The Teaching Palette

The 10 Best iPhone and iPad Apps for Art Teachers 2010

Posted on 13. Dec, 2010 by Hillary Andrlik + Theresa McGee in All Posts, Reviews, Tech Stuff, Technology and Gadgets, Tools and Miscellaneous

“I’m through. What do I do?”

Posted on 05. Nov, 2010 by Hillary Andrlik + Theresa McGee in All Posts, Art Games, Books, Clean-up and Transition, Clssrm Mgmt, Cool+Creative, Music+Art, Neat Video, Off-task Behavior, Organization and Preparation, Reviews, Tech Stuff, Techniques, Tools and Miscellaneous

It’s those 5, 10, or 15 minutes when students finish assigned work early that can send a teacher into an internal panic.  Instead of panic, be prepared.  We have pulled some of our ready-to-use ideas together to help you fill those last few minutes with meaningful content.

Independent Activities for Early Finishers:

Wii Interactive Whiteboard Tutorial

Posted on 14. Sep, 2010 by Theresa McGee in All Posts, Tech Stuff

Instead of being envious of teachers with interactive devices such as Smart Boards, I found the next best thing. I was able to use free software, a Wii Remote (Wiimote), and an infrared pen to make my own Interactive Whiteboard for about $50! I created the tutorial below so you can make your own Interactive Whiteboard yourself (probably without even consulting the your school tech).

Having trouble seeing the video above? Try it on YouTube or our iTunes Podcast

Directions for creating your own interactive whiteboard:
Hardware you will need:  A projector, Wii Remote (Wiimote), infrared pen and a computer (Mac or PC) with Bluetooth capability.  Free Software Download here (download before attempting to connect to bluetooth)

Step by Step: (Based on using a Mac. PC models may have slight variations)

1. Download and install software created by Johnny Chung Lee.
2. Open Bluetooth on your computer (if you don’t have bluetooth, an external device can be connected)
3. Next, open the back of the Wii remote (where the battery is located) and press the red button to let the computer and Wiimote “find” each other via bluetooth.
4. Open software and press buttons 1 & 2 at the same time on the Wii remote (you will see a “searching” indication on the software at this time).  Software script will start to show on computer – give this a minute to load all the script.
5. Look for the ”searching” message to to show a battery level (blue in color) and a “not calibrated” message.  Now, you are set up and ready to turn your whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard.
6. Plug in your projector to your computer so that your computer projects on the wall.
7. Set Wiimote on a stool, table, or taped to the projector while pointed toward the projection wall.  For quick setup, you can also use tripod with an attachment to the Wiimote.
8. Click “Calibrate” on your computer
9. You will see an “+” in the upper left hand corner of the projected screen image.
10. Use the infrared pen to click on the middle of the “+”.
11. You will see a green check-mark appear  (if no check-mark, then adjust the Wii Remote to a different angle and redo the calibration)
12. Next check the “+” that appears in the upper right corner  (continue clicking with pen to get each corner)

NOTE:  You will NOT see a light with the infrared pen. (Infrared is not visible to your eye.)
At this point you should be able to interact with your computer on the wall!!!!

Trouble shooting tips:

• If you have trouble connecting to bluetooth. 1. Make sure you have downloaded software. 2. Continue to press Wiimote buttons 1 & 2 or press and hold red button located under battery cover. 3. If you don’t have bluetooth, you can use an external bluetooth.
• If software does not connect to Wiimote, be sure you have waited for all of the script (code) to load. Try hitting buttons 1 & 2 again. Keep Wiimote still and wait a minute or two for first time setup.
• If you have trouble calibrating on your whiteboard with infrared pen, try moving location of your Wiimote slightly and make sure nothing is obstructing its view.
• If you’re still having trouble, talk to your tech at school (they will probably love the challenge).

Optional Extras: Wiimote Mount and tripod, software upgrade to Smoothboard ($30)

Some fun websites to try . . .

NGA Kids
Build Your Wild Self
Surreal Painter
Detail Detective
Mr. Picasso Head
Looking for more? Try the resources in this LiveBinder:

Do you have any other websites that might be useful for an Interactive Whiteboard? Please let us know in the comments area below.

iPod Nano Scavenger Hunt: Connecting Math & Art

Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by Guest Author in All Posts, Cool+Creative, Educators in Art, Neat Video, Tech Stuff

The following is a guest post written by April Millian, a high school mathematics teacher in collaboration with Lisette Morel, a high school art teacher.  April and Lisette teach at New Milford High School in New Milford, New Jersey.

