My 505 portfolio

    Are we providing students a dis service when we add more technology into their crazy tech world?  I think not.  However, it largely depends on the way technology is used as a tool in education.  Just like any power tool in wood shop class, online sites and social media can be dangerous as well.  This course provided me with many new resources and they are all listed along the left side bar.  I have a few simple rules to live by.  They are listed below and mostly apply to the way I run my class blog.

1. Never post a students name

2. Never post a photo of a students face

3. Never speak negatively about your school or a student

   There are hundreds if not thousands of cases against teachers in the state of ohio just due to violating these rules.  

   Moving along I really enjoyed this class.  Compared to grad classes I've taken in the past, it gave me many useful and new ideas.  Here's my list of new ideas that I'll actually use in my classroom.

1. Using a powerpoint or keynote in a non linear way and allowing students to interact with it.

2. I loved using Blabberize and can have students use it to make end of the year artist statements.

3. I like glogster and may have students use this as a presentation tool for an artist research project.

4. I loved using inspiration to create a visual syllabus.  I'm hoping to print it rather large.

  Overall, a very positive experience that provided me with some useful insight and new resources.  Thank you all for looking and feel free to share any of this. 

9:03 on Thursday night

       A colleague of mine recently brought up an interesting point.  Does technology actually help our students or is it making things worse?  From the time my students wake up to the time they go to bed, they seem consumed with their phones.  Taking "selfies" or "duck face" pictures.  Phones and music players meant to help us communicate better are taking away from the hands on experience happening everyday.  Do they really need more technology?  Would a less technological approach be more beneficial?  I'm not sure.  It is an interesting point.  Now more than ever, kids can't spell very well independently.   Completing a though also seems extremely difficult.  Phones meant to help connect us are only creating a less social world.  Real face to face time is an obsolete idea.  Writing a note to your girlfriend is long gone.  Confronting problems head on has given way to passive aggressive texts or in some cases aggressive texts.  Yes, technology is pretty great.  However, it's now given us a very easy way to dodge problems.
       I suppose the goal for me is to create an exciting and genuine Art experience.  We mix real paint, squish real clay, make messes, and clean them up.  Sometimes I sprinkle in some technology.  It's a great tool but not the only one.  Students need to learn how to use their technology to its' advantage and not its' disadvantage.  I can't wait to see what it looks like in 5 years.......

8:50pm on a Saturday

         I just put my 4 year old daughter and my 2 year old daughter to bed.  As I begin typing this, I hear foot steps coming down the stairs.  So it goes when I try to complete any sort of task.  I love my girls, but I miss being able to do whatever I wanted at any time of day.  Really my life is not that hard in comparison to most people.  It is hard to maintain a quality in the things I do when I'm doing so many things.
          The blog thing is not new to me by any means.  I've had a blog for my art class for 3 years now and have found few problems with it.  My students love being able to see their work and share it with family who don't live nearby.  They also have a much larger audience seeing their work than in any hallway in the school or in any building.  My school blog, sellsart.blogspot.com has had over 18,000 page views.  My school only has a total of around 900 students.  My students have been extremely motivated to create excellent work so that it will make it on the site.  I try to pick the best work of my students to add to the site.  I think it's great, but other people may raise an eyebrow due to fear of what social media can do in a negative way.
            I've found there are a few really basic and really simple rules.  As follows

1. Never post a photo of a students face, or a photo that can identify them.
2. Never post a students' name
3. Always speak in a positive way about what you're posting.  

      Facebook is great, but also has it dangers and legal implications.  It's never a good idea to be a "friend" of one of your students on Facebook, twitter, or any other sort of site.  There are too many ways for a teacher to lose their license very quickly.  For these reasons, I love blogger because it is easily linked to Facebook but not directly connected.  It is not a Facebook page.  Blogger sites run independently from Facebook but allow my students or their parents to share directly to Facebook if they are logged in.  

9:10 pm on a Monday

   Most people are watching "The Bachelor" right now.  I am not.  I am however, entering my first post to this reflection blog.  I'm not quite sure who will ever read this but it's still very nice to get some thoughts out of my head.  Let's begin.
   My first thought is related to my masters degree.  I have a few different goals for myself.  One goal is to finish my Masters degree in a timely manner.  The other goal is to actually make my Masters degree extremely useful for my classroom.  Getting a pay raise really is an after thought for me.  Although it's a nice afterthought.
   My second thought is related to how I currently have around 5 different software programs at school with varying usernames and passwords.  I have 3 separate blogs now.  I have a youtube account, a facebook account, 1 home email, 1 fake email, 1 gmail account, and an instructables account.  I'm a husband, a dad, a teacher, a photographer, a coach, in charge of art club, working on my masters, and trying to keep my drive way shoveled.  It's really steep and if I don't shovel it, we can't get into the garage.  With all of these things, how do I keep it all straight?  Something's has to give.
   My third thought of the night is more of a dream and question.  How do we do all the things we do while keeping them meaningful and connected?  Why do I need all of these different accounts and emails?  Each one seems extremely useful in its' own right, but do they really benefit me?  I suppose my task for my current coursework is to determine which things I am really using.  I need to trim down to a leaner online presence.  I think.