Grease Lightening

Lightening speed is how I feel when I reflect back on the semester. Jam packed and sometimes overwhelming are other things on my mind. I value the amount of information provided and disiminated throughout the semester. Planning my curriculum this summer for next year I am going to incorporate a few of the tools we learned this past year such as a class wiki and maybe blog posts. I feel pretty comfortable with those tools. I know that with the available resources I plan to revisit quite a few of them so I can absorb the information more. I enjoyed working in groups on the wiki, the flexibility allowed is so terrific in this day and age when we are all so busy. I am thinking about a Wiki group research project over the course of five weeks, asking for certain portions to be done on specific dates to the students don’t wait until the last minute (hmmm wonder who does that?) to complete their assignments. I really liked creating the pod cast, it was a great project even if I sounded like a robot.. It wasn’t bad for a first try. I think the my students would really like that. I enjoyed learning about so many things but to stick with a few —Wiki and Podcasts were among my favorites. I am really happy to have the links to so many available resources. Trying to keep them in folders that I relate them to will be another “fun” task. At least it’s not more paper to file in a cabinet somewhere. This has been a good class, although I feel it should be broken down into more than one class. I know I was overwhelmed at times, I wonder about my classmates?

More tools to live by…

When I reflect back on this semester and think of how far we have come in learning about so many useful tools I am more than overwhelmed, I am settling into my new skin. I am absorbing the tools and my mind is going a million miles a minute thinking of ways to use them in my classroom, thinking of how I can utilize the tools to enhance my circullum, not inhibit it. Most importantly, I am settling into the technology which I find rewarding. I am not running from it, or dismissing it which is a good thing for me and my students. There is a vast awray of tools available and in my blog searches I came across another site that provides more useful tools, one site is a blog reflecting on the tech site. I am adding a link to both. Being a visual arts teacher I am thrilled with a few of these new features. The cartoon site is one I am especially happy to find. Part of my circullum is drawing a cartoon strip, my students feel so inhibited by drawing, but have great ideas. This site I am hoping will help them get past the drawing stresses and into the creators mind. I remind them always that drawing is a art that comes with a great deal of practice. We start small and work our way through drawing. Maybe this site will offer another option. Never the less, there are tools listed that are not “visual arts” specific. So, take a look and keep them in your bag of tricks, you never know when they might come in handy one day.

http://pisterb.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/if-all-my-classes-did-this-presentation/

http://k12onlineconference.org/

 

 

 

Prime example here!

I find it amazing the lengths that students go to to cheat. It they only took that energy to study they would be so much further ahead. America might not be failing………..
I gave a pretty simple quiz in my classroom last week and while walking around I notice two girls nodding at each other. I stood close by and kept a watchful eye on them. After grading their papers “amazingly” both papers were exactly the same, the sad part was they both received a 65 (D). How sad that was. I was so distraughtand sought advice (how to handle the situation) from several sources, other teachers, and my principal. I had written a note on each paper when I graded them to “see me after class”. I decided to re-arrange my room (once again) and for their “warm-up” I wrote “If you were a teacher and suspected a student “might” be dishonest on a quiz, what would you do”. I gave them time to write their answers.  98% said they would fail them and send them to the principals office. So.. with all of that being said, one of the girls came up to be during class and said “you want to see me after class”, I said yes and went about working with the students on their projects. So,, after class finally came. I closed the door, sat the girls and myself down and asked them to look at each others paper and compare them. I asked them what happened,, they gave replies such as we didn’t study, we didn’t answer everything etc.. it was painful to start.. I then simply said would you like to know what i noticed? of course they said… I said well, every single answer is the exact same (right and wrong once alike)… hmm… I wonder how that happened………… they sat their… I said look girls… let’s be honest here.. tell me what happened… one of them sang like a bird.. we cheated she said… I said “really”…. Anyway.. they admitted it and said they were sorry.. they actually said they thought I didn’t notice and thought I would help them by giving them extra credit.. I chuckled.. and replied why would i do that when you cheated? Anyway. I did thank them for their honesty and talked to them about they are the loosers in all of this that cheating cheats them out of information that is important, “even in Art”. They asked if I would consider extra credit and I said I would think about it.. Well..I have and decided I would give them a research paper to write with specific criteria such as citing their sources.. it is going to be a learning experience for them.  I spoke to my principal with the outcome and he is just thrilled and said i have good instincts. More than that, I am just happy the girls were honest with me.. that is rare as I have come up against problems before. I actually had a student steal a book of mine because I commented that he needed to write the paper in his own words.. Instead of working it out, he stole the book. Very dis-heartening.. Anyway.. my advice is just that, get all kinds of advice, search your soul and go with your instincts. Not all students are the same and if these girls would have been snippy with me or gave me an attitude I might not have been so forgiving.

