Scholastic Instructor Top 20

September 17, 2009 by admin · 2 Comments 

scholastic instructor

Today we discovered that Scholastic Instructor named The Teaching Palette one of the Top 20 Teacher Blogs!  A huge thank you to all our readers who have inspired us to keep writing about issues that impact the art education field!

Other blogs listed among the Top 20:

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An Alternative to Adobe: Aviary’s Free Design Tools

July 18, 2009 by Hillary Andrlik · 2 Comments 

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If you’re looking for the image editing power of Photoshop or Illustrator without the hefty price tag you may want to consider trying the Aviary Suite.  It’s a free web 2.0 technology with a pro version available for $24.99 a year. Aviary is not only an image editing tool but it’s also a visual social network.

Users maintain a profile, contacts, favorites, access to chat boards, tutorials and more. Images created in the Aviary Suite can be shared with the community or kept private in a user account, and then saved in a variety of formats or downloaded to your computer.

Plus, users can import images from a URL, Aviary Library, Flickr, Picasa or Facebook directly into any of Aviary’s five programs – Phoenix, Falcon, Peacock, Toucan and Raven.

Phoenix does image editing and has tools like layers, masks, effects, undo history, and more. Peacock is what Aviary calls their “visual laboratory”. It features toolaviary-toolss like generators, effects and controllers. Toucan is their color swatches and palettes. It features many of the usual color palette tools but what really was interesting to me was their color deficiency preview tool. It allows you to choose from a list of color vision deficiencies and see how someone who is color blind would distinguish your color palette. It would be a great way to teach students how other people see the world. Toucan is a simple tool, but in conjunction with the other programs in the Aviary Suite you can create some amazing images. Raven is their vector editor program and the first of its kind on the web.  It allows you not only to create complex vector art but to carefully scale and create logos, clip-art, large print ready graphics, and t-shirt and clothing designs.

The newest program is an image markup tool called Falcon. It allows you to capture images from your desktop or a web page and edit them in your browser. It is similar to Skitch or Jing but with additional capabilities since it can be used in conjunction with Aviary’s other programs. Just install Talon, a Firefox extension for Aviary, and you can quickly annotate, mark, crop and resize your captured images. Or you can transfer the images to any of the other Aviary programs for more in-depth editing. Falcon would be a great tool to have students critique an image of their own, a classmates or from a pool of stock photos.

If you teach a computer graphics program at a middle or high school and are looking for an exceptional resource or additional tools to extend beyond the classroom lab, Aviary might be a solution for your program.  Students don’t have to stop creating once they leave the lab since they can log on and design anywhere there is an Internet connection.

Below are two videos featuring Aviary’s Raven and Falcon programs.

(Trouble viewing this video? Try this link.)

(Trouble viewing this video? Try this link.)

Filed under: Cool + Creative, In The News, Multimedia, Neat Video, Organization and Preparation, Positive Reinforcement, Reviews, Tech Stuff, Techniques, Technology and Gadgets, Tools and Miscellaneous
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The Art Institute of Chicago Launches Interactive Website

June 27, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

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We were excited to view The Art Institute of Chicago’s new Modern Wing at the educator open house. The new edition designed by Renzo Piano makes the Art Institute of Chicago the second largest art museum in the United States. The layout and design of the new galleries that now house the museums 20th and 21st century art collections are impressive but, as educators we were truly amazed by the new Ryan Education Center.

The new eduction space boasts five classrooms, three huge studios, the new Crown Family Education Center and the new David and Marilyn Fatt Vitale Family Orientation Room. Not only are these educational spaces truly state of the art but, have one of the most sought after views in the city as they look onto Millennium Park. The image above was taken on my phone in one of the new studios.

Along with the fantastic educational space , The Art Institute previewed new interactive software and resources featuring pieces from their collections.  This July they lunched that material online in an interactive website for kids called the Curious Corner. The site is geared more towards the elementary age child but, also has resources for educators and parents. Visitors can choose form three different categories of interactive games such as Story Time, Match Up and Play with Art. The Match up section is one of our favorites it lets you match texture, shape or sound. Below is a short clip of some of the interactive games children can explore on the site.

(Trouble viewing this video? Try this link.)

Below is a couple of ideas for utilizing the Curious Corner in the classroom.

  • Use the “Story Time” games as an introduction to teaching children about the messages, stories and meaning behind many pieces of art.
  • Use the “Match Up” sound game as an individual activity for analyzing the parts of a work of art. As a student matches each sound to different area of a piece of art they will notice new details and better understand what is happening in the image.
  • Use the Cornell Box section of the “Play with Art” game to have students create a still life that is meaningful to themselves. Print the completed computer still life images and have students use the grid drawing processes to enlarge the image. Choose a media such as colored pencil or chalk for students to add detail to their personal still life drawings.
  • Use the “Match Up” game as an introduction or extension activity for concepts like texture and shape.

