Final Reflection

My brain was on overload this summer. I completed 12 credits toward my MAET in 8 weeks. I learned an abundance of new and amazing information, and thankfully I wrote it all down! My notes have turned into my own personal learning tool. I have learned above and beyond what I thought I would be learning. The information and readings were all relevant and beneficial to my teaching. The past two weeks I have been up at the school putting together new lesson plans for this coming year and I am able to use technology to enhance many of them. I have also altered curriculum in my Graphic Design class to teaching Web Design and other technology skills.

My new goal is to find funding for the supplies to make my stop-motion video. I have also presented the information to my principal. He thought it might be something that could be purchased this year.

I thought that using web-based technologies in lesson planning proves to be such a great tool to create a learning atmosphere where students become active participants in their learning. When students are an active part of their learning they tend to form personal connections to their work. As personal connections are formed a student’s intrinsic motivation increases, along with the effectiveness of the lesson plan. Each new lesson I create using technology I think to myself, I wish I would have known about this technology before, it would make learning so much easier or effective for the students. I believe teaching the students how to use technology as a learning tool is such an important skill for them to have in today’s society.

Teachers are able to implement many different types of teaching strategies by integrating technology into their curriculum. These are the three strategies most used in my classroom. I am able to use collaborative learning, by placing students in groups or interacting with a computer program. In my classroom I also effectively use inquiry-based learning, where students are given directions and scaffolding to work independently through a project. Another great teaching strategy is project-based learning. In my class, most of my lessons have a project students must complete. They get the chance to interact with the information they have been taught. These are a few of the teaching strategies I find most useful when integrating technology in the classroom.

Project Evaluation

In order to measure the impact that this technology has had on my students I will conduct classroom observations, and examine students’ use of lateral thinking skills on future projects.

I will watch students as they move through the process of creating a movie. I believe that this project is a success if students are collaboratively thinking through different situations to come up with a well thought out solution. Another great piece of evidence that this project had an impact on students will be seeing students self-exploring. An additional way, is observing students looking back on my website to find resources to expand their knowledge or find ways to overcome a problem. This will show that they are learning to use their lateral thinking skills to work through obstacles, failures and still come out with a wonderful project in the end.

I will continue to gauge the impact of this project throughout the remainder of the year. The proof that this project had a lasting effect on students will be seeing them continually seek knowledge independently and put together meaningful well thought out projects. If students continue to problem solve by using researching and trial and error methods I will know that they are cognitively using their lateral thinking skills. If projects are given to students and they pay just as much attention to the process, content, and visual aesthetics as they do the tools the stop motion video project has positively changed their learning process. Another skill I hope to see throughout the year is students purposely finding and putting meaning in their work. Instead of students just choosing an easy topic or meaning I hope to view students looking deeper and challenging themselves to think of unique and creative ideas of their own.

I will be able to see the impact this project has had on my students by using the students from previous years as a control group. I can compare the work made after the students created the video with the same work created by students in previous years who did not get the opportunity to create a stop motion video. I will be able to visually see if there is improvement in their creativity, meaning and thought process. The project's effect can also be viewed by observing the students in their work environment. These are questions I would ask myself while watching students work:

Are the students less apprehensive to start new projects?

Are students still afraid to explore independently?

Do students still need constant assistance and reassurance?

Do students know ways to find information independently?

I can compare the answers to these questions to how I would have answered them about the class I had the previous year. By doing this it will be easy to see if the project made a difference on student learning.

Looking at my project right now I would not make any altercations. I know that when I start my project there are going to be several things I change during the process and things I will change before I do the project again with another class. I find that I modify projects each time I do them because I learn something new that I can add or a new and improved way to teach a certain skill. I believe this project will be the same.

Lessons that I learned:

1. Use technology to enhance teaching students to understand, not to just know. It
will decrease the amount of reteaching time and increase the student’s ability
to build upon that knowledge.
2. Repurpose technology to use as an effective educational tool.
3. Teach students how technology tools they can continue to use to enhance their
educational careers.
4. Always adapt!
5. Technology is a huge and ever growing part of society and our student’s need
to learn how to use it!

Project Implementation

Internet Research for TechQuest Project

I found a lot of excellent information. I used Google Scholar when I was looking for the articles on lateral thinking. I wanted to make sure that the information I was reading was coming from respected resources. I found that I had a lot of success using this tool and came up with the information that I was looking for. I enjoyed reading De Bono so much I ended up purchasing three of his books on Amazon. I am hoping to get them to help me finish my work. When I was looking for ideas from other teachers, schools, and free tutorials I used Google. It was tough to find the right wording to put in to get the information that I wanted. But, as soon as I found those key words, tons of great information was available to read. I did a lot of my research before reading the Valenza article. Next time I need to do research, I would use some the search engines she suggested. Below are the resources I found informative and helpful. I gave a brief description under each one explaining how it was an informative resource for my project.

