Final Project

Spread Sheet: Increasing Students Understanding of how to utilize the elements of art in their work by creating a painting inspired by the work of Wayne Thiebald

     The lesson I chose to reference for this project was one that I had used for the Inclusion module, CURR 310. The lesson is based on the work of the American painter Wayne Thiebaud. Objects of culture in particular sweet tasting foods heavily influenced the subject matter for his work. The painting techniques and use of color are what makes Thiebauds work stand out. For my lesson the students will create their own cake paintings using the elements and principles of design in a manner that also reflects Thiebauds work.

     To begin the lesson I will educate my students on the works and style of Wayne Thiebaud. To assist me in this I will lecture to my students on Wayne Thiebaud’s style of work as a painter as well as provide them with examples of his work. I will do this through use of the computer by creating a power point containing slides of his work.  While going through Thiebaud’s work I will point out different elements of design and ask the class to identify them as well. After pointing out the specific elements I will have the students come up to the board to write it along with a description that we come up with for what it means. We will then discuss how the effects of using these different elements help convey a message or a feeling from the viewer. (NJCCS 1.1.5.D.1/ NETS-S 2)

     In order to stimulate and excite my students to create an interesting looking cake I will have them create their own cakes by exploring how to design a cake on a photoshop type program. They will be able to use a tablet to outline images of cakes in order to understand how to create the basic shapes and proportions. They can also paint over the photos with the necessary tools. (For younger grades I would use this website instead of photoshop as a cake making activity Click here for the activity.) Next I will ask students to take out their sketchbooks and practice drawing their cakes with pencil. They will be able to use the computer to search for images of cakes so that they can see the kinds of colors and textures cakes have. (NJCCS 1.3.2.D.1/ NETS-S 1, 3) I will communicate to them what my expectations are for the project by listing them on the board so that they can always reference what the task at hand is.

     The next step in the sequence would be for them to begin creating their original painted work of art inspired by Wayne Thiebald. I will demonstrate to the students how to create a frothy consistency with their paint in order to achieve an icing like texture. I will also demonstrate to them how to create different values with their paint by adding white and black. While doing this I will have a video camera on my hands while the image is projected on to the screen. This will make sure that everyone has the ability to see what is happening closely so that they know what is being asked of them.  (NJCCS 1.3.2.D.5, NJCCS 1.3.2.D.1)

     When the students have completed their paintings we will hang them up to display for a critique. Students will point out where the elements of design were achieved, or where the student could have added an element of design.  They will also explain to one another how they achieved it and what the process was like for them. At the end I will ask students more open questions like what is the significance of cake in the art works? Why would Thiebald choose to paint cake and sweets as his subject matter? (NJCCS 1.1.5.D.1, 1.4.5.A.3) I will then play an interview from a youtube clip of the artist talking about his work. Click here for Video

     The last part of this lesson will include a recapping of the material covered followed by a short vocab quiz. The quiz will contain questions such as what are the 7 elements of art and their descriptions as well as questions like what inspired Wayne Thiebalds work? And What Techniques did Thiebald use in his works? I will also provide one of Thiebalds works on the projection screen and ask students to list which elements are apparent in the work and where they were used. (NJCCS 1.3.P.D.3, NET-S 4) I would hope with this continuing repetition of talk of the elements throughout the project the students are able to grasp the concepts and successfully utilize them in their future work. 

artsonia

http://www.artsonia.com/

This is a website that I came across when searching for art lessons that dealt with technology in the classroom. This site is dedicated to displaying students art work from all over the country online for all to see. After the students art works are posted by the teacher parents, friends, or relatives can not only view the students work but they can purchase the artwork in the form of a mug, a mousepad, print, t-shirt, and so much more. A portion of the money that is made off of the sale of the work goes to the school of that student. The other great thing about this site is that the students work remains on there forever! There is even an option to leave comments on the students work. This site is a great way to showcase students work so that they can take pride in the pieces they make. 

Weebly

www.weebly.com

I have started creating a website as a way to show my education/art portfolio. It will include all of my artwork , lesson plans and activities, as well as personal information such as my resume, artist statement and philosophy of education. I needed to use a site that would be free and I knew about google sites that you can use through your gmail. It was extremely confusing and I found myself getting extremely frustrated with it. One of my class mates told me that she created her website on weebly.com. I looked into it and found it to be much more user friendly than google sites. You can drag and drop things into your page as well as add multimedia. Not only is this an easy to use site, loaded with lots of great features, but it's FREE!

