MAC-Week 4-Leadership Project 3 of 3

I have presented the Leadership Project during Saturday Wimba session with a Keynote presentation.
I focused on the methodology and the result of digital portfolio and online critique to better implement individualized instruction in my AP Studio Art class. Initial purpose of my AR was to implement individualized instruction in a large school setting, in a broader sense. As I develop my Leadership Project this month with AP Studio Art students as participants, I narrowed down the AR to implement individualized instruction in AP art class. It made a better sense because I was working with AP students and the class was distinctive from general large school setting. I felt more focused and clear with a revised AR question, "How to maximize the art-making time in class with specific feedbacks to fulfill the intense requirements of AP Studio Art exam?”


The feedbacks from peers during presentation were positive. Suggestion was to delete too much text in my Keynote presentation because viewers unlikely read the text in the presentation. One good resolution to the problem is to record a podcast using the Keynote presentation. 
To visit my Leadership Project page, click the link below.
http://web.me.com/soyeonkim/ActionResearch/Leadership_Project.html

MAC-Week 4-Leadership Project 2 of 3

School Arts Magazine

I decided to choose this magazine because it show the practical ways of teaching art in class and I want my AR to be viewed and used widely and practically challenge art teachers to help their students with technology. 

Guidelines

 • successful lessons 

• areas of concern 

• approaches to teaching art 

Each issue of the volume year revolves around a theme that focuses on the human side of the studio art projects, i.e. story, play, meaning. The editor determines which issue/theme is the best fit for your article so don’t worry about fitting a theme. It is more important to be passionate about your lesson, idea, or concept. Go to schoolartsonline.com, for upcoming themes. 

Once you pick a topic you can start writing. 

Think about: 

• How you would express your idea to a fellow art teacher. 

• What idea, artist, trend, or issue influenced your idea. 

• The main ideas you’re are trying to communicate. 

• What teachers need to know to effectively teach the lesson. 

• What problems a teacher might encounter. 

When writing: 

• Use a conversational style. 

Sample Cover Design with student work by Becky Wong (12) 

The article that will be proposed

How to maximize the art-making time in class with specific feedbacks to fulfill the intense requirements of AP Studio Art exam? I wonder what would happen if I give feedbacks online using web 2.0 tools. 
AP studio art requirements

Advanced Placement (AP) Studio Art requires 12 art pieces of breadth section and 12 art pieces of concentration section. In total, students have to create 24 pieces of artwork by the end of April to take the exam on May. Although many students already have 9 to 10 pieces to start with from previous art classes, it is still very difficult create 12 pieces of concentration that mandates all pieces in one theme. My AP studio students call this concentration section a thesis. As students develop a thesis, it is essential to assess and critique their work in class or outside the class because a thesis must demonstrate both skill and concept in depth. To fulfill the requirement, individualized instruction with specific feedback was necessary.  It is not surpring to say that critique in art makes a significant difference. (Blaikie, el. 2004) According to Dorn and Sabol, portfolios have been a valid and the most commonly used assessment in art education.  Colleges and competitions currently ask more of digital portfolio than slides for their jury process, which has shifted the way art students develop portfolio. (2006)

Problems during preparing for AP Exam 

Past two years of teaching AP, critique after each project took us two to three days to go over everyone in class. First year, we spent 15 days to critique before AP exam and it delayed the art-making in class. It was crucial to complete 12 pieces of thesis before AP exam and I decided to have less critiques in class. Individual feedback from teacher was the only source of critique and sometimes it made students a passive listener, not an active assessor. Moreover, slide-taking itself took me exactly 19 hours in one week to take more than 12 students’ portfolio of 24 pieces. It was a nightmare as a teacher to take of all students’ portfolio in short period of time. Even after slide-taking, looking for agent who could develop the film in short time was another big issue for students. 

Even after AP exam guidelines changed their submission to digital format last year, students waited till the last minute and did not know how to take pictures and upload them in a professional way. Their photos were crooked and exposure was incorrect. I had to take and edit the photos for them, which took me another days of nightmare right before the exam. 

