Student Artwork Published on The Daily Monster

After connecting with Artist Stephan G. Bucher via Twitter, I developed an ink blot lesson to incorporate the strategies he recommended which include compressed air and india ink. Through the creative process in the classroom I continued to share out with Stefan our progress and student results. As a result, Stephan published our students ink blot monsters on his Daily Monster Website. SO AWESOME! More blots can be viewed here.

#PLN: Using Social Media for Professional Development

There were several projects that have been on my radar for a couple years that I just never had the confidence to put together. This year, through participating with and developing my #PLN (Professional Learning Network) on Twitter, I have connected with teachers who have had success with the exact same projects I was coveting. As a result of connecting with these awesome art educators, I gained the confidence with taking on the creative risks necessary to have students successfully produce these large-scale projects. Social media has been a huge source of professional and creative inspiration to me this year! I realize that I have the means to collaborate digitally with art educators around the world and the possibilities are endless!

Here are some examples of two large scale projects gleaned from the use of Twitter:

7th Grade Perspective Tape Mural Project

8th Grade Book Title Ceiling Tile Project

funded by Donors Choose

How the Digital Sausage is Made

One of the greatest things about students creating digital projects and assignments is that the final products are almost always more dynamic and powerful than a tri-fold poster or diaroma scene of a pioneer settlement. That being said, creating and managing digital projects isn't for the faint of heart. The ultimate goal of project-based learning is more than just the final product. An emphasis is placed on practicing and perfecting the skills of teamwork, problem-solving, perspective-taking, and a host of real world abilities that will help them to be successful in the future.

Case in point, my latest project in my 8th grade U.S. History class to end our Constitution and Bill of Rights unit. In order to demonstrate their understanding of the civil liberties protected by law in the United States, groups are creating movie/book trailers for a dystopian future stories in which some (or all) of the rights protected by the Bill of Rights have been limited or eliminated completely. In doing so, the hope is that they build a greater respect and appreciation of the rights and opportunities that they enjoy in a democratic system.

Having a vision for what you hope your students will learn and the process in which they learn it are sometimes two very different things. To an outside observer, it may appear that a classroom full of 13-year olds are running around with swords, small picket signs, and laser guns, but as is always the case, when you give a young person an iPad and the freedom to use their creativity, the final product never ceases to amaze. Sure there are disagreements between group members, and technical difficulties at the eleventh hour, but these are nothing new to most adults interacting with other human beings in the larger world.

Just like an amazing meal, sometimes the final product cannot be judged by the seemingly random, chaotic, and frustrating process to make it come into being. The kitchen may be a mess, but you forget about that once you sit down to the spectacular meal awaiting you in the dining room.

Creativty Bundle by Doink

I am SO excited that Mrs. Sanchez and I were able to purchase and load the Creativity Bundle by Doink on the i-Pad cart. The Creativity Bundle contains two apps: Animation and Drawing and Green Screen. These two apps will provide many opportunities down the road for cross-curricular collaboration between Expressions and Technology Classes.

Cross Curriculur Dias de los Muertos Podcasts

I am so thrilled to be in a new teaching position, at a new school, in a new district, with a new philosophy. It has afforded me the autonomy to design learning experiences for my students that empower them to tell their stories. I have also had the pleasure of designing these experiences with my new colleagues.

Imagine 3 teachers (me - the tech teacher, the language arts teacher and the art teacher) sitting around a table waiting for a staff meeting to start in early August.
     "So in October I usually do an immigration writing project that coincides with the Dias de los Muertos art unit in the art class," says Cary, the language arts teacher, "but I want to change my project up this year to teach my kids how to write a biographical narrative using an interview as the planning piece. Would you be willing---"
      "Could we podcast the narratives!" I almost scream out excitedly.
      "That would be totally cool," Cary agrees.

Four weeks ago my 7th graders began their podcast project that coincided with creating Dias de los Muertos skull art, alters, etc. and writing biographical narratives and poems about family members in language arts. Students chose which family member they wanted to podcast about and created a list of interview questions in language arts. At the same time we started a genre study on podcasting in my technology class. We listened to podcasts from Storycorp and Radiolab and analyzed them for audience, purpose, content, context, and structure using this form. We especially paid close attention to structure because we needed ideas for how to structure our own podcasts. We also used these KWHLAQ charts (idea from Silvia Tolisano) to keep track of our learning. Next we explored Garageband for a few days to learn how to import audio tracks, create original music, and edit tracks. We then launched into putting together our podcasts about our family members, following these instructions.