Background:

As a child I loved art class and excelled at mathematics, often creating artwork with a definite geometric flair.  However, it wasn’t until college that I developed a real appreciation for the connections between these two subjects. I was fortunate to spend a January term (a three-week class) in Greece for a Classics course studying of Greek art and architecture. Along with our two Classics professors, a math professor joined us. My initial thought was that it’s crazy to have a math professor on this trip. I mean, what was he going to teach us in Greece? I was standing in front of the Parthenon listening to my professor discuss the Golden Ratio and how it applied, not only to the ancient structure in front of us, but to countless other works of art. That is how my love of mathematics and its significance in art was born.

Fast-forward 13 years I, Miss Millian, am now fortunate to be teaching in a school that is technology-oriented with a fantastic art teacher, Ms. Morel, who shares my interest in relating our two subjects.  I was teaching linear perspective to my geometry students when I realized what a great topic it would make for a cross-curricular activity. Ms. Morel and I began to develop an idea for a video scavenger hunt at The Metropolitan Museum of Art that would combine the art with the mathematics behind it.

Teacher and Student Preparation:

Our objective for this interdisciplinary lesson was simply to introduce our students to and have them recognize and apply the relationship that art and math share. It is crucial to establish and maintain real-life connections in education. This connection brings relevance to the subject matter and to our students’ lives.

To prepare students for the interdisciplinary lesson plan I, Ms. Morel, introduced my drawing students and Miss Millian’s Geometry class to western and non-western viewpoints, such as Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Asian and their applications to visually documenting real life. Afterwards we discussed the Renaissance and linear perspective and how it was utilized by the architects and later by painters. For a real life experience I had our students step out into our hallways and view a one-point perspective. We also looked at photographs of homes and streets where students had to point out a one point, two point, high, low or normal vanishing points. While in Miss Millan’s Geometry class I used a document camera which I found to be extremely helpful in my demonstration and presentation to a large class. Our lesson culminated with a technology, art and math scavenger hunt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The Scavenger Hunt:

To create this scavenger hunt, we started off by visiting the museum ourselves to get acquainted with the layout and decide which pieces would be included in our scavenger hunt. We also took pictures of each work of art.  Then the real work began. We used iMovie to create a video that would take our students throughout history on a search for linear perspective (or sometimes the lack of it) in art. The students were armed with an iPod Nano for each group of two, and a question sheet that they needed to answer. The clues were recorded on the iPods by Ms. Morel and myself. They were also given visual clues, such as a cropped part of a painting, to help them find the correct work of art. To add a bit of challenge to the adventure, the first team to complete the scavenger hunt with the most correct answers received a prize of two prints we had purchased at the museum gift shop.  Upon returning from our quest, the students created their own linear perspective drawings and completed an online survey.

It was so amazing to watch our students scamper through the museum, intent on finding these works of art. The students enjoyed the activity and found using the iPods more engaging than just reading off of a sheet of paper. What made this scavenger hunt so fascinating was that it brought to life a true connection between classroom learning and real life experience for our students.

Below you can view The Met Scavenger Hunt created by Miss Millian and Ms. Morel.

(Having trouble viewing this video. Try this link.)

(Download Scavenger Hunt Here:  The Art Scavenger Hunt Worksheet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Preview Scavenger Hunt Worksheet by clicking on the image below.

April Millian is a high school mathematics teacher in New Milford, New Jersey. She enjoys traveling and coaching the school’s Varsity Bowling team.

Lisette Morel is a teaching artist-mom, working with her students in a variety of art disciplines while maintaining an active art career.

A big thanks to @NMHS_Principal for sharing his teachers creative ideas on Twitter so we can hear about them and share them with you. Check out Eric’s blog A Principal’s Reflections.

Dutch Still Life Online Game and iPhone App Using Artwork From John Baldessari

Posted on 28. Jun, 2010 by Hillary Andrlik in All Posts, Cool+Creative, Tech Stuff

Experimental fun re-arranging Baldessari still life.

