Wakelet is a bookmark tool that allows you to save actual media and organize them into collections. I see enormous potential for Wakelet! It seems to be able to save just about any content from the web, and even better, you can play YouTube, Soundcloud, Spotify lists, etc. right from your board. Instructions here. Here’s an example of what it… Continue reading Cool Tool: Wakelet
This coming September I will be returning to teaching computer literacy. People are always confused about how I am interested in both visual art AND technology. Well, they aren’t mutually exclusive. Think digital art. Think graphic design. Think design thinking. That’s a lot of thinking 🙂 I never really stopped wanting to learn about ways… Continue reading Back to Technology
Thanks to a recent course called Goal Minded Teacher, I’m using new tools. Check out the video created with Lumen5, posted at How I Assess Art. The video is created based on blog posts and can be customized with images and music that fit your message. You can upload it to YouTube and then embed it on… Continue reading Tech Tool: Lumen5 for Video Creation
I have started using Project Proposals in order to get students to spend more time planning their work. I ask them to provide an explanation and description of their proposed work, indicate materials they will need and any special techniques that they are thinking of using. I sign off on the proposal, indicating what I… Continue reading Project Proposals
I’ve been delving into Teaching for Artistic Behaviour, and have also acquired the wonderful book, The Open Art Room by Ian Sands and Melissa Purtee. The goal is to encourage real artistic behaviours as well as offer opportunities for choice. I’ve tried two new procedures in the last while, with grade 12s. I’ve given them a reflection… Continue reading Something Borrowed, Something New
Teaching keeps me engaged. Maybe even young. 🙂 I am trying something new that has actually been out for a while: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, originally published in 1979, and reprinted several times. (I actually have several copies.) I wasn’t able to find an existing curriculum laid out as a high school… Continue reading Something Old
Reminder to self… process work. Make it clear at the beginning of the year, along with other requirements, that I will not accept a finished product without meeting to see process work. Especially for a CIP. I strongly suspect that a couple of students did not do their own work and have no option to… Continue reading Process Work – CIPS
This year I juggled 3 art classes, a new emphasis on choice and Teaching for Artistic Behaviour, and having multiple projects going at one time to keep students busy and learning. I felt that assigning multiple activities worked well because students worked at different paces and also needed time to incubate ideas. So while they… Continue reading Lessons Learned
Every year or so a student wants to paint Spongebob Squarepants. Or a Disney character. Or a designer logo. Why? Often it’s because they are afraid to venture beyond what they know they can do. These characters tend to be simple. Line drawings with colour, like a page of a colouring book. When I was… Continue reading The Problem with Spongebob
There are so many good reasons to keep an art gallery of student work. It’s a great way to record progress and there’s potential to have students reflect to a wider audience on their work. This year I’ve achieved my goal of posting all work. In previous years I have forgotten or gotten behind, so… Continue reading Documenting our Progress