#arte250f16

[juiannalael-blog]

Binford Reflection

“By my Selfie” Reflection Paper

Being at Winford middle school was a blessing to me. Today felt like a true step to

becoming a teacher. My passions and dream finally starting to reveal itself to me. The first thing

Amanda, Sarah, and I had to do; while standing in front of the after school class, was settle them

down in a sense, get their attention, and get the projects going. As soon as we got them to give us

their attention, it felt natural to me being in front and instructing the children. Of course, one can

not simply take the spotlight all of the time. I made sure I did not because I personally do not feel

it is right. Therefore, I gave the “Diva Mic” to Sarah, whom felt very nervous and shy, but did so

well explaining what to do. Amanda got the Diva Mic next and she was energetic and happy to

be up in front explaining processes as well. We broke everything down into segments to

complete our lesson. The first part of our lesson was to demonstrate how to take a selfie, then

have the kids take their own and choose one to modify. Next, we had everyone go into pixlr to

upload their pictures to start creating cool and distorted pictures. Sarah, Amanda, and I all went

around helping everyone, tracking their progress, and showing them some of the cool tools they

could use to make magnificent art pieces. They had 3 layers to make 3 different pictures. Next

we made sure most of the kids were finished so we could move on to making their Gif’s. Some

of the kids had trouble with the software shutting down on them which had caused them to loose

their previous work. However, they did not get upset about it because they remembered the

filters they had used, and we explained that stuff happens which sometimes we cannot control,

but that is the beauty of art, if you mess up, you can create something even better than before.

Lastly, everyone created their Gif’s, except for a couple of kids, and we were able to export

them. Throughout this whole process, I kept my energy level high, connected pretty well

with the kids when I got a chance to, and got them to remain pretty focused on their work; which

was not too hard considering they loved the project. Each child created something different and

unique to them, and it was amazing to see that 6th graders could create Gif’s and as a college

student who is about to turn 21, I just learned how to make Gif’s. To be able to wittiness children

learning new technology that I am learning in college is quite wonderful and a great opportunity

to learn myself. In retrospect, there are only two things I could have done better

while in the process of teaching. One would have definitely been keeping track of time. I lost

track of time because I was so excited and engaged in teaching these smart and wonderful

children. Also, I had no clock in front of me to look at to time everything and make sure we

stayed on schedule. We should have took less time taking the selfies and more time creating the

photoshop images because we did not foresee the programs crashing and freezing up on some of

the computers. The other thing I would have changed or improved upon would be organization.

We should have collected the cameras directly after they uploaded them to the computers then

immediately out them into their proper cases so that things could go more smoothly after they

left. Overall, this was one of the best days ever simply because this is my dream, my passion,

and where I cannot wait to be in the future. Time management is a big priority in the classroom

setting, making sure the kids listen to you when you need them too, and keeping most things

organized. In the end, these three aspects will benefit me as a teacher and make for less stress

and let the classroom environment run a little more smoothly. Today was, for me, the first step to experiencing what it is like to truly be a teacher.

[juiannalael-blog]

Statement of Praxis

My artwork is a mixture of political, social, and precise works of art meant to push the boundaries of my work and audience. I love performance art and my niche is hyper realism portraiture. I like to make art about my cultural background, statements containing race, and pushing the extreme views of my audience to obtain a better outlook of my artwork. I like to push my audience to an uncomfortable state because they have to realize the reaction they are having is in correlation with my pieces and makes them think about what they went through. Lastly, I have honed in on my hyper-realism skill of portraiture because I love shading and that is where I have been able to realize my love of fine art; along with performance art.

[juiannalael-blog]

R12

When I become a teacher, I want my students to be engaged and excited to learn and make art for like every class. That means that I have to have a variety of lessons and ways to keep students focused and interested in what they are learning. One wonderful way of doing that is to introduce “play” into my lesson. I think a good way to incorporate play into a lesson would be to have the students make their own games. Being able to make a game by hand is very important because it allows the maker or makers to think about every little detail. Giving the students full charge over making a game is great because they get to think everything out and truly understand what every single aspect of something means and give objects and concepts meaning. I think it is very important for students to discuss and learn what different objects mean, giving things connotations and being able to make those connections within themselves. It is also important to lean through playing each others games to understand different concepts and see how others interpret game concepts and objects. Students and teachers can learn a lot from play. We learn how kids are feeling, what they do and do not have an understanding of. We learn about racial and sexual implications objects and ideas contain, be they negative or positive. We can teach many aspects of life and fantasy through play. We can teach how every object has some type of meaning associated with it and how to give things different meanings. We can teach how to make different levels and fantastical places. If there is a way to make video games in class, then that is a great way to teach students how to make a video game themselves and how to continue to work though and troubleshoot their problems. One thing that is important to learn is that everyone will have a different idea and way to make and interpret things. It is good to teach students to listen to everyone and let their voice be heard. It is important not to judge and make fun of ideas because everyone is different and expresses things in various ways. Lastly, incorporating play into a class helps kids to understand that it is okay to fail and to be patient because we are all going to fail so many times in life; but it is those experiences and failures that teach us lessons and help us conquer and succeed in life and in a game.

[arttechkeyes]

Last Call!

