Final Lesson Plan

For this lesson plan assignment, I decided I wanted to imagine I was an elementary art education teacher. I came across this project idea while browsing blogs, and thought it would be a great way to teach the children about the elements and principals of design since it including so many of them. I chose to focus on third and fourth graders because it is at that age that the kids are really beginning to show their interests and can really dedicate themselves and focus on a project for an extended amount of time. It would definitely be challenging, but the sense of accomplishment after completing it would be motivation to have confidence in themselves and their abilities. There are so many different aspects to it, different media and techniques, that it would provide learning experiences and interesting discoveries during the entire process. 

Challenges I could possibly see arising would be helping the less motivated students to persevere and not give up. Because this project is so involved, I could see a student getting discouraged early on, and not wanting to finish. Also, helping students who may be motivated but not entirely confident in their abilities. I would do my best to encourage, inspire and motivate these students and help them understand that with art, it's not about being perfect, comparing their work to another peer's work, it's about the process, what can be learned along the way, and how overcoming obstacles in their art can help them overcome obstacles in other areas of their life. 

This is a PowerPoint I created to show my students the process of the project.

This Prezi would be used as a pre-assessment or review before we begin the project. 

This is a student example of a post-assessment, asking them to "show" me what they know about the elements of design using Google Drawing. They would be allowed to work with a partner to create this document.

Creative Commons

A short video to introduce Creative Commons - very helpful for us visual learners :)

 

Creative Commons is the place that fills the gap between "All Rights Reserved" and "Public Domain" when it comes to copyright laws. Anybody is free to post their creative work on CC, and then determine their own copyright terms. Dependent upon what those are, educators are allowed to share and use other people's work without the fear of copyright infringement. It takes away the stress of feeling like they are always in violation of copyright laws because they know that what they are doing is not only allowed, but encouraged! It opens up a realm on possibilities for not only educators, but artists, musicians and writers among many others.  Below is a graphic that breaks down the different types of copyright licenses that a person who is choosing to share their work can set:

By using Creative Commons, educators can create presentations and share work legally, knowing that they are not "stealing" or doing anything illegal, if they only adhere and respect the terms set by each individual of the work. They set a good example for their students by following rules, and can encourage their own students to use Creative Commons as a means for them to build upon the ideas of others or share their own work with the world.

Hooray for Creative Commons! I had never heard of this before doing this assignment, but now that I know about it, I am grateful for it's existence, and know that I will be utilizing it in the future for teaching and art.

Week 11 Course Reflection

Coming into this course, I said my tech skill was about an 8. I had pretty decent skills when it came to working with a computer, but very little knowledge about the inner-workings of one. Personally, I don't particularly care to learn much about the inside of a computer. As long as it works, it's good for me. After spilling a glass of wine straight into my previous laptop and seeing it completely disassembled, I was amazed about how complex they really are and extremely thankful for those people who are extremely intelligent about computers that were able to fix mine! :) I felt it was pretty easy to adapt to this class and do the assignments. I enjoyed completing the assignments and learning more about some applications I didn't know about - mostly about Google. I didn't realize all that Google had to offer.

My favorite assignment was setting up my blog! I was really excited to personalize it and make it my own. I plan on continuing to use this blog throughout the rest of my college career and will one day set up a blog for when I become a teacher. I also really enjoyed creating my Powerpoint presentation - even though I am currently making a different one on Prezi - I just really like letting my personality flow through presentations like those.

I definitely think that I can and will use my technology skills in the classroom. Everything from computers to ipads to smartboards - any technological resource that will be available to me, I will use. Even though I have no experience with ipads or smartboards, I feel confident that I can learn how to use them quickly and efficiently in the classroom. I think I will most likely use the Google applications the most - it has everything! E-mail, blogger, cloud storage, presentations - it's a wonderful resource for teachers, and it's FREE! The world is literally at fingertips - imagine the idea of connecting to kindergarten classrooms around the country and even around the world. The possibilities are endless when it comes to the capacity that technology can bring to the classroom.

I would like to learn more about Smart Boards. They seem so interesting to me and from what little I know about them, they seem to be very effective in the classroom. Also, I know nothing about projectors - but I'm sure I will learn along the way. 

I would say that my technology skills have improved from being in this class. I have tried different applications that I have really enjoyed, and have gained more knowledge about how to embed codes into my blog, and make sure hyperlinks are linked up correctly. I learned more about Google and cloud storage. I didn't realize I had that available to me, and for someone that loses track of small objects, not having to worry about losing a flashdrive with important information on it is very helpful!

Even though I feel I know a lot about technology, I realize what I know is just the tip of the iceberg. Technology is advancing so quickly and sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the new fancy gadgets. I hope I always find motivation to keep learning about the growing world of technology, and don't ever get stuck in the "dark ages" because technology starts to get to be too difficult to learn about. It's all just a part of being a life-long learner.

Pinterest In The Classroom

1. What did I learn from the Pinterest activity? How does it relate to what I have learned about UDL, lesson planning, and differentitation?

