Excel: NCES Reading Scores

What I Did

I visited the NCES website and uploaded the state comparisons (for 4th grade reading) into Excel. I had to first select the "Add-In" for Excel to use "Data Analysis." I was able to compute the "descriptive statistics" shown below.

The data I uploaded can be viewed here in an Excel worksheet. I sorted the data in ascending order before putting the data in a scatter plot.

What I Learned/Application

Virginia, my state, is ranked ninth with only eight states scoring over 226.378. That leaves 42 states below us, including Washington D.C. We are above the average of 220.4.

Google Sites: Art Education Materials

What I Did

I created a new website using Google Sites to use for teaching art. Google Sites allows you to create a FREE page or pages to share information whether it be personal content or professional, such as teaching. The nice thing is, since I already have a site that should contain the same documents, I could change things around and use it for my own personal desires. You can view it here. I first created the home page and simply clicked on "add page" to add separate pages for a couple documents from previous blog posts, which were "inserted" as Google Docs. The sidebar provides easy navigation to these different pages.

What I Learned/Application

I love this tool because this is an easy way to reach out to students on the go or at home as well as get family involved. I could make a page for events, such as art displays, so that students' families can come view the work. Students can view inspirational artists or their works that may be relevant to class or I could get them to create their own site of inspirational art.

Art is a field that is increasingly using new technology to keep up with the other interdisciplinary areas. We can't keep focusing on the stereotypical paints and brushes as the means for creating in the art world. Using online tools combined with traditional means of teaching art will demonstrate creativity by using innovative methods of teaching/learning and creating (ISTE Nets-T standard 3).

Another benefit of using Google Sites for teaching purposes is to communicate with the professional world about teaching itself, the ISTE Nets-T standard 5. This allows teachers to share ideas, improve methods, and grow as life-long learners in their own right. Information is free and readily available!

RubiStar: Art Critique and Rubric

What I Did

Okay...this has not really worked for me. I was able to go to RubiStar, create a login, and create a rubric. I reached a problem when I tried to save it in Excel format. It would say I saved it, but my computer didn't like opening it up because it said it might be corrupt since the "file type was a different format than specified by the file extension." It would open it up as a web page. It doesn't like the file type and I don't know what I did wrong. I tried to dowload the original document and it still doesn't let me. I officially do not like RubiStar. I don't see how it is that much easier than creating a document in another program.

I decided to click on the option of "create an offline browser-document" so that I could copy and paste it into Word instead. I was then able to upload it to Google Drive. Now you can see my rubric!

 

What I Learned

There is more than one way to achieve a goal. This is not the first time I have had to find another way to get the desired result. For example, I had to find a different formula to use for the self-grading document in the spreadsheet in Google. As long as your document completes the task and it can get out there for students or other people to see! There are so many options online for doing one kind of task that it is hard to learn it all and do it all successfully. 

Self-Grading: Renaissance Art Quiz

What I Did

I applied the skills used in creating a form and spreadsheet from the last assignment to creating a quiz for art students. Please take my very short quiz so that I can complete the self-grading codes and post the results. Thanks!

I ended up completing the quiz myself and varying the answers so that I could have a more interesting summary. What a great tool to use for classes! Also an easy way to get students to take exams without having to make them up later if they are out sick!

A couple of issues:

First, I couldn't get the formulas to work like the youtube video showed. I kept getting numbers that weren't averages out of 100, so I had to play with the point value of the questions. I also used an average formula instead of the "SUM" formula. I don't know how the guy in the video came up with averages using "SUM." You can view my spreadsheet here. Is there a way to make the data summary available to students while keeping the names confidential?

Secondly, I am worried about the results/test summaries that are influenced by the "key." It shows one more "student" getting 100% than actually did, so the data is not reflecting the true outcome. However, the key is needed in order to type in the formula for the self-grading. What happens if I get rid of the "key" row?... It messes up the numbers and averages...thank God for the "back" button! I am not sure how to remedy this problem.

