Why Teach Art?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lois_Dewitt]Lois Dewitt

Thinking Skills

An article written by Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland for the Boston Globe in 2007 promotes creativity in learning: "There is, however, a very good reason to teach arts in schools, and it's not the one that arts supporters tend to fall back on. In a recent study of several art classes in Boston-area schools, we found that arts programs teach a specific set of thinking skills rarely addressed elsewhere in the curriculum - and that far from being irrelevant in a test-driven education system, arts education is becoming even more important as standardized tests like the MCAS exert a narrowing influence over what schools teach."

And why shouldn't they? Dr. Betty Edwards, best-selling author of "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain," advocates the use of our right brain hemisphere and has written great coursework that reveals are inherent underdevelopment of this side of the brain. Most educational programs, established in the United States back in the 1800's, site a preference for left hemispherical instruction. Understandably, we were still essentially agricultural at the time, and steadily emerging to play a major part in the Industrial Revolution. Whatever music, drama and art instruction existed in the one room schoolhouse, soon migrated to larger and larger classrooms where the early technology of manufacturing in the New World was a bright glow on the future horizons of American young people.

Space Race

Into the 1900's, those artful programs diminished. The "Space Race" and Sputnik, launched an all-out emphasis on Science and Math learning and changed school curriculums forever. With the realization that America, in the 1980's and 1990's was fast become a service and technology oriented nation, our manufacturing industries diminished and a New Age of Technology changed the future glow for school children. Again, in public and private schools across the nation, the importance of that left hemisphere, so amply delineated by Dr. Betty Edwards as the time-counter, the data finder, the logician, the number-cruncher, the financier, the worker of charts and graphs would again dictate what our schools taught our youth.

Rich Creative Thinking

What we haven't quite figured out yet is that most scientific, mathematical, legal, financial positions require creativity and that great progress has been made in these areas by "thinking outside the box." For that matter, creative thinking enhances any part of our lives. How?

When we receive information, if we are basically trained in the American educational system, we process it as data, that is, it represents dates, times, charts, factors, elements that regulate our lives in monetary, fiduciary, fact-oriented ways. This is our perceptual reality. Indeed, the best trained to process this data have a good chance of doing well in our culture. Could creativity make us better? Yes, because, with the emphasis on just one hemisphere of our brain, we don't really have the whole picture. We are not cognitive to all of the options that our wonderful brains can render. Therefore, we are severely limited: economically, culturally, politically and spiritually.

The Total Brain

Developing our total brains, more the cerebral scenario of ancient Western culture, is still alive and well in many cultures today. But as the global economy spreads the word, educational patterns lean towards left hemisphere education. Will we ultimately inherit a global, lop-sided perspective, severely limiting our brain capacities in favor of the left and retarding the use of the right? In the future, will bear offspring that are limited that way?

Sci-Fi?

This prospect is dismal and hopefully, just science fiction. If we chose to, via cultural choices, cut off the very rich resources of the right side, are children and future children will inherit a two-dimensional world which stifles creativity, shuns invention and creative research, blocks poetry, the theatre, and artists endeavors and, ultimately, cuts off a very powerful resource. It could be that the world will suffer for our restrictions on creative thinking.

Here is my challenge. Learn your right side! You will become stronger, better equipped to deal with what the world has to offer and, if at first, you are uncomfortable, well, go ahead, jump into to the hot tub of creativity.

Lois's website offering free online art classes and many art resources, includes a gallery of her own paintings and pastels, as well as her videos demonstrating a wide variety of skills and techniques in the lessons: http://www.free-online-art-classes.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Teach-Art?&id=3639891] Why Teach Art?

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Technology in the Classroom - Six Easy, Inexpensive Ways to Use Technology in Your Curriculum

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=James_Guilford]James Guilford

Educators worldwide have been issued the same challenge: integrate technology into your curriculum. Still, teachers are hard pressed to find concrete suggestions for using technology. Never fear. There are many ideas on this page. What follows are six easy ways to integrate tech into your curriculum. These suggestions will make your tech use organic to your classroom and user-friendly for you and your students.

