Monday, October 13, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Test
I began this week giving the HCSD Elementary Art Assessment. Oh are the kids excited, come to art and take a test.
Now don't get me wrong I believe that valid assessments are an important part of education. But the thought that a single pre-test and post-test shed any light on a students growth in art or any subject is just foolish.
Last week while scanning the various blogs that I read I came across a video by Chris Lehmann and about a minute into the talk he made the statement that "good data cost a lot more than we are willing to spend". Ouch that hit the nail on the head. We create standardize who's main function as I see it is to create numbers masqueraiding as data.
I know that the FAEA is in the processs of creating a state wide standardize art test. This could be a good thing from what I have seen from a plemenary review of possible test questions I saw last year. but I'm not sure how the test will be paid for. Will it be part of a State mandated assessment like FCAT. Or will individual districts have the option of paying for and administrationg the art test? I don't know.
I do know that watching the students in my art class that growth cannot be measured during a single class. Often I see no growth at all untill all of a sudden a student gets it! But it may not be at the same time that other students "get it". So if I assessed at that time some would show growth and others not. Even if the other students "got it" the next week, that would not count. That is a problem. Do I have the answer, no I haven't gotten to the point in my education to "get it" .....yet.
Now don't get me wrong I believe that valid assessments are an important part of education. But the thought that a single pre-test and post-test shed any light on a students growth in art or any subject is just foolish.
Last week while scanning the various blogs that I read I came across a video by Chris Lehmann and about a minute into the talk he made the statement that "good data cost a lot more than we are willing to spend". Ouch that hit the nail on the head. We create standardize who's main function as I see it is to create numbers masqueraiding as data.
I know that the FAEA is in the processs of creating a state wide standardize art test. This could be a good thing from what I have seen from a plemenary review of possible test questions I saw last year. but I'm not sure how the test will be paid for. Will it be part of a State mandated assessment like FCAT. Or will individual districts have the option of paying for and administrationg the art test? I don't know.
I do know that watching the students in my art class that growth cannot be measured during a single class. Often I see no growth at all untill all of a sudden a student gets it! But it may not be at the same time that other students "get it". So if I assessed at that time some would show growth and others not. Even if the other students "got it" the next week, that would not count. That is a problem. Do I have the answer, no I haven't gotten to the point in my education to "get it" .....yet.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Quilt Continued
I have got pretty far on the quilt for the Harvest Festival this weekend. I have to stop now because I'm about 8 inches short on the border. Humm, I suppose in the future I should always get a little extra fabric. So tomorrow I'll finish the border and then work on pinning the batting and backing down. I think that I can quilt it with the machine we have at home. I did a little test today and made a little quilted potholder and the plain foot on the sewing machine worked fine, although I may have to put extra pins in to hold the layers steady.
Oh I'm feeling a little too domestic so I think its time for a beer and some football!
Oh I'm feeling a little too domestic so I think its time for a beer and some football!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Second Quilt
Well I had to open my big mouth at church last week. "Oh you know how to quilt? The Harvest Festival is coming up and that would be great for the craft booth."
Jan is out of town so I think I'll have some free time this week so I have challenged my self to finish the quilt before she gets back.
This one will be frogs and flowers. The fabric is washed and ironed and this evening I'll get the pieces cut. I don't know if I'll be ready to sew this evening but I'm sure I'll get started tomorrow.
Jan is out of town so I think I'll have some free time this week so I have challenged my self to finish the quilt before she gets back.
This one will be frogs and flowers. The fabric is washed and ironed and this evening I'll get the pieces cut. I don't know if I'll be ready to sew this evening but I'm sure I'll get started tomorrow.Friday, September 12, 2008
ScribeFire
I have just added a Firefox Add-on to my computer called ScribeFire. This add-on allows you to quickly post to your Blog with out having to start up your blog editor.
At first I thought that this was an interesting add-on with out much practical purpose but after installing and starting it up (you just click f8) I see that it may be useful. I'm posting this with ScribeFire.
