I don't like most technology.
But I just might learn to.
So besides my Major Project posts - (which I seriously need to catch up on! Life has gotten in the way of school in ways I hadn't anticipated. But it will get done.) Besides those, this is the last "assigned" blog response for my Tech class. As resistant as I was to this entire class in theory... i.e. when I saw I was required to take an "Instructional Technologies"course as part of my Masters in Curriculum for Visual Art Education (K-12) I'm not gonna lie, I balked a little. "What kind of technology could I possibly need to incorporate into teaching seventh graders art?" In my seventh grade days there wasn't even a computer in the classroom. Paper mache was about as "high-tech" as it got.
To be honest, I still think of art as a very low-tech endeavor. Art is paper and clay and paint and ink and canvas and plaster... you get the idea. It's messy. I know there is Graphic Art and Design... and I've had experience with them (I was reluctant about that too, as you can read about in my Cool Tool blog examining Canva). I still am way more comfortable with a paintbrush than anything Adobe related - I spent 2 hours last night unsuccessfully messing around with Illustrator. Very frustrating program to learn on your own. But that's a different post.
The thought of instructing children in graphic design scares the finger paint out of me - half of them could probably teach me something! But after having delved deeper into that field with the specific goal of learning how to teach it, I realized just how much I have to learn. I've accepted that technology isn't going away and that I will be expected to employ it effectively with students. With how complicated Adobe stuff can be (turns out 50 hours is barely enough time to learn Photoshop... let alone the other programs!), I'm not sure it's the most effective way to introduce students to photo editing and graphic design. That's why the Major Project actually inspired a self-directed Independent Study class that my Art Ed professor and I will design for myself to learn more about graphic design programs that might be more user friendly for beginners. Turns out I like learning about this stuff. I'm not very good at it, but some intensive study should help me feel not so inept.
The thing is, it's amazing how interconnected all of my classes have been thus far, how much the things I learn in Ed. Psych, Literacy, Instructional Tech, and especially the field experiences in an actual middle and high school (nothing like trial by fire!) all overlap. I learned how seamlessly technology can be incorporated into even the classic fine-art setting that I find so sacredly tech-proof. Even if I don't find ways to incorporate the graphic design element (maybe where I'm teaching won't have access to that stuff) I could still use programs to help streamline my productivity. Organizers, databases of lesson plans, etc.
To be honest, I still think of art as a very low-tech endeavor. Art is paper and clay and paint and ink and canvas and plaster... you get the idea. It's messy. I know there is Graphic Art and Design... and I've had experience with them (I was reluctant about that too, as you can read about in my Cool Tool blog examining Canva). I still am way more comfortable with a paintbrush than anything Adobe related - I spent 2 hours last night unsuccessfully messing around with Illustrator. Very frustrating program to learn on your own. But that's a different post.
The thought of instructing children in graphic design scares the finger paint out of me - half of them could probably teach me something! But after having delved deeper into that field with the specific goal of learning how to teach it, I realized just how much I have to learn. I've accepted that technology isn't going away and that I will be expected to employ it effectively with students. With how complicated Adobe stuff can be (turns out 50 hours is barely enough time to learn Photoshop... let alone the other programs!), I'm not sure it's the most effective way to introduce students to photo editing and graphic design. That's why the Major Project actually inspired a self-directed Independent Study class that my Art Ed professor and I will design for myself to learn more about graphic design programs that might be more user friendly for beginners. Turns out I like learning about this stuff. I'm not very good at it, but some intensive study should help me feel not so inept.
The thing is, it's amazing how interconnected all of my classes have been thus far, how much the things I learn in Ed. Psych, Literacy, Instructional Tech, and especially the field experiences in an actual middle and high school (nothing like trial by fire!) all overlap. I learned how seamlessly technology can be incorporated into even the classic fine-art setting that I find so sacredly tech-proof. Even if I don't find ways to incorporate the graphic design element (maybe where I'm teaching won't have access to that stuff) I could still use programs to help streamline my productivity. Organizers, databases of lesson plans, etc.
- This list of 5 Tools for Increasing Teacher Productivity was intriguing. I am queen lists... I am also duchess of Post-It notes, jotting cryptic reminders on my hand, and hasty scribbles on receipts and napkins. That i inevitably lose. After doing my field experience with an art teacher I saw first hand the importance of planning and organization. The school's online platform kept her organized pretty well. Lesson plans, grades, places to submit written assignments, email with students and families, etc. However, since I have no idea where I'll end up teaching and if my school does not have such a handy program, I could see using these sort of programs on the list after some experimentation.
- Teachers Pay Teachers is apparently a God-send for teachers of all kind - or so the Akron teachers I worked with told me. It's pretty much a place to download free or paid lesson plans, worksheets, and the like. So that seems like something I could use. My cooperating teacher was a big fan and showed me how much good stuff was on it. According to their website, this is what they do:
Who We Are and What We DoTeachers Pay Teachers (or TpT, as we call it) is a community of millions of educators who come together to share their work, their insights, and their inspiration with one another. We are the first and largest open marketplace where teachers share, sell, and buy original educational resources. That means immediate access to a world of expertise and more time to focus on students and teaching.
- During that field experience I saw so many interesting ways that the teachers and students used technology. The Smart Boards allow for making a plethora of content easy to switch between and interact with. I saw interactive quizzes - like with Kahoot! The students collaborated seamlessly with Google programs - Slides...GoogleDocs... The watched YouTube videos applicable to the content they were learning. Tech was everywhere... no avoiding it. And I actually come to find myself embracing it.
- My daughter's daycare/preschool uses Remind to keep in touch with parents. They send me friendly reminders, requests for items for different projects (last week they needed toilet paper tubes... this week it's "green things"). I get school wide announcements - which is great since my almost-two year old can't necessarily deliver messages to me and she only goes twice a week so I need to stay in the loop. Plus I get those little daily recaps that I love so much. Programs like that could be invaluable - especially considering I could be teaching over a hundred students a day over multiple periods. To be able to send out requests for newspapers for good old-fashioned paper mache or let parents know about an upcoming art show... now that would be cool. Kids take in a lot of information every day, who knows how many messages from school don't get passed on at home!?
As you can see, the opportunities for organization, collaboration, and communication are pretty unlimited. This semester - in all of my classes, really (but mostly this one). With the demands on teachers going higher and higher, organization will be key to productivity. I always have good intentions... I have no idea how many daily planners I have that are well-filled out until about...oh.... March. But computers and apps can remind me, nag me even, to stay on task. Be productive. Be organized. There are programs to keep me connected with students, with parents, with other teachers.
Who knew computers could be so great? (Well, a lot of people do, but I wasn't one of them!)
In fact, I like them so much that I just might keep this blog up after this class is over. Huh. Weird.
No comments:
Post a Comment