23 JAN 2015

[visit #3]

Talk about a major learning experience!

Today was unexpected.
So many things about today's class turned me on my head.
Basically, almost everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
But, it will yield some good reflection and improvement.

I had prepared a step-by-step process for the students to follow on a document that I shared with every student's Google Drive so they could have access. I wanted the students to get a more comprehensible experience with the geometric shapes (tangrams), so I gave them a tangram template already made. Instead of having to make their own set of tangram tiles, they could just copy and paste onto a new drawing page.

Mrs. Stone's experience saved the day in multiple ways. First, she gave a deft example of how to make sure younger students understand what you are trying to get across. She took time on each step to ask students what that step entailed and asked of them. I could see why she is such a good fit for the students. She ended up taking a lot of control during this part; I later realized that whenever I was "teaching" the students, my back was turned, and I thought that telling them was sufficient for them to comprehend. Obviously, this is an incorrect assumption, as I have begun to find out through experiences like today.

When Mrs. Stone dismissed the class to their seats, I found another strategy to help the class stay under control: releasing them based on the primary colors they are wearing! So they all went and sat down, color by color, each one opening the file I had given them access to.

But what happens when 25+ students are all trying to work on the same document? Chaos. That's what ensues. Students were trying to draw and erase on the same page. Once one student would make a shape, another student would delete it because they did not want it on their page. It ended up that my whole page of instructions, tangram template, and examples was deleted by the students.

Talk about humbling.

I was doing all I could to get their attention and get them to at least be quiet enough to hear me. Thank goodness Mrs. Stone has so much experience working with elementary children! She saved the day from the chaos that I had created especially in the way I had set up the lesson. Experience saved the day from becoming a complete disaster!

In the future, instructions need to be simple and few in number. Having 12 steps for the students was unrealistic at best in the 40 minutes we had, even if they had done some of the steps in previous lessons. Additionally, if a template for something is to be used, it can be left in view only instead of edit; better yet, send the template to each student separately. These are just a few of the processes and working ideas that I came out of this crazy experience with.

Swan - by Aspen

16 JAN 2015

 [visit #2]

For today's lesson, I felt pretty prepared. As I researched and prepared ideas of how we can further integrate technology and art into the classroom in conjunction with the geometric shapes from last week, I came across the idea of using virtual tangrams! A tangram is a set of seven shapes—two large right triangles, two small right triangles, one medium right triangle, one parallelogram, and one diamond/square—that can be used to make a variety of geometric forms.

I remembered using tangrams in my own elementary school to understand geometry better, and I thought it would be a good way for the students to gain greater dexterity with both technology and shapes. I planned on having the kids make their own set of digital tangrams that they could use to explore with.

While it was a good idea, and Mrs. Stone had a printout of some possible configurations and ideas for the students, I recognized that the idea behind tangrams was kind of lost on the students. Many of them got so excited by being able to make some of these shapes that they ended up making interesting shapes and forms but without using all of the tangram pieces! 

Here are a few of what the students made when trying to use the tangrams:

Half Horse Half Pony Half Duck - by Bruno

Snake - by Keith

Alligator - by Joseph

Dog - by Lucy

Angel in Space - by Eva

Burger - by Adam

As you can see, many of the students used a lot of creativity in using geometric shapes to create a digital drawing. I was surprised by what some of the students came up with. 

One question I have is: How do you balance outside the lines thinking where creativity is evident and the fundamental, integrated basis of the lesson? I think the students came up with unique designs and were exploring the medium they were using, but this lesson came up short in terms of the math integration I was trying to accomplish.

Was I trying to do too much in having the class make the tangram shapes? Or were my instructions not clear enough? Was the lesson a success because they experimented with the medium and created or was it more of a failed lesson?

After class, I walked with Mrs. Stone as the class went to lunch. We talked about the next logical progression in the lesson sequence, and we decided to continue with the tangram exploration next week.

9 JAN 2015

[visit #1] 

This is going to be a great experience, I can tell right off the bat. I cannot think of a better way to get experience than by actually getting into a school to work with students and with a great teacher!

Mrs. Connie Stone recently acquired a set of Google Chromebooks for her class to use. We decided that it would be to the students's advantage to integrate that technology with art, rather than using other, more traditional art forms.

My first impressions are that the students have a lot of energy and enthusiasm. It's pretty incredible to see just how quickly they accept you and learn to trust you. It was pretty humbling too to see that. Teachers have such a big responsibility to live up to that trust!

My first lesson was on geometric art since I had decided to use a program all of them had at their fingertips on their Chromebooks: Google Drawing. I figured that being able to break things down into shapes would be a good way to tie in technology, math, and art all into one. I showed them a slideshow with the following images, some from contemporary artists and others from artists like Piet Mondrian and Frank Stella (big players in an art historical context).

We talked about what they saw and what they observed about the use of shapes. I showed them how to open a new Google Drawing and how to make some shapes. I wanted them to get used to the feel of making shapes with the tools they had, so I was specific in what to make. They got up and went to their seats in what I would probably describe as a little chaotic and almost immediately, several voices were clamoring for Mrs. Stone's or my attention. It was not a smooth transition.

Most of the remaining time was used to get all of the students on track with the five shapes they were to explore. Looking back on this day now, I wonder if I should have cut back on instruction somehow. I'm not quite sure how I could have done that though since the students had so many questions, many of which were similar.

Overall, I think the students enjoyed the time to explore the medium of technological drawing. However, I think my expectations of their technological skills were too high for where they are at. Also, the time went by far more quickly than I was anticipating. Since Fridays are short days, we had about 40 minutes at the end of the day to work. I'm impressed by how adaptable teachers are, and I hope to improve my own adaptability to short, yet meaningful lessons.

Next week, we will continue learning about and using the new skills they have acquired.