning is an exciting prospect.  To read more about virtual worlds and how they are changing the landscape of education read:http: 7 Things You Should Know About Virtual Worlds

What can Lulu do for you ?

Looking for a way to self-publish? Lulu could be your answer.  Whether you want to create and print a textbook or create content that students can digitally download, Lulu’s publishing services offers easy to use and relatively inexpensive options for people to self-publish their writings.  The flexibility offered by self-publishing opens the door for educators to tailor their course materials.  As an art educator I am particularly interested in the ability to print and develop comic books. Comics are a media that my students are particularly interested in; whether I create comics that are pertinent to art education topics for students to read in class or have student create and print comics of their own design Lulu allows for the creative process to take the next leap onto the published page. To learn more about Lulu and self-publishing, you can read “7 Things You Should Know About Lulu.”

“It’s Not Enough to Simply Teach; You Have to Tell Your Story.”

As teachers gear up to the return for another school year, discussions about education, its future, it’s funding and its importance seem to be going on everywhere.  While the media and Hollywood paint the educational system in extremes, there are hundreds if not thousands of stories within each school that tell of students experiencing success, finding inspiration and making a difference for their communities.  As teachers, it is important for us to share these stories.  Edutopia blogger, Suzie Boss writes about why teachers need to be great storytellers and lays out ways educators can shift the narrative and highlight a more personal education narrative.

She explains how teachers can use the Ignite Talks format to not only tell a story but also truly capture an audience with the slogan “Enlighten Us but Make It Quick”.   An inspirational story presented in the Ignite format may be the perfect way to start off this year’s back to school professional development.

Ways to support the creative process

As an art teacher I find myself constantly trying to find ways to help my students capture the creativity of their beautiful minds. The creative brainstorming process is so different for everyone and advancements in technology have created new and dynamic tools for students to utilize during their creative process. Edutopia blogger Diane Darrow highlights some of the best online brainstorming and creative applications available in her post, Creativity on the Run: 18 Apps that Support the Creative Process. I know I already enjoy what my students have created on applications like Brushes and I am looking forward to using some of the other tools that Darrow suggests.

 

 

How Ning is changing social networking

Discussions about social networking in education usually tend towards the negative with the lines between professional and private on networks like Facebook and MySpace.  However, Ning is offering a solution to this; Ning is an online service that enables users to customize their own social networks. With the ability to create both public and private networks educators can tailor networks to specific academic topics or groups.  Ning’s open format allows for creative experimentation and new adaptations of what a social network can not only look like but how it can help enhance education. To learn more about Ning and how it’s changing the face and function of social networking read  “7 Things You Should Know About Ning.”

Staying Up To Date On Ways To Stay In Touch

One of the most difficult and rewarding tasks a teacher faces is not just getting students engaged in the classroom but getting parents involved in their students learning as well.  There is an arsenal of different tools and approaches a teacher can uses to reach out to busy parents and what works to reach one parent does not always work for another.  This can be difficult for teachers who want to reach every parent equally.  Lisa Mims writes about the old school and newschool methods for keeping parents up to date with what is going on in the classroom. Whether it is the classic phone call or the behavior monitoring web tool Classroom Dojo, the ways teachers can get parents involved is evolving and it is crucial that as educators we stay up to date with the latest tools because a student with involved parents is more likely to be a successful student.

 

 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/old-new-school-parent-involvement-lisa-mims

Ways To Use Wikipedia For Academic Purposes

I know I have been told by many teachers and even my own students to never use Wikipedia for academic purposes.  However, with the sheer mass of information available online; academic research using Internet resources can be downright daunting.  While citing Wikipedia directly is a bad idea, I do believe using Wikipedia as a starting point for research makes a lot of sense. The thoughtful use of Wikipedia can help to sort through the resources that the internet puts at our fingertips in a much more manageable format. This video produced by Brian Vanderveen , professor Steven Tash, and team IE from San Jose State University helps to explain the ways that Wikipedia can be positively used for academic research.

 

What You Should Know About Instant Messenger Programs

Technological advances have forever changed the way that children communicate.  The days of fancy, folded paper and phone calls are no longer the primary avenues used to send a message and talk with friends.  Online instant messenger programs allow teens to connect with their contacts anytime they are online or in possession of smart phones.  These programs are incredibly easy to use and have become one of the main ways that teens communicate. 

There are however, some safety concerns that come with programs like this.  The Kid’s Internet Safety Alliance (KINSA) has produced a screen casted safety program that shows parents how to monitor their child’s contacts and conversations and keep personal information, personal.  Every parent and teacher should be aware of how these programs work and they should help children weigh the benefits and risks that are present when engaging in these types of technologies.