1. Appoint an Expert. During readings and discussions, appoint a student as the class librarian. This student can use a computer to access online encyclopedias, dictionaries, author websites, and other references. As unknown references come up, have the librarian do quick research and then report back while the class moves forward. This is a great way to increase understanding without interrupting the flow of the class.

2. Add Commentary. Have students submit writing assignments to you as email attachments. Then, use the Comment function in Microsoft Word to post responses on student writing. Save each draft to create an electronic portfolio for each student. You can refer to this portfolio in parent conferences, specialist meetings, and student meetings. You can also use these comments to help with your progress report writing.

3. Go Over Their Heads. Use an overhead projector or an LCD projector instead of handouts. This is especially useful for pop quizzes, directions to activities, or short whole-group reading passages. Using an overhead projector instead of paper is a great start towards a greener classroom.

4. Refer to the Text. Use text messaging to send quick reminders. Imagine a text to students about important projects or homework assignments. Imagine a text to parents reminding them about permission slips or parent-teacher meetings. Texting is greener, quicker, and more reliable than paper notices.

5. Fan the Flames. Start a Facebook fan page. Use this page to post discussion questions and website links. This page can also be used to initiate conversations about books or current events related to themes and activities in your class.

6. Add Hype with Skype. Skype is an Internet service that offers free calling and video conferencing between computers. Imagine facilitating a discussion with students from a school across the country-or across the globe-about a novel or a current event. Many authors offer free or inexpensive online book chats. Use Skype to bring experts into the classroom without the hassle or expense of airfare, hotels, cabs, or other scheduling nightmares.

Integrating technology in the classroom need not be frustrating or gratuitous. Moreover, using technology does not require that you teach at a school with millions in endowment or Ivy-League-level resources. The above strategies will help you incorporate tech into your classroom in ways that are easy, valuable, and inexpensive.

ONLINE BOOK CHATS AND FREE ONLINE RESOURCES

James Guilford is the author of the young-adult novel, THE PENCIL TEST. Have an Online Book Chat (OBC) with James Guilford. With an Online Book Chat, you can easily integrate technology. Moreover, you can give your students an in-depth understanding of the novel, the writing process, and the life of a writer. Visit http://www.jamesguilford.com/speaking__workshops for more information. Find more free resources for parents, teachers, and home schools on the author's website.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Technology-in-the-Classroom---Six-Easy,-Inexpensive-Ways-to-Use-Technology-in-Your-Curriculum&id=3577453] Technology in the Classroom - Six Easy, Inexpensive Ways to Use Technology in Your Curriculum

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How Do You Imagine Your Ideal School?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Zoltan_Cserei]Zoltan Cserei

Have you ever thought about why you are going to school? I mean, literally thought about it and not just the "damn, it's school time again" things:D Through our lifetime, we change our environment several times, we move house, change jobs, partners, and we do change school. These changes are always subject of hard decisions, and we all see the pros and cons of these, having an ideal of where we would like to end up. Let's talk about this. How do You imagine your ideal school?

Opinions vary. Some say that a school should present classic, sometimes inclement values; that a school should be a gauge for regularity, for precision set in stone. Others vote for a vibrant student life, full of parties and different events. From another point of view, some people prefer following the curriculum strictly and work hard for obtaining as good marks as possible, while others don't care as much about following the set out layout and rather engage in different activities. This is not just a question of the individual, the school is also responsible for providing its students with enough good opportunities. I consider myself lucky regarding my schooling so far: I have quite good academical results, and also like to participate in leisure time activities provided by our school and our youth council. I am proud to be able to learn where I do. Education is an important aspect of our lives, and no phase from kindergarten until university can be accentuated enough. There's no country in the world where the educational system doesn't receive heaps of critique, and just like the hundreds of journalists who don't have anything better to write about, I also have a strong opinion on how schooling should work, and what is not right. So, how do you imagine your ideal educational system? Let me share what I think. All the ideas may not apply to your country as well, because many things differ from country to country, however, I believe that most of what I'm going to say apply everywhere.

