This is a guest blog by Katlyn Wolfgang, a high school art teacher at Central York High School. We would love to hear how you are infusing technology into your classroom. Please leave your comments below or visit facebook.com/myreadingsecrets and post your comments on my wall.
Commence all groaning by students AND teachers.
As a teacher of high school art students, engaging the students in a discussion about their artwork in a constructive manner is one that takes skillful planning, questioning and trickery to avoid the sound of crickets and blank stares for an entire class period. I have spent countless hours searching for and experimenting with different ideas to engage my students in a critique. Some of these tactics worked, some failed and others served a purpose but I would never touch again with a 100ft pole.
I was never completely satisfied with a critique until VOICETHREAD.
The best way I can describe VoiceThread (a conversation in the cloud) would be as an interactive PowerPoint in which all can collaborate through comments. Comments can be typed, drawn, video recorded, or recorded by a microphone or a phone.
Take a look at a VoiceThread of student work and their constructive feedback to one another STUDENT CRITIQUE
Did you like what you saw? Want to create one of your own?
FOLLOW THESE 3 EASY STEPS:
1.CREATE A VOICETHREAD
Sign up. Create your own VoiceThread by uploading your desired pictures.
Sidebar: I set up a lighting area, camera and tri-pod for students to take pictures of their work throughout a class period or two. From there I keep all of the pictures on my desktop in a folder for easy selection. Saves me time AND it teaches students about framing an image and using a digital camera.
2. SHARE THE LINK
Choose to share your thread by copying a link and post it in an easily accessible space.
3. STUDENT ENGAGMENT
Have students sign up for an account and access the link. Once on the thread they can leave comments to their classmates work.
Sidebar: I have my students respond to the 5 pieces that are featured after their work. Their comments must be either warm or cool feedback and relate to the Elements of Art or Principles of Design.
And, DONE!
The students LOVE it. They can sit back and develop their ideas in a mode that is comfortable for them. I have found that the quality critiques are much greater and our time in class is used more efficiently.
