Elluminate

Well, good grief!  Elluminate is completely different and apparently none of you could find me for class this evening. It seems that somehow the update has severed the connection between our course and the live link.  DOINK!

I HATE that we did not get to meet for our last class.  I don't have any idea at this point what to do except tell you how very much I have enjoyed having you in my class this semester.  I hope that each of you is leaving this course with that "teacher toolbox" just a little bit more full!

I am counting all of you present this evening, since I know it is not your fault that you are not here in the chat room with me.  I will finish grading papers this week and plan to post your grades this weekend.

Again, I am so proud of how hard you all worked this semester.  

Fondly, Dr. Walts

Call me

Hello, everyone. My computer is cooked. Call me if you need me.


- Posted using B
logPress from my iPhone

THANKS!

Thank you all for taking such good care of me today when I was in bad shape.  I appreciate how you made me feel so "cared for".  Hugs, Dr. Walts

SATURDAY SEMINAR

I can't wait to see all of you on Saturday!  

We will meet on campus in the Jordan Building at 11:00 a.m.  On our agenda, we will:
~ have our art show (please bring copies of the rubric),
~ discuss any questions you have about the final paper,
~ do the course evaluation, and
~ share final thoughts.


We are on the home stretch; I am so proud of each of you!

ART IS EVERYWHERE

Here is a video compilation of your art projects this semester.  You have done an awesome job creating and sharing projects.  I know your "teacher toolboxes" are overflowing with good ideas for bringing language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies to life through the use of art.  Remember, art allows students to become personally connected with the content; it is that personal connection that helps move information into longterm memory.  Enjoy!

NICE REFLECTION: WEEK 6

As I sit down to write this reflection, I find it hard to believe that we are nearly done with this semester.  It has truly gone by quickly. 

This week we presented lessons using art in math.  Many of us used geometry as the basis for our art projects and all of them were very interesting.  I am fascinated at the number of different ideas that can come from people on how to teach the same subject.Our textbook is certainly going to be a good resource for future use as it has really good ideas for using art in different subjects. 

 Eisner’s paper this week was certainly informative.  As I have read each of his papers I have gained insight into how we can make schools better for our students.  So many of the ideas that Eisner sets forth are ones that I can agree with and see as positive reforms to the present system of what I call the “cookie cutter” student.  In this latest paper, the discussion was on the six distinctive forms of thinking, artistically rooted qualitative forms of intelligence that education can learn from art.  The concepts were amazing and included such things as having students use how they feel about whether or not they have done a good job on whatever work they were doing, being willing to change the aim of a lesson in the middle of that lesson if it would be more productive to move in a different direction, the fact that everything we know cannot necessarily be articulated in words, and that the motivation for learning material should include a sense of satisfaction about learning that particular thing.  I find all of this to be radical thinking and yet, I would really enjoy working within the parameters of these ideas.

Enjoy Our Math Projects

Create a free slideshow

Week 5: A "MOO-velous" Reflection

 Elluminate for week 5 was really great.  We shared lesson plans and provided each other with ideas on how to include art in either a language arts or a social studies lesson plan.  I am excited about many of them and will keep them to use for my classes.

Reading Eisner’s paper for this week has given me quite a lot to think about.  While I have always said that students who are involved in the arts seem to do better in academic classes, I have never given a lot of thought to whether or not using art to teach other subjects would make an academic difference.  After reading Eisner’s paper, I think that perhaps the other subjects should be used to increase the art possibilities given to our students.  He believes that using art to teach the other subjects minimizes the importance of art in the academic world and after reading all of his paper, I tend to agree with him.  

It would be such a shame to see art as just a tool for teaching math, science, reading and such.  I think that what we have to do is make the arts, art and music, understood as being an important and necessary “subject” to be taught to students so that they have different ways to express themselves.  I also believe that the arts allow individuals to express their differences in ways that can be understood and are non-threatening to others who might otherwise be fearful of a culture’s differences.

 Something I really want to do as I begin to teach and have my own classroom is to be sure that I use a lot of art in that classroom.  I want to open up the channels of creativity in my students and let them do and be the very best that they can.

EDU320: Week 5

As always, I enjoyed our evening together.  Your presentations were just terrific; you did an excellent job of bringing your lesson plans to life.  I hope you are beginning to see how art can help students make those critical personal connections to the material they are learning.  


