Jennifer Weigand
Integrating Technology into the Curriculum CISE 516-60
Yildiz
Spring 2006
E-Portfolio:
- Media Review
- Terminology Test
- Assessment Strategy/ Rubric
- Online / WEB Resources
- Curriculum Project
- Teaching/ Technology Philosophy
- Reading Reflections
- Resume
- After all this, you still might be wondering who I am?
- See my classmates’
work
My teaching goal is to create an active
learning environment that allows my students to explore their creative
capabilities in a place that promotes autonomy and encourages exploration of
their environment. My teaching philosophy primarily reflects Piaget’s Cognitive
Development Theory, Lowenfeld’s Stages of Artistic Development Theory, and
includes aspects of Existentialism.
As children develop, imagination and
creativity take a back seat to the learning and understanding of more
analytical and logical reasoning. Imagery becomes less abstract and more
realistic, therefore, so does problem solving. They do not forget how, but more
or less, lose sight of this. A child knows how to think abstractly starting at
the ages of 2 and 4, but unrefined, it fades and the focus becomes directed
more towards realistic and practical reasoning. I want to hone this natural
ability by complementing my students’ more logical education and encouraging
exploration of new and inventive ways of approaching art.
A creative mind is an active mind and a
growing mind, therefore, I want to provide my students with an active learning
environment where creativity and growth are promoted. My classroom would be a
place open to exploration and discovery. Here, they will be encouraged to
incorporate their previous knowledge into their learning experience. They will
learn through a ‘hands on’ program that will allow them to make their own
discoveries, mistakes, and resolutions.
As a prospective art teacher, I will be a
facilitator, rather than a director, of my students’ learning. I will listen
to, observe, and question my students to help them gain a better knowledge and
understanding of their creativity. All the while, adapting my teaching
environment to my students’ ever-changing interests and desires to learn about
new and modified materials. I plan on introducing different methods and
mediums, all the while, encouraging them to experiment and explore for
themselves.
Art plays a significant role in a child’s
development. Along with learning how to reason logically and idealistically in
their general education classes, art enables the growing student to apply a
more creative and imaginative outlook onto their world. It is crucial to
instill this in the childhood and adolescent years for it will ensure
generations of individuals with new and inventive ideas. My end goal is to
offer my students a learning environment where they can take advantage of and
excel with their innate creativities and tap into their imaginative thinking
and thought processes, for this will benefit them not only in school, but it
will forever enrich their lives.
I also plan on integrating technology
into my classroom as a way to further promote autonomy and involve students in
their environment. Activities such as Power Point presentations, Webquests, and
other multimedia projects will often be utilized in my classroom. Not only will
students listen to music during studio time to influence and inspire their
artwork, music will serve as a positive reinforcement and a form of
multicultural integration.
I made a terminology quiz
for all of those who play scrabble to give you a little insight on how to get
rid of your q's !! I thought that I might be able to utilize the 'pop-up'
question option and clue you in to what the incorrect answers were definitions
of to give you a little laugh. At least that’s what I thought it might do.
2. Ironic
Humor in Feminism 04.03.06
Coming from a historical
standpoint, I admire the juxtaposition between femininity and how it is portrayed. Unfortunately, this
argument is a product and staple of our time, for it’s these movies and
ads that become references for future talk and discussions of
characteristical mannerisms, attitudes, and attire typical of that era.
Personally, and ironically, I find humor in these view points and only look
forward to deconstructing advertisements.
3. Rubric
Website Reflection 03.27.06
I am very impressed with
the rubric website http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ . If I would
continue to use this to structure my rubrics, I would probably reword some of
the terminology to suit my students more
appropriately. These sample rubrics allow you to understand the differentiation
between the higher expectations and lower expectations of the given project.
