What stood out to me most in all the information that you gave us this week was Ken Robinson. He touched on some interesting topics. Creativity....really drew me in. But he began asking the question..."What will the world look like in 5 years?" no one really knows, but our educators are expected to prepare students for it. How can we prepare students for the future and teaching accordingly if you do not know what it looks like. Good question.
"Creativity is as important as literacy."
This was a big part of his speech. Ken Robinson talks about how there has always been a hierarchy of subjects in schools. At the top - Mathematics and Languages. Then the Humanities. and on the bottom it is the arts. From what I got from this speech he wants that to change. We need to educate the whole students not just the subjects like math ect. He gave a good example about the girl who was a dancer. She could not pay attention in class and could not sit still. But after many tests and being diagnosed with ADHD the doctor just found out that she was a dancer. This girl had to move to think. And the school wasn't having it because she wasn't able to sit still in her other classes. Someone would of just gave her medication and told her to calm down but the doctor knew all the needed was a dance class to give her something to work towards. Just because some students may not excel at all the "important" subjects doesn't mean they are not just as smart....their creativity is shaping them and they will be able to be original.
As someone who is going to be an art teacher I strongly agree with Ken on this subject. And from personal experience I was one of the students that exceled in art classes. And when I finally went to a school that shined light on my talents I was able to take those positive vibes and bring them to my other classes that in my past I was not able to get much out of. Knowing that my teachers noticed what I was good at and had faith in me that I could get somewhere, helped me do better in ALL of my classes. And now I am just where I want to be, on the path to doing something I really love.
Students should not be pushed into doing things that they do not want to do. If they have talents else where I think those talents should be noticed and hopefully good educated teachers will know how to dig that out of their students and help them achieve their goals.
As for the gaming conference, I think Jane McGonigal had some good points to speak on. I am not a gamer, but I do have a boyfriend that plays games a great deal when he is not working security or at the gym or spending time with me. Jane mentioned that playing games gives people "Epic Meaning" which I can see is completely true. When children start playing video games they take on a whole new world that they can accomplish a goal. In real life...the goal might be to far or too hard to get a hold of. They KNOW that in this game its not that far from reaching and they will spend most of their time to get it.
Are we using games to escape real world suffering? Or do children even care about this real world suffering to even pay attention? I feel as if a lot of children are not even thinking about what is going on in the real world so games becomes their world.
The games that Jane made up were interesting and I feel were a very good idea. But I FEAR that those games would be boring to a child or teenager. Teens want to play shooting games or fighting games. Not games about gas. We have to reach out to the youth and what will really grab their attention.
This gaming idea has given me some ideas about linking Games to art projects....
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Week 4 Blog response
I did a great deal of brainstorming for this blog response. I was not sure exactly how advanced 4th graders could be when it comes to technology. After talking with a few people who are around 4th graders most of the time, I came to the conclusion that these children are a lot more advanced than I had thought. I have decided to use Wikis for this learning experience. I feel that Wikis are not that complicated to navigate and with enough instruction and parental guidance with researching, I feel that the students could grasp this concept of wikis pretty easily.
The use of technology will be used through out the assignment with the students as well as the teacher. I will use technology in my description to show the students what to do. I will also provided screen shots that I will print out so they can bring them home to help them work on this assignment.
In this lesson, I will have each student research an artist. They will be given specific guidelines that will not be very complicated but must do their best to fallow. In class I will give an explanation of a wiki over a projected screen. I will show them a wiki that I have created, and then I will show them that I have already added a page for each student with their names and artists next to them. I will show them a wiki that I have created to give them an example of what theirs should look like. The students will be expected to include the Artists name, with ONE video relating to the artist. Which they will have to look up on youtube.com with the parents supervision. As well as, up to three images, one image of the artist, and two of the artists work. They will also be required to add a short paragraph explaining a few points about the artist. This typed section should only be a few sentences but should at least include when the artist was born, as well as when they died. Also it must include something about the style of the art as well as why the students like the artwork.
Here is an example of what I am looking to see. The students will have already viewed my example and have also been walked through a description of how to begin. Along with screen shots and print outs this should be fairly easy for the students to catch on to.
Lastly, once each wiki page is completed, the students will present their artist and digital wiki page to the class. Where we will all get the chance to watch their video and learn about each others artists.
The use of technology will be used through out the assignment with the students as well as the teacher. I will use technology in my description to show the students what to do. I will also provided screen shots that I will print out so they can bring them home to help them work on this assignment.
In this lesson, I will have each student research an artist. They will be given specific guidelines that will not be very complicated but must do their best to fallow. In class I will give an explanation of a wiki over a projected screen. I will show them a wiki that I have created, and then I will show them that I have already added a page for each student with their names and artists next to them. I will show them a wiki that I have created to give them an example of what theirs should look like. The students will be expected to include the Artists name, with ONE video relating to the artist. Which they will have to look up on youtube.com with the parents supervision. As well as, up to three images, one image of the artist, and two of the artists work. They will also be required to add a short paragraph explaining a few points about the artist. This typed section should only be a few sentences but should at least include when the artist was born, as well as when they died. Also it must include something about the style of the art as well as why the students like the artwork.
Here is an example of what I am looking to see. The students will have already viewed my example and have also been walked through a description of how to begin. Along with screen shots and print outs this should be fairly easy for the students to catch on to.
Lastly, once each wiki page is completed, the students will present their artist and digital wiki page to the class. Where we will all get the chance to watch their video and learn about each others artists.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Wiki page reflection
As for the wiki page assignment, I found it quite enjoyable. It had me on you tube looking up videos that would be interesting to others, as well as an art newspaper that I have not looked at in a long time. This assignment came pretty easy to me because embedding I already knew how to do. I find it interesting to look at everyone else s pages as well. I think the whole class has really good ideas and each assignment comes together nicely.
I do agree with Brett, sitting in front of the computer doing all this does not make me appreciate technology more. Yes, I am getting a hang of it. But on the other hand I rather be out doing something. Although this class is introducing me to useful tools on the internet. I am ALSO on the computer way more then I would like to be. Between all my classes I feel like I spend WAY TOO MUCH time sitting in front of a screen. I have never been the kind of person to want to sit in front of the computer all day, and this is what it has come to. But you have to do what you have to do right?
On that note, Ill end this and I look forward to seeing the next weeks assignment!
I do agree with Brett, sitting in front of the computer doing all this does not make me appreciate technology more. Yes, I am getting a hang of it. But on the other hand I rather be out doing something. Although this class is introducing me to useful tools on the internet. I am ALSO on the computer way more then I would like to be. Between all my classes I feel like I spend WAY TOO MUCH time sitting in front of a screen. I have never been the kind of person to want to sit in front of the computer all day, and this is what it has come to. But you have to do what you have to do right?
On that note, Ill end this and I look forward to seeing the next weeks assignment!
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