Share how you could utilize this site in your classroom in the comments section below?

Filed under: Art Games, Cool + Creative, In The News, Multimedia, Music + Art Integration, Reviews, Tech Stuff
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The Importance of Art in Education

June 17, 2009 by Theresa McGee · 1 Comment 

2008 Arts Report CardYesterday the National Assessment of Educational Progress released the 2008 Arts Report Card. This survey and assessment compared 8th grade students in 2008 with those in 1997. Click here to view a sample question in the study then test yourself.

Here are a few of the findings in Visual Arts:

  • “Students eligible for National School Lunch Program have lower average responding score in visual arts than those who were not eligible. There is a 29-point score gap between the groups.”
  • “Eighth-graders in private schools have higher average creating task score in visual arts than students in public schools.”

Additional insight into the study can be found in a New York Times article.

Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, perhaps summed it up best:

“This Arts Report Card should challenge all of us to make K-12 arts programs more available to America’s children and youth. Such programs not only engage students’ creativity and academic commitment today, but they uniquely equip them for future success and fulfillment. We can and should do better for America’s students.”

This study reminded me of my unofficial job as an advocate for the arts. The TeacherTube video below makes a great case for supporting the arts in every community.
Arts advocacy articles you may find useful:
Age of the Right Brain
Visual Interaction with Art Boosts Academic Achievement
Why Arts Education is Crucial, and Who’s Doing It Best
Arts Appear to Play a Role in Brain Development
Three Rs Are Essential, but Don’t Forget the A – the Arts
Technology Makes Art Education a Bigger Draw

Update 6/17/09: NAEA, Maximizing The Nation’s Arts Report Card - Great review of 2008 Arts Report Card with key findings and links to news press articles.

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National Culture Secretary

January 19, 2009 by Hillary Andrlik · Leave a Comment 

A ground swell of excitement for the inauguration of a young hip new president brings a push for the appointment of a cabinet level secretary of the arts. Renowned music producer Quincy Jones has personally advocated for a national culture secretary for the past ten years. Last year an online petition was even started by New York musicians Jamie Austria and Peter Weitzner to grow support for Jones’ idea. 

Today’s article - Quincy Jones urges national culture secretary to Cabinet - published by The Washington Times sites how the arts not only allows children to express themselves, but also creates new jobs and strong growth.

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The Inauguration Through Portraiture

January 16, 2009 by Theresa McGee · 1 Comment 

I have been searching for a way to honor the Presidential Inauguration through art. Today I found a YouTube video via Free Technology For Teachers that I think it captures exactly what I was looking for. This video is a cronological portrature documentation of all 44 presidents and is a great way to discuss portraiture in American history. Fun fact: Barack Obama is the first president to have his official presidential portrait taken using a digital camera.

(If you can’t access YouTube from your school, try some of the bypass solutions suggested in an earlier post.) You may also find an earlier post: American Revolution Portraitist useful in your discussion.

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Art Teacher’s Best of 2008

December 25, 2008 by Hillary Andrlik · 1 Comment 

It’s that time of year when the “who’s who” of the blogosphere name their top picks for everything from TV shows to bikini-clad super models. So what does that mean for the art education world?

Well, we have our own “Best of 2008” list according to The Art Teacher’s Guide To The Internet authored by Craig Roland.

Craig’s Best of 2008 list for art educators includes: Ed.Voicethread as Best New Web Tool for Education; Jason Polan as Best New Drawing Blog; Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson as Best New Art Resource; The Teaching Palette as Best New Art Teachers Blog; and many others.  Check out Craig’s full Best of 2008 list.

We are extremely honored to be part of Craig’s Best of 2008 list.  Coming from a veteran art educator, author and tech guru, that means a lot to us.  Thanks, Craig!

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National Arts Education Public Service Awareness

September 30, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Back in May 2008, the Advertising Council joined Americans for the Arts and the NAMM Foundation to launch a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) designed to promote the benefits of arts education.  The 30 second commercial was one of the ads.

If you need to quickly impress parents with stats and facts about the benefits of arts education, check out the campaign website.  As it states, kids need a daily serving of the arts just like they need a well-balanced nutritional diet.  Unfortunately, most kids don’t get enough art – in or out of school.  Be sure to visit the site as it also features a number of resources, activities, case studies and a nice list of 10 simple ways parents can get more art in their kids’ lives.

The Arts:

  • Improve kids’ overall academic performance.
  • Show that kids actively engaged in arts education are likely to have higher test scores than those with little to no involvement.
  • Develop skills needed by the 21st century workforce: critical thinking, creative problem solving, effective communication, teamwork and more.
  • Teach kids to be more tolerant and open.
  • Allow kids to express themselves creatively and bolster their self-confidence.
  • Keep students engaged in school and less likely to drop out.

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