How I Learn

I am a visual learner through and through. I can remember taking a test in which I could see the page in the book where the answer was in my head but could not remember the text. I could even picture the exact part of the page where I could have found the answer. I have devoted my life to visuals. I concentrated in painting during college, became a visual arts teacher and know spend my spare time being a photographer. I find myself understand and remembering visual aids, such as graphic organizers more than the text. Sometimes I have to read text over and over again to fully comprehend what I have read. I usually make myself notes on the side to reinforce what I have read. As a teacher I try to incorporate as many different learning styles and multiple intelligence's into my lessons. For example, when introducing a new project in art I show images, have written directions projected to the class,  complete a demonstration and have a hands on warm up activity before the start of the final project.

Creative Commons and Images

© 2009 Emery Co Photo, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

I incorporate images into my art curriculum on a daily basis. We use posters, books,  magazines and the web. Images are used to study artwork of famous artists as well as to get inspiration for our own art. I also teach  basic darkroom photography to my high school students.

View my brand new Flickr account here! 

RSS Feed Reflection

RSS Feed Reflection

I am currently using Google Reader to collect my RSS feeds. Before this course, I had no idea what RSS was or how to collect “feeds.” I asked my tech-savvy cousin if she was familiar with RSS feeds. Of course, as a web-designer she did. For this course I subscribed to the following feeds: Technology and Learning, NPR Topics: Education, Weblogg-ed, and Literacy Education Updates. I also subscribed to some RSS feeds of my own such as: MDE-Michigan Department of Education, New York Times-Arts, ArtNews, NPR and of course Sports Illustrated.

The blog article that caught my eye was one by Will Richardson at http://willrichardson.com/post/11028447664/no-quick-fix#disqus_thread. 

The blog was titled, No Quick Fix. The article brings attention to when there is a change needed, instead of changing our schools why don’t we ask, “How do we change ourselves.” Unfortunately, many people do not think that way. I responded with the comment below.

I have witnessed this multiple times in my 5 short years as a teacher. When teachers are told they are going to have to change the way they do something, they demand for new books to follow, programs to implement or compensation in some way. I don't think getting new math books will improve our students' success, I believe it is the delivery of the information that will cause the "change."

I have found in my short time using an RSS Feed reader that the topics change quite frequently. One day the New York Times-Arts will flood my Google Reader with articles on the latest gallery openings and ballets, and others the MDE will have multiple articles on the MEAP. I tend to see a lot of art-related topics on my feed due to my subscriptions. Some of the other subscriptions must not update as often as Artnews and The New York Times.

Using Google Reader I have explored many of the links and categories on the side. I clicked on Trend thinking that it would show me what is trending on Google Reader, giving me good articles to read and instead I find out what I have done in the last 30 days.

I think that having students create an RSS Reader page would be perfect for a current events class. I think that it could be modified to fit in my curriculum as well, if I asked students to follow art related news source to integrate into my teachings. 

PC Maintenance and Security

Tutorial used: Avoiding Phishing Scams

Tips I learned that I will definitely be sharing with others:

Always check your accounts on the website to see if you have any messages from the organization on the website.

No one with ask for username, password, social security number or any personal information through email.

Information that surprised me: With one click of a button you could be sending your money to a criminal.

Tutorial used: Using Caution with Email Attachments

Tips that I learned that I will definitely be sharing with others:

            Call before double clicking.

Read the subject very carefully- does it make sense?

Check the grammar.

If it seems strange it probably is- be suspicious!

When in doubt- delete.

Information that surprised me: I didn’t realize that poor grammar was a sigh that it may be scam.

Tutorial used: Avoid Clicking on Pop-Ups or Pop-Under Ads

Tips that I learned that I will definitely be sharing with others:

            Most spyware, malware and viruses infect your computer through pop-ups.

            Beware of ActiveX controls, not all of them are good!

            Be safe. Just don’t click them! 

Information that surprised me: ActiveX applications can sometimes be scams or malware.

GTD

In this post I will be talking about GTD: Getting Things Done, not to be confused with the over-used GTL: Gym, Tan, Laundry made popular by the Jersey Shore cast on MTV. GTD is tool that can implemented to organize your work flow and create a less stressful environment when balancing multiple tasks. The GTD method is broken down into steps, which makes this organizational tool very user friendly. Below is my attempt at "Getting Things Done."


Step 1. Collect. Using a piece of paper and pen , I created a list of everything I need to get done. I love lists. I use lists daily. In fact, before I started working on this weeks assignments, I made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish today. Basically, what I am saying... Step 1: = piece of cake! 


Step 2: Process. This is where you take each item on your list and you make a decision. Below are the key questions taken from the lecture by Tammy Maginity, Instructional Technology Coordinator for Pennfield Schools. 

1. What is it?
2. Is it actionable? If no, toss it or put it in a file for a later time.
3. What is the next action?
4. Will it take less then 2 minutes? Yes, do it. No, then
5. Defer or delegate

Okay, Step 2, I like the under two minute rule. Usually in my list making process I would still just add it to a "to-do" list instead of just doing! It makes so much sense, if it something that only takes a couple minutes, why put it off. 

Step 3: Organize. Art teachers stereo-typically are not the most organized people, but I try. So during step 3, it suggests to decide what to do with each item, and decide whether it is actionable or not. I like this step! Organizing the items on my list to different categories such as, projects, calendars (must be done on a specific date or time) and by what has to be done ASAP, creates a visual map that allows me to see my to-list more clearly. 

I believe that this process will help me in organizing my time for this course, teaching, and the extra-curricular activities I am involved in at the school, not to mention the wedding I am just beginning to plan.

Social Networking

Social networking has become an essential element in my life, as well as the lives of my students. Professionally I use a social network site to connect with my peers outside of work, especially during the summer. Personally, I am able to stay in close contact with family and friends although we may  not even be in the same state, or country. My students are constantly connecting with one another through social networks using any device they can get their hands on. The students post images, videos, links and create discussions.  Unfortunately, sometimes theses connections are not always positive. Cyber-bullying has become a huge concern in public schools, and social networks have been one of the go to tools for these bullies. Our students need to understand the good that can come from social networking. Using social networking in a classroom could greatly benefit teachers and students. Teachers could lead online discussions, post lectures, peer access, which students could access outside of the classroom. I do not connect with students through a social network, although our school has recently created a Facebook page. We created the page as another outlet to reach our parents and community, so they know what is happening in the district. If you would like to visit our Facebook page click here.