4. The
Second Week into my Curriculum Project 02.27.06
February
17, 2006 10:30pm-12:00am
- Located
inspirational website (global-art.org)
-
found some lesson plan & lesson ideas (tolerance.org, princetonol.com)
February
24, 2006 2:45pm-5:15pm
-
created 1st draft of proposal
-
organized last post’s research
-
found inspirational lesson plan (Portrait of Peace)
-
found more lesson plans at tolerance.com and princetonol.com (3 lesson plans, 3
lesson ideas)
-
gave descriptions of lesson plans / ideas
-
could use peace poems as a form of inspiration for students
-
need to continue research on ideas next to *’s
- began looking for media to incorporate, having difficulty, but looked on my county's library website and searched under 'tolerance'
-
found Project Mulberry (I think target audience
is too young)
5. Search
versus Research & Wikipedia
I read the two articles
‘Search vs. Research’ and ‘Scoring Power Points’. The articles were on how to implement
technology and how to teach proper use of a technological tool. Power Point is
widely used now in schools, whether for instructional use or student projects.
A problem that educators are facing with students using Power Point is that the
students sometimes become too wrapped up in the presentation aspect of it,
which leads to cheesy sound effects or some sort of twirling image. Until the
development of a Power Point presentation becomes second nature, like
typewriting a paper, some requirements and regulations have to be established
for students. It’s a new tool just like a car is new to a teenager, and
teenagers and students need to learn how to use it for the right reasons at the
right time. A rubric would be handy for a program that could almost be
limitless when combined with Photoshop, Illustrator, and sound. In conclusion
about this topic, I feel that students need limitations in order to perform
better, have better outcomes, and not feel over whelmed.
On the same note, teachers need to teach students how to identify true and
valid material when using Wikipedia (Search vs. Research). It’s a new tool and
they need to know how to use it properly. Instead of shying away from it,
students need to rationalize their own conclusions from research, and not focus
solely on one sources’ documentation (which is called ‘search). Here, I also
feel that students need limitations, not only to handle the programs
respectfully, but properly as well.
Both these articles have
something in common – the need to learn and adapt to new things. Although the
use of Power Point tends to be more design and aesthetically orientated,
Wikipedia relies on users to be more critical and analytical. Same audience,
different need.
Media Review
Creative
and Mental Growth
by Victor Lowenfeld and W. Lambert Brittain © 1987
Reviewer:
Jennifer Weigand
Reference:
Lowenfeld,
V. and Brittain, W. L. (1987). Creative and Mental Growth.
“It is pre-eminently the task of education so to
induct people into culture that their personal freedom and creativity are
preserved and indeed enhanced.”
–
Stenhouse (1967) pg. 98
Overview:
The text, Creative and Mental Growth,
argues the importance of visual art as a means of self-expression to encourage
creative thinking with special emphasis of the creative process rather than the
product. Lowenfeld’s Stages of Artistic Development Theory complements
children’s stages and characteristics of mental and creative development. The
text highlights age and learner appropriate art materials, motivators, and
instructional guidelines.
Recommendation:
I recommend Creative and Mental
Growth as an excellent resource primarily to art educators and parents with
students or children between the ages of 2 and 17. This book also serves as a
wonderful overview of the necessity for creative thought for all educators.
Theme:
The author’s point of view, and over
all theme of this text, stems from the need to encourage creative thinking
within the school environment. Creative thinking promotes originality,
elaborate thinking, risk taking, curiosity, and imagination, but,
unfortunately, the creative child is not favored in the classroom. The
conforming student tends to be highly favored, where as, the creative student
is usually labeled as ‘distractible’ or ‘misbehaved’. Schools, parents, and
society have to understand that creativity needs to be nurtured and modeled and
that this area of thinking ultimately reduces the pressures of conformity.
Content:
Lowenfeld mentions many approaches to
art education that reiterate his main point of view. The process versus product
theory represents the framework and structure of the haptic and visual learning
approach and the depth and breadth teaching approach.
Lowenfeld describes two distinct
learners in the art classroom – the haptic and visual learner. The visual
learner is better at expressing learned technique, where as, the haptic learner
flourishes in expressing emotionally. Lowenfeld encourages art lessons to
engage expression through both methods to promote acceptance.
His other approach, ‘depth versus
breadth’, describes two ways an art educator introduces materials. ‘Breadth’
hinders experimentation and creativity, but provides the opportunity to expose
students to an array of different materials and mediums. On the other hand,
‘depth’ favors experimentation and creativity with minimal material experience.
