Technology

Technically, it is the second long weekend, but Labor Day always precedes the first day of school. It never really seems like I am getting a “day off”. Anyway, Ms. Fischer is about to enter her last week here at Murray. The 5th and 6th grade students have finished their artist trading cards. The students were allowed to take them home right after the project, and we have put them on Art Sonia. Both grades are now working on a short project based on the artwork of Yoko Ono. Each student wrote down directions for making an artwork that would be given to another student. The students were given some freedom on the how to write the directions, but they could only use paint, scissors, and glue as the materials.

The 3rd and 4th grade students have finished their contour line sculptures. They are also on Art Sonia. Now, the students have started a gesture drawing project. A gesture drawing is a quick drawing of a model’s pose. The idea is to quickly draw the shapes and position of the model.

If you have any questions about your child’s midterm, please contact me at the school. Thanks.

Finally, I am offering an after school video and technology class. If your child is interested, please see me for a permission slip.

Until next week…

As some of you might now, we are using a new grading system this year called Gradebook. With any new technology, you have a learning curve. Since we have midterm grades due this week, the curve is certainly steep but it has to be done. Speaking of grades, all students in Ms. Kaiser’s, Ms. Gorman’s, and Mr. Brookin’s class will be receiving a “B” for the midterm. The beginning of the year schedule meant that we could not finish their first project. Since Ms. Fischer and I did not want to rush the project, we felt this was the best solution. If you would like to no more about your child’s progress, please contact me.

The other 5th and 6th grade class have finished their artist trading cards. Some of the examples are above.

Also, the other 4th grade class has finished their Alexander Calder Contour Line Sculptures. Check them out above. All of this work has already been or will be posted on Art Sonia.

Until next week…

First…an announcement. I am offering a video/technology after school class starting on October 7th. The class is on Tuesday and Wednesday and will last until after school ends in early March. If you need a permission slip, I have them. I hope to only give these to students who are interested. Have your student please see me.

Ms. Fischer is finishing up her second week of teaching. That is a picture of her working above. The 3rd and 4th graders are in the middle of working on their Alexander Calder contour line mobiles. This week, they began shaping wire into one of the contour line portraits they drew during the previous 3 class periods. The 5th and 6th graders are in the middle of creating their 3 artist trading cards. They are applying the skills they learned last week to the cards they made this week. I plan on putting all of these artworks on to Art Sonia next week.

Also, in case I did not mention it, I have a download page where you can download and install free/open source programs. These are all programs I have either used myself or checked out. In some cases, I have used them with the students. They should install easily on your home computer, so if you get a chance, check them out.

Until next week…

As the school prepares for another year, just wanted to let you know about fine arts and technology this year.

The parent letter for fine arts is available on my blog here. I will be doing all of my communication through this blog. I want to be as informative as possible without using a lot of my paper in my ongoing quest to be as green as possible. Mr. Brown and I will also be welcoming a student teacher this year. Ms. Karina Fischer will be with us for seven weeks. Mr. Brown and I will be teaching for the first two weeks while she observes, but then it is her show. She comes to us from the School of the Art Institute and we are happy to have her.

Also, I am hoping to get off and running with more technology integrated projects early on in the year. Keep checking back here for more update…

See you on Tuesday!

As I have mentioned before, one of Mr. Brookins reading classes worked with a programming language called Scratch. The students wrote a narrative for Mr. Brookins and were asked to make a storyboard based on that narrative. The storyboard was then used to create an animation and game using Scratch. The program is not easy to learn and in the end, the students just did not have enough time to complete this project during the time we had allotted. So, we decided to make it an extra credit project.

That does not mean we were not happy with the outcomes. Some of the students did a lot of amazing work. If you click on the image above, you will be taken to one of the games. Or, to see some more of the stories and games, check out the student gallery. As a lot of students found out, programming requires you to almost over think what you are doing. You have to tell the program everything you want it to do. It does not just happen automatically. If you want something to “show”, you need to tell that object to “show”. If nothing else, I hope the students learned that you can do some pretty amazing things with the computer other than look for music and pictures. You can still download Scratch from my blog, and it would be a great program for the students to work with over the summer…on a rainy day that is.

I wanted to begin today by talking about the Scratch project Mr. Brookins writing/reading class is working on. Last week, the students wrote narrative and drew storyboards in preparation for animating their stories on a program called Scratch. Scratch is a programming language that could be seen as an “introduction” into the world of computer programming. It has an interface and language that is easier for a student to understand than what some might consider “normal” programming, but it provides students with a great way of understanding how to program. It requires them to problem solve and logically think about how their story is going to look on the screen. It is a tough program to really get a hang of, but I have a lot of confidence in their ability to produce some great work.

With everything else, we do not have many updates, so I will keep this brief. The 3rd graders continue to dive deeper into the Art in Focus program. Each class has now gone to the Smart Museum twice and they will both be going to the Hyde Park Art Center next week. Above, you will see some pictures from Ms. Burkhardt’s class trip to the museum this week. We are expanding their visual language (line, shape, space, non-representational…) by studying these words through activities, discussing the words while looking at artwork at the museum, and visiting the SmARTKids web site.

The 4th graders are continuing with their self-portraits. We continue to hit bumps in the road and feel frustrations, but the students who have put the most effort and concentration into their drawings have done the best job…regardless of their artistic talent. I hope they all know they are capable of success, but they really need to not only believe that they can do it, but they also put forth their best effort.

The 5th graders took a trip to the Hyde Park Art Center this week to create an ink drawing as a part of the Smart Explorers program this week. The trip to the Hyde Pak Art Center is different from past years, so I was happy the students had a chance to try out that medium. Above, you will see some pictures from those two trips. We will continue with the Smart Museum trips next week. Also, we are working on a project in class dealing with the concept of context…not an easy thing to understand…

The 6th graders are just about to finish their monochromatic portraits. They will be hanging up very soon. This week, we began a graffiti project. The students are choosing a nickname for themselves that they will be painting in a graffiti style. With this project, they will also be using an airbrush to add small details to their final pieces. Also, check out the above pictures of the mosaic…we are getting closer.

Until next week…

Not a ton of true updates this week, since we are continuing with a lot of the same projects, so I will keep this short.

The 3rd graders are continuing to expand their visual language through class with myself and Mr. Brown plus their trips to the Smart Museum. Mr. Brown and I have found everything to be moving along quite nicely at this point…

The 4th graders are in the middle of creating their self-portraits. We are certainly hitting some frustrating points with drawing, but I want the kids to know that they can not learn to draw over night. It takes practice, persistence, and the ability to activate their right brain (the visual part of their brain).

The 5th graders have made their second trip to the Smart Museum and we continue to work towards the presentations they will be giving in the middle of May at the museum. Above, you will see some pictures from their trip this past week. Next week, they will be going to the Hyde Park Art Center for some art making as part of the Smart Explorers program.