Freedom To Work On Your Own Projects

Everyone has to follow the curriculum to some measure, because a pinch of knowledge from every area is a great help in a deeper understanding of life. However, the value of the mastery of a given subject is unquestionable and insuperable. I believe that the knowledge acquired through everyday classes is enough to develop a very good skill in almost any given area. On the other hand, when you are given the choice libré to work on a subject that you really like, and you can dig deeper: now that's a totally different story. Last weekend one of my friends and I participated in a youth scientific research conference, where we presented our research about the causes and results of changes in tale telling habits and the negative side effects of violent cartoons. It was wonderful for me, even if I don't intend to become a sociologist or psychologist or anything similar (at the moment architecture seems the most compelling to me), it was still an experience full of new knowledge and ideas. I believe that anyone should be given the opportunity and also the support to be able to do serious research during school time (even before college).

Freedom To Learn According To Your Personality

We have specialized schools everywhere, art classes, social sciences, sciences of nature, information technology, and so on.. however, even if we have this choice to continue our studies in an environment tailored to our needs, some evident problems still arise. I'm talking about rating. It doesn't matter whether it's done using letters or numbers, percentage, or the devil knows what else, the result is always the same: students are classified and measured. How do you measure a man? I don't have the answer. But I don't think that if my thermodynamics test result is higher than my buddy's than he should feel like he is an inferior man. Okay, we are different, some are better regarding academic knowledge than others. However, the latter are not given a frigging chance of self-confidence, no one tells them that maybe their values are to be found elsewhere (everyone is valorous). I'm talking of the unmeasurable values: human kindness, self-sacrifice, imagination, practicality and so on. Some people excel at these areas of life, and these people are stigmatized as useless in school. We are different personalities, and deploy a whole range of different values. I'm not saying that anyone with a kind smile should be respected even if he or she has a strong belief regarding to equality of two plus two to five. I'm just saying that the focus should be rather put on learning and acquiring new ideas and becoming wiser in a way instead of creating a hierarchy of people according to their thermodynamics test.

We Need The Instinct To Learn

As a result of this wretched evaluation system, our instinct to learn new things has been largely eradicated. It would be great to have guidelines on what to read, in which direction to develop yourself, however, no one should be given so much compulsory reading that she doesn't have the time to read what she's interested in. Curiosity is among our biggest weapons. By overburdening ourselves, it might fade a little, thus lowering our appetite for fresh knowledge. I don't take compulsory tasks too seriously in school - I never did, and this is not an advice everyone should follow - but I try to always rank high on any activity (competitions, conferences, cultural events, etc.) that is outside of the rigid frames of robotic classes. What do you think, what is more important: to gate all the A++ marks and learn everything you're told to learn word by word, or to get active and climb the tree of knowledge, using the guides you were given in school.

Zoli Cserei is the author of [http://www.simplywilldo.com]Simply Will Do a thought-provoking blog about simplicity, productivity and greatness of life, providing useful tips and deep thoughts.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Do-You-Imagine-Your-Ideal-School?&id=3488822] How Do You Imagine Your Ideal School?

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Teaching Critical and Creative Thinking in a Global Education Setting

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Cynthia_Stephenson]Cynthia Stephenson

I just finished reading A Critical Thinker's Guide to Educational Fads, which was published by The Foundation for Critical Thinking. In it the authors discuss the essential idea of various educational 'fads', proper educational uses and likely misuses of each. The fads range from school choice and Socratic questioning to integrated curriculum. Three of these fads stood out for me as important ideas that should be considered in more depth... and together as an educational strategy.