Stop Motion Animation Claymation in Education - an Exciting Learning Tool for All Ages! November 3, 2008, ArticlesBase http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/stop-motion-animation-claymation-in-education-an-exciting-learning-tool-for-all-ages-640801.html.
This source shows how stop motion can enhance education and the benefits it has on students’ technology and thinking skills.

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/Clay-Connie.htm
This is site has a great stop motion lesson plan submitted by Connie Ferguson, a middle school teacher at Monroe in Wisconsin. It ties in history, creativity, along with incorporating the numerous benchmarks the project touches. It also show examples of student work.

http://www.dpsnc.net/channel-4/bright-ideas/claymation-at-rhs
This is a great video explaining how stop motion videos were used at a Durham Public Schools. It shows how the process teaches students many skills across the curriculum.

Torreno, Frank: ClayMation: Making Mitosis Work. 2002-2003 http://uw.kqed.org/edresources/plans/mitosis.pdf
I thought this article showed a great way of creativity and lateral thinking can be used across the curriculum. It also had a great hand out showing students how to get each set organized for picture and for voice. I think I will use a handout like this to get my students started.

Walker, Wendie: Multimedia-Claymation, http://www.fosterps.vic.edu.au/claymation.htm
This source gave a lot of advice on things to make sure that students did not do. It also gave a great story board handout. This website also gave a list of things that had to be done. Another great part of this website was all of the other resources it listed to check out.

Hill, Lisa: ClayMation Videos Teach STEM. 2010.http://www.schooltech.ancientfuturemedia.com/2010/05/claymation-videos-teaching-science/
This website illustrates how ClayMation/Stop Motion video combines science art and technology. It lists why to do the lesson and also includes a sample lesson plan and video.

Peterson, Mark. Stop Motion Animation in Education – An exciting learning tool for all ages! April 14th,2010. http://b4tea.com/education/stop-motion-animation-in-education
This website talks about the skills students will learn while using stop motion video. It also has great links to other informational websites.

Stop Motion Tutorial-You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0KMSfiizdY
This is a great simple tutorial for the visual learner. Just make sure to turn the sound off. It has some very heavy background music.

De Bono E. (1969). The mechanism of mind. New York: Simon and Schuster.
De Bono E. (1970). Lateral thinking: creativity step by step. New York: Harper and Row.
De Bono E. (1976). Teaching thinking. London: Temple Smith.
De Bono E. (1995) Serious Creativity. Journal for Quality and Participation.
I used these readings to research lateral thinking and creativity. The articles expressed the importance of lateral thinking on education. They also express the impact lateral thinking skills can have on a students learning success.

Project Description

I teach art to seventh and eighth grade students. Many times I give an assignment that requires students to come up with a solution on their own. A solution that is unique and creative. The project has a rubric they must follow, but the solutions that will fit the rubric are limitless. This is when a majority of my students start to become concerned. Many questions are raised. “If I do this will it be wrong?” “I don’t know what to do, can you help me?” “Will you just tell me what to do?” The process of coming up with the solution becomes something that my students fear. They want to have concrete answers. I always respond by telling them, “Art class is a place to exercise your mind in new ways. There is no wrong answer as long as you include the requirements on the rubric.” I believe that doing more lateral thinking exercises it will teach my students to explore several solutions with ease to find the one they think will work best. I do not want my students to be constrained to believing only one idea exists.

According to Wikipedia, Lateral thinking, “refers to solving problems through an indirect and creative approach. Lateral thinking is about reasoning that is not immediately obvious and about ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. Edward de Bono started writing about the importance of lateral thinking in 1967. He stated that, “Creativity is a skill that everyone can learn--It is what we call lateral thinking.” Like all skills it must be practiced to improve at it. Once it is practiced enough it will be cognitively implemented and students will start to use it independently in the future. Lateral thinking also teaches students to use critical thinking skills, allowing them to go from a familiar idea to creating a unique idea on their own.

Lateral thinking is a skill that will not only enhance a student’s success in the art room, but in all contexts of life when there is not a fixed answer. It will serve as a great problem solving tool for students throughout their education and will follow them into the work force. It will provide students with the mindset to keep working through problems. Students will learn even if they make mistakes keep going until a solution is found that works. I believe that teaching lateral thinking skills will enhance students’ educational experience and their ability to work through problems independently.