Pinterest is such an amazing resource because it gathers ideas from all over the world from a greatly diverse population of people. It is an excellent way to compile curriculum from a variety of sources that can encourage learning in multitudes of way to meet the needs of all students. Since they are all just ideas, they can inspire the teacher and then the teacher can tweak them in ways to better fit the individual needs of her own students in her lesson plans.

2. How do you believe you will utilize Pinterest as a teacher?

I will definitely use Pinterest as a means of inspiration, and also a way to stay organized. I will categorize my boards according to subject matter, and use Pinterest as  a way to connect with other educators around the country. I can comment on and re-pin their ideas, and they can do the same for me. It is a great way to share success with others and feel like a part of a larger community.

3. What are the strengths of Pinterest?

It is organized well, and very easy to use. I just love to whole idea of Pinterest - I can't remember what it was like before it! It is so genius to gather ideas from all over the internet into one easily accessible place. I thank whoever invented Pinterest :)

4. What are some of the challenges of Pinterest?

Sometimes pins are not linked correctly, and lead to faulty websites which can be frustrating - but then it can always be Google-d if it's really that important. Also, it can be challenging dealing with a Pinterest addiction. In addition, sometimes I find myself pinning tons of ideas - but never actually doing them - so it would be very beneficial to actually incorporate ideas from Pinterest into the classroom instead of just always browsing new ideas but never doing anything with them!

5. What comments, questions, thoughts, opinions, and/or feedback do I have about Pinterest?

Overall, I am a huge fan on Pinterest. I love it, it inspires me to try and be a great teacher one day. It also is just a daily inspiration for all of my life - from living a healthy lifestyle to inspiring me to do more art. It's fun to see my friends boards because it reveals things about them that I might not have otherwise known. It allows me to look further into things that interest me, and share what I find with others in my daily life. I can't even count the times I say, "I saw this (blank) on Pinterest...." and it will lead to discussion and conversation.

My Pinterest account can be accessed by this link:

Ashley's Pinteresting Boards

Lesson Plan Assessment

This would be the assessment for the children in my kindergarten class after we finished up the Corduroy Unit. I kept it pretty simple and straight-forward, but I would have the children complete this assessment on Google Drawing, so they would get some experience using the internet and Google applications. It would also be good fine-motor practice because it is pretty difficult drawing with a mouse. In addition, it would require that they use those reflective skills we worked on during the unit as they would need to think back upon the different adventures Corduroy went on with other students in the class. Asking them to write something Corduroy might say is a way for the students to think about different perspectives - writing from a bear's perspective is much different than writing from their own perspective! 

The Freedom Writers

 A classmate recommended this film last week. I read The Freedom Writers Diary back in 2007 and was very moved by it. After watching the movie, I was once again overwhelmed with how powerful their story is. Below are  twp clips from the movie. The first clip was at the beginning of the movie when the students were still very much divided...and Erin Gruwell (played by Hilary Swank) finds a way to help them see that they are not that different from each other after all. *Gets chills all up arm*


This next clip is equally as powerful. The students all write letters to the amazing woman who hid Anne Frank during the Holocaust. They raise enough money to have her fly in from Europe and tell her story. This is how she responds when a student says that she is his hero.



This movie was kind of hard to watch, very emotional intense, but I highly recommend it. Very eye opening and inspirational. This last video is an interview with the real Erin Gruwell. Very interesting to hear her perspective. This video also includes interview with Zlata, a young lady who wrote a diary of her experiences in Sarajevo growing up in a war zone.

Ohio DL Schools

If I had absolutely no other choice but to send my future child to an e-school, I would send them to:

This is the only e-school in Ohio that was rated "excellent", as well as being the only virtual public school to be recognized by the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA). In order to receive this accreditation, they had to meet twelve standards of distance education, and they did not just meet these standards, but exceeded them. They also use  programs developed by leading educational publishers such as Calvert School and Prentice Hall. Their website is professional, informative, and very easy to use. 

I would be very cautious about sending my child to an e-school, but I would feel confident in my choice to send them to this one if I had to because I feel like they would receive quality education by qualified teachers, and even though they would not have the socialization that a traditional public school could offer, I would do my part as a parent to make sure they attended all the field trips, and any other social plans to meet with other students and their families.

Commparing Top 4 Ohio E-Schools

There is no chance that I would ever send my child to:

I found this statistics at PlunderBund which justs lays the groundwork for my reasoning to not send my child to this school.

Has had consistently flat or declining test scores for a nine year period

Has graduation rates of below 35% over that entire time (consistently 20 points lower than Cleveland Schools’ scores)

Has attendance rates that are consistently below the state average

Has student achievement scores that are significantly below state averages

Received 36% more in per pupil funding than the state average

Is run by an unlicensed superintendent and unlicensed assistant superintendent who are each being paid over $100,000 per year (above statewide averages)

Pays teachers are paid an average salary of $34,450, well below the state average of $55,812.

I would not send my child to this school knowing these things. I would not be swayed by their website and all their fancy promises - I would do my research and find out the truth, and knowing the truth about this school confirms my choice.