Building a Digital Portfolio 

In the beginning of this school year, I decided to train students early on to take and edit their own work as a digital portfolio. In Cycle 1, students uploaded and edited four pieces of art on Flickr. Low quality photos were asked to be resubmitted. They also started online critique using Flickr group page after an in-class critique with a glossary of art terms. During the interview after the online critique, students mentioned that they were able to have enough time to think and use proper art terms. 

Students mentioned that they had more time to think and respond for the critique. They also explained that they learned how to use art terms and be more objective. After Cycle 2, students have created a set with eight to nine pieces of artwork. The essay of their thesis was included. Students exchanged feedbacks within a small group using guideline questions. 

After Cycle 2, students’ critique skill dramatically improved. Students actively exchanged thoughts and suggestion and the only thing I needed to do was to confirm and praise their active interaction. It was obviously different from in-class critique, where only few out spoken students constantly participated. I noticed that online critique gave everyone a voice, even to ELL students. One of the ELL student mentioned that he/she used a dictionary to understand other’s feedback and many of them suggested that they had more time to think and write when critiquing others. Students also mentioned that they learned how to talk about art with proper and specific terms. 

As a teacher, the biggest difference for me was that I was able to manage digital submission process during the AP exam without hassle. Last year, I used to be very busy, shooting, formatting, editing, and burning students’ portfolios into CDs. This year, students completed everything about photo images and I just had to assess and suggest how to organize their portfolio once they uploaded images of artwork onto AP digital submission site. This process has allowed me to be able to oversee the exam digital submission process with clearer mind. I also noticed digital portfolio as a holistic assessment. Students were able to assess and decide how to organize their portfolio during Cycle 2, which let them be more independent and productive learners. Dorn and Sabol (2006) claimed that digital portfolio is not only a useful assessment tool but also effective motivational tool for students because it encouraged them to actively engage and participate in their art making. Using digital portfolio, students took greater ownership and responsibility of their learning process.

Implications for the future

This study confirmed me that digital portfolio and online critique facilitate the individualized instruction with less restriction of time and space.  I realized training students to build their portfolio from the beginning is very important to fully benefit from the online activities.  In my school, all art and music teachers will implement digital portfolio for freshmen classes to document and assess student performance and progress. After first year of learning the use of digital portfolio and developing it, students will continue building their own digital portfolio throughout four years of art program. Hopefully students can practically use their portfolio when applying colleges, competitions and exams in the future with a organized body of work prepared. I am currently designing a web page to demonstrate how to build a digital portfolio using Flickr web 2.0 tool for next year students. 

Teacher role in building a digital portfolio in the first year will be intense of covering how to shoot, edit, upload and organize the photos. It will also be challenging to train students to critique works of art with proper terms. I believe it is worth doing after students start creating their own portfolio because it becomes a strong assessment tool to increase their sense of ownership and inner motivation. Plus, teacher will be able to monitor students’ weakness and strength to guide them to the better direction based on individual’s need.

Conclusion

To maximize the art making time in class and to fulfill individual student’s need, digital portfolio and online critique can be a great assessment tool that promote self reflection, sense of ownership and constructive critiques among students. It also allows teachers to nurture students’ learning outside the class with a full attention to each individual with less restriction of time and space. This study implies that digital portfolio opens up new possibilities of individualized instruction in a large school setting.

MAC-Week4-Reading Response-We approach

After reading the Art of Possibility by Zander & Zander, Chapter 12 "WE approach"

Artwork by Dennis Moon (11), Never Admit Defeat.

After giving out report cards in the beginning of the every year, couple students approached me and asked me,

 “Miss, why did you fail me?”

“ I didn’t fail you. You failed.” I used to be frustrated by their obvious question. I had present the excel file with the calculated grades and explained how it came out to their grades. They seemed to understand that I did not go by my feelings on students but they did not understand. I showed them the formula to prove that I did calculation to come up with the grade. Then I lectured them.

