A Lesson Learned

I Got Schooled

Greetings, friends! Well, I definitely learned my lesson these past few days. My wife, Ashley, who is a wonderful artist(and I'm not just saying that because she is my wife), was able to give me some guidance on how to improve on drawing in two-point perspective.

I worked on drawing an apartment building. Here are some photos of the steps that I took:

As you can see, my words and windows do not line up with my vanishing points. I showed them to my wife and she gave me a lesson, that's for sure. I recorded a couple videos on the lesson she gave me. Here is the first one in which she explains the process:

The second video is a time lapsed video of her correcting my work:

Ashley has helped me so much. She will continue to school me on this technique and I will be posting more lessons and examples on my journey in the world of drawing in two-point perspective!

-Mark

Well...It's Definitely a Work in Progress

Well...It's Definitely a Work in Progress

Greetings, friends! My major project of learning two-point perspective drawing is slowly coming along. I am still aboard the struggle bus, that is for sure. I am having fun with it but at the same time the end result comes out in disappointment. Here are a few drawings I have been working on:

This one kind of bums me out. As you can see, one of the buildings I made is entitled: The Sorry House. And it truly is a sorry sight for sore eyes. The other house is weak as well but the shape on the top left is ok. And as you can see, frustration got the best of me on the bottom. I had a scribble fest.

This one isn't too shabby. I have been looking up examples and then I kind of branch off on my own. Even though I am using a ruler, it looks crooked as all get out.

Here is an attempt at a city block, which is my ultimate goal of this project. I want to be able to add different shapes of buildings and skyscrapers and better scenery but I figured I would give this a shot.

I am satisfied with this one. Because it looks ok, it gives me hope as I continue to practice and reach my goal.

So friends, I would appreciate any comments, suggestions, and prayers. I encourage you to be honest with me and tell me if it sucks or if it's ok. More blogs will be coming and I will be posting some videos as well in the blogs to come.

Good luck to you all as you work towards your goal. 

Keep on keepin' on.

-Mark

Learning Spaces - Week 9 Prompt

This week's topic really opened my eyes to the way learning space is changing. When I was in grade school, I could never have imagined having this type of learning space. I have been so used to the sit in your desk and don't get up mentality in the class room. This would definitely have encouraged engagement with my fellow students. Now that this is the way the classroom is shifting, the engagement is only going to get better. Working in groups together and building ideas off of one another really enhances the learning experience.
This also goes beyond the physical aspect of the classroom. Now we can look at the digital space. This opens up a whole new set of doors into the world of learning. The future of education will not just be on teaching but LEARNING! The resources out there are endless! 

Google Apps for Education will play a positive role in the development of learning spaces. If you look at the website for Google Apps for Education, the home page shows that it is completely free, there is easy collaboration, and you can use them on any device. This will allow us to stay connected as students and educators. Here is the link and I encourage you to llok further into the website! https://www.google.com/edu/products/productivity-tools/

We should challenge the assumption of doubt that comes with the movement of learning spaces. This is the way the world is shifting and we are doing nothing to help if we are grumps about it because this only sets us back. This is an exciting time in education! For those of us that are not use to this, yes, it may be distracting at first but this will become the way learning is known for the next generations to come so let us embrace it!

When I first thought about The University of Akron and the approach for the design and development of informal learning spaces, I thought to myself, I am still sitting in a desk! C'mon! But then as I watched the lectures this week I began to realize that I need to think beyond the classroom. I went to Bierce Library a couple of times this week and if you look at the layout of the entrance, there are desks with computers, desks with outlets, and a more comfortable set up. Also there are quiet studying areas that have good lighting and also plenty of outlets available. It definitely is not boring. Also, the way the desks are set up are for students to be able to work together in an effective way. Here is a link from American Libraries Magazine that shows the University of Akron's Bierce Library. Read the paragraph titled, "Technology Enabled".

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2012/02/28/library-design-showcase-2012-technology-enabled/

I believe that the informal learning spaces on the UA campus really do align with my needs and expectations as a learner. Even this semester I feel that I have found out more and more how this environment is effective in the way I am learning and is improving my abilities as a student. I am thankful that the University of Akron is advancing in this way. 

- Mark

Cool Tool Review #5

Greetings friends!