The 6th graders are continuing to make progress on the mosaic. I was very happy to see some parents this week checking out during parent/teacher conferences. Also, the students are about to finish their monochromatic portraits before starting a project centered on graffiti.

Also, I am working with Mr. Brookins starting this coming week to begin using a program called Scratch. From their site:

Scratch is s a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art — and share your creations on the web.

The students have been writing creative narratives this week that will become interactive stories with a game component on Scratch. They are working on storyboards this weekend in preparation for our first day with the program on Tuesday.

Until next week…

First thing…I added some new programs to my download page. Blender is a 3D animation program and Pencil is a 2D animation program. They are both open source programs which means that they are free for personal use. Check them out…

Above, you will see some of the 3rd graders during their first trip to the Smart Museum as part of the Art in Focus project. After spending time with Mr. Brown and I learning about many visual language terms, they got a chance to show off their knowledge and learn even more from the docents at the Smart. Abstract and representational art were some of the terms we focused on this week while next week we will be working with the elements of art like line and shape. We want the students to be able to look at a piece of artwork and be able to talk about it intelligently and have an informed opinion.

The 4th graders began working on their self-portraits this week. While we struggled some with creating the grid, we had some great discussions about using your right brain to draw. While your right brain is the verbal part of our brain, the left brain controls how we see things and, essentially, is the artistic part of our brain. We have talked about being quiet during an activity like this because you want your right brain to do all the work. I expect there to be some frustration while creating these self-portraits but mistakes will happen. Like any other skill, it takes practice to get better. Drawing is one of those skills.

Above, you will see pictures from the 5th graders first trip to the Smart Museum as part of the Smart Explorers progra. (Yes…I practically lived there this week.) Since many of the students were part of the Art in Focus program two years ago, they were familiar with the museum, but reviewing never hurts. Like the 3rd graders, they have been enhancing their visual language and learning how to talk about art with intelligence. They spent time at the museum looking at the labels next to the artwork to learn what everything written on those labels actually means. Also, the museum has a video installation called Adaptations that was about to end that the students were able to view this week. Looking at video artwork is very different than looking at paintings and sculpture, so it was interesting to see how they responded to it.

As you can see above, the mosaic is coming along. Mirtes will be visiting the school four more times over the coming weeks to finish off the work. It is amazing to see how much progress they have made in what amounts to about three days of work. Now, that they know what to do, they are making even greater strides over each successive class period. Also, we are almost done with the monochromatic paintings. After finishing them up over the next few weeks, we will be starting a graffiti project.

Until next week….

A few weeks, I didn’t have much to discuss…today, it is the exact opposite. First, I wanted to pass along a couple interesting articles that talk about the importance of technology in K-12 curriculum. I know it is easy for the computer teacher to notice the “importance” of his subject, but even if I was not responsible for the technological education of Murray students, I would still be screaming from the rooftops that computer literacy needs to be part of any good curriculum. Anyway, here is a link to an blog post about the urgency for computer literacy for teachers. And, here is a link supporting the learning of computer programming in a technology program.

Also, I wanted to mention that we are in the middle of updating the Spanish Flash Cards on the Murray web site. A student from the University of Chicago has been putting in a lot of effort to not only update the Murray site, but to make the Spanish Flash Cards a great addition to the site. Please, check them out! Thanks Chelsea!

Now…on to fine arts. The 3rd graders are preparing for their first trip to the Smart Museum as part of the Art in Focus program. One of the main goals of this program is to increase the student’s use of visual language. In other words, we want the students to learn how to correctly talk about art. Above, Mr. Brown and I worked on an activity with the students utilizing two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. I have a couple examples above. We want the students to learn that different types of artwork have different names. I’m often surprised how students refer to sculptures as “paintings”. This activity was used to help students understand the difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional artwork. We also filled out surveys that will be given to the folks at the Smart Museum before our first trip.

The 4th graders worked on a short activity this week. Mr. Brown and I are hosting a student teacher in the fall, so she has been getting her feet wet at Murray recently. She taught a short two day lesson this week to 203 that I duplicated with 207. We read the book The Adventures of a Nose to the students. It is a story about a nose that feels out of place, but all of the illustrations in the book use the background to create a face so the nose looks like it really does fit in. The students had to choose a place that they felt comfortable in, and then, they needed to create a face using the things they would find in that place. For instance, a lot of students use their home and used the windows and doors as the eyes, nose, and mouth. They created these pictures using oil pastels.

The 5th graders began preparing for their first trip to the Smart Museum this week as past of the Smart Explorers program. This program also focuses on visual language, but it is more advanced. Everything we do will be directed toward a final presentation the students will do at the Smart Museum. They will all have to describe a piece of artwork to an audience of their friends and family. They will be doing a lot of the preparation for this with Mr. Rowell. In art, we will focusing more on learning the terminology. Our first activity will be centered learning what a curator is and what they do. All of the students are making an artwork of their choosing that we will be using to “curate” different types of exhibitions.

The 6th graders…are busy. First, I am looking forward to videotaping Motown Madness tonight. I will be putting pictures up here on Monday.  the students have started working on their class mosaic this week. I have pulled some students out of class this week, and will continue to pull kids out over the next month. Above, you will see the students already putting it together. This project is VERY cool…I can not stress that enough. When this gets installed over the summer, it is going to be a great piece of artwork the students can always look back on…because it will be permanent! I’m very excited for them. While we are doing this, the students are working on another project. We are creating monochromatic portraits. This is one of my favorite projects all year long because it involves so many different artistic processes. One of the classes has begun to paint them, while the other class is just about ready to trace the areas of their face. I’m looking forward to putting these up in the hallway.

One last thing…we just got some new computers in the language lab, so it will hopefully be FULLY operational next week…whew…that’s enough for now…until next week…

I want to talk about the decision to keep schools in Chicago open today, but I’m going to try and keep this positive for now. Let me just say that although it was wrong to keep school open today, I am glad to see that many students did make it.

The 3rd graders are just about finished with their puppets. The students are going to create mini-plays within their table groups to perform for each other. Also, Mr. Brown is working on setting up a time for the kids to perform their plays in front of the Pre-K or Kindergarten students. That should be the fun part.

I’m sure the 4th graders were happy this week to begin working on their global warming public service announcements this week. Above, you will see a couple pictures of the students in action. After a few weeks of preparing them to make the videos by learning about global warming, they were put in groups this week to start brainstorming ideas. Ms. Walsh and I really stressed that they used this time to come up with different ideas and now get too bogged down just yet on how they were going to make the video. We wanted them to let their ideas really flow and not be constrained just yet with all the technicalities of making the video. Next week, we will be talking more about specifics.

All of the 5th grade students are done with the foamcore houses and we are moving on to hip hop and breakbeats now. Since we had a low turnout today, we did not get to start talking about hip hop with Mr. Rowell’s class, but Mr. Bynum’s class had a history lesson into the origin of the breakbeat and began learning how to make a breakbeat using an audio editing software called Audacity.