Lowenfeld promotes a more depth approach to discourage emphasis of the product.
Moreover, Lowenfeld promotes an
emphasis of process over product in the art classroom. He states that ‘students
may begin to feel that art is nothing more than a series of little projects or
experimentations with materials, bearing little relationship to expression or
creativity’ within product geared lessons.
Also, throughout the text, lies
illustrated examples of children’s artwork that display their individual
growth. Some descriptions of these artworks include reflections of the child’s
intellectual, emotional, social, perceptual, aesthetic, and creative
development. The end of each chapter includes related art activities that
provide opportunities for art educators to observe children’s thinking and
processing.
Reflection:
In conclusion, I feel that most
teachers place too much emphasis on conformity in the classroom and too little
on creative thought. Teaching involves the ability to be flexible and learn new
approaches, but it seems that teachers seldom accept the unique thoughts of the
creative students as worthy. The push toward the ‘norm’ of thinking is
primarily encouraged which, unfortunately, leads to an avoidance of
self-expression, critical thinking, experimentation, and imagination. I believe
that in order to ‘play it safe’ and secure a sense of success students will
tend to never venture beyond what they know and conform to a form of copying. As an art educator, Creative
and Mental Growth has showed me how to complement my students learning and
enhance their thinking processes through motivational questioning and
process-emphasized activities.
After reading Creative and Mental
Growth, I believe that Lowenfeld’s identified stages can be closely related
to Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory. Although I feel Lowenfeld’s studies
and research are proven to be respectable approximations of adolescence’s
intellectual growth, I primarily learned that a child of any age reaches higher
levels of intellectual thinking through increased exposure to his/her
environment. This environmental awareness is relative to the display of
emotional sensitivity within adolescence’s artwork. This sensitivity can simply
be described as the child’s individual way of representation. Encouraging a
sensory experience and relating motivational questioning to a child’s
particular experience can engage this awareness. I especially feel that
beginning this awareness at a young age will further promote advanced levels of
creative thought.
*see
more online resources within Curriculum Project
JOIN THE FIGHT! for peace – Grades 6 - 8
Click
here
to see a Web Design Rubric or view below:
|
CATEGORY |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Content |
The
site has a well-stated clear purpose and theme that is carried out throughout
the site. |
The
site has a clearly stated purpose and theme, but may have one or two elements
that do not seem to be related to it. |
The
purpose and theme of the site is somewhat muddy or vague. |
The
site lacks a purpose and theme. |
|
Layout |
The
Web site has an exceptionally attractive and usable layout. It is easy to
locate all important elements. White space, graphic elements and/or alignment
are used effectively to organize material. |
The
Web pages have an attractive and usable layout. It is easy to locate all
important elements. |
The
Web pages have a usable layout, but may appear busy or boring. It is easy to
locate most of the important elements. |
The
Web pages are cluttered looking or confusing. It is often difficult to locate
important elements. |
|
Interest |
The
author has made an exceptional attempt to make the content of this Web site
interesting to the people for whom it is intended. |
The
author has tried to make the content of this Web site interesting to the
people for whom it is intended. |
The
author has put lots of information in the Web site but there is little
evidence that the person tried to present the information in an interesting
way. |
The
author has provided only the minimum amount of information and has not
transformed the information to make it more interesting to the audience
(e.g., has only provided a list of links to the content of others). |
|
Learning of Material |
The
student has an exceptional understanding of the material included in the site
and where to find additional information. Can easily answer questions about
the content and procedures used to make the web site. |
The
student has a good understanding of the material included in the site. Can
easily answer questions about the content and procedures used to make the web
site. |
The
student has a fair understanding of the material included in the site. Can
easily answer most questions about the content and procedures used to make
the web site. |
Student
did not appear to learn much from this project. Cannot answer most questions
about the content and the procedures used to make the web site. |
This portfolio is created by Jennifer
Weigand
Date Created 10/01/2003
Date Update 5/8/2006