Google Form: Art Survey

I couldn't use the computer all day, so sorry I didn't make my doc accessible!!! It didn't occur to me until now that nobody would be able to access it without the URL link.

What I Did

I have created a form in Google Docs, or Google Drive. What a useful tool for exams, worksheets, surveys, or other fun ways to get students using the technology online and giving data that is useful to the teacher! All of the data results are right there! Please complete my survey about your opinions of art and art class so that I can have an idea of who likes art besides me. The data from your answers can be viewed in this spreadsheet.

The purpose of my survey would be to do the following:

• Get students involved in their own education by sharing their opinions or interests
• Involve family or friends in what the student is learning
• Find out what the students are learning or where they are struggling
• Find out where I could improve in teaching or class structure

This survey would be accessed by sending the link to anyone I choose (parents, other teachers, etc.) as long as I have set it to be shared with only the link provided. Other settings include accessibility only for a certain community, like Shenandoah University, or completely open to the public with or without the link.

I would use this survey throughout the year so that I could check it every couple of weeks and see the results, which students can influence by changing their answers to the survey in reaction to a part of class. Some units may go well while others may have poor student response. I could even assign different surveys for different units. At the end of the semester/year I would start with a clear spreadsheet and have the students complete the survey to see if overall opinions of art and the class have changed compared to previous data in the beginning of the year. I would use other methods to focus more specifically on communicating with students' needs and improving the class.

What I Learned

For someone who has never had to use Excel, or other spreadsheets, this is amazing!!!! This can cut back on so much work for teachers who may feel that they don't have the time to find out just how their students feel about different aspects of the class because there is work to be done and SOLs to be passed. What an easy and neat tool for collecting any kind of data for different professions, and I know how to use it now!!!

Prezi: Art Careers

What I Did

This is another version of the last presentation I just completed in PowerPoint and posted to YouTube entitled Art Careers. This time I used the saved slides for the presentation which I uploaded to Prezi, another site where you can create free presentations that use movement (zooming in and out) to engage the audience.

Art Careers on Prezi

What I Learned/Application

Prezi is similar to PowerPoint in its purpose and basic actions. Both involve the use of graphics, text, a background theme, a kind of animation, and slides, or "frames." The tools, like the "zebra" tool edits the same way as selecting objects to rotate or change, but Prezi makes it quicker and less complicated. However, the traditional methods to altering objects on a slide in PowerPoint allow for more options, such as more color choices or 3-D perspectives. Prezi is fun in the way it creates much more movement in a presentation, but I see what the site meant by grouping frames and layering to prevent the viewer from becoming dizzy with motion sickness. Another disadvantage is that there is no sound or narration. I wouldn't say the benefits of one program exceeds the other; I think it is about using a combination of techniques to get the best of both worlds and have a stronger end result.

The ISTE Nets-T standard that I feel is satisfied by the development and use of PowerPoint and Prezi projects is number 1. It is perfect for the ART classroom because it serves to "facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity... promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes." I love the Prezi technique for presenting because it requires students to go a step further in presenting. Students aren't just spitting out information to prove they have learned something in a presentation. Students are forced to use the knowledge they have learned to be plugged into a presentation AND make lots of tiny decision that involves design. Prezi is more creative in some ways than just PowerPoint, because PowerPoint is so linear in direction and Prezi is more abstract and theme oriented. The direction and size of the frames actually has meaning corresponding to the subject of the presentation. Students really are telling a kind of story with Prezi. Also, they are put in a situation that involves having to present the information in a new way, which is a more advanced stage in learning than just temporarily recalling information.

Photo Story: Art Careers

Wow. What a busy week it has been for me. I worked hard on this acitivity and am pleased with the results. I created a typical PowerPoint presentation and did some fun things with it using Photo Story 3 for Windows to create a mini video with added narration and background music. I then uploaded to YouTube, which I didn't know I could do with a Google account. Cool stuff!

In my video I touch upon a few careers that I would want to introduce to students, especially those who might be serious about art, to show them the numerous options out there.