I would like to teach lateral thinking skills in my classroom by using stop motion video. Students would be creating their own storyboards, backgrounds, and characters. During the process of making a movie students will have to use their lateral thinking skills. Students will have to start by coming up with a storyline that has a purpose and meaning by working through the numerous scenarios that could possibly happen. Then decide on which scenarios will best express their ideas and receive the desired effect they want to have on their audience in the end. Creativity also plays a huge role in the process of making a movie. Students will have to find creative ways to make their movie interesting and captivating to the viewers. Students will solve the problems they encounter along the way by thinking of other solutions that would work. It is a process that students would work through and learn by experience. The movie making process would incorporate lateral thinking skills along with touching on subjects across the curriculum.

Students would be utilizing Art, English and Technology skills in this project. They would be using art skills by focusing on form and movement, along with utilizing their creativity. Students will construct a storyline using creative writing skills. Technology will be using a camera and computer developing audio documentary, video, and soundtracks. In the end, students will bring all of these aspects together to create a cohesive final project.
The technology I would need would be a classroom package of Movie Maker Pro, eight microphones, eight webcams, eight tripods and eight digital cameras. The total cost of that package would be around two thousand dollars. Movie Maker Pro gives a 60% discount to educators and other websites sell the rest of the equipment at discounted prices to teachers. The other avenue I could take to make stop motion videos would be using and Elmo teacher tool. This piece of equipment takes and SD card and can record pictures. Each of these products costs around 600 dollars. A set of eight would cost around 4800 dollars. It would be more cost effective to go with the first choice.

The movie would be created in an 8th grade Graphic Design class. It is in a computer lab with 24 computers. Using stop motion video in this class would enhance student knowledge and achievement in the graphic design field. Stop Motion pro is a standard tool used in the animation industry. This program would give the students a real experience of how professional animators make these videos. Even more importantly, it would give them a deeper understanding of the curriculum being taught by being an active part of the learning process. The students will see the computers as not just tools, but an avenue of creativity, critical thinking, collaborating, and expanding their thinking skills.

In order to be the most proficient teacher possible I am participating in professional development to enhance my stop motion video knowledge. I believe that a majority of my professional development would be free. There are many how to websites available to read and watch demonstration videos. One of the websites I found an abundance of information on is http://www.stopmotionworks.com/index.html. It contains hundreds of different tutorials.

To prepare for this project I would put students in groups of three. I would put small pods of three computers and one empty table together for the students to work in groups. The extra table would be a place for the students to manipulate their characters, create their backgrounds, and take their pictures.

When the students begin the project they will be given a rubric stating the guidelines to their storyboard, characters, background and the overall end goal of the project. The rubric also tells the students what is expected of them in order to achieve certain grades. They will also be introduced to the movie software, the process, storyboarding, character profiles and view numerous stop motion videos to get a better understanding of what they are trying to achieve. After the introduction, my role as the teacher will change from sage on the stage to guide on the side. Students will be able to refer back to all of this information when needed on my stop motion website. There will also be resources on my website that students can refer to when they reach an obstacle or they want to learn more about a certain aspect of the project. I want them to practice their lateral thinking skills by facing obstacles, failures, and realizing they can work through this and still come out with a wonderful product in the end.

Many of my students have posted videos on You Tube or created a Power Point presentations and put it kiosk mode. A majority of the students are all very interested in technology. Most of them think that they are experts themselves. While they might have a great understanding of how a program works, they are not taught how to use it in a more complex fashion or to achieve a complex end project with deep meaning and cohesiveness.

I have a wide range of learning styles in my room. This project touches on a variety of different learning styles. My groups will be formed with a mixture of different learning styles. The students will be given around three weeks of 50 minute class periods to complete the entire project. Each part of the project will be broken down smaller with due dates throughout the three weeks.

I plan to start implementing this project in the fall. I want to have my website done before the beginning of the school year. After I have had my students for a couple of weeks, and have become familiar with their personalities, learning styles and skill levels I will put them in groups. I will introduce the software and the skills to the students. Then, I will do a short ten second video project with the groups. This project will take 2 class periods. The students will come up with a character and an emotion they are going to express in its movements. Then, they will do several shots with the digital camera experimenting with movement and insert ten seconds of sound. This will give them the confidence to take on their large movie production.

