CEP 800: Digital Graffiti Lesson Reflection

Lacey Spieth

CEP 800

Lesson Plan Reflection

Digital Graffiti- Illustrating a Social Issue 

Kaitlyn, 12th Grade: Bullying

Holley, 11th Grade: Marriage Equality

Ed, 11th Grade: Suicide Prevention

Description of Lesson:

The lesson I taught was a digital arts lesson in which students used photo manipulation in a free online photo editing software called Pixlr to create a scene that depicts graffiti on a wall. The twist was the students had to successfully illustrate a social issue of their choosing. The lesson began with a video as a mind capture of a graffiti artist’s stop motion production. I then taught the students a brief history of graffiti using a presentation I downloaded and tweaked from slideshare.net. The students then created their piece using a free online graffiti font generator and pixlr.

Implementation of Lesson:

I taught this lesson to an upper level high school digital arts course. The lesson went great! The student loved the lesson and the ability to choose their social issue to address. There are always a little technology hiccups when programs don’t run smoothly, but nothing that ruined their experience. Below I have posted some student examples. 

Lesson Reflection:
The learning objectives of this lesson were for the high school students to learn and understand the history of graffiti and it’s role in modern culture. The integration of social issues relates to a common reason for graffiti, and art, to be created. A good reason to create art, is to deliver a message to the public. Although, illegally delivering the message is not the best approach. In the lecture we discussed when and where to do graffiti or street art.
The information was delivered through a video, PowerPoint presentation and demonstration. Multiple learning styles were employed in order to reach all learners. The information was also posted on the classroom website in order for students to refer back to any of the information addressed. While completing the lesson the students are able to receive one on one guidance when needed.
The technology chosen allows for students to build on prior learning and construct a visual representation of the information learned. The students will use the technology as a tool to produce an art piece with deeper learning of graffiti and social aspects in art. Elements of cognitive constructivism are present in which the students construct their understanding into a visual representation rather than record their understanding. The learning was intended to fulfill a content standard already in the high school art curriculum.
The knowledge assumed for this lesson is basic computer skills. The teacher and students should already be familiar with navigating the internet and saving and opening files through the internet. Before teaching this lesson, the students should be taught how to use Pixlr.com or any other photo-editing software in which student ahve the ability to manipulate layers with a document. Basic art and design skills are assumed as well, this lesson was written for upper level high school art students.
The students were graded on a rubric for the final product they created. During the lesson and creating portion I observed students and had verbal explanations from each student on why they created what they did. Some students had a hard time choosing a topic, others were very passionate about a social issue and started right away. The students are responsible for producing their digital art and posting it to their online portfolios for grading.
This lesson is highly dependent on technology, without it  the lesson would not exist. The Pixlr program is the most essential piece, although without the other components it would not be a successful lesson. I suppose without the technology we could go out and spray paint the buildings in our local town, but I think that would be frowned upon.