Major contemporary artist John Baldessari launches new iPhone/iPad app John Baldessari: In Still Life 2001-2010 in conjunction with For Your Art and support from Ovation. According to the the official website, “John Baldessari created the first In Still Life in 2001 for an exhibition at LACMA. He hung Abraham van Beyeren’s Banquet Still Life on the wall next to an empty frame and invited exhibition visitors to digitally rearrange or remove the 38 objects in the original 17th-century Dutch painting, thus creating a new still life of their own. Visitors were encouraged to print out their still lifes and hang them in the room or take them home. When someone completed a still life using In Still Life, it became his or her own artwork, not John Baldessari’s or Abraham van Beyeren’s artwork.”

Although, the app is free through iTunes you might not have access to a classroom set of iPod Touches. That’s why we really love the online preview that allows anyone with a computer to create his or her own still life (click here to preview app online). This is a wonderful alternative for giving a whole class access to creating their own Dutch influenced masterpiece. The website would also work well with an Interactive White Board to introduce a lesson on Dutch still life painting, show connections between modern artists and past art or to talk about symbolism. While visiting the site make sure to check out the “Learn” tab in the menu. It lists each of the 38 objects in Abraham van Beyeren’s original artwork and describes the and meaning behind each object.

Check out images already created with In Still Life on Flicker and Twitter.

Introducing The Teaching Palette Podcast

Posted on 21. May, 2010 by Hillary Andrlik + Theresa McGee in All Posts, Multimedia, Tech Stuff, Technology and Gadgets

All of our video tutorials have been gathered together to create The Teaching Palette Podcast Channel! Now you can subscribe to our educational videos through iTunes and automatically be updated on the latest Palette Podcasts.  Keep up-to-date on the latest art-related videos while on the go and share what you’ve learned with other art educators. Subscribe though iTunes or watch them on the web.

Review: Say the Time

Posted on 03. May, 2010 by Guest Author in All Posts, Clean-up and Transition, Tech Stuff, Tools and Miscellaneous

Submitted by: Jessica Andrighetti, elementary art teacher from Houston, Texas.

Product Title: Say the Time (PC-only computer program, see Mac alternative below)

Grade Levels: Kindergarten-12th grade

Product Review: I am an elementary art teacher, and I know that schedules are hard to keep. In my classroom, we have fifty-five minute classes, and when you take away clean up time, that doesn’t leave us with nearly enough time to get our work done. I also realized when I was helping students, that sometimes the time got away from me. So I  searched online for some kind of timer. What I found was Say the Time. It is an amazing program that can set reminders to go off every day.

I have set a reminder for when it is clean-up time for each class, and I have it repeat every week day. Whenever the bell rings, the students know it it time to clean up. This gets everyone going very quickly, and always on time! The program costs about $30.00, but that is a one time fee. There are no subscriptions or any other costs. Just recently, I have added another timer that tells students when they need to be in line and ready to walk out the door. Just today, I had a fourth grade class that was cleaned up and in line in less than one minute! It has worked wonders and given me back my class time. Another added bonus: You can set it to “Say the time” whenever you want it to (I have it set for every 15 minutes) which helps the younger students with elapsed time!

Please note:  Say the Time works on PC only.  If you are a Mac user, we found a similar product called “Timer 7.0” (click “download page” for free version)

Bucket Rating (5 out of 5 – Love! Need it! Gotta have it now!):

(5) Love it! Need it! Gotta have it now!

Favorite Things from NAEA Convention, Baltimore

Posted on 19. Apr, 2010 by Theresa McGee in All Posts, Clssrm Mgmt, Cool+Creative, Educators in Art, In The News, Neat Video, Tech Stuff, Techniques

This year was the first time I traveled outside of my home state to attend a National Art Education Association (NAEA) Conference. If you ever have the opportunity to attend, it is an experience you will never forget.  Listed below are some of the my favorite activities, observations, presentations and tidbits of information I picked up from casual conversations in Baltimore:

• I had never heard about Merlot (peer reviewed online resource of teaching and learning materials). A quick search on Merlot turned up this awesome Cave of Lascaux interactive explorer.
• LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the American Visionary Art Museum. Although I was not allowed to photograph inside, I spent about 20 minutes outside admiring the sculptural forms.