The Exquisite Forest

Click here to view "The Exquisite Forest"

I stumbled upon this site the other day when searching for different lessons that deal with collaborative work in the classroom.  The Exquisite Forest is an online animated collaborative art project that lets anyone add their work to build off of someone else's work that they have posted creating different branches. People can build off of other peoples themes or branches or create their known, which would be planting a new seed to start a new tree. Although it would be hard to teach Flash player in the class room, I know nothing about it myself, but this project of creating something like this is such a good idea. It gives you a chance to create something that people all over the world have contributed to. Watch the video I have posted for an introduction to the project or click the link to take you directly to the site.

Pinterest

Pinterest has been something I have stumbled upon quite recently and has been my new addiction. On the Pinterest site you can create different "boards"and "pin" things to them that you see on other peoples boards by clicking the "pin" button after you have selected a photo. That stores the image onto your board. A lot of people name their boards different categories as a way to organize their "pins" such as food, art, fashion, and so on. I have found a lot of inspiring art lessons on here by searching for key words in the search bar. Once I find something I like I click on the picture and it brings me to the site it came from. This is great when you want to find out more about how what is in the picture was created. It is a really neat way for the creative types to share different ideas as well as gather and collect the different things that inspire them on this virtual cork board. 

Click on this link to see what comes up on Pinterest when you search for "Art Lesson" in the search bar!

Interactivity #5

     

The teacher that I interviewed for this assignment teaches Middle School art/technology courses in Wycoff school district in New Jersey. Some of the projects he has done in his digital imaging classes include animation, reinventing masterpieces, digital post-impressionist painting, magazine covers, colorizing images and manipulating photos, and logo design. I love the idea of technology and art. Art is about expression and technology has endless amounts of creative ways to express oneself. I think that his district is fortunate to have this as a class for students because not many schools have that as an opportunity. When I brought up the ISTE and the NETS my interviewed teacher was very familiar with both ISTE as and the NETS and a lot of great things to say about the organization. He mentioned that he had attended 4 of their conferences, which he felt were very impressive as well as informative. His school is very up to date with the latest technologies and more and more technologies are being implemented in the different classrooms at his school. The science classes in his school all have iPads for their students to use and the 6^th grade social studies classes in his school all have a set of chrome laptops for the students. I was surprised when he said this, I imagine that the students in these classes must really enjoy as well as benefit from these tools. Having these up to date gadgets get students to actively participate as well as enhance their learning. Technology is a major part of their lives and a form of entertainment for them. I think that incorporating things like iPads and laptops’ when teaching lessons can make the subject matter more appealing for the students. Technology in the classroom can make learning more comfortable for them since they are so used to using it when they leave school. My interviewing teacher said that his school uses the NETS when writing and revising the curriculum and that he believes that the state technology standards are based on NETS. The transition of NETS in his school, he mentions, is an ongoing process. The standards are always revised, as is the tech curriculum, which is revised every three years according to him. I believe that revising the curriculum every three years is completely necessary due to the changes and advances in technology. The curriculum needs to change as the technology changes so that the lessons are relevant. It is important that we as teachers do not fall behind and educate ourselves on the advances of technology. This also means staying up to date with what the younger generations technological interests are in order to provide effective and engaging lessons. We must work together as educators when coming up with new lessons that utilize the technologies that we are surrounded with. This is extremely important for our student’s future of learning as well as our own learning of how to better our lessons and make use of these technologies. 

                                                        Link to My Spreadsheet 

Art Blogs

Click here for a List of the Top 20 Art Blogs

Before this class I knew very little about blogging. I didn't realize how much you can learn from other people that have blogs such as teachers for instance. Since I have been writing my own lesson plans I am constantly on the search for new and exciting things to do with the kids. I have gotten so many ideas from looking at different art teachers blogs and reading about their successes as well as their downfalls. I think it is very useful to take the time to explore the net for blogs created by teachers in your content area in order to generate new ideas for lessons. I will most definitely create a blog geared toward my lessons once I start teaching. Hopefully I can inspire other teachers like they have done for me!