Anticipation

Means many things in life, the anticipation of love, birth, children growing up, spring; the list goes on and on. For me aniticpation means counting the days until I can go see my son and his new wife which brings with it the close of another semester of Grad. classes. With all of the anticipation comes the end of the semester stresses, trying to finish or start projects that should be finalized soon. The anticipation of acceptance of a job well done, and the all mighty grade. Something else comes with all of the anticipation of completing another semester, to me it’s sadness. I have really enjoyed my classes this semester; they have been more than classes, they have been “fun” and a great ease of learning comes with that. Just what I want my classes to be, fun while learning takes place. My tech class has brought another dimension of learning, a new level of learning in that I have learned so many new techy things i can utlize in my class, this makes me happy. Teaching is one of the most challenging jobs I have ever had. It is an enormous responsibility that we hold in the palm of our hands. We owe our best to our students and through my classes I feel i have some new tools to use. This is good.

Reflection of thought

When I reflect back on last weeks class, one thing in particular stood out. Dr. Ransom mentioned that “we” are the future for our students, that “they” need us. We are no longer (and probably haven’t been for quite some time) “just” educators, we are educators, mentors, councilors, coaches, advisers, and surrogate parents to many. When I think about the students I have taught this past year, I firmly believe that we are much more than educators. We are the things i mentioned and much more.

Families today are torn apart by so many factors, whether divorce, death, or never were together to begin with,, etc. The core families are rare anymore and I find that incredibly sad. I am a single mom of 19 years now and found that if I could have I never would have been divorced. It was a really rough life in so many ways but a blessing in so many more, I am blessed to have a solid family structure that gave me allot of emotional support. Raising my children was the greatest accomplishment in my life. They always came first, i was told by a very wise man that by the age of 6 I would have spent half of my childs life with them to that point, that by the time my children turned 12-14 they would be with their friends more than me so I had better make the early years count. I was so surprised but incredibly grateful. I devoted myself to my children, they deserved that much. I knew raising them would be hard, but I had no idea how hard. Don’t get me wrong, we had many more terrific days than bad, but it was hard being mom and dad, disciplinarian all of the time, i had to make tough decisions and make sure I always followed through or stuck to my guns.. Anyway.. this isn’t about me, but I think in raising my children by myself, I know the plight of single parents and I have great respect and compassion for them. It is tough, yet incredibly rewarding.

When I applied to teach in over sixty different school districts in and out of NYS, I never thought I would land a good job. I was told “its who you know”.. Well, I can be the first to say “its not”. By God’s good graces I was called to interview and really let myself “be myself”, I talked about my teaching experiences while Student Teaching and the LTS job in another district. Mostly I talked about the few instances I knew i made a difference in my students and how much I loved them all. I show honest compassion for my students. Well, again as God granted i was offered my job and feel incredibly blessed. I asked one of the teachers that interviewed me why I was chosen over so many and she replied “We just knew you were meant to teach Middle School”, that you had sincere compassion and understanding. My principle has told me “I was his test case” that he knew that caring for students was something he couldn’t teach me and that it came natural for me to care. He said he could teach me “how to teach” but I had the qualities he was looking for. i was stunned and never thought for a minute that I was anything like they said. I knew how much i loved children, but never thought that would be a deciding factor in landing the job of my dreams. I don’t think about how I am towards others, I just know how I like to be treated and I do the same for others, with love and compassion. I was brought up well.

So, with all of that being said my advice to all new teachers — show compassion, take a minute with your students to get to know them — given them a pencil and don’t make them feel bad for not having one — is it really that big of a deal? Above all just love them, remain in control, and remain calm. If they get smart with you, carry on — do not react. Just show them you care, they will come around, caring might be new to them.  I have had a really great year teaching, I have definitely had my challenging students but through it all I grew and am becoming a better teacher every day. I love teachiing, it has been a life long dream. I am blessed.

Time Fly’s

When I start a project, I find it hard to stop and come back to it later. Mostly I feel I have to “go for the gusto” when I have the energy to do so; or as an artist when the time strikes. I started working on our next project (non-lineur power point) this morning, I could not stop. I found that i needed to sit and map out my plans before creating it in powerpoint. That worked much better. It is 11:30 pm and I just finished. I am certain I will look at it a million more times before it is turned in.

I am estatic for the time off this coming week, i can get things done around my house, catch up on projects and maybe relax. I went to the MAG Gallery Opening tonight on Expressionism, which to my surprise was the American version. Although i found several painting very beautiful, they do not compare to European Expressionistic painters such as Monet. Such a critical eye I have (as if i could do any better). Are there any original ideas any more? I relish the days when creativity comes naturally, one becomes excited about doing something different. Those are few and far in-between it seems.