I will see you next week in our Elluminate session; I will be coming to you from Georgia.  Hooray!  In the meantime, work on your math presentation for next week and begin thinking about your final paper. 


Call me if you need anything; my cell phone is with me. Best wishes to all of you from New Mexico.

Art Projects

Beautiful, not Barren!

Every time I head to New Mexico I am amazed at the landscape. I live in south Georgia where it is hot, humid, lush, green, mosquito-filled, and slow moving. New Mexico is where the rest of my family lives. As I fly into the Albuquerque Airport I always marvel at how brown the landscape appears. However, in spite of its seemingly drab appearance, the desert is anything but boring or barren. It is dotted with some of the most amazing structures nature has ever produced.


The days are hot and dry, but at the end of the day, the sun sparkles off the desert sands and produces some of the most breath-taking sunsets I have ever seen. That sunset is sort of your reward for suffering through the heat of the day.


I love New Mexico because my family is there, but also because God's paintbrush swept across it in a most wonderful way.


Enjoy the slideshow.

Desert Delights!

Personalize a free photo slideshow

Poll

Stop by our EDU320 blog and take the poll on whether or not art should be graded.  Can we find balance with this "hot topic"?

Week 3 Follow-up

I enjoyed our discussion this evening.  Thank you all for your contributions to the class; the more we share, the more we expand our thinking.

As promised, I have posted an exemplar for the PowerPoint presentations.  I posted it under the Page (at the top of the blog) for viewing PowerPoints.  I also created a new page with the link for the Common Core Curriculum we discussed.

I look forward to seeing your presentations and reading your reflections.  As always, contact me if you need any help.  Also, if there is anything you want to see on the blog, let me know and I will post it.

Remember, next time we meet, I will be coming to you from the desert of New Mexico.  I will post some pictures!  Have a safe July 4th filled with food, family, friends, and FUN!

Week 3 Elluminate Live! Discussion

This evening in our Elluminate Live! session we will be discussing Chapter 5 of our text.  Come prepared with your thoughts on these discussion questions:


1.  How will you create a classroom environment where children feel free to experiment?

2.  In what ways can you create a classroom culture where it is "OK" for students to critique one another?


3.  Do you believe that the way you display art influences how it is perceived?

4. The Great Debate:  Should art be graded?  If so, how?

Week 2 Reflection

I want to share a reflection that gave me one of those terrific "AHA!" moments.  I just love the perception that "art is everywhere".  


Week Two Reflection:

 I realized the other day that art is everywhere, it surrounds us. It is in the song that the bird sings, the distance horizon as the sun greets the morning, and in the night sky as a blanket of stars come out each night to dance with the moon. As I was looking up at that clear, beautiful night sky I began thinking about the true artist who started with a blanket canvas and in a few days He created a world full of color and life. Our Heavenly Father is the first and only true artist to me. When you view something and your emotions and feelings are stirred you have witnessed true art. To me art is passionate, emotional, serious and funny. It is everything and it is nothing. It is whatever you make it to be or whatever you want it to be.

This week was a learning experience for me. I did not know that there were different approaches to art. There are three to be exact: Contextualist, media, and formalist. For me I believe I would lean more to the media approach. This approach allows your students to learn and work with different art media. This approach opens your students to the world of art and the different types of media. It could also spark an interest for some students that could carry on throughout their life. 


Now the interesting information came from chapter six this week and how Bloom's taxonomy is weaved throughout art. The three domains are all present: Cognitive, affective, and psychomotor and if I am not mistaken I believe it was Kellie's paper that did a good job of explaining how each domain is present in art. Her explanation was short and to the point; just the way I like it. I am very thankful to all my classmates that responded to my paper this week with sweet words. It puts a song in your heart and a smile on your face. If time had permitted I would had responded to all of my classmates' papers, but seeing that it did not I responded to three this week: Linda, Kellie, and Shirley; each expressing their thoughts and viewpoints on the two chapters this week. You know you could look at the papers we write as art. We all read the same information, but get a different view of what we read. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this reflection art is everywhere, we just have to open our eyes and it is there.

Week 2: Looking Ahead

READ ~ REACT ~ RESPOND ~ REFLECT

I hope you enjoy reading your classmates' reaction papers to Chapters 1 and 6 as much as I do.  By Friday, respond to at least three of your classmates; make your responses both thoughtful and thought-provoking.  On Sunday, email Dr. Walts your Week 2 reflection.  


