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Holly Calica Holly Calica
Schools:
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“As the facilitator, I have observed art teachers who are so used to manipulating materials with their hands, begin to see the possibilities that technology can provide. These teachers have moved from frustration to ease when using PhotoShop. The one-on-one tutorials are essential for providing the teachers with extra time to practice their new skills. I am most pleased with using peer education techniques to teach my students how to use technology. I would teach a pair of students different functions on the digital camera or PhotoShop, and have those students teach the other students, two at a time. This method enabled me to use limited equipment to complete the project. It also reinforced student skills and knowledge, because they were required to teach other students. While we did not write it into the grant, as teachers, we also assisted each other in work groups independently. These practice sessions became essential after our trainings, as we needed to review the steps of learning to use Adobe Photoshop to manipulate photos or DreamWeaver to create web designs for the student portfolios. The peer teaching that was valuable for the students helped us as well. Learning technology and trying to meet our deadline was frustrating at times, but rewarding when we finally completed our task. Another aspect of the project that I loved was the student portfolio reflections I had my students write about their artwork. Often, our limited time in the classroom, averaging one hour per week, forces us to choose between hands-on art creation, the study of art concepts and/or art analysis. Ultimately, I was happy that I utilized the time to include student writing in most of their art creations, enabling me to understand their work and what they thought they learned. During the implementation of the project, I was asked by a colleague what was digital about the student work. After thinking about that question, I decided to teach students some simple digital drawing with Adobe Photoshop. I was pleased with their explorations, but dismayed at how many times my students were unable to save because of technical problems: not correctly connected to the school's server, incorrect logins by the students and one one flash drive to save to for a class of 28. Despite the problems, my students were able to evaluate technology based art, and develop either a love of it or an extreme dislike of it. Many later preferred to use pencil and paper to draw on, rather than boot up the computer. Others adored drawing on the computer. I am grateful to the San Francisco Education Fund for providing the opportunity for me to utilize technology to teach art. I was able to fulfill the Content Standards in technology for 5th Grade in Visual Arts due to this grant. Since most schools in the San Francisco Unified School District have consolidated their technology programs, we have unintentionally limited the building of essential skills for our students. Our school sites were very supportive to our project, especially the principals: Ms. Alene Wheaton, Dr. Lance Tagamori, Ms. Joan Hepperly and Mr. Charles Addcox. Their flexibility enabled us to work with the children closely in creating outstanding artwork and providing extra time for us to work with technology. In addition, we would like to thank Sally Ann Ryan and Rob Daniels, our past and current Program Directors for the Visual and Performing Arts Department of the San Francisco Unified School District. They enabled us to proceed beyond the requirements of our job descriptions into the technological beyond. Finally, our project would not have been possible without the support of the following people who provided hands-on technical support (hours & hours of assistance): Ren Volpe: Leonard Flynn Elementary School Ophelia Ley: Leonard Flynn Elementary School Jamie Bauer: Cesar Chavez Elementary School Christina Noyes: Making Movie Memories
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Linda Camarena
Linda Camarena Schools: |
“The project I thought was innovative. The kids loved having the pictures taken and seeing their work on the computer. For myself, I learned to use the digital camera, crop pictures and I’m looking forward to the final project. I needed more time. ” |
Stacy Moore
Stacy Moore
Cesar Chavez
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“This project has been an inspiration! I would like to continue to learn about web design and building. On a scale of 1 to 10, I feel like I went from a 0 to 8 on the photography part of the project. I feel more confident trying out what the PhotoShop does & I’m not afraid of locking up a file or loosing a file. I used to feel that when I would explore around I would get frustrated because I didn’t know where it was saved. I’ve learned how to plug in a digital camera, where to put the C drive and what a flash drive is. Now I know how to upload and download my pictures, and I know how to edit them. What was nice was that I learned the difference between my software and different operating systems. I learned about creating files, creating folders, and where stuff was on my computer. I feel the whole workshop has made me more independent, rather than dependent on the computer person in my! family. It was good to have another teacher besides my husband teaching me; however, since I have more confidence we don’t fight when he’s giving me tech support. This project has helped me document the work and made me more conscious of the end product of the student because I am documenting them.”
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Donna Mankus
Donna Mankus
Donna Mankus
School: Bryant ES
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“I love the idea that the children can see the artwork on the Internet. I wish this were a two-year project because we did so much and it seemed like we had so little time. I learned how to photograph children’s artwork, make decisions about how to crop, where to place them on the webpage and make design decisions. I liked the idea of photographing my students’ work because sometimes the artwork is very fragile or very big and gets destroyed on the way home. The children were thrilled because it made them feel important. I could see their demeanor change. The students would sit up straight, like, this is important, this means something! It made me feel important too. No matter how it turns out in the end I’m still glad I did this project. I was ill for a lot of the time and did not get a chance to learn bout pcs or down/up loading to website. I learned a lot about creatin! g a website and am very excited about doing another and teaching (or trying to) my fellow teachers on an informal basis.”
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Ren Volpe (Librarian) School: Leonard Flynn |
Anything that promotes arts in the school is great. In the future different levels of expertise should be taken into account [for learning the software and dealing with technology]. The teacher trainer was really good. |