Yoooooo! So I’m still missing a few things from some of y’all and haven’t gotten any responses. If you need more time, I just need y’all to throw me a line and lemme know what’s up. Otherwise the bureaucratic underbelly might swallow me up, and I realllllllly hate paperwork. We’re talking non-digital forms here. Please do not make me walk outside to get paperwork. I’m from South Carolina. I don’t even own boots. 🌨😰🌨 If you haven’t sent me a text/email/message by 4:00 PM today, then you have to lend me snow boots. 

[bee-art-tech-blog]

My character sprite from the video game. 

[bee-art-tech-blog]

Video Game

Go to this link to access the google drive folder containing my part of the video game project as well as the full game itself. 

[bee-art-tech-blog]

Reading Response 14

Technology surrounds us. One could even argue that our bodies are a technology interacting with and processing data about our surroundings to build a perception about the world around us. What happens when technology fails? What happens when it is both not enough in terms of providing equity among students of different backgrounds/experiences as well as not working as expected (even turning it on/off doesn’t work)?

This was most definitely one of the more difficult responses I’ve had to tackle, mostly because I feel like I don’t really have anything close to a good answer. Throughout this class we’ve talked about how much technology can provide to students and how it can give them tools and resources to excel when they might otherwise flounder and fall through the cracks. Whilst this isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s simply not as easy as it sounds. The truth is, students of different backgrounds and experiences will not excel in the same fashion even if they are given the exact same resources, because by the time you introduce those resources, the world will have already started to stack itself in or against their favor. Thus raises the question, what can you do to get every kid to stay on equal footing? We figure it would be ideal if every child was raised and treated equal, but this simply has not ever and will not ever happen, and there’s no surefire way that as a teacher you can assure that each student will come out of your class equally prepared and equipped to handle and excel at technology in the same capacity. So does that mean teaching technology is pointless because it was not the great equalizer we thought it was? Of course not, but it suddenly feels a lot more difficult to teach knowing that each student will come away from the experience with very different takeaways. But perhaps that is okay. 

Part of what I feel is essential to be as an art instructor is flexible. This applies to every facet of teaching, I believe, not just when dealing with injustices and learning gaps for technology. An instructor that tries to stick to their curriculum to a perfect T is destined to snap under the pressure of the world coming around and knocking that lesson plan to the ground, be it computers crashing, data being lost, internet not connecting, what have you. One of the biggest things I have taken away from this class is the necessity of rolling with the punches. I would like to think I was fairly decent at this to begin with, and hopefully even more so coming out of this class. To be flexible and adaptable in a classroom setting is essential to maintaining the class’ focus and making sure that students can still be able to leave the class with something learned. When everything goes wrong, it is our responsibility as educators to take that deep breath, improvise, and know, that when all technology fails, paper and pencil is almost always there for back up. 

[bee-art-tech-blog]

Reading Response 12

How do you plan to incorporate “play” into your own teaching practice, be it technology-based or otherwise? What can we learn from play? What can we teach through play?

In my future classroom, I would like to incorporate play as much as possible. Play is an essential part of education, especially in early development. Obviously, it promotes engagement between the student and the subject being taught, and it should go without saying that students are more likely to be engaged and invested in material when they are having fun. If I have the ability to introduce video games to my classroom as both an art medium and a learning tool, I would love to incorporate it into my curriculum, although I’m not too sure whether that’s something I will be able to do, depending on what I’ll be provided in my classroom setting. If I were to be able to implement video games into my curriculum, I feel that it would be a great opportunity to expand my students’ definition of what art is and make connections between their outside lives and the media they enjoy to the art classroom. Video games have the potential to provide an educational experience just as much as an entertaining one. Implementing play as a whole into a curriculum could yield a lot of benefits. It opens up the classroom environment to be one where kids being kids is very much allowed and even encouraged. It encourages students to try new things of their own accord and express themselves accordingly. 

In the assigned watching for this response, a playthrough of the game Gone Home, I found myself utterly entranced in the story. The discoveries throughout and the piecing together of information was suspenseful and rewarding and had me on edge throughout, and as I had likely mentioned in class before, I was quite pleasantly shocked by the ending. Throughout the story, there was a consistent sense of impending doom, and what felt like foreshadowing towards an untimely demise for the playable character’s missing sister. And yet, at the end of the game, right when the player is lead to believe they are about to encounter the horror that is Sam’s fate (for a moment I personally believed Katie was going to find Sam’s body in the attic, or discover that Sam was sent to conversion therapy) the story takes a surprising and satisfying twist. Instead of Sam’s story ending tragically, it turns out to have not ended at all. Sam has run off with the girl she loves, away from the toxicity of her parents to live her life for herself. It’s a bit sad how much this sappy little non-ending gave me so much relief and ultimately joy. It’s so refreshing to have seen a story about a queer person getting a happily-ever-after, especially after such a suspenseful and treacherous buildup. Being queer myself, it’s not difficult to find myself in Sam’s shoes though out, but even more than that, as an older sister, I found myself easily inserted in Katie’s shoes as well. The idea of losing one of my younger brothers or friends without explanation, knowing parental relations were toxic and turmoil at best, is a fear I pray never becomes reality. It brought out a very protective side of myself, an instinct often reserved for my family and close friends that I have no doubt I will have for my future students as well. All in all, this game really hit home for me in many ways. 

Definitely the best lesbian scavenger hunt I’ve ever been on. 10/10.