Thoughts from Art Teacher

For this assignment I was hoping to find a topic with an artistic angle but didn’t have much luck finding one.  Instead I found nice presentation from a vice-principal in Scotland. The presenters name was Ollie Bray and his presentation was Using Computer Games as a Context for Learning and Social Interaction.  His school implemented a program that uses the x box game, Guitar Hero, as a tool for students to do all kinds of group projects in the junior high school.  Kids are put into groups of four and then research bands, make up their own bands, create t-shirts, do writing projects about going to concerts and on and on.  The children really seem to enjoy the project.

The presentation was  basically a slide show with voice over.  It was nothing fancy but it got the job done.  The nicest thing was being able to put my feet up and yawn as loud as I wanted when I felt like it.  When I do this at regular conferences I always get a few stares.  As far a ideas I could use in my own classroom, there weren’t many except for the reminder of how art can tie any/all topics together.

I’m sure I’ll be checking out a few more presentations to see what else is out there.