The 6th graders are just about finished with their stop animation videos. We are going to take a short hiatus from the animation videos during the next couple weeks because we are going to start working on mosaics that are going to eventually be put up on the underpass between the Museum of Science and Industry and the lake. We are working with an artist to create these mosaics, and she is scheduled to come in next week.

Also, just wanted to say that we are almost half way through Saturday Academy as of this coming Saturda. The students are making “dub video” using Adobe Premiere Elements. I know it is sometimes difficult to come in every Saturday, so I’m happy that so many students make a point to come in on the weekend.

Until next week…

Welcome back! I’m using this post as a way to make a quick announcement. It occurred to me that I had not made a big deal about the new computer lab. Above, you will see pictures of the renovated 204 computer lab. It is going to be used exclusively as a World Language Lab, and the World Language teachers will be using Rosetta Stone software to assist their curriculum. The beginnings of the new lab started at the end of 2006. Myself and two students from the University of Chicago went through the entire lab and either threw away, gave away, or sold much of what was already in there. This summer, I came in to paint the room white. Also, Mr. Williams helped get the new tables and secured someone to rewire the room. Mr. Keno helped find funding for new computers, new tables, and the wiring. Thanks to everyone involved with making this lab a success!

I’ll keep this short since I know many of us are going to focus our attention on the upcoming winter break. First, here are some pictures from the assembly today. Myself and three students will be putting together a video of the event during January and February.

The 3rd graders are almost finished with their paintings inspired by different musicians. We will be putting the finishing touches on these when we return from break.

Above, you will see some examples of the inspiration pictures the 4th graders finished recently. They are on Art Sonia and hanging in the hallway. When we return from break, we will be starting a long project involving science, writing, and video-making. We will be working with Jessi Walsh from the Hyde Park Art Center.

The 5th graders are continuing to work on their foamcore houses. We did not meet much this week because they were practicing for the assembly, but we will complete this project in January. Even though this is a new process for the students, I have been happy about their patience and diligence.

The 6th graders are officially done with their embroidered pillows. Everyone has had their pillow sewn together and they should have gotten a chance to seal the opening with some thread this week. When we return from the break, we will be working toward beginning to take pictures for their stop motion animations.

Once again, have a great winter break!

With one quarter ‘almost’ in the books, we ended a lot of projects and are looking towards starting new projects.

Above, you will see some examples of the flip books the 3rd graders made. We just started creating landscapes using Windows Paint in the computer lab. The students are very excited about using this software and creating artwork with another medium. It can be frustrating at times since it is new to some of them, but we are making a lot of progress.

The 4th graders completed their high contrast pictures this week. They also wrote scary stories to accompany them. When we do write in fine arts, I focus them more on creating a creative stories instead of trying to fit inside a format. I’ve been very pleased with the stories I have read. Right now, we are creating origami cubes. It is a short project, so we will be starting something else very soon.

One of the 5th grade classes has finished the Google SketchUp buildings. I have a few examples above, but I will eventually be putting all of the projects on my blog. The students can download this program at home. It is free and I know a lot of the students really enjoyed using the program and we really only scratched the surface during this project.

Finally, the 6th graders have finished their Frank Lloyd Wright tiles. They are hanging on the first floor near the art room on the ceiling. I will keep them up all year long. We also just started creating embroidered pillows. This project will take us through the early part of December. It requires a lot of focus on the part of the students, but they are a lot of fun to work on so I am optimistic many of the students will find them fun.

Until next week…

For some reason, this is the first year these days off during the school year have really upset my schedule. With half days, we still tended to be on track with most of our projects during the school year. Since we have these full professional development days, it has been throwing off the schedule for some of my classes. So while it might seem that one class is “behind” another class…it is really just the days off making it difficult,. We are nothing if flexible…

The 3rd graders have finished or are finishing their flip books. Some students needed to take their flip book home so they could finish it, but most are already done. After finishing the flip books, we are heading to the computer lab to create landscapes using Windows Paint.

The 4th graders are finishing up their contrast portraits. These will be graded and hanging in the hallway by the end of next week. After finishing the portraits, we will be creating origami cubes.

The 5th graders are still working on their Google SketchUp buildings. Mr. Bynum’s class will be finishing them by the end of the first quarter, while Mr. Rowell’s class will be finishing them at the beginning of the second quarter. The projects that are finished will be on Art Sonia and on my blog by the end of next week.

The 6th graders are finished with their Frank Lloyd Light tiles. These will be on Art Sonia, graded, and hanging on the ceiling by the end of next week. After this project, we wil be making embroidered pillows. Please look out for a letter that will be going home next week about these pillows.

Also, I have scheduling a lot of lab time recently for the lab…that’s how it should be!

Until next week!

With midterms going out next week, this is first time I’m handing out grades. If you have any questions about your child’s grade, please look at the parent letter for this year to see the rubric. And, please feel free to contact me.

On to fine arts, the 3rd graders have finished their aliens. Mr. Brown and I hope to have these on Art Sonia and hanging in the hallway very soon. This week, we started working on flip books. It is a lesson that Mr. Brown has taught in the past, so I decided to give it a shot. We started by showing the students part of The Incredibles and talked about how animation worked. We discussed how each individual picture in an animation is called a frame and television shows 30 frames per second. Then, the students began storyboarding their own 20 frame animation. They were all very excited.

Above are a couple examples of the students rhythm paintings. They are hanging in the hallway right now. We are also in the middle of creating high contrast pictures. It is a very difficult process but the students are really putting forth a lot of great effort. Since their faces don’t look like they expect them to look, it is tough for them to just outline the parts that see on the page. They are still tracing their face and will soo fill in their face with a permanent marker.

The 5th graders are just finishing or about to finish their weaving. Mr. Bynum’s class has taken them home, and Mr. Rowell’s class will take them home next week. Since I did not have enough time to grade this project before the midterm, every student is getting a B for their midterm. The weaving grade will most likely be different from their midterm grade.

Above are a couple examples of the students emotion painting. They are all currently hanging in the hallway. Now, we are working on Frank Lloyd Wright inspired tiles. They created designs in their sketchbooks and then used black strips of paper to layout the design on a large white sheet of paper. These end up looking great on the ceiling.

Finally, the logins on the computer are finally getting some use. I went ahead and activated the passwords for all of the students. The students are a little upset that their passwords changed and they are more difficult to remember, but we are going to have them use cards with their passwords on it when they come into the computer lab. Hopefully, though, they will eventually not need them.

Enjoy the long weekend!

I’ve heard this a few times already in the past few weeks, and I’ll give my normal answer, “I know.” With all this switching to IMPACT and First Class, it seems that student logins this year have taken a back seat. It has been frustrating, but I am hoping to get the students back in the lab to learn their new passwords next week. Some things are out of my control…

Also, myself, the language teachers, and some folks from CUIP received training this week on how to use Rosetta Stone. It is really an excellent product and I’m looking forward to working with it very soon. We hope to have the new language lab up and running by the beginning of the 2nd quarter.

On to fine arts…the 3rd graders have been working on symmetrical aliens this week with myself and Mr. Brown. First, they learned about the meaning of symmetrical. Then, they learned how to cut things out so they are symmetrical. Everything they cut out was going to be used to create their alien.

The 4th graders finished up their rhythm project this week. I hope to have them hanging in the hallway next week. We got very messy creating them, but no matter how many times I do this project, I am always amazed at how many different ways students approach this project. It seems like there is only a few possibilities, but the students find many different ways to make a fast or slow rhythm painting.

The 5th graders continue to work on their weaving project. As I have told them, it is not difficult to learn how to do, but it takes a lot of concentration and persistence. I’ll be interested to see how they all turn out.

The 6th graders are finishing the emotion project. Like the rhythm paintings, I am always excited to see how this project is approached by the students because it is different every single year. The students are writing short stories, poems, or songs to accompany their paintings. I hope to have them hanging very soon.

Until next week!

The year is underway…hard to believe. I know it is easy to say that the summer went by fast, so that is why I am not going to say that. This was the first summer since I started teaching that I did not work, so I got to do what I wanted to do, and I enjoyed every minute of it!

On to this year, I was very glad to see so many returning students. In terms of the fine arts program, it makes a big difference to me to see students through 3rd grade to 6th grade. We build on what they have learned in previous years so they get the benefit of what they have learned in previous years at Murray. By the time they reach the 5th and 6th grade, I really push them to do work that I think would be a challenge for older students. So, once again, welcome back to returning students and welcome to new students.

This week we have just re acclimated ourselves to fine arts and out together our sketchbooks. The big difference this year is that students 4th through 6th grade will receive a letter grade. Please read the parent letter for more information. As I told the students this week, they will not be graded on their artistic ability. The rubric on the parent letter details how they will be graded. I also told the students that many of them do not have to change anything in how they approach fine arts. I expect that most of my students will receive an A or a B considering how they have done in the past.

For the classes I had twice this week, we read a picture book called Ish that is a good primer for what I expect out of the students this year in fine arts. Please ask your child about it…it is a great story.

Next week, each grade will begin their first project…always one of my favorite parts of the year.

The technology program will continue later this month. The switch over to IMPACT has caused some administrative problems, but it should not impact what we do in the computer lab.

A restful weekend is needed…

We still have a few more days here at Murray, but things are certainly winding down. This will most likely be my last post until the new school year begins in late August. Just want to give a final update for the year.

Please check out the 5th grade public service announcements and 4th grade poems here. The students worked very hard on them, and the results are really tremendous. A big thanks to CUIP for helping me put this site together.

The 3rd graders just did a short origami activity this past week. They have been given their sketchbooks to take home. The 4th graders finished up their cubes and surrealism collages. They have brought all of their items home as well. The 5th graders finished painting their sculptures and should be bringing them home to display. Finally, the 6th graders finished up their graffiti pieces and they were also sent home.

I look forward to another year at Murray, and I’m excited to begin a new year to see what our students can do artistically in their new grade. Good luck to the class of 2007. Wherever you might go, do your best and become a success!

Until August…

An annual tradition for Murray…the PTO Walk-A-Thon. The rain stayed away and it was a great day. Thanks to the PTO for supporting CUIP with the donations made during the Walk-A-Thon. We all certainly appreciate it.

First, I wanted to mention that the 4th grade has finished up their video poems. I hope to have all of these videos up on the Murray web site next week.

For fine arts, the 3rd graders had their final event for the Smart Museum Art in Focus program. It was the culmination of their weeks of learning how to look and talk about art. They learned about many principles of art through visits to the SmartKids web site, three visits to the Smart Museum, and different art making projects. We would certainly like to thank the Smart Museum and the hard work of the docents to educate our students in visual language.

In 4th grade, we are doing two projects at the same time. The students are finishing up their surrealism collages that we started before Ms. Lager began teaching. Also, we are working on sonobe cubes. It is an origami cube you can make with 6 pieces of square paper.

The 5th graders have finished their mythical sculptures made out of clay and they are currently being fired in a kiln over at the Hyde Park Art Center. They painted a background for their sculpture on cardboard this week, and next week they will paint their sculptures.

The 6th graders are still working on their graffiti project. The students have really gotten in to this project and have been doing some excellent work. As you can see from the above photo, we went outside this week so they could paint outside. I hope to show them how to use an airbrush this week, but I do not think we will have time for everyone to use it.

Until next week…

That’s me at the CUIP Tech Expo at King High School yesterday. I was there to “show off” the public service announcements created by our 5th graders. I’m still in the process of making these available on our web site, but since it is a new process for me, it might take a while.

In fine arts, we are rapidly heading towards the finish. The 3rd graders did a short activity this week by creating movement or a pattern using oil pastels and construction paper. Next week, they will have their final event for the Art in Focus program. They will be sharing their artwork with each other and sharing what they wrote in their journals at the Smart Museum. They will also be bringing home the sculptures they created with Ms. Lager. Those are exciting, and I can’t wait for them to bring them home.

The 4th graders are going to be finishing up their surrealism collages they started working on right before spring break. And, they will be making origami cubes.

The 5th graders are almost done with their mythical creature sculptures. Next week, they are going to be taken to the Hyde Park Art Center so they can be fired in a kiln, and the students will paint them during the final week of school. They also used a piece of cardboard to paint a background for their sculpture to sit on.

The 6th graders are just about to start putting their graffiti on the brick wall they created this week. We talked about the origins of graffiti this week and looked at a couple of different pieces. We discussed the difference between just scrawling your name on a public place and the actual art form of graffiti. They started designing what their piece will look like and we will start painting them next week. I hope to get a chance to show them how an airbrush works as well.
Finally, the 4th graders have been working hard on finishing up their poetry videos. They are really coming along great and they are responding well to all of the extra information that has been thrown at them. I hope to have them all completed by the end of next week.

Until then…

The 5th graders have finished their public service announcements, and I can definitely say they are excellent. With all the information I threw it them over the past few weeks, they handled it very well and came up with some great projects. I was particularly impressed with the music choices for their commercials. I will be showcasing these projects at the CUIP Tech Expo next Thursday at King High School. Twenty students from the 5th grade will also be attending the fair. I plan on putting all of the projects on the Murray site, but I have three on there right now. Check them out here.

The 4th graders are also in the middle of a similar project creating poem videos. I expect these to be just as excellent.

On to fine arts…

The 3rd graders took their final trip to the Smart Museum this week. They discussed several different principles of art this week including repetition, pattern, composition, emphasis, and movement. They are really expanding their “visual” vocabulary. We will be doing one more short project next week before they have their final event.

The 4th graders were doing a little cleanup this week. We put an end to their CAPE project by watching a video that Ms. Walsh put together that chronicled there project from beginning to end. The kids enjoyed seeing their photographs and hearing about all of the work they put into this project since the beginning of February. Ms. Gorman’s class also finished up their prints they were working on with Ms. Lager. Next week, we will continue with the surrealism project we started at the end of March.

The 5th graders began a new project making mythical creature sculptures out of clay. Ms. Tepper from the Hyde Park Art Center showed both classes on Tuesday how to mold, attach, and form their clay. They learned how to keep it “mooshy” even though they were not going to be working on it day after day. The creatures are really coming along great. They will be finishing them next week, so they can be fired in the kiln over the Memorial Day holiday.

Finally, the 6th graders finished up their relief prints this week. We are starting our final unit on graffiti. This week, the students are painting a brick wall on cardboard that they will use as a background for their design. I’m very excited about this project because I have a lot of great images for them to see and the students will get to use an airbrush.

Finally, for the midterm, I gave every student a “/”. With the new IMPACT system, this was used in place of a “P” for pass. I will have a more complete rubric for fine arts in the fall.

Until next week…

Well, it doesn’t seem possible, but the end of the school year is right around the corner. I guess it might sound strange for a teacher to already anticipate the end of the year with five weeks left, but there is a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. I had a professor tell me once that this was the fastest part of the year. At the time, I couldn’t imagine why…now, I know.

First, Ms. Lager spent her last day at Murray on Tuesday. She gives her thesis presentation this weekend, and will be moving back to Alaska at the end of the month. She will be back briefly on Tuesday, but she is has for the most part ended her student teaching. She is going to send out all of the postcards the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders made very soon. We wish her good luck looking for a job for the fall!

In fine arts, the 3rd graders continued working on small paintings they started with Ms. Lager earlier in the week. They are still in the middle of the Art in Focus program with the Smart Museum. Both classes will be visiting the museum next week.

The 4th graders have a few different projects they will be finishing up over the next couple weeks. First, Ms. Gorman’s room have to organize their printmaking projects they completed with Ms. Lager. Both classes are reading the stories people wrote for them on the Murray Language Academy Blog. To review, people wrote stories based on the pictures they took earlier this year. The students are responding to the pictures by answering a few questions on the computer. The reason we are doing this is so the students can reflect on their own writing by reading how other people interpreted their pictures. We have a small celebration for both classes in recognition of their work on this project before finishing up the surrealism collages they started before spring break.

The 5th graders finished up their printmaking this week, and are starting a sculpture project this week. They are going to use clay to create mythical creatures. This week, the students sketched out what they wanted to create. Next week, an artist from the Hyde Park Art Center, Ms. Tepper, will be working with the students to make their sculptures.

The 6th graders are almost done with their relief prints. This week, some students were finishing up their cuts, but many students were printing their designs. We will spend one more class period on this next week before moving on to a project involving graffiti art.

Also, the 5th graders will be finishing up their public service announcements this week, and I plan on putting some up on the Murray web site next week. I think we have uncovered some hidden talents with our Murray students. They have been fun to work with and the students are really enjoying this project. The 4th graders have also gathering images and music for their poem videos. They will be working on these more next week.

Finally, I had an article I wanted to pass along about the kind of learning that should be going on in schools. It talks about letting up control in the classroom and trying to empower students. It references the amount of paper and worksheets used by some teachers as a way to show that filling all of those out does not necessarily show “learning”. It talks about empowering children, and when you do that, you have to relinquish some control. Not an easy thing for a teacher to do…

Not just yet, but she is finishing up her last full week here at Murray. She will be here through Tuesday next week, and she might possibly pop in after that. Since she was her for such a short time, I know she is going to have a lot to complete before she officially leaves Murray. She is preparing to present her thesis next weekend and she is moving back to Alaska at the end of the month. Yes, it has been quite hectic.

The 4th and 5th graders have been printing a lot over the past two weeks. They will each have a collograph print and a styrofoam print when they are finished. Ms. Lager expects to send their styrofoam prints in the mail as postcards. The students made postcards that addressed some national or local issue that they cared about like the war in Iraq, global warming, or gang violence. The 6th graders are just finishing up their linoleum prints so they should be ready to print next week. Also, the 3rd graders finished their architectural sculptures this week. They certainly did an amazing job.

On the technology front, the 5th graders are just about to start putting together their public service announcements on to Windows Movie Maker. I’m seeing a lot of potential for some of these students to do a lot more of this movie making. It is a lot of fun if you get involved with it, so I’m glad so many students have found this interesting. The 4th graders are also doing a similar project but they are recording their favorite poems and adding music and images to their voice. Once again, I’ll be excited to see the results.

Until next week…

This will be a real quick end of the week post which is similar to how quick the time has been with Ms. Lager. She will be here for just a week and a half more. With the 4th and 5th grade students they all printed their collographs this week and are working on their styrofoam prints. The 6th graders have started to cut their relief prints, and will hopefully be able to print them next week. As for the 3rd graders, they began painting their architectural sculptures this week. Next week, we hope to do a lot more printing with all of the students.

The 5th graders have also been working on public service announcements in the computer lab. Almost all of the students have finished their scripts and recorded their voices. They began looking for pictures for their public service announcements and finding appropriate music. We hope to have some finished products in a couple more weeks.

Until next week…

Just passing along an interesting article I found from Wired about a social networking program used in an educational setting called Elgg. I’m always very interested in ways to integrate these types of programs into the technology curriculum because I think they are important in helping our students learn how to navigate the Internet and appropriately connect with other people. We can not always live in a vacuum when it comes to technology and learning. I think is important to learn the best way to branch out…

First, I’d like to extend a welcome to Ms. Lager. She will be student teaching with Ms. Ziegler and I until earl May. She is originally from Alaska and has been studying to become an art teacher at the School of the Art Institute. She will be observing Ms. Ziegler and I until next Friday, but when we all return from spring break, she will be taking over all of the teaching duties for the next 4 weeks. Ms. Ziegler and I are excited she is here and very confident she will do a great job. So….welcome!

Second, I want to once again ask people to visit the Murray Language Academy blog to write stories based on the pictures the fourth graders took. This week, they have been writing stories on other groups pictures. Plus, the 5th and 6th graders have been writing stories about their pictures. We really want to create a community with this blog, so we are hoping that many people will participate.

The third graders have finished their landscape pictures using Windows Paint. There are a couple examples below.

The 5th graders are finishing up their Warhol portraits. They are currently hanging in the same wing as the fine arts room.

The 6th graders are working on their out of proportion collages. We talked about how things in this world look like they are “in proportion” because we are used to seeing them a certain way. For example, the human body has a certain look to it. For this project, they are putting together items that look like they are out of proportion. Some of the results are really funny.

Until next week…

It is Friday of ISAT week. I’m sure all of us will be glad to have this part of the school year behind us.

The 3rd graders are still working on their landscape pictures. They will be finishing them up next week, and I will be putting them on this blog and on Art Sonia.

I returned the stories the students wrote this week. I was pleased with a lot of the stories created by the students. It was not an easy project since it really required a lot of “higher order thinking” in order to complete it. We are still going to be working on this project during the next two months, but in a different capacity. I will be posting next week about this next phase.

Also, we began working on sculptures based on the artwork of Judith Scott. Scott had Downs Syndrome so there is something interesting about her artwork…she was not smart enough to understand what art is, but she made these very interesting sculptures where she taped objects together and then wrapped them in yarn. Both classes have been working on these together, so it has been quite the experience.

The 5th graders began a project this week based on the artwork of Andy Warhol. First, we talked about Warhol and how is artwork was based on the repeated images of celebrities. Last week, I took pictures of the students in goofy poses and then changed them on the computer to look like this:

They will be given 3 or 4 of these pictures to color in. Each one, though, will be a little different. Individually, they look good, but all together, they look great.

The 6th graders began working on a project this week based on things being out of proportion. We talked about how our eye recognizes when something is in proportion. For example, the human body has a certain proportion that everyone recognizes. If your hands, though were twice as big as we would expect, we would say that they are out of proportion. They are using magazine pictures to create collages with items that are out of proportion. I have not done this project for a couple years, so I’m interested to see what the students come up with.

Finally, Ms. Ziegler and I will be welcoming Miah Lager from the School of the Art Institutre this coming Wednesday. She will be student teaching in our classroom, so we are looking forward to her joining us next week.

Until next week…

I’ll have to admit, this is one of my favorite times of year. The weather finally starts to turn, college basketball is in full swing, and spring training has started. I guess that isn’t really school related, but I just wanted to say that.

First, I’d like you to check out the graphs the 3rd graders made with Excel. They can be found here.

Anyway, speaking of school, we are finishing up some projects in fine arts and starting some new ones. Ms. Ziegler and I will be welcoming a student teacher, Ms. Lager, in about a week and a half. She will most likely be taking over the teaching duties right after spring break, so I want to make sure we finish up projects before she gets here.

The 3rd graders are still working on their landscape pictures on Windows Paint. It is such a new process for them, but they pick up on a lot of the functions of the program very quickly. I think one of the toughest things to do is save what they have done correctly. I tell them that many adults don’t even know how to save their work correctly, but it is an important skill if you are going to be spending a lot of time on the computer.

The 4th graders turned in their story in pictures this week. I will be looking at them soon and grading them. Although this was the major part of the project, we will be doing more with this project over the next couple months…and it will require YOUR help. This week, we began creating large sculptures based on the artwork of Judith Scott. The students were very interested in her story, so be sure to ask them about it. They were very excited to make these sculptures and I have loved the results so far.

The 5th graders finished their grid pictures this week. Here is the final result:

Since this was the first time I did this with a class, I was not sure how the result would look. As you can see, it all came together in the end. It looks very different when you see it person, so I recommend walking towards the fine arts room one of these days.

The 6th graders finished their math games this week. They have one small thing to do next week, but for the most part, they are done. Here is a couple pictures of the students hard at work:

I think creating a game is a great experience. They will be playing these games for their world language teachers soon so they can see how the language was used.

Get some good rest this weekend…

On Monday and Tuesday, I was at the Midwest Education Technology Conference (METC) in St. Louis. Not all of the conferences I go to are interesting, but this one was worth the trip. I especially excited about digital storytelling. Bernajean Porter of DigiTales gave a day long seminar on this writing and technology-based process. I was not immediately hooked, but the more we talked about it, the more I got excited about incorporating it into my classroom. And, as we talked, the more brain (and Palm Pilot) got filled up with ideas. To say the least, I think there are a lot of applications for digital storytelling in our school from kindergarten to 6th grade. Look out for it in the next few months…

The 3rd grade classes are making their landscapes with Windows Paint. Since this is the first year I’m doing this project with the 3rd grade, I’ve been excited for the willingness to learn and explore this idea of digital artwork. When we are all done, I’ll be sure to post some on my blog.

The 4th grade are now working on their stories based on the pictures they took for our CAPE project with Ms. Walsh. Each student should be bringing home their journal this weekend to work on their rough and final draft. It is due on March 7th. Here is what they need to have:

1. Journal with rough draft written inside.
2. Rubric with name.
3. Final draft written on separate piece of paper. It should be at least two pages.

The 5th graders are almost done with painting their grids. We have been piecing together the “final” piece on a grid near the fine arts room. Next week, we will be discussing how it turned out, and what they thought about the project. I’ll be interested to hear what they have to say.

The 6th graders will be finishing up their math games next week. We will be laminating their games after they are done so it can be used for the younger classrooms. I really think creating games is one of the best ways to integrate multiple disciplines and use a lot of higher order thinking. The students really need to synthesize a lot of information and problem solve with one another to come up with a successful game. If that happens, then they will have a successful outcome.

And, one last thing on the technology front. The 3rd graders have been using Microsoft Excel to create graphs. They asked a question of their classmates like, “What is your favorite season?” and then marked down how people responded for each answer. Then, they used their information to create a graph in Excel. I will have their results up on the blog soon.

Enjoy the long weekend!

I was surprised to find out that ISAT testing is only 2 weeks ago. I’m not surprised because I didn’t know we had ISAT testing, but I’m surprised it so close. I know it can be a stressful time for students, teachers, and parents, but I’m confident our students will do well. And, I’m happy to hear that the closer we get to starting the ISAT, the closer we are to finishing them as well.

Both 3rd grade classes worked in the computer lab this week on the Windows Paint program. They will be making landscapes with this program. As I have told the students, I like doing artwork on the computer, so I’m hoping the students will get as much joy from it as I do. I have told them that computer generated artwork is very different from artwork we would do in the fine arts classroom. And, some students who don’t feel as successful using paper and pencil might find great success drawing on the computer.

The 4th grade students continue to work with Ms. Walsh on the CAPE project. We are nearing the end of the first phase of this project soon. As you can see, the students got a chance to go outside to take pictures this week. I’m glad we waited a week because the melting of the snow will hopefully make their pictures from outside more interesting. The students are also beginning to write their final stories from the picture they took. I will explain more next week, but they will eventually be due on March 7th.

The 5th graders are still painting their grids. We have begun to put the pieces of the puzzle together in the hallway near the art room. Many of the students have been asking, “How will it make a face?” It should be interesting to see how this takes shape over the next week or so. I know I’ve very excited to see the results.

The 6th graders have begun working on their final world language math games. They have done a good job of policing themselves and getting down to work. We are hoping these games can be used with classes other than just 6th grade. I’m glad the world language teachers supported this class so much with this project.

On the technology front, the 3rd graders will begin making Microsoft Excel graphs with data they have collected in their classrooms. I have been working with someone through CUIP to help this project take shape.