This week my Cool Tool Review is on bubbl.us This site helps you brainstorm your ideas and watch them grow as you go. I think that this tool would be essential in the classroom! A student could use this for all sorts of assignments in different subjects whether it be History, English, Music, Science, and so on.

This site was really easy to use once I got the hang of making the branches off other topics connect where I wanted them to be. That may have been my lack of skills quite honestly. What I enjoyed about it was picking a topic, and then thinking of sub topics to branch off of the main idea and continue to make more branches off of the sub topics. It really got me thinking of all these different components of my topic and how they are related.

Here is the link to the site: https://bubbl.us/mindmap

For my example, I put myself in the shoes of a student who had to pick a style of music and brain storm the components that come with it for a Music Appreciation class. I chose Disco Music Components as my topic. I am not a big fan of Disco music to be honest (although I do dig the slap bass and the funk that comes with it).                                                        
Here is the link to my example: https://bubbl.us/?h=32952a/652db6/33M2tYdVeHhGw&r=1234714629

    

Here is the boring part, the pricing. You can sign up and use the Free Version, which is great. It is $6.00 a month for a Premium account, $59.00 for a whole year, and there is a "Team" option. This was really neat because its a sweet deal for teachers and students. When you click on pricing, the website will ask, "Is This team for a school?" Click yes and there are two options: If you have up to 50 users, the price is $3.00 a month per user or if you have more than 50 users, it is $1.00 per user a month. Sweet deal! It is refreshing to find a great and extremely useful tool that will give a discount for schools.

Again, this all comes back to TPACK. Knowing how to use this technology/site and being able to teach it to your students. Also, giving them the content and making sure they understand the content of both this tool and the content you are teaching so they can properly brain storm their ideas.

Therefore, friends, I urge you to check out this tool! I believe this to be essential to your future classroom!

-Mark

Welcome, eBooks

eBooks

Greetings Friends!

Until I heard this presentation, I never knew that you could publish your own book for free and have it downloaded by others for free. It is amazing that Jon was able to incorporate this with his students, even special ed. students! That's the area in which I am studying and this was so inspirational to me. I really think that eBooks have a positive impact on the writing process. To let children take the wheel of writing a book gives great motivation because they are not just doing this for their teacher but for people all over the world. I see this continuing and becoming more and more successful. I think that creating and using eBooks will have a great effect on my teaching. This is such a great way to unite together as a class and to teach them to do something that they will feel proud of.

The benefits I see with using eBooks in the classroom that are student created would be the relation the student could have to the other students who wrote the book. The student might do better seeing the way other students present the information and how it can be interactive I think that the textbooks written by the students was such an awesome idea. I could definitely see myself using some of those books that Jon's special ed. kids made. Especially the social skills books! Those were wonderful! Again, to make this effective, I would want to make sure that this eBook had information written out in a way students can read the content but also having an eBook text book that would be interactive as well.

There were a lot of things that I took away from this presentation. This guy is amazing! I love how he is connecting with other classrooms from all over the world to work together and write a book. This is such a cool way for students to leave a legacy in this digital age. I also loved the openness he had with his students letting them choose what they wanted to write about and he was so encouraging to his students along the way. This will impact my learning by making me open to new ideas and inputs from people all over the world so that I will be able to teach effectively.

Here is a cool article from the Wall Street Journal on how the eBook will change the way we read and write. I encourage you to check it out! http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123980920727621353

Also, check out this site full of eBooks written by kids! 

http://ebooks.koobits.com/

Hope these links are helpful! Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts!

-Mark

Cool Tool Review #4 - Exploring Emaze

Cool Tool Review #4

emaze.com - A wonderful Presentation Tool!

https://www.emaze.com/?emazehome

Greetings Friends! 
This week I explored the Presentation Tool called: emaze. This is a tool that right from the get go, I was having fun.

With emaze, you are able to create a new presentation on anything that you would like whether you are a business person, and educator, or a student. There are many great templates and you can choose from nine different categories to find the template you desire. Click and go wild!

This tool is EXTREMELY user friendly! I was able to figure out how most of the site works pretty quickly. What I appreciate about emaze is that yes, the steps are simple and easy to use and just because it is easy to use, it doesn't mean the quality of your presentation looks simple, plain, or boring. You can make your presentation look wonderful with out a bunch of complicated options and buttons that you have no clue on what they do. Easily you can insert text, images, videos, and charts.