“You have a great potential but if you don’t try hard enough, talent doesn’t mean anything. You need to work harder. You are responsible for missing works and you must come to class everyday on time. If you fail, nothing happens in my life. Why would I bother? Because I want you to pass. Should I leave you alone and you get whatever grade? Or push you to work harder for you to pass? You choose.”

“You can push me.” They smiled.

I re-located the responsibility from me to them. It is important to raise the sense of responsibility and the ownership for them. There were times I succeeded in helping them. There were times I failed it.  As I was reading about “WE” approach in the book, the Art of possibility by Zander & Zander, I should have used WE approach.

“What can we do to increase your grade? It hurts both of us when you fail. I am your teacher and I want my students to succeed. What are we missing?”

It is already the end of the year and I seriously should work harder to make all students succeed. That is my job.

  

Mac-Week4-Reading Response-What's the essence?

“ Besides, I know full weel that every time I step onto a podium, I take a risk that thins won’t turn out exactly as I anticipate them in my ear-bu then, there is no great music-making without such risk taking.” (p.144)

The art of possibility by Zander & Zander

When I read Mr. Zander’s story, I always get fascinated by his wisdom.

In chapter 10, he basically is saying that even in a situation of totally someone else’s fault, what is the point of dividing of right and wrong? It only divides “you” and “me” and gives me the feeling of satisfaction of being the right one.

I also really appreciate his sharing of a story with Cora. Mr. Zander sincerely explained how he struggled and came to the conclusion of restoring the relationship with Cora.

This was a perfect time for me to read this chapter because I had a very similar situation with my boss this week. To make a long story, I felt completely insulted by her and I refused to talk to her after that. It has been three days that I haven’t been to the department office. I couldn’t believe how she treated me with such a small matter. But last night, I decided to accept the fact that she is just one of us who constantly make mistakes and to forgive her. She couldn’t hold whatever I did wrong and came out with unfiltered expression. In fact, I decided to acknowledge that I did not do such a bad thing to upset her that much but to her it was upsetting that much. I failed to understand her point of view. I decided to write a letter to her this weekend to recover the relationship. I will be apologetic of not being able to understand how she would feel in those situations. I can't stand it when I have a relationship problem. I need to resolve this. The degree of being right or wrong is not important. The broken relationship is what matters. 

MAC-Week3-Free Style-Nick Vujicic

This video is a story about a man who does not has arms nor legs. Although he doesn't have the health that others have, he seems happier than any other person I have seen. How can a person be so optimistic and determined in such a circumstances? I mean, I complaint all the time about how others treated me, how I make mistakes, and how messed up the world is and so on. Nick completely taught me how to stay determined and positive with myself. He may be in a difficult physical condition, but he is the best emotional mental condition. I admire his passion and inner strength so much.

MAC-Week3-Reading Response-Avoid Quick Judgment

Nature makes no judgment. Humans do. And while our willingness to distinguish good and evil may be one of our most enhancing attributes, it is important to realize that “good” and “bad” are categories we impose on the world- they are not of the world itself.

A man goes to see his rabbi... “When you get some good news, you thank the Lord, and when you get some bad news, you praise the Lord.” “Of course,” replies the man, “I should have remembered. But Rabbi, how do you know which is the good news and which is the bad news?” The rabbi smiles. “ You are wise, my son. So just to be on the safe side, always thank the Lord.”

From The Art of Possibility (p.105)

Living in Harmony by Laura Molina 2007 (Student)

This chapter reminds me of Eve’s apple in Garden Aden in the book of Genesis chapter 3 as well as the last verse in the book of Judges. (Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.)