Many of my students have a very high comfort level with technology. Therefore, I think that stop motion will be a familiar avenue for students to practice their lateral thinking skills in, along with enhancing their artistic, creative writing and technology skills. As the educator, I would be pushing students to address issues of morals, ethics, good judgment and exploring new ideas. I believe using stop motion video in education will be a great way to enhance students lateral thinking skills. As a result, it would enhance their educational experience as a whole.


References:
De Bono E. (1968). New think; the use of lateral thinking in the generation of new ideas. New York: Basic Books.
De Bono E. (1969). The mechanism of mind. New York: Simon and Schuster.
De Bono E. (1970). Lateral thinking: creativity step by step. New York: Harper and Row.
De Bono E. (1976). Teaching thinking. London: Temple Smith.

Draft #1 Project Description

I teach art to seventh and eighth grade students. Many times I give an assignment that requires students to come up with a solution on their own. A solution that is unique and creative. The project has a rubric they must follow, but the solutions that will fit the rubric are limitless. This is when a majority of my students start to become concerned. Many questions are raised. “If I do this will it be wrong?” “I don’t know what to do, can you help me?” “Will you just tell me what to do?” The process of coming up with the solution becomes something that my students fear. They want to have concrete answers. I always respond by telling them, “Art class is a place to exercise your mind in new ways, remember there is no wrong answer as long as you include the requirements on the rubric.” I believe that doing more lateral thinking exercises it will teach my students to move through several solutions with ease to find the one they think will work best. I do not want my students to be constrained to believing only one idea exists.

According to Wikipedia, Lateral thinking, “refers to solving problems through an indirect and creative approach. Lateral thinking is about reasoning that is not immediately obvious and about ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. Edward de Bono started writing about the importance of lateral thinking in 1967. He stated that, “Creativity is a skill that everyone can learn--It is what we call lateral thinking.” Like all skills it must be practiced to improve at it. Once it is practiced enough it will be cognitively implemented and students will start to use it independently in the future. Lateral thinking also teaches students to use critical thinking skills, allowing them to go from a familiar idea to creating a unique idea on their own.

Lateral thinking is a skill that will not only enhance a student’s success in the art room, but in all contexts of life when there is not a fixed answer. It will serve as a great problem solving tool for students throughout their education and will follow them into the work force. It will provide students with the mindset to keep working through problems, even if they make mistakes, until they find the solution that works. I believe that teaching students lateral thinking skills it will enhance their educational experience and their ability to work through problems independently.

References:
De Bono E. (1968). New think; the use of lateral thinking in the generation of new ideas. New York: Basic Books.
De Bono E. (1969). The mechanism of mind. New York: Simon and Schuster.
De Bono E. (1970). Lateral thinking: creativity step by step. New York: Harper and Row.
De Bono E. (1976). Teaching thinking. London: Temple Smith.

I learned that it is really important to make sure that you are using technology in ways that you could not use paper and pencil. In order for technology to be incorporated by more teachers we need to show how we can use it to improve teaching and learning in a different and effective way. I think that technology is a great way to have students learn independently. Where teachers use a more "guide on the side" approach. I think one of the best things we can do as teachers is to encourage and facilitate independent learning. Technology also really utilizes deductive teaching. Students can read, see examples and then create their own work.

I think that seeing several web-based technologies made me even more excited about incorporating technology into my classroom. I believe that a lot of trouble shooting needs to happen inorder for them to be used effectively by each individual teacher. But, I think that the benefit of that work will be worth it for the students.

I learned several new ways to incorporate technology into my lessons plans. I have several plans that I would like to do for the rest of the year. And some unblocking to beg for! Wish me luck! My new goals are to make sure I put what I have learned into action by incorporating these technologies into my lessons. My plans for reaching my goals are to take the time to create new ideas to use these technologies in a majority of my lessons. I think it is a great way for students to practice, practice, practice!

Blackboard or Moodle

I would like to use Blackboard or Moodle. I have just begun to explore Moodle and will be going to a training this summer on Blackboard. I think that it would probably be in my students best interest if I used blackboard so it would be consistent with the other teachers. I know that there are a couple other middle school teachers in my district who plan on using it next year. I think it would be great for the students to become familiar with blackboard on a small level before they go to high school.

I would use blackboard to post my lessons. I think this would be great for students when they miss school for the day or our out for awhile. You can link documents, presentations, videos, and directions. The students can also refer back to this information from home. I would also like them to turn in papers and rubrics on blackboard.The pedagogical strategies used would be deductive. The students will be reading the directions, looking at examples, and then doing the given task.

I think that you might have the problem of students not be able to access the Internet from home. But, I think that opportunities can be made available for students to stay after and use school computers. I know that many students at our high school stay after to do their assignments in the library and computer lab. I think that my students will really enjoy using blackboard. They pick up on things so quickly and love the idea of being on the computer and learning at the same time!