It works as a slideshow in which you can press play and the slides will change by themselves or go a head and just change each slide manually.

I would use this tool to make a presentation for my students or for my students to make a presentation to their classmates in a heart beat!  My scenario I created was introducing literature from the Romantic Period for a 7th grade English class. I made a presentation for a short introduction on Edgar Allan Poe. Just to get a feel of the Romantic Period. Please check out my presentation! There is a point where a video pops up so at that point press pause on the presentation so you can watch the video if you would like. Here is the link: https://www.emaze.com/@ACRCOLRW/edgarallenpoe

I hope you enjoy!

This goes along with TPACK perfectly. The knowledge the content of the site and your information you are presenting, and being able to present the information effectively with Presentation Technology.

So here is the boring part, the pricing. Ultimately, as a student, I would use the free option because there is so much you can do and I could not imagine paying for more, it may be overwhelming! I would encourage educators and business men and women to upgrade. The pricing is:

Upgrading to Pro - $9.00 a month
Upgrading to Premium - $19.00 a month

That's not too shabby in my opinion!

Therefore my friends, I implore to explore this wonderful tool. Hope you enjoy and let me know your thoughts!

- Mark

Gaining a Two Point Perspective - Blog #2

Hello, friends!

Well, this week I began my journey on the technique of Two Point Perspective drawing. I will tell you what, I am on the struggle bus!

But, I am having fun with it and will continue to press on to complete my goal of drawing a city-scape. For now, I have been working on shapes and over the past couple of days I have been working on cubes.

These are some examples I have studied:

Here are some of my attempts...

(I will be getting a sketchbook soon, so forgive the notebook paper. I get paid on Friday so I shall be able to purchase the proper materials then!) 

I am happy with my 4th attempt but I will keep on keepin' on with this and I can only get better as I practice.

My wife, Ashley, will be training me this weekend. I am quite the young grasshopper. But I am excited to get better!

Please leave any thoughts you may have. Positive or negative, I would love to hear your feedback!

-Mark

Gaining a Two Point Perspective - My Major Project

Gaining a Two-Point Perspective

Alright my friends, here is my my major project: Learning how to draw in two point perspective.  

Here was my proposal:

Goals: My goal is to be able to draw buildings and skyscrapers in a two-point perspective style. I am not good at drawing at all but I like to try on my own. My wife is a free-lance artist and thought this would be a good thing for me to try. I will need to start out by drawing "simple" boxes and shapes in a two-point perspective and keep practicing that. Week by week, I hope to add more of an architectural design and feel to my drawings. My ultimate goal is to draw a downtown major city scene in a two-point perspective. 

Resources and Learning Materials: The materials I will need are a sketchbook, pencils, and a camera for photos and videos of my progress each week. I will definitely be using online resources. YouTube will be essential because I can watch an art lesson multiple times and there are so many videos out there that I can get different perspectives on drawing in the two point perspective style. I will look for blogs written by different artists about two-point perspective drawing as well, but I feel that watching someone create this type of art will be a better visual for me to complete my goal. I am sure as I search through blogs written by artists, they will post a video lesson on this technique. I will also be able to use my wife as a teacher. She is a wonderful artist and believes that I can succeed in learning this style of art. You could call her an expert as well. 

Documentation of Progress: The documentation process will be photos and videos of me drawing in the two-point perspective style. I am hoping to learn how to use a time-lapse option for a video so my actual drawing attempt can be seen. Photos will be of what I am doing each week such as: where I am working, my materials, and attempts. I will also blog about my triumphs and failures throughout the week as well as information on the lessons I learned during the week. 

Planned Timeline: I plan to work on this skill 5 days a week at the least and each of those 5 days, a half hour to an hour of practice. Each week I will watch multiple videos of lessons and lessons from my wife. 

Possible Challenges: A huge challenge for me is that I am terrible at drawing. Yes, I do enjoy doing it but I never show it to anyone. Sometimes I don't even show it to my wife because I feel so embarrassed. I hope to gain more confidence each week. 

Critical Friend: My critical friend will be my co-worker, Mike. He was an art major at Kent State University for a while and I have seen his work and he is a fantastic artist. What I like about him too is that he is pretty blunt and will tell me directly what I need to improve on without holding back. 

