Tuesday, May 19, 2009

My Unit Plan

Students will research information regarding the Avant Garde Art movement period. They will determine the reason for each movement and how society & art were mutually influnced. Students will also theorize how society and art will be influnced in the future.

EQ: Does society influence people or do people influence society?
UQ: How does visual communication change through time?

CQ: Analyze the style/techniques used in each Avant Garde art movement.
Determine the cause & effect of each Avant Garde art movement.
Compare and contrast the relationship between art and history in each art movement.
Explore the risk and consequences of artists during the Avante Garde art period.
How did the Avant Garde art movement influence modern design?
Theorize what the focus of art/artists will be in the future.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Projects Provide Opportunities for Deeper Thinking

How can projects provide opportunities for deeper thinking in my classroom?

Well-designed projects allow the student to be the center of the learning process. If the projects are aligned with the standards, students have clear objectives regarding what they need to know. This process let the student immerse themselves in real-world situations in which they need to investigate for themselves the solution to problems presented to them.

Opportunities to explore multiple types of assessment will allow students to process information in a way that allows them to express themselves using learning style that best fits each student. It also allows the teacher to achieve a higher quality of work than would otherwise be gained from a single type of assessment, such as multiple choice.

Real-world connections allow students to become more engaged in the learning process and allow students to make a connection to authentic activities and projects to which they can gain ownership in the learning process. A variety of instructional stategies ensures that each student will be able to succeed and process information as needed. This allows students to use metacognitive and cognitive thinking skills as they self-monitor, problem solve and make good decisions about the outcome of their work.

Technology can be very beneficial in allowing students to explore various ways of sharing their ideas with each other and outside the classroom. It also allows for more development of thinking skills.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Target Thinking Skills

What thinking skills should I target for my classroom? How will the knowledge I gained from this module impact my teaching and students' learning.

Blooms – Comprehension, Application, Synthesis
Marzono’s – Acquisition & Integrating of Knowledge, Meaningful Use of Knowledge, Productive Habits of Mind
Costa & Kallick’s – Striving for Accuracy & Precision, Creating, Imaging, and Innovative, Learning Continuously

I will target these thinking skills for my Digital Imaging 2 classroom assignments. I feel it is important for my students to be able to apply what they learn to create projects that reflect the information learned. As I teach, I try to think of projects that allow my students to use the information in a creative way. For most of my projects, I teach a concept/standard, but require them to demonstrate what I taught visually. They not only have to show me that they were able to incorporate the concepts,but be able to interpret their project based on the topic taught.