 

 

Classroom Collaborations

Classroom collaborations can be incredibly rewarding or incredibly frustrating. As an art teacher, I love finding ways to work with other courses or community members to enrich student’s education. However, inviting outsiders into your classroom can be very stressful. If you are looking for some advice on how to strengthen your collaborative efforts; Edutopia blogger, Joshua Block outlines some guidelines for Creating Successful Collaborations. Block highlights ways to establish shared leadership and outlines some important tips for planning collaborative lessons. While there is no fool proof checklist that can be followed to create a successful collaboration; following Block’s tips and advice a teacher can help prepare and avoid some of the common pitfalls that come with unsuccessful collaborations.

 

 www.edutopia.org/blog/on-collaboration-Joshua-Block

The Power of Reflection

Patty Palmer is a K-6 Art teacher in Goleta, California and the author of the blog Deep Space Sparkle Art Lessons for kids.  Patty helps to remind teachers that it’s not enough to simply teach a lesson and then stash it away to be used another year.  But that a crucial part of being an educator is reflecting on what did and didn’t work. In her blog post “Best and Worst Lessonsof 2012-13” Patty reflects back on the art projects that stood out as success and those that flopped and how she might change things for next year’s students.  It’s inspirational to see what Patty has accomplished with her students and it has inspired me to look at the best and worst of my lessons in anticipation for next year.

7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling

Gathering around for story time has just become more high tech as storytellers are moving away from relying on the traditional face to face retelling’s and turning to digital productions instead. Digital storytelling combines what is great about the oral tradition of knowledge sharing and pairs it with the new easy-to-use tools available for digital media creation and editing.  Digital storytelling is a format that is well suited for almost any subject matter.  With digital storytelling I can share the life story of famous artists with my students and incorporate a blend of images, audio, music, and animation.  Using these different elements will help to create deeper engagement and understanding for students. The Educause Learning Initiative has developed a breakdown of the “7 Things You Should Know About DigitalStorytelling” that can help as a guide to better understanding this new story telling format. It will help you to get a grasp on what digital storytelling is and the implications it has on teaching and learning.

 

One of the main missions of an educator is guiding students through instruction.  When a technology comes along that helps with this process I get excited.  Screencasts are recordings of a computer screen output and by using screen casting software I can record the click by click actions of my own computer and share them with my students and guide them through a website or highlight how to use a particular program like Photoshop or Windows Live Movie Maker.  Screen casts have become a powerful tool to help keep students on track and provided step by step instructions for those who may have fallen behind during initial in class instruction.  Because a screen cast can be played again and again as many times as a student needs, students can work more independently with technology.  The YouTube video attachments produced by Screencast Central gives you a great guided tour of what a screencast is by actually showing you a screencast of a screencast.  While the redundancy may set your head spinning, the straight forward presentation really helps to clearly show what a screencast is and the possibilities that this technology can bring to the classroom.

Games have always been a go to tool for teachers to increase student engagement in a subject. To this day the Jeopardy theme song brings flashbacks of my high school science class where heated Jeopardy rounds were played to help students prepare for final exams.  With advances in technology, classroom games have moved off the chalk board and on to the Smart Board.  Andrew Miller, an educational consultant and online educator highlights some exciting new free educational games and gaming resources that were recently featured at the International Society for Technology in Education Conference.  Miller explores how game based learning tools can be successfully incorporated into the classroom and how new advancements are paving the way for even more exciting game based engagement opportunities in education.

Game-Based Learning Ideas from ISTE

June 26, 2013 | Andrew Miller

Check out this story from NPR’s Julie Burstein.  It highlights the amazing accomplishments of the Addison Repertory Theater in Middlebury, Vermont.  In a time when discussions about getting students college ready focus so heavily on STEM courses, it’s nice to see an organization that is helping put the A in STEAM.  This theater program strives and succeeds at preparing students for placement in higher education and careers in the fine arts.

In Middlebury, Vt., Teens Train For Careers In The 'A.R.T.'s

by Julie Burstein

http://www.npr.org/2013/06/08/189559690/in-middlebury-vt-teens-train-for-careers-in-the-a-r-t-s?ft=1&f=1013&utm_source=feedly

 

 

Having a copyright conundrum?  Then you should check out the article “7Things You Should Know About Creative Commons.” This article breaks down the purpose and benefits of Creative Commons and their mission to create a middle ground when it comes to copyright laws.  Because of the work of this website, nonprofit artists, scholars, and the public at large are sharing their intellectual property more freely with fewer restrictions which make it easy to create and use licenses that allow others to use their work.  This eliminates the sometimes impossible and complicated process of contacting the creator directly for permission to use their work.  With Creative Commons, as long as the user follows the licenses use agreement and uses the appropriate attribution, they can use the work. This article does a great job highlighting the questions being asked about Creative Commons and how it plays in complex copyright disputes.

http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-creative-commons