Here is an excellent video to give you an idea of what Two Point Perspective drawing is like:

Cool Tool Review #3

Cool Tool Review #3

For this week's Cool Tool Review, I explored the Info-Graphic Tool section. The one I chose is a website called Piktochart. Here is the link to the website: 

https://magic.piktochart.com/templates

Piktochart allows you to create Presentations, Posters, and Reports. There are many different free templates you can use to make your own creation. With free access, there is a lot you can do. It took me a good amount of time to understand how this site works, I don't know if it's because I am technologically impaired or I just need to get my life together because the Digital Age is here to stay. 

To "Level Up" on this site, you must pay....of course. You will get more access to the site and more templates. The cost for a "Lite" sign up is $15 a month. For "Pro", it is a whopping $29 a month. Those prices are astronomical and completely unnecessary. There is a lot you can create when using the site for free. I would never pay that amount to upgrade, it is completely not worth it. There are no educational use discounts either! Terrible!

When it comes to taking this tool into the classroom, I think that this would be a lot of fun for the students to make a presentation for class. I believe that middle school and high school would be the best age settings for using this site. Kids these days are pretty tech savvy. The teacher could give the students a short look at this on a smart board and I believe the students would be able to pick up on how this site works pretty quickly.

Students would be able to create an account and save their progress as they go. With this, not only could the student work on their project at school but also at home or the library or wherever they have access to the internet.

This tool brings us back to TPACK. Using this tool with understanding the content of the tool, the content of the subject of what you are teaching to your class, and getting this tool to be effective in helping your students learn the subject you are teaching. This tool will allow your students to get their creative mind flowing to effectively present the knowledge the have obtained.

An example I made with Piktochart is a short and sweet presentation on one of my favorite dinosaurs, the Parasaurolophus. Here is the link to my creation: 

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/11716452-the-parasaurolophus

When you arrive, go ahead and scroll down to look at it or click present for power point mode.

Overall, I would give this 3.5 stars out of 5. I definitely would use this in the classroom because I think students would love to design with this tool and the fun that comes with this tool would drive them to do their best on the project. I encourage you to check it out, make something, or examine it and let me know what you think.

Hope you enjoy!

-Mark

Copyright and Doing it Right

Copyright and Doing It Right

My responsibility as a teacher when it comes to understanding and using images with copyright, public domain, and creative common licenses is not only teaching my students how to correctly do these things, but me as well. If I am choosing to use others work to help teach my students, all three of these things are very important to be aware of. Even if content I found on the internet was completely share-able with no copyright shown, I would cite these sources to make sure I give credit to the creator. As the videos and articles said, attributions MUST be made. I want to respect my fellow educators from all around the globe and want them to know that I would like to use their work because of the effectiveness it would have when teaching my class. I would appreciate the same thing done to me if a teacher wanted to use a sample of my work. I love the set up of creative common licenses. I had never heard of this before and this is a great way for creators to have their work known so that people can keep coming back to them to explore more work.

I believe it is absolutely ESSENTIAL to teach our students about proper citations when they use someones work. When we teach them the responsibility early, this will get the importance of citation imprinted in their mind. A site I used when I was in middle school in high school to use proper citations was easybib.com It has free bibliography templates you can use and will show you the proper way to site your sources and you can copy and paste it into whatever format of work you are using. Here is the link: http://www.easybib.com/
This site saved my life years ago and I would recommend it to my students in a heart beat.

When it comes to the ethical issues around music and movie downloading, you must be very careful. This has been a very controversial issue in the past decade. Their have been many many lawsuits happen over this. You MUST make sure this music or movies can be shared. If you do not have permission, it is illegal to download. The music and movies are the work of artists who deserve every bit of credit for their creation. I couldn't stress enough the importance of getting permission from the artist to download their work and making sure they are completely credited. With the access to about anything on the internet, it is so easy to download music and movies. I used to do it in high school and looking back on it, I regret it. Do you remember when LimeWire was thing? Goodness, that was addicting wasn't it? Millions of people were using this and an insane amount of music and movies has been stolen.
As for addressing this issue with my students, I would give them the information of the all the lawsuits and trouble they could get themselves in when they do no have permission from the artist to have their work. Students NEED to understand the importance of this.

Here is a link to cool article about the ethics of music and movie copying and downloading: https://theosophical.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/the-ethics-of-musicmovie-copying-downloading/

Hope this helps you guys out! Thanks for reading!

-Mark