Monthly Archives: November 2017

Mindsets, Qualities, Technical Skills

Inspiration

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Last week’s webinar topic (Instructor Showcase) was such a great learning opportunity: I loved seeing what my colleagues are doing in their courses and sharing tools and resources.

I love that through these tools, we can teach the same subjects and the same courses, but remain unique and provide our own version of an awesome experience for students by creating a genuine connection that grows from who we are. Each instructor’s persona was so unique and accurate to how I’ve been growing to know them–it was wonderful to see that reflected in the way they design their classrooms.

It’s so vital that we find ways to show students that we’re not a computer program that spits out grades–just like in a face to face context, building relationships with students is an important (and rewarding) part of the education process. By sharing some of ourselves, we encourage students to share some of themselves in return, and we’re able to forge connections and relationships.

What’s more, I’ve seen through my focus on engagement that students seem to be paying more attention to my announcements–which is a relief, because I do actually have some vital information in them. I get a little sigh of relief from each student that acknowledges the things I share in the announcements.

While there are areas that I’ve grown so much in this semester when it comes to announcements, I’m still very new at this, and being able to see what my colleagues are doing gave me so many ideas for how to improve my own classroom.

For example, some of the instructors who shared have been so successful in padlet: I used my first one just last week, and didn’t get a single post. It was a little disheartening.

It got me thinking about the importance of a classroom routine, and establishing it from the get-go. I had to swallow that failure, but it’s had me thinking about how to incorporate sharing of that nature in all my classes from day one at the new semester. While I’ve been successful in getting my Art Appreciation and Digital Imaging kids to share, I think the discussions would be a lot more robust if it were a familiar process from day one.

I also loved seeing how other instructors are using digital tools to help teach their content. Animoto, for example, is one tool I’ve never used, but I can imagine it being very useful to explain certain art and compositional concepts. Many of the things my colleagues shared left me feeling inspired and energized.

I left the instructor showcase webinar with a lot of ideas and a new to do list–I’m excited to plan and create my courses for the next semester, and to find ways to continue to grow in my classroom.

 

 

Technical Skills

Learning Curve

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One of the hardest things about this first semester has been learning what will trip students up. Where the instructions will lead to confusion, which projects students will struggle with, what processes are going to be the most challenging. It’s a little heartening to know that the work I’ve put in this semester to put those fires out will be preventative in future sections, but those supplementary materials I’ve been able to design this semester have all been a little depressing as they arrive after the issues are over for the bulk of students.

On a more positive note, though, seeing all the different ways students have misunderstood or struggled with something has been stewing in my mind like a delicious meal, and I’m excited to make some really polished materials to help students through those road blocks.

My first project is to clear up the confusion on some of my Digital Imaging assignments. In an assignment where students design their own original magazine mock-cover, I’ve been surprised by how many students submit images that are weird shapes, or even landscape in orientation. However, the more I thought about it, I realized this was the first project where students are asked to create an image that represents a physical object from scratch.

There’s a breakdown in the thought process as students transfer the image from 2D to 3D–which is an ironic issue, since a large part of art education is teaching students to transform the 3D to 2D (like in drawing a still life.)

I had been vaguely planning to create a video for this project–the magazines I have crammed into my mail “organizer” were going to be featured, while I talked about compositional elements on their covers. (I was sending a mental thank-you to whatever clerical error has been sending me Martha Stewart Living for the last 4 years despite my having never subscribed or paid for it.)

However, after learning about H5P, I had a different idea. Why not create an interactive image, that draws attention to some of the parts of a magazine cover that I want students to concentrate on?

So I created this.

It was so easy to use, and it was a great first experience with H5P. I feel like I was able to quickly create something very useful for my students–creating a video would’ve taken about three times as long.

This is only my first experiment with H5P: but as I learn more about where students need support through assignments and what I can do to extend their learning, I’m looking forward to creating more interactive content for my courses!