The interesting thing is that the extension opens in the lower half of the browser window while the web page you are on remains open in the top part of the window with full browser capabilities. I see this as making it very easy to blog about information I find online.
One of the options that ScribeFire allows is Live Preview where the post is temporally published to your blog so that you can view it with your blogs formating. After you return to editing the post is removed from your blog.
This is pretty cool and I'll see if it increases the number of posts I publish to my blog.
At first I thought that this was an interesting add-on with out much practical purpose but after installing and starting it up (you just click f8) I see that it may be useful. I'm posting this with ScribeFire.
The interesting thing is that the extension opens in the lower half of the browser window while the web page you are on remains open in the top part of the window with full browser capabilities. I see this as making it very easy to blog about information I find online.
One of the options that ScribeFire allows is Live Preview where the post is temporally published to your blog so that you can view it with your blogs formating. After you return to editing the post is removed from your blog.
This is pretty cool and I'll see if it increases the number of posts I publish to my blog.
Monday, September 8, 2008
It will all be obsolete
I've been planning for a presentation\workshop that I am giving in October to the FAEA. The theme of the workshop is incorporating web 2.0 technologies in the art classroom. I began researching and planning for the workshop last February.
Some of the technologies I will be presenting I use regularly others not as often but I had prepared to present on all. I wanted to show the participants options on blogs, wikis and podcasts. As well as other ancillary web based tools.
Well in going over my presentation I have found that about a third of the sites\web tools that I had prepared for had already gone through significant changes.
This fact of web 2.0 (I use this term loosely to cover a very large and fluid group of tools I access via various electronic devices) changes and evolves at a progressively rapid pace.
So what you learn now will not be applicable a year from now. This makes this new media both very engaging and frustrating at the same time. PB Wiki has changed significantly 3 or 4 times in the year or so that I have been using it.
This creates an environment of continuous learning and I think that the workshop that I will be giving will have to reflect that fact. Participants coming to the workshop will be learning how to use the web to learn. They will find that some of the presentation I may have discovered only the night before while Twittering or reading over my blog feed.
This reminds me of the way very young children everything is new, exciting and they never know what to expect the next day. An adventure.
I hope no one wants a paper handout, I would have to bring a printer with me and print as the workshop was given. Even then it would not be current.
Some of the technologies I will be presenting I use regularly others not as often but I had prepared to present on all. I wanted to show the participants options on blogs, wikis and podcasts. As well as other ancillary web based tools.
Well in going over my presentation I have found that about a third of the sites\web tools that I had prepared for had already gone through significant changes.
This fact of web 2.0 (I use this term loosely to cover a very large and fluid group of tools I access via various electronic devices) changes and evolves at a progressively rapid pace.
So what you learn now will not be applicable a year from now. This makes this new media both very engaging and frustrating at the same time. PB Wiki has changed significantly 3 or 4 times in the year or so that I have been using it.
This creates an environment of continuous learning and I think that the workshop that I will be giving will have to reflect that fact. Participants coming to the workshop will be learning how to use the web to learn. They will find that some of the presentation I may have discovered only the night before while Twittering or reading over my blog feed.
This reminds me of the way very young children everything is new, exciting and they never know what to expect the next day. An adventure.
I hope no one wants a paper handout, I would have to bring a printer with me and print as the workshop was given. Even then it would not be current.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Finished my quilt!
4 classes,4 weeks one hurricane later I have finished my quilt. For the first try at quilting or sewing for that matter I think it turned out fairly well. This evening during the closing ceremonies of the Olympics I was sewing up the last of the edge of the quilt. I was told by our instructor that this is typically done by hand even in quilts that were otherwise sewn on a machine. So my is done by hand. I think I got the hang of the blind stitch on the second side and I cut out the first side and re-did it toward the end. I was much happier with the result after that. Really there is only one mistake in the quilt and I'll leave you to find in 
the accompanying picture.After learning how to quilt I have written a grant and I hope to be able to buy some quilting materials to use in my art class. I think the kids would enjoy the process, even if we only make little pot holder quilts.
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