I am so excited to share some of my students' work. Through the course of designing a learning experience that encompassed multiple disciplines and the learning of new tech tools, students were given a voice to share their stories. It is through their storytelling that you learn about who they are and where they come from. These podcasts will now be shared via QR codes within the Dias de los Muertos Art Exhibit in our multipurpose room in a few weeks. 

This project made me laugh, cry, and allowed me to get some perspective on my students and their families. Not only did my students learn some valuable academic lessons, I learned about my students. I call that a win-win!

Literally giving my students a voice in this project allowed them to learn on so many levels, gave their families a role in the learning, and gave the opportunity to create a keep sake to cherish for a very long time. 

Middle School Film Making

As we've worked to embed more digital projects into our curriculum, certain material needs have come up. In video production, the shaking cameras necessitate the use of tripods, and voice-overs require high quality microphones that don't pick up ambient noises. How, then, do we fix this problem with our limited budget for materials?

This year, I applied to Donors Choose to facilitate the purchase of this much needed recording equipment. I asked for eight new tripods and eight snowball microphones, enough to support small groups of students in classes. Chevron funded the project and now teachers in our program will be able to check these out for students to use on their projects! 

Family Stories Podcast Makeovers

This year, I was inspired to revise a family stories digital project I've assigned in the past. When I heard that StoryCorps would be in Sacramento, I got excited and asked myself, "Could my students create podcasts?" Knowing that I wanted to find a way to incorporate this genre into my curriculum, I looked to ways to revise my units. 

In the past, as part of an immigration unit, I asked students to interview family members to discover their immigration stories and then in their technology class, they created a video to show their story. This was very successful and students created some incredible projects, even creating winning entries for the 'Cortos Y Fuertes/Short and Strong' Video Contest (here is a link to one of the winning student films). In Leading Edge, our students have spent the beginning of the year creating videos in their Tech and Science classes, so Podcasts seemed to be a new text to explore. When I approached Trisha Sanchez, she was very excited to create curriculum to partner with this project. Yay! 

One of the challenges we've faced with student recording is that while we have tools for filming, we lack professional microphones for high quality audio. I have applied to Donor's Choose to see if we can get a set of 8 microphones for students to use in future recording projects. 

In looking for an appropriate audience for their pieces, our Dia de los Muertos exhibit immediately came to mind. I know that some students would be selecting parents to interview, but others would want to find out about family members who they lost or never had the chance to meet. I think that the theme of remembrance, finding ways to memorialize and share unique family stories, fits with the exhibit and will give parents a great way to see their students' powerful work on display. We plan to have QR codes on the walls so that parents can listen to their student's recordings during the exhibit.

In revising this project, I also knew that I wanted to switch up the writing genres they would be studying. I decided on Biographical Narratives, as this genre includes aspects of informational and narrative writing modes. Our ELA team in Leading Edge has created a study group around writing genres, using Ruth Culham's The Writing Thief, to center our conversations. Revamping this unit and giving it a new focus provided a perfect opportunity to integrate some of the strategies we've discussed!

Why Wait to Create? Donors Choose

Donors Choose is my second attempt at raising funds necessary to purchase technology for the classroom. I have written projects before for donors choose but have yet to be funded. Gotta keep trying!

Mission NOT Impossible!

Over the summer I got totally inspired by Tricia Fuglestad, an art teacher that I follow Twitter. She teaches elementary art and has a 1:1 iPad ratio in her classroom. She practices all forms of art but also integrates extensive digital artwork as well. The artwork her students produce is amazing! I started experimenting with her lesson plans with her help over the summer using several creative apps and was HOOKED! I want to teach digital art using the iPad! SO, I have decided to do something about my "Teacher Envy" and have made it a goal to become a 1:1 iPad art-room by the end of the 2015-16 school year. I have written 3 grants so far: Edbacker, Donors Choose and Chalk It Up Mini Grant. Here is a screenshot of my Edbacker Grant- the other two are pending approval. WISH ME LUCK!