Falling off the wagon

OK – so being a new teacher has many perks,,, I am finally in a career I have waited for for a very long time. I am surrounded by adults who value education and are not complacent (most of them). I am teaching students who mostly love art and want to learn,,, I work for an excellent school system and have a principal who really values every member of his staff.. The downside is that I have been sick for about 5 weeks now.. Recently my illness turned into bronchitis and along came the fever, aches, ear infections…goodness will this ever stop. I have been told the 1st year is the worst, that my body needs to build up the immunities to these viruses.. Well it’s not as if I just walked into the world.. I have been working for along time, I guess the key here is that now I am subjected to over a 100 students every day who carry a varying degree if illness wit them.. I am so ready to be free of this stuff… I am tired.

March 27, 2008

My goodness we went through a great deal of information tonight. I especially loved learning more about PowerPoint, not the tools – those are easy. The comedy act, and the other presentations that talk about what not to do were rite on target. I had mentioned in earlier blogs how I allowed my students to use PowerPoint with a project we worked on. They spent entirely to much time on the fun stuff and very little on content. I was really dissappointed, more with myself because I was felt like a failure with my lesson. I expected more, but got less. Sure the presentations were pretty, but what did they really learn? I did not really make them accoutable for their learning. I learned a great deal during the lesson of what not to do next time. I doubt I will utilize Power Point much in the future.

If so, there needs to be a better balance of technology usage in my class room. Guidelines need to be set, such as the 10,20,30 rule or the 80/20 rule which I especially loved. It was like the pearly gates opened tonight and my prayers were answered. Simple things that were rite in front of me such as the 80/20 rule seemed so hard to control during the actual class. I knew after the classes finished I would not revisit that lesson until I learned how to better manage the class, what they were expected to learn and how they presented it. The articles really hit home with me in that students need to focus on the content of what they learn, not how they present it. I felt like I came out of a coma when Dr. Ransom went through his presentation. How could I not realize what to do, or how?

Technology in the Classroom – Reflection

As an art educator I find incorporating technology a natural transition with many art projects. We owe it to such a diverse population of students to incorporate as many different learning environments as possible. I found during my research on my topic not much in the way of digital imaging with respects to the art room. Most of the available research was in core classrooms. How very sad to think that digital imaging is an art form within its own rites, but used very little in the art classroom. I am a huge technology buff so its a natural transformation for me. It is a shame that more educators do not embrace technology. I found that very discouraging. As an artist we are obligated to incorporate visual imaging. Imaging is a powerful tool where in the art room, visual representation of a myriad of artworks can be presented when access to such works are not easily available.  I find the prospect of utilizing the latest tools exhilerating. I do not want to become a tired teacher.

I do understand how difficult it is to incorporate new technology. If we don’t as educators we become complacent. Time is a huge factor, not only do we as art educators have to create lessons, write lesson plans, gather the appropriate materials, we have to offer engaging presentations to capture our students interests. Providing digital tools for students to use in which they can incorporate their projects into another realm of presentations. They can have total autonomy.  In my room when I give my students the room, they take off and create  amazing projects far beyond what my expectations were to begin with. I love this. As a learning community we owe it to our students to offer them as much as we can.

Happy Easter

I had quite an exciting week in my classroom, it wasn’t bad enough that quite a few were out sick, the others were there coughing and sniffing… but alas clean-up with my 7th graders came with it a snake slithering along the heater vent on the floor. The girls were jumping on the tables, the boys wanted to pick up the snake and I had to be at the opposite end of the room to push the office call button. It was quite chaotic. It took all I had not to jump on the table with the girls.. although it was a small snake, it was still a snake. .. I grabbed a box and put over it, then grabbed another box to put on top to weigh it down. Of course word got out quickly and my room became well known very quickly as the “snake room”. It would have made a great movie clip.

Writing my paper has been another challenge. I am solid with the subject matter, but not quite sure how to approach writing the paper so it’s not dry regurgitation of facts. Digital Imaging is a bit new to the profession as far as students usage within the curriculum. I am still not sure that it enhances the curriculum as much as it offer another style of learning for those who find reading a challenge or a bore. I did like a fact that I read in which the teacher set a limit on the project where 80% had to be content, and 20% was to be the presentation, such as a movie or PowerPoint. She indicated that it limited the amount of “play” with the creation of the presentation. I am always interested in finding ways of controlling the “play” usage when computers are used. I found my kids playing far more than learning.

Happy Easter to everyone!