Ipads in Art: What I am see- UPDATE :)

This week I took time to observe Monday- Thursday on non-iPad days what was happening at the student's tables. The goal was to limit the iPad usage so that students would have conversations about everyday life and each others artwork. The goal was also to have the students work more efficiently and more focused. What I have observed: Students are less distracted when the iPad is not being used as a personal music device. Even if you ask students to listen to Pandora or a playlist, there are still instant messages that pop up, distracting them from their learning. The more messages the more times that students stops what they are doing to checkout what urgent message has been sent to them. According to Marilee Sprenger who wrote Focusing the Digital Brain, "Students multitasking the digital world with many personal learning devices being used at once. For example instant messaging, texting, and homework at the same time. Causes Continuous Partial Attention. Can cause stress. Too many things going at once is ok for short term memory, but bad for long term memory causing stress, weakening the immune system and could cause depression. To many social media or digital devices used in excess can be a disadvantage to students. Make boundaries for digital use." In a world where instant gratification is a constant with technology it is important to pull the students back and have them focus with out technology as part of the presence. We will listen to music over the speakers in the classroom or use the radio. The students still get to get into their flow of work, while still getting the opportunity to converse with the other students at their table. We will take turns on what channel will be played which days. I read a fascinating article that reinforces the use of music in the classroom called The following article is reprinted from the book Music and Learning by Chris Brewer, 1995. (Music and Learning: Integrating Music in the Classroom by Chris Boyd Brewer http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/Arts%20in%20Education/brewer.htm) BRINGING EDUCATION TO LIFE WITH MUSIC How is it that for most people music is a powerful part of their personal life and yet when we go to work or school we turn it off? The intentional use of music in the classroom will set the scene and learning atmosphere to enhance our teaching and learning activities. Plus, using music for learning makes the process much more fun and interesting! Music, one of the joys of life, can be one of the joys of learning as well. The following pages give you suggestions for when and how to use music during your teaching or training. With these techniques, you, the teacher, can orchestrate a classroom environment that is rich and resonant-- and provide learners with a symphony of learning opportunities and a sound education! Music helps us learn because it will-- establish a positive learning state create a desired atmosphere build a sense of anticipation energize learning activities change brain wave states focus concentration increase attention improve memory facilitate a multisensory learning experience release tension enhance imagination align groups develop rapport provide inspiration and motivation add an element of fun accentuate theme-oriented units PERSONAL EXPRESSION Music is the doorway to the inner realms and the use of music during creative and reflective times facilitates personal expression in writing, art, movement, and a multitude of projects. Creation of musical compositions offers a pathway to expressing personal feelings and beliefs in the language of musical sound. Here are two ways music can help us express ourselves: Creativity and Reflection Background music is used to stimulate internal processing, to facilitate creativity, and encourage personal reflection. Playing reflective music, such as solo piano in either classical or contemporary styles, as students are writing or journalling holds attention for longer periods of time than without the music. In one study, students wrote twice as much with music than without! Anytime you can use multiple intellegences is a win for the students. I plan to continue listening to their conversations and comparing their work to last year's when personal music was allowed during every workday. I can say already that there are less distractions and better behavior. It is still early in the year so we will see what happens. I especially would like to add the data I find tomorrow when they are working with the personal learning devices. I will have more hard data that I will submit regarding distractions, conversations, efficiency and mood of the room. I am still working on the hard data because as you float around the room it is hard to not converse with the kids and be taking notes, especially when the notes are about research and not their work. I don't want them to feel insecure about what I am doing.

Ipads in Art Education- What I am seeing

What you have started: I have changed my classroom management to stricter guidelines regarding the iPad. Over the summer I made these guidelines: 1. No iPad for music during work time. (I felt that kids were getting distracted by them, messaging, finding music, watching shows and that they were not as efficient as they should be.) This was already negotiated on the first day. We decided Monday- Thursday was a no iPad day and that I would play music over the speakers by request. Fridays would be free music day and they can bring their headphones to listen to music. What I have observed thus far is that it is working well so far. The kids follow the rule and I am going to continue to take data on the chatter and art conversations that occur when the radio is on in comparison to the silence of Fridays when they are working with their headphones. Both types of days have shown productive work process. I am now going to listen closer to the conversations they have with each other. Not just about art, but to keep that social aspect of school. I explained to them that not everything needs to be messaging and that having out loud conversations are still important. I will continue to observe and get some hard data for next time.

Praxis Folio

Question 1: Why is teaching my content or area of focus important to what I believe about teaching? How do I see these beliefs aligning with my teaching practices? I teach art and with teaching art there are certain processes that need to happen. I believe in the full experience of art. From the beginning of art history, observing to researching, creating, critiquing and then artist statement. I believe there can be an appreciation for every single to step and every step needs to be taken to get the full experience. I try to have this process in place as much as possible when giving my students an artistic experience. Question 2: How is my understanding of content concepts guiding me in making needed changes in my teaching practices in the area of my content or area of focus? I needed to reflect on my current practices and look at what I felt needed more attention. I am going to focus more on art history, critiquing, reflection/artist statement and technology. I have also looked at what classes should be added to our department to better our kids towards college and career readiness. Question 3: How am I coming to connect the depth of understanding and application needed in the learning process of each student? How am I changing my content or area of focus delivery to account for the cognitive processes of my students, engaging them in solving real life problems for building knowledge? I am encouraging my students to make mistakes and try something new. I know it can be scary, but when they find that they can do more than they thought it is very rewarding for them and I. I love see them think outside of the box and use their creativity. With critiquing it requires the students to do the analysis and critical thinking that they can use in any situation. I take the students learning process step by step with them. I give them rubrics so they know their expectation up front and can use that rubric as a check off list and self assessment sheet. This is all training them to be self reliant and sufficient. Question 4: How can the gifts, backgrounds, and interests of each person in the classroom community be used to help one another learn and make my content or area of focus understandable and meaningful in their lives In art I give the students partial choice in their subject matter of their work. This way they can tailor it to their specific interests. Students then converse about each others work and interests creating deeper knowledge and thinking.

Believing in Students

Believing in students. I had an experience that was monumental in my coaching career this year. I was getting out of my car to go to practice and one of my players and his Dad were waiting for me in the parking lot. His Dad said, " He has something to tell you." There was a long pause and lack of eye contact until he finally said " I did something stupid." Long story short he had a scary experience with drinking with another boy. This young man was an eighth grader, but playing on my C squad team. It was very hard for him to talk about it and obviously still scary. An ambulance had to come for his friend during the day and luckily in the end everyone was ok. He would miss two weeks of the sport that only lasts 8 weeks. I was very impressed by the Dad being there and having his son tell me rather than finding out another way. What happened next was so surprising. About a week later and a missed phone call his Mom stopped by to talk to me after practice. I got a heart felt thank you from his Mom. I had missed the call from her so I was a little confused what for. She was very thankful that I had handled the situation with such grace. I had spoke with her son about everyone being ok was a blessing. The key words that I said to him was, "You know you are a good kid. You told me yourself that you have a very high GPA. Even good kids make mistakes and that does not change that you are a good kid. Now you just need to learn from your mistake so it doesn't happen again. " Apparently, her son really needed to know he was still a good kid. She said, "He has been more open than ever with his feelings and that he has a lot of respect for me." This whole conversation reminded me of how important our jobs are as teachers and coaches. Everything we say can make an impression on our students. I needed to be reminded of this because I had not thought much of what I said or how it might impact him. Usually you say things to kids, but you never hear feedback about your efforts. This was a big moment for him and a big moment for me to remember that you are teaching more than just what the subject might be.