Once I finally made it inside, the theme of the museum became very clear by the words and messages incorporated into the art.  Watch this entertaining video featuring the art of Chris Robert-Antieau to get a feel for what the museum is about.

My favorite Visionary Museum message through art: “Some stare though me and refuse to see that we are different branches of the same tree.”
-Athlon Clark

• Took the plane home with the Artsonia guys and learned some top secret plans to make Artsonia even better.  (Pressure’s on guys!)
• Learned about some great web resources from Jean King.  Special needs: I Can’t Draw Syndrome and ArtPromote.   Character development: Powerful Projects.
• Inspired by Samantha Melvin’s teaching empathy through art curriculum.
• Discovered a timeline of Carrie Mae Weems life!
• Make your presentations Sticky by Craig Roland was a crowd favorite.
• Saw a great video presentation on Universal Design Learning by Kathy Rulien-Bareis.  Her methods are very useful for creating an adaptive classroom addressing special needs.  Watch her video segments one, two, three, and four.
• I got a chance to present an art experience that that incorporated science, writing, social/emotional development, and technology into the art curriculum.

Tons of additional great resources from conference presenters can be found online.
Did you attend NAEA Conference this year?  What did you discover?

Conversation With Hanoch Piven About His New iPhone App “Faces iMake”

Posted on 02. Apr, 2010 by Hillary Andrlik + Theresa McGee in All Posts, Cool+Creative, Tech Stuff

Hanoch Piven, author and illustrator of My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks and What Presidents Are Made Of, is releasing an app for the iPhone / iPod Touch!

Piven’s books are a favorite in our art rooms and among all grade levels. Our students are drawn to his illustrations. In fact, just last week, our school’s Media Resource Center had a waiting list for some of Piven’s titles.

With great anticipation for his transition to mobile publishing, the Teaching Palette recently interviewed Piven about his app, titled Faces iMake, and quizzed him about turning his unique illustration style into an app.

Teaching Palette: What motivated you to create an app in your artistic style?

Hanoch Piven: I’ve been doing my work for twenty years and for ten years have been doing workshops. The workshop has grown and grown. It started with me just going to kindergartens and schools when my books first came out. Then slowly more, and more people participated. The age of the participants went up slowly from primary school kids, to teenagers, to high school kids, to really even working with adults. And also the types of population that started to participate in my workshop really changed and expanded. People going through some trauma, sick people, people in hospitals to managers and CEO’s of companies.

So the workshops became something very important in my life, and I realized that there is something in what I teach that is so accessible. That really anybody can connect to it no mater what the age. They can connect to it because it’s really about play. It’s about really finding what it is to be drawing. Drawing… the way I see it, doesn’t have to be made with a pencil, or with a brush, or with a traditional drawing tool. But it can be made by moving objects around a plain; around an area.

Once the iPhone came out my partner (Eyal Dessau) called me and said he had, ‘such and such idea’. It’s very accessible, very easy to do from the iPhone, very intuitive. But I didn’t want it to be just a game. I just wanted it to, sort of, be a workshop with me… a digital one. So it is very important that is not Photoshop. You relate to the objects the way you would relate to them in the real world. I mean, obviously, it is digital and not exactly this way, but you cannot change the size of objects. You cannot squeeze them. You can turn it, but that’s all about what you can do. So the relationships of size between the objects are true to the real world. Basically putting limitations. It would have been very easy to scale objects up and down, but we wanted …I wanted to have limitations that are real life limitations. And for me limitations have always been a great driving force. And a great set of parameters within which to work.

Teaching Palette: Yeah, I can see that if something doesn’t work, you have to think differently about the objects to use it.

Hanoch Piven: Exactly! And without going much further, the reason I started working with objects is because I had limitations. My drawing skills are not that good. It’s not a joke. It’s really the truth. I don’t draw very well. I draw OK. I draw OK for an amateur like if I compare myself to people who can draw, but within the professionals; compared to the professionals I’m not very good. I realized this when I was in art school and, for me, those limitations — that big limitation — was what sent me looking for my own way of doing things. Which end up being for me, obviously, working with objects. Interestingly enough this whole language that was really developed around my strengths and my weaknesses. Was supposed to be a very personal way; a personal language. So this very personal language ended up being a language that is so easily accessible by everyone. Part of the success of my workshops, and of the idea that other people look at my work and they want to make their own pieces, is that some how people can relate to the idea of, ‘Ok, I don’t know how to draw I usually don’t do art, but here is a way that I can do art.’