Also, I’m going to a technology conference in St. Louis next week, so I will not be here on Monday and Tuesday. You can never stop learning as far as I’m concerned…

First, I wanted to send my appreciation out to all of the teachers, parents, and students who made it to school this past Tuesday and Wednesday. While I feel the conditions could have been treacherous for many, I was happy to see that students still came. That says a lot about how important learning is in our world. When bus service was canceled on Wednesday, I asked one girl who I knew took the bus how she got to school. She said, “My dad drove me. He said, ‘My daughter is going to get her education.’” Of course, I’m paraphrasing, but it wasn’t that far off.

Also, I’m looking forward to the African American History Fair tonight. I missed last year because I was out of town, so I’m looking forward to the festivities tonight. This weekend, I should have pictures up on the Murray site here.

Finally, before I talk about this week in fine arts, I wanted to mention a cool online game I was introduced to this week. The Blueprint Game is pretty simple to learn but maddening to master. Plus, in this day and age when kids want to play games, I think it is fun and, dare I say, educational. Basically, you have to move the ramps, blocks, and other items around to make the bowling ball hit the target. Try it out!

Okay, let’s talk fine arts. The 3rd graders began working on Windows Paint this week. Personally, I like to experiment with a program when it is new to me, so I let the students try some of the tools on the Windows Paint program this week. I was impressed by their attention and interest in this basic program. I’m looking forward to working with them on it more in the coming weeks. Mr. Brookins class will work with Windows Paint next week. They have missed a couple class periods because of a field trip and the visit from the student teachers last week. We will back on track after next week.

The 4th graders are still in the middle of their CAPE project. We intended on the students going outside to take pictures this week, but we decided against because all of their pictures would be white, so we adjusted. Instead, we gave them a bunch of strange objects on their table to they could arrange a still-life and take a picture of it. The students were disappointed we did not go outside, but I think they will be pleased with the results of their still-life pictures. They had very creative ideas! We also had a choice for their second picture. It could either be in their classroom or the old computer lab. Next week, we will definitely be going outside to take pictures. Cross your fingers…

The 5th graders began painting their grid this week. We talked about value and gray scale which is not an easy concept to grasp. Each student was given a small sheet of paper with a grid similar to their grid, but it was already filled in with different grays on them. Each gray corresponded to a certain percentage of black. They needed to match the grays to the correct percentage and then write it on their grid. Those percentages corresponded to a certain percentage of purple paint. They needed to go around the room and paint the correct percentage of purple in each square. Why are we doing this? Each of these grids is a piece of a puzzle. If it is done correctly, we will be able to piece this puzzle together to reveal a face. The kids are curious…which is good. I’m looking forward to the results.

The 6th graders are chugging along with their world language math games. I’ve been impressed with their involvement and self-sufficiency with this project. They finished up their rough drafts this week, and now, they are moving on to the final. The final goal is that these games can be used with other classes, so they have to make sure it works correctly and the rules make sense.

Hope to see you tonight and once again, enjoy the long weekend!

For me, this is a challenging and exciting time of year. The weather makes it tough to get around, ISAT testing is looming in the distance, and as teachers, we have a lot of things to take care of. On the flip side, it is exciting because we have so much to look forward to in the coming months. Presently, we get to celebrate the African-American History Fair together as a school community on Friday. And, we are in the middle of some exciting projects in Fine Arts.

First, I wanted to mention that a group of four students from the School of the Art Institute visited my classroom on Thursday. They are learning to be teachers and part of their curriculum is to actually “test” out one of their projects with actual students. Each student based their project on the work of Ken Grimes who currently has work at Intuit Gallery. His work is based on aliens and is only black and white. The students were broken up into four groups and did one of the four activities. The students were great “test subjects” and I’m proud of how they accepted this diversion. I’m sure the student teachers learned a lot.

As I mentioned last week, the third graders finished up their movement pictures this week. Mr. Brookins class will actually finish them next week. Afterwards, both classes will be coming to the computer lab to work on landscapes using Windows Paint.

The 4th graders are continuing their project with CAPE. This week, Ms. Walsh and I gave them a series of six pictures that they needed to visually rearrange as a group and then write stories individually to accompany the pictures. It is exciting to see the students use these pictures to write creative stories. We have noticed that the more interesting pictures elicit a tremendous response from the students. As we continue through this project, we hope the students continue to look beyond the pictures to create their stories. We have talked about how they need to think about the characters, setting, and plot behind the pictures. Then, the students began to take their own pictures. We talked about the correct way to frame a picture and to focus on details. Each student took two pictures within the new wing. Next week, we will be going outside to take more pictures.

The 5th graders began their painting based on the work of Chuck Close this week. We looked at a couple examples of his work like the one below.

We began by creating a grid this week on an eight inch by ten inch piece of cardboard. Next week, we will begin painting the individual squares. When we piece the individual paintings together, it will create one large face. I’m very excited to see the results.

The sixth graders are working on games using their world language and math. The world language teachers and I collaborated on this project so the students would apply multiple disciplines into one project. This week, the students formed groups and began working on the rough drafts. We have been stressing that the students practice their games because the you work out the problems and kinks of your game by practicing it multiple times. It makes the final game more enjoyable to play. My former profession was a toy designer, so I love collaborating with the students on the game play, the rules, and the theme of the game. The students do a great job working together and making a working game.

On the technology front, I’m pleased to report that we will be getting new black and white printers for the school. The printers we have right now have been a major headache for the tech coordinator (me) and the teachers. I’m happy the PTO approved this move and I wanted to thank them again.

Also, the 6th graders have been making podcasts under the guidance of Mr. Rowell. They created podcasts last year with myself and Erik Treese from CUIP, so they are building on their knowledge of how to make a podcast and using Audacity (a free sound editing program).

Enjoy the long weekend…

We are finishing up some very exciting projects and starting some exciting projects in fine arts this week. The 3rd graders are putting the finishing touches on their movement pictures. I’m very happy how they have applied what we have learned in class about movement to their pictures. I have had some great conversations with the students about their drawings, what they like about them, and what they would change.

The logos the 4th graders created on Windows Paint look great. The students had to write how their logo represented them. We also started the project with CAPE that I described last week. I’m very proud how the students handled the discussions we had in class. During the first class this week, we looked at a couple pictures and the students tried to attach a story to the picture. For example, we looked at the picture below:

We asked the students, “Why is this car decorated this way?,” “Who would do this to their car?,” Where do you think they took it?,” and “What is the story behind this car?” The answers were truly astounding, and they began to write some excellent stories about this car. We also looked at a selection of 6 pictures and asked the students to attempt to tie the pictures together into a story. We are preparing them to take their own pictures in the following weeks and eventually write a story.

The 5th graders finished up their weaving this week. Once again, they really did a great job learning the process and focusing on their work. Next week, we will be doing a project I have never done before that uses the work of one of my favorite artists, Chuck Close. I’m very excited to see how the students will react to it.

The 6th graders finished up their embroidered pillows this week. Many should have come this week, but we are still trying to finish up a few. It is difficult to get 30 students to use only one sewing machine. Next week, I am collaborating with the world language teachers to have the students create world language/math games. Games are one of my favorite subjects, so I’m looking forward to beginning the project next week.

And finally…da Bears…

Maybe I have football on the mind (Bears!), but we have hit halftime for the 2006-07 school year. And, here is how all of the classes stand heading into the third quarter:

The 3rd graders are still working on the principle of movement. They are creating small pictures demonstrating their knowledge of movement. The students have enjoyed this because it gives them a certain freedom with what they draw, and they are learning a principle that can help them no matter what they are drawing. It gives me a chance to give individual advice and tips to students.

The 4th graders finished up their logo this week. They will be on ArtSonia and my blog next week. Starting next week, they will begin a project that span the rest of the year. While they will do the bulk of the work in the next few weeks, they will continue to work on it sporadically until the end of May. I am working with an organization called Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE). Actually, Ms. Ziegler has worked with them for 11 years, and I am in my 4th year. Over those 4 years, I have worked with a teaching artist named Jessi Walsh. With this organization, we create arts-integration projects. CAPE is a major funder and supporter of arts-integration projects. Along with doing the project with a group of students, we have to document and present our findings at the end of the year. It is intensive, but also a lot of fun. This year, we are researching how pictures can help the writing process, and how a community can help students write. The first part of this project will be looking at a picture and writing a story that matches the picture. We will also look at how picture books use words and images to convey their message. I know Ms. Walsh and I are looking forward to getting this project started!

The 5th graders are finishing up their weaving project next week. Some of them should have also brought them home over the weekend to work on them although it was not mandatory. I’m very proud of the work they have done, and I look forward to seeing the final results. Following this project, we will be involved in a painting project.

The 6th graders have finished their embroidery portion of making their pillows, so we will try to get them stitched up this week on the sewing machine. The pillows have turned out great, and I know the students are looking forward to bringing them home. The following week, the 6th grade class will be working with their world language teachers to create world language math board games.

All of the students will be moving to a new table starting next week. Also, Ms. Ziegler and I will be “sharing” a student teacher from the School of the Art Institute beginning at the end of March and lasting through early May. We are very excited to welcome her, and I will give you more details as the date approaches.

In technology, I’m happy to report that the computer lab in the new wing was used a lot during the first half of the year. Even outside of the regular schedule, students from the 5th and 6th grade utilized the computer lab to work on projects for class. I’m hoping to increase the time the other grades use the lab in the next half of the year. Integrating technology is an ongoing process, and I’m still trying to figure out the best way to make it available to everyone.

Also, the “old” computer lab is starting to get a face lift. An NSP (Neighborhood Schools Project) student from CUIP has helped me clean out old programs, old equipment, and old books in preparation to make that room a World Language Lab. It will be a long process, but I think we have gotten an early start on it. I will also have another NSP student from CUIP helping out starting next week with various projects. More details to come…

I encourage all parents to use Study Island with their child as the ISAT testing date approaches. We will not be working with this is in school since it is a more beneficial activity when it is done at home.

The quarter is ending soon, and it is a time for finishing up projects.

The 3rd graders, actually, have just started a project using the principle of movement. We have talked about varying the color, size, and line of what you draw to make a picture look like it is moving. It is one of my favorite principles of art, and I don’t normally do this project with 3rd grade. They have done a great job so far rising to the challenge, and creating some excellent artwork.

The 4th graders are finishing up their personal logos. I always love how these turn out. The students get a chance to learn about a very basic program on the computer and create some wonderful looking artwork. I will be posting these soon on this blog and on Art Sonia. You will be amazed at what your child is able to accomplish.

The 5th graders are right in the middle of their weaving project. I thought they might be able to finish these up before the end of the quarter, but they are going to need a little extra time to make them look just right. I have told the students that the actual process of creating their weaving is not difficult, but it takes a fair amount of concentration to do it correctly. Mistakes will happen with this project, but as long as they are learning from them, they eventually learn the correct technique.

The 6th graders are in the process of finishing their embroidered pillows. These pillows must be finished before the end of the quarter or they will not pass art. After embroidering their pillows, students have been using a sewing machine to sew their pillow together. For some, it has been a frightening experience, but they are doing such a great job with it. Since it is difficult to have 30 kids sew their pillows at the same time, they just need to have their pillow pinned and ready to sew by the end of the quarter. I expect most to have their pillow finished, though.

Until next time…

When using technology with students, you are obviously dealing with a lot of risks. We do our very best to protect our children and teach them how to use it responsibly, but it is not a 100% safe. And while that might be scary at times, if you think about it, nothing is 100% safe. Anyway, I ran across an article from a high school teacher that talks about this. Here is just part of it:

One of the things I always try to keep in mind when I think about school planning and design, and something I said a lot to the faculty as we planned, was “There is no panacea in education and every great idea has a dark side, so what are the worst consequences of your best ideas?” It’s important to do for two reasons — one because I think that many educational institutions become reactionary too often, throwing the baby out with the bathwater when an unforeseen consequence of a really good idea comes along. I’d rather think about every potential dark side so that when they happen, I’m not surprised, I’ve thought about them first, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a consequence I can live with. And two, because you can look to mitigate them and plan for them, and speak about them before hand.

I’d like to think that using the Internet in schools is a “really good idea” so it is important to recognize when it can cause problems, talk about them, and decide how to avoid those problems.

On to fine arts, students in all grades are finishing up projects right now. I’ll be trying to get many on Art Sonia and hanging before the holiday. Although I rarely give out homework, it is important that students finish projects in fine arts completely in order to pass fine arts. While I do my very best to give enough time in class for students to finish, it doesn’t always happen that way. They need to use their time wisely in class and finish their projects completely and with complete effort.

The 6th graders are actually starting a project this week. They are going to be embroidering pillows. These will be due at the end of the quarter. Please read the letter I have posted in reference to this project.

I look forward to seeing parents at the science fair on Wednesday and the holiday assembly on Friday.

After the snow, we get the cold. It is finny how quickly the weather can change.

Well, the winter break is only two weeks ago, and it is coming quickly. We’ve been hard at work in fine arts this past week. The third graders are learning about using watercolor painting. I know they have all painted with Ms. Ziegler, but since this is the first time they have painted with me, I wanted to see how much they already knew. The fourth graders are about to finish their inspiration pictures. They should be on Art Sonia and hanging up before they leave for the winter break. The fifth graders are working on their Google SketchUp models. I’ve been very pleased at how excited and interested the students have been with this program. I think it is a great program to experiment with and it is a lot of fun. They’ve been teaching me a few things since a couple students have downloaded it at home and are using it. I hope more are downloading it and trying it out. The sixth graders are almost finished with their monochromatic portraits. Some of them are hanging up by the library right now. I know the students have really enjoyed this project over the past two years, and their outcomes are usually excellent. We will be starting embroidery this week. Please look for a note about this project fr