People judge what is good or bad and everyone has different standards, which cause chaos in the world. Individuals are self-righteous and judge others according to their rules. Bible calls it “sin.” That’s why we fight, conflict and hurt each other. The only way to avoid is to humbly accept the fact that I can be wrong. According to Bible, human beings are born with the natural sin, the sin of wanting to be the judge of right and wrong, which has been ascended from Adam and Eve. It comes from self-righteousness and egocentric view. We are so egocentric that we don’t even realize how egocentric we are. No one is free from that sin. (Romans 3:10 as it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one;) I am not being pessimistic here. After reading the passage above from the Art of Possibility, I saw that how natural it is to made judgments and come to negative conclusions on my own based on what I see in the present reality. I too often quickly come to negative, so called “realistic”, conclusions without realizing until I think twice with third point of view from other people.

For example, Catholic church banned Bob Dylan’s electric guitar bands because there were more than one musical part playing at a time. They thought it confuse the concept of unity in God. (Levitin, 2006) The church committee decided to ban certain kinds of music based on their perception and it no longer applies to the modern society. Music itself is not something that has good or evil. It’s people who plays and listens to the music and put good or evil intention or expression in it.

As I read this chapter of The Art of Possibility, I affirmed that I should watch out my decision or judgment on people or situations, especially the negative ones that I thought was realistic. It is continuation of last week’s reading that I was deciding someone’s future or potential too quick from my observation. I can be very wrong and I should open up my eyes to possibilities in others.

I want to share the video on Team Hoyt, a great exemplary case of showing the art of possibility in their lives.

References:

Levitin, D.J. (2006). This is your brain on music: The science of a human obsession. Penguin Group. NY, NY.

The new oxford annotated bible. (2001). Oxford University Press, INC. NY,NY.

Zander, B. & Zander, R.S. (1995). The art of possibility. Harvard Business School Press. Boston, MA.

MAC-Week2-Response to Kerry M-Don't be serious

Kerry wrote

I found myself laughing a little more often this week despite the nerve-wracking pace I was trying to keep up. Several times, I caught myself taking myself and others too seriously several times. When I saw it, the seriousness immediately just blew away and I found myself smiling or even laughing. 

What a beautiful book this is, inspiring us to make a difference in the lives of others, to contribute and grant others importance. I’m very appreciative that this book, The Art of Possibility, was our assigned reading this month. It is giving me life again.

I have a story about a lesson that I did with my elementary art students this month. I found a little Reading Rainbow film that read the children’s book, Regina’s Big Mistake. It’s about a little girl in an art class who can’t think of what to draw. She starts to draw what some other children are drawing and they make mean comments and her teacher won’t give her another sheet of paper when she makes a mistake. Regina makes her mistake into something wonderful. All week since, my students have been telling me how they’ve made their mistake into something wonderful. These are 6, 7 and 8 year olds. I think it’s wonderful how a writer can give us that; can offer us a new and wonderful viewpoint.

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Soyeon responded

I love your story of Regina. This week I had the similar feeling about being serious all the time. I am too serious, my friends told me. They make jokes but I turn them into serious discussion. I always admired people with great sense of humor. I couldn’t bear my mistakes and I couldn’t forgive myself. This year was tough for me because I became a director of the art program, getting ready to get married, and other commitments in church. Plus this program on top of everything was more than I can bear. My AP is very meticulous and detail person and she used to give me ridiculous work that required high attention to details I used to be very nervous and panicking on little things. She is a nice person but her work style is very different from other people and that was hard to get used to in the beginning. When I was crying over very little thing because of overwhelming workload, my AP told me to be patient with myself. She said I needed to forgive myself. At first, I was mad at her who made me nervous. But, the more I think, the more it made sense. I was making things too serious. My AP asked me to do all the work and I had so much other stuff to do but I could have enjoy and just finish one by one. I didn’t have to make things too serious. I didn’t have to penalize myself for making little mistakes. Last weekend, I coordinated the art show and I felt very comfortable, not because I knew exactly what I was doing, but because I decided to allow some mistakes and enjoy the show rather than driving me crazy over little things. I went well with some mistakes. After reading this book, I remind myself not to be serious and I remind myself what my AP said, “Be patient with yourself.” Your story of Regina was also helping me think positively.