Teaching Palette: Yeah, I totally see it, and I love the way you add meaning to the objects in your books. They’re not just there because they fill the right shape.

Hanoch Piven: Right, so this is the second part of it because first I really talk about let’s play. Lets play and let’s play by looking at the world around us in a different way. In my talks, in my workshops, I talk a lot about forgetting what this object really is and just experiencing its shape. So that’s the first stage, just playing with the objects.

The second stage, which you really need also to think about the meaning of the objects, is that really drawing with objects is not only very easy, but it’s very communicative. So it’s the possibility and an opportunity to tell a story without words. So you can really tell something by the types of objects you choose to use.

Teaching Palette: I think that’s why kids gravitate to your art so quickly because it speaks their language. They see it, they understand it and it doesn’t matter what reading level they are.

Hanoch Piven: Those are sort of the principles of my workshop. And how does the application serve as a workshop, because there are some lessons in it. We recorded some videos of me working. I show certain examples of how I work and how all the things that happen to me when I work can be experienced also when you are working. Whether it is in real life or in the iPhone. The movies, the little video clips, are of me working with real objects, not of me working with the app. So it’s kind of like you come to my studio and you see a little bit of how I work.

Teaching Palette: Through your experiences with the workshops, do you have any thoughts on how your app is going to be used in education?

Hanoch Piven: That’s a good question. I think creative teachers can do a lot with it. For me, my experience has been that I can send some energy to the world by my work. And lots of the great things that have happened to me have been because someone has brought me back energy with an idea. So I think and I hope lots of interesting projects come from somebody else will think of them and they will come back to me. So that’s kind of the exciting thing that has happened for me.

I started doing therapeutic art workshops because an art therapist thought of it. And I started doing corporate workshops because some kind of corporate advisor thought of that. So it’s kind of interesting that this kind of energy goes out and comes back.

So I can think of putting out this tool and then I’m sure teachers would have all these great ideas. Obviously, I can think of ideas, which I’m sure you thought of them yourself, like the whole class doing a portrait of George Washington, now let’s do a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, now let’s do an angry face, let’s do a sugary face, let’s do a sad face and then write a poem to describe it.

Teaching Palette: Well, you’re already thinking like a teacher.

Hanoch Piven: Not because I’m so smart, but because I’ve been hearing those things. You know being around teachers I’ve heard of how teachers use the Smelly Dog book to teach similes.

Teaching Palette: Is there a spot on your app where you can write something that goes with the picture they made?

Hanoch Piven: There are letters you can use as objects. They’re pretty large so it’s more like you can write a name, but it’s nice because you can make a picture and write a slogan that goes with that picture, that compliments that picture, that explains something about that picture, that has a dialog with that picture. You can write, I would say, up to 10-15 letters. They are like magnets letters.

Teaching Palette: Very cool!

Hanoch Piven: They could be used if someone is smart enough, creative enough, they can use the letters as shapes and draw with letters.

Teaching Palette: When you finish an image in your app, can you export it to the photo library?

Hanoch Piven: Yes, you can export it to the photo library. You can share it. We have included 100 objects at this point, but we have photographed many more and it can grow and grow and grow and grow. So it’s really limitless. In my workshops I like to say we have on the table all the objects in the world.

Thank you, Hanoch, for taking the time to speak with the Teaching Palette about your iPhone app, Faces iMake, which is currently in the iTunes Store.

We have a copy of the app and were testing it. Look for a review soon.

“Shhh” Noise Control

Posted on 29. Jan, 2010 by Theresa McGee in All Posts, Clssrm Mgmt, Off-task Behavior, Positive Reinforcement, Tech Stuff

I love the buzz and energy of an art room filled with students actively involved in the creative process.  Because of this, I allow my students to talk during art production, as long as they remain on-task and the noise level doesn’t become disruptive.  However, some of my classes have a harder time with this freedom than others.  Enter . . . “Noise Control“. This iPhone app has been very effective during times when I need students to keep noise down and raise concentration. While I can’t promise this will forever solve noise issues, a little extra help never hurts.  Watch the video below to see how it works:

Can’t see video above? Click here.

Here’s a few tips to get started: