Teaching the Art Elements with Google Slides

In June we were on a two-days-a-week schedule. It was kind of tricky because the specialist classes had to be scheduled in. Some specialists also had MYP classes, and the upper school was on a different schedule which added to the trickiness.

The art teacher asked for some extra time, so I offered her a class period thinking she would come in and teach. I was wrong and was given a lesson plan. Don't assume anything!

The lesson was on art elements. Students were to make rectangle art with colored paper, using the elements of art to make an art piece.

I don't know what happened - actually I do know - but the student quality was not good and most students were just slapping paper together somewhat randomly. They were not into it.

So I decided to give it another try. But the second time I wanted to use Google Slides. I thought it would be more engaging for the students and could show them some new skills like aligning and centering shapes, but also students were using coolors.co to look for color palettes and they needed devices.

The new directions were:

1. Find your slide in the Google Slide deck
2. Go to coolors.co and choose a palette
3. Make rectangles on your slide taking the space element of art into consideration.
4. How can you add texture?
5. Color the background with one color from the palette (Show how to change the background color using the HEX color)
6. Color the rectangles using other colors (Show how to add HEX color to shape)

When you are finished, add a screenshot to Seesaw and answer the questions:

1. What did you do differently this time compared to last time?
2. What elements of art did you use and where are they in your picture?

Results the second time were much better. 


Students were able to show their art (if they selected it to show) at the student led conferences. 

A Interdisciplinary Unit

I have been playing around with the Google News Initiative. I think it is a good course for anyone wanting how to search, use spreadsheets, and analyze data better. I think it would be good for students as well.

I could imagine a unit where students would choose a country to study. Then look at [research] its COVID19 response and write about it and analyze data. All the while students could be learning how to use Google to better search. 

Time to Daydream

Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

Motivations

I am currently taking a course on Coursera called "Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects". I tried taking this course a few years ago and I didn't make it all the way through. I find there are times when I spend more time and energy learning than I should be, so I wanted to take another shot at this course. Another reason for taking this course is that one of the G4 units we teach is on learning so I thought this would be a good way to learn about learning for that unit.

One of the techniques suggested to help make connections is called "retrieval practice". It was suggested that taking time to review what you have learned can help make connections and strengthen an understanding of the ideas you learned.

Connections to the curriculum

This would be an awesome course for students to take as a mini-unit and could be connected to Math with Jo Boeler's YouCubed. Jo Boeler talks a lot about a growth mindset and understanding that to become better at math students should focus on trying to get better; reflecting on the process, and looking for alternate ways to solve problems.

I could imagine spending the first two weeks of school working through the Learning How to Learn course and the YouCubed week of inspirational math curriculums in tandem.

Connections to the school schedule

I wonder if there could be a time in the school day when students could just daydream. The benefits of daydreaming at work have been recorded, and even this course recommends reflecting on what you have learned to make connections.





I wonder

Would a podcast be another way for me to reflect?

The World is a Puzzle

During our student-led conferences, a student of mine said something that stuck with me.

"The world is a puzzle, we just need to put it together."

Bilingual and Multilingual Learners

This spring I took a PD course called "BILINGUAL & MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS FROM THE INSIDE-OUT". 

It was a very detailed in-depth look at the students that make up the majority of international schools. 

For our final project, we were to reflect on the course and create something from it. I made a plan for myself as an EAL teacher next year. (Edit: July 1 - Whoops! Position changed. I will be Learning Support next year.)

Basically, I am interested in approaching the position with a focus on the following:

1) independent reading

2) regular read-alouds

3) parent informational sessions

4) vocabulary