Thinking About Going Back to School

It is getting close to the time when classes will start up again.  Some states have already started.  I have spent a fair amount of time already planning for this next school year.  I have placed my orders and some are starting to come in, so next week I will start getting my classroom ready.  I decided it might be fun to share a couple of videos that some of my 8th grade students made about bullying.

We all know that bullying can be a problem at school.  Last year I challanged my students to create an anti-bully message with animation.  The students were asked to use simple construction paper in the style of South Park.  Beyond that, I let them come up with their own ideas.  I just helped them with the technical aspects of video production.  This first one has a technical issue with the voice not be alligned properly.  I think they added a slide at the beginning and forgot to move their audio over.  It still is pretty funny and clever.

 
In the next video the students created nice art but I think it would have been better if they had different students doing the voices.  The students in this group chose to have a narrator which makes it a little less exciting.  If you decide to create animations with your students, I would suggest trying to get them to be silly and create the voices much like the first video.


I don't know if this next video solves the bullying problem but the kids had fun making it.  It appears that Timmy looks a little different with legs coming out of his head.  It has a point but I'm not sure in the end if they really get along.

You can see other animations and films that my students have made if you go to Youtube and type in ksvoboda100.  I have the students work with Sam Animation software and a document camera.  It is easy and works great.  Editing is done with Videopad editor software that can be downloaded online.  We use an Ipevo camera.  I highly recommend Ipevo because the camera is just $69.  Sam Animation used with Ipevo is so easy to teach students.  We have also used the iPad Sam Animation App.  It is less complete but works well and is easy to learn.  If anyone needs any advice about all of this feel free to contact me.

Integrating technology with Art Class

Integrating technology into art class

View more presentations from Katherine Svoboda

New Beginnings

This is the beginning of a new blog for me that is just about art education.  I’m a middle school art teacher from Michigan.  I’ve been teaching for many years and I believe that creativity can save the world.  I feel my job as an art educator is a noble one.  I have an opportunity to work with young people and help them be the change for the future.   Contrary to all the hoopla over test scores, I view today’s youth far more optimistically than the constant testing suggests.  Most adults past the age of thirty have no idea what’s really going on in education today, unless they are an educator.  These adults make assumptions based on politicians’ blathering about how much our children have fallen and how inadequate the teachers of today have become.  I just want to point out that when the economy isn’t good, neither is much of anything else for the working class!  However, I have been working with young people for many years.  I find them enthusiastic, creative, and ready to work with me in the art room.  I have students that stay after school because they want to work with art materials, just hang out, play on the computers, or just do their homework.  I work with teachers that are dedicated and caring professionals.  Over this next school year I’m going to bring my classroom into Katie’s Corner for Art Education and share it with the world.  School doesn’t really get started until after Labor Day but I will begin my posts this summer.  This year I will be infusing more technology into my art curriculum.  I will share what I’m doing in that regard as well.