Teachers have Knowledge of Subjects and Differentiate their Instruction
Standard 2: School Culture and Instructional Program
A school administrator is
an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
Rationale
For this standard I wanted to discuss how I have increased my knowledge of how to infuse technology into my art lessons. I have always had an appreciation for technology and felt that it can have a positive impact on student achievement. The use of technology has been found to increase student academic performance and develop critical and higher order thinking skills. For each of my lessons I create a presentation that highlights key vocabulary terms, visually illustrates the elements of design, shows major works of art, shows supporting videos and overall supports the lessons for the day. Below I have attached a presentation* that I use to support a lesson on cityscape design. This lesson is paired with a group read aloud from a third grade Art textbook and small group game on shapes and sizes.
Presentation on the Shapes of a Cityscape
Reflection
When I first began teaching, if I wanted to show kids fine artworks from history I needed to either buy the print myself or try to fit lessons around the prints that were already in my classroom. I would also buy Art calendars that have very bright colorful artwork. The problem was that the calendar prints were too small for an entire class to dissect. I found my lessons forced and lacking “pizzazz”. With a limited amount of resources, I felt that my lessons fell short of what the students could actually be learning. Using a computer and projector has changed the dynamic of my classroom and the opportunities for learning are limitless. If I need a specific Picasso drawing or painting, I can search it out, set it up in a presentation, project on the wall, and have the class analyze the picture. Using technology in my classroom has created a deeper understanding of art for my students.
*Video made by Pixel Active.
