final review

Looking back at the past semester we have done many projects that will be wonderful teaching tools for me in the future.  I'm going to review my most favorite projects below.

The photos are from my favorite slide from the flip chart in different stages of use. And that clue's you in the the flip chart was indeed my favorite project!

 

First the flip chart was really relevant and helpful for me.  Since I am older, I never used a white board or promethean board in class as a student myself.  So for me this was really the first time I have used it myself.  I really learned a lot and enjoyed the process of making the flip chart.  It was a great opportunity to learn the different techniques and see the different resources that are available for us.  In one of the classrooms I observed in the teacher used her promethean board for the intro for each lesson. This really caught the students attention and showed that she was prepared.  I think it also helped to keep the flow of the lesson organized so that she could
present it in the way she had envisioned without getting sidetracked.

My next favorite project was imovie.  I put this one here because it was totally new information for me. And also I can see the relevance that it would have in my classroom.  I could see how it would be helpful to use even in my blog by creating these little movie slideshows for parents to see their children's work. For example, I could make a highlight real for each student.  That may be really time consuming!  I could make one for each graduating 5th grader.  Or I could occasionally make one for a class project that went really well.  I could make them for myself for a portfolio of my students' best work.

I really enjoyed the inquiry based activities.  This is something I had never heard of before.  And I feel that as an art teacher it is a way to incorporate technology into the classroom.  I actually liked it so much that I made another one for one of my optional pages on my website.  I used it in conjunction with my art education class to make a multicultural learning center.  I feel that with these kind of activities pre-made, I can send kids to the computer to work throughout the semester if they finish projects early.  Or we could visit the computer lab and work on them together.

The website was another favorite with me.  It was great to get some ideas for layout and information that is helpful on a website.  Also, it was nice to learn tricks that make it user friendly and professional.  I have had some previous experience with websites, but this was still a new tool and I still learned relevant information pertaining to teaching.

The blog was really useful as well.  I have a lot of experience with blogging. So, it wasn't really new information.  But it is good to reiterate that blogging is important for the educational experience for me, for my students, and as a way to communicate with parents.

The resource wiki was another much appreciated project.  I have actually already turned back to that several time to use the sources.  I know it will come in handy in the future.  It's also great to get the perspective of other future art teachers and all work on that together.

I know that doesn't incorporate all that we learned in class but those areas listed above are the ones that I found most helpful to me in the future.

Thank you so much Dr O'Bannon!