As you reflect, think about what has caught your interest.  Did you have any "AHA" moments? Did you strongly agree or disagree with something you read this week?  When you looked beyond our textbook, did you discover something new or intriguing?  Perhaps one of your classmates prompted you to move your thinking in a new direction. 


Mark your calendar: we WILL have an ELLUMINATE Live! session next week on Tuesday, June 21st. Remember, as we engage in our class discussions, it is especially important in an online environment that everyone speak up and share.  Your voice needs to be heard and your thoughts need to be shared.

Weekly PowerPoint Presentations

I have added a new page to our blog.  At the top, beneath the header, you will now see two links: Home, and Weekly PowerPoint Presentations.  When you click for the presentations, you will be able to view my slides from our class session.  This will help you reconnect with what we discussed as you work on your weekly reflections.  

Week 1 Reflection

Here is a reflection from one of your classmates; I thought you would enjoy reading it~

Dr. Walts said that she has found that people either love art or hate it. I love it! I cannot paint or sculpt, but I do draw a little. I am by no means a brilliant artist or the next Van Gough, but I try and have fun doing it. Art is suppose to be a fun time, a time to express how you feel or a "just because I wanted to" time. 


That is why I love watching children draw or paint. They have no boundaries and are not concerned with what is right or wrong, they just enjoy it. I was excited to hear that our power points are going to be art projects. How fun is that going to be? Dr. Walts told us at seminar that we are going to come up with art projects for the different subjects. I hope my son is ready to do some art. 


It was fun reading everyone's journey with art. A lot of us have experienced the same journey when it comes to art. We remember a few projects and the art we did in vacation bible school. Some had a good experience while the others said they could only draw stick figures. I believe we have a little artist in us all, just waiting for the right moment to come out. 


I am really looking forward to this class and finding some new and creative ways to bring art into the classroom. I know I have come away from my other education courses with some great ideas and have been sure to keep them in my toolbox. I found this quote the other day and it made me smile and reminded me of this class. "Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it" by Danny Kaye. Life like art it's all about what you make it. You can color it black and gloomy or you can color it with bright and beautiful colors. It is all up to you!

Summer 2011: Weeks 1 and 2

I enjoyed our seminar together yesterday!  I look forward to receiving your emailed reflections.

For Week 2:
Monday:  read chapters 1 and 6
Tuesday: do your reaction paper on chapters 1 and 6
Wednesday: post your reaction paper for chapters 1 and 6 in the discussion board
Friday: respond to at least 3 of your classmates' reaction papers
Sunday: email your week 2 reflection to Dr. Walts

DREAM BIG

Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve” . This is a powerful quote. The key word in the quote is “believe”. It is easy to conceive of an idea; that means that we think it. I think about things all the time. I think that I want to be thin, rich, successful. However, my dreams are lacking some key ingredients.



First of all, I need a plan to make them happen and I need to absolutely BELIEVE that I can make them come true. The believing part is the hard part for me. There are lots of times that I have a dream in my MIND thinking it, or in my MOUTH talking about it, but I have a hard time getting it in my HEART believing it! The heart is where the magic happens. When we doubt ourselves, it is hard to make dreams come true. We have to truly believe that we have the power to make them real.


I think of it sort of the way I think about food. If I eat a steady diet of junk food, my body won’t be healthy. I have to keep telling myself, “Junk in ~ Junk out”. So, if I want to be strong and healthy, I need to eat healthful foods and a balanced diet. That doesn’t just happen. I have to have a plan for my meals and snacks, go to the store to buy those healthful foods, prepare the healthful foods, and then eat them. I have to believe that I am worth the effort and that I can do what it takes to be a healthy person.


It is the same with thinking and dreaming. If I don’t “feed” myself strong, positive thoughts, my dreams won’t become a reality. “Junk in ~Junk out”, just like food. You have to have a plan, take action, and follow through.


Well, you’re asking, how do I go about getting “Quality in ~ Quality out”? Here’s one way that works for me.

EDU320

Technology makes learning more fun!

This is EDU 320 and we are celebrating art!  Blogger is a way that we can  share our creativity with other students and teachers.  Art puts the sparkle into studying!