Concerned Parent

I have many concerns about web 2.o technologies being incorporated into the classroom. One of my biggest concerns is blogs. I think it will be very hard for teachers to monitor the comments made from student to student. If bullying is happening is the teacher going to catch it soon enough. I read an article by Jon Swartz in USA Today called "Schoolyard Bullies Get Nastier Online." It said that children from the ages of 9-14 are the most affected by bullying. The damages it causes could be horrible to the students. Is this technology worth the ramifications it might have on our students in the long run?

Here are some questions I have:

If my child posts their work or comments online will everyone be able to reply back?

Will they be able to get any information on my child?

If a student makes inappropriate comments on their blog or another students blog how will they be punished?

Wiki

Sorry for such a late post. I am still struggling with creating my own wikipedia. I keep reading through the directions. I don't think I am publishing it, but I am not sure how.

On the other hand, I am completely blown away by how cool wikis are. They will be an amazing tool to utilize in the classroom. The kids will think they are so cool. I am excited to implement them into the classroom.

I set up my wiki at wikispaces-

http://masonmiddleschoolart.wikispaces.com/

I think that blogs can be a great tool for students to use. I think that in order for it to be "technology with a change" certain teaching strategies must be used. I think that the the constructivist inquiry based approach needs to be taken by the teacher. These methods believe that learning is an active process. Blogs allow students to interact with content. Students are able to respond and communicate with their peers. This keeps students active at all times during the lesson.

It would be hard to use "sage on the stage" or deductive. I often use both of these in my classroom. I do demonstrations for students for almost every project. In these parts of my lessons I am the one giving instruction and the students are watching. However, I think that by using all of the different strategies my lessons are more effective.

I would love to use blogs in my classroom to have students reflect on their own artwork, and their peers. It would be a great way for them to receive feedback. I think it would be great if they were put in groups and had to comment on their groups artwork after a project was complete. I would also like the community, parents, and other staff members to be able to comment on the student artwork. The students would feel very special to have people taking the time to comment on their artwork. We do a lot of written reflections on artwork and I think it would be wonderful place to write these. I would really like to purchase EdVoiceThread next year and become part of student groups all over the world. There students from all over can post on each others blogs.

Students could create a wiki to define art terms. They could be placed in groups and they have to define each of the terms. They would have to work together to share ideas, research on the internet, and agree on the idea they put down. This extra research might be more beneficial then me reciting definitions in front of the class. My only concern is how I will make sure everyone is involved. Maybe each student would be responsible for certain vocabulary words. Then we could get together as a class and discuss their findings.

Additional Considerations

When you use computer based instructional objects it is important that you make sure that links to other sites are still working. If you want students to explore a website that is no longer working or is under construction it could throw off the entire project. It is very important that you check each time before using your computer based instructional object. It is also important to make sure that they do not have any glitches, flaws, or broken links. This could make it a very frustrating learning experience for the students. Another consideration that teachers must make is monitoring where students are exploring on the computer. They must be able to keep a students interests peeked so they are not seeking entertainment elsewhere. And as always there can always be problems with the computers. This seems to often be my problem in the computer lab. I spend a lot of my time fixing broken mouses, keyboards, and connections then I do answering relevant content based questions. It also slows down the work of the unfortunate students using the "misbehaving" computers.

In search of Vincent VanGogh

This WebQuest has student research VanGogh. They split into four groups and are given different jobs. They are prompted with questions and places to do their research. Then the groups present their information to the class.

Restoring the Nike

This WebQuest has students research Greek Sculpture . It helps student gain an appreciation for the process which archaeologists and artists go through to produce models of what they think lost or damaged ancient works of art looked like.There are many choices based on extensive research that must be made in restoring or re-creating ancient work. After completing this WebQuest students should have more appreciation for the work of art historians.

The Search for Absurdity

In this WebQuest students enjoy research crazy art movements. They research the dada movement and have a lot of fun along the way. I think this WebQuest is a fun learning tool that really grabs students attention.

Benefits of Blogs

Traditional web pages are a great way to do research. They serve as a tool to gather facts. Traditional web pages are often viewed to be more formal. Blogs are thought to be more casual because of the communication that happens between creator and viewer. I think that blogs keep people more interested in the information because they are able to interact with a response. Blogs also build communities of people. People are able to share ideas and responses with others who have similar interests. On blogs people are able to give and seek advice. They are also a great way for people to form groups for personal or professional support.