Critical Thinking

I believe critical thinking is the most important fad discussed, as it involves metacognition (thinking about thinking). When we think critically we reason, evaluate, judge and problem solve so that we produce the best thinking we can. When we think critically, we speak and listen with empathy, consider all viewpoints, think with an open mind, observe more carefully, persevere through a thought to an intelligent conclusion. Schools should teach critical thinking because this skill just might get us through any situation in life we might face.

I was not taught how to think critically in school... were you? We use critical thinking all throughout school (conducting science experiments, writing papers), but most of us are never specifically taught how and why it is important to think critically. We need to teach students this skill along with how to master test taking, how to develop good study habits and more. Most students muddle their way through and develop these skills and abilities on their own. Think of how much more successful they'd be if we'd just give them the right tools.

Educational Fads suggests the idea of teaching history as historical thinking, biology as biological thinking. Instead of memorizing our presidents, students should analyze presidencies in an historical context. Imagine the number of students who might be intrigued with science if it were taught this way. Our schools tend to teach in such a fragmented way that broad concepts are isolated instead of integrated into a larger perspective.

Citizens in today's global world need to know how to think critically in order to effectively communicate with and work alongside others from various walks of life. We must learn how to communicate with people who live in vastly different cultures where perspectives are different and backgrounds diverse.

Creative Thinking

Genuine creativity builds on critical thought, and as the authors of Educational Fads state, something is not creative simply because it is different. Creativity involves thinking 'outside the box' in order to solve a problem, create something new, do something differently than its been done before. Simply thinking creatively will only get us so far. Creative thinking must be combined with critical thinking to truly produce distinctive results.

Creativity sparks the imagination to think in unique ways to do things, to solve problems - even in interactions with others in non-conforming ways. Creativity and imagination allow us to fathom the concept of putting a man on the moon, connecting mankind through this thing called the internet, inventing silly shoes called Crocs.

Folk lore states that FedEx founder Fred Smith received a C on a term paper in which outlined the basis for his idea for FedEx. Smith describes his thoughts not as an eureka moment, but as a simple observation. He described his thought process in a 2007 interview:

"As society automated, as people began to put computers in banks to cancel checks - rather than clerks - or people began to put sophisticated electronics in airplanes - society and the manufacturers of that automated society were going to need a completely different logistics system." (From the May 6, 2007 blog posting: rel=nofollow [http://campusentrepreneurship.wordpress.com/2007/05/06/interview-with-fedex-founder-fred-smith-yale-university/]Interview with FedEx Founder Fred Smith - Yale University)

Was Fred Smith taught how to think creatively and critically? If he wasn't, he was certainly doing it on his own. His idea began creatively, but was followed up with critical thinking in order to bring the idea to reality in a credible and viable way and it was thought out within a global perspective, and if it had not, FedEx might not be the company that it is today - or even exist at all. This is the kind of creative thinking which is combined with critical thinking that our schools must teach our students how to do. Instead of giving them a problem to solve that may have an obvious solution, we must challenge them to combine critical and creative thinking to seek new pathways to a solution or to a solution itself that would not have been reached otherwise, as Mr. Smith did - as so many innovators do.

Global Education

Educational Fads describes global education as curriculum designed through a global perspective. In our increasingly diverse culture which resides in an increasingly open global community, global education is crucial for this and every future generation to participate in - in an age of nuclear capability, growing terrorism and an ever-increasing pool of diverse perspectives that have a voice in the global community.

Our schools serve as a microcosm of the larger world, and educators must prepare our children beginning at an early age to not only accept but embrace everyone's differences - their differences in appearance, in thought, religion, ethnicity, background, and more. We must teach students to think beyond their classroom, beyond their community, instilling in them a global perspective from which to learn new concepts and ideas, new perspectives, new ways of considering the various aspects of the world.

We in the United States live at a physical disadvantage to most of the world, as we are separated by many miles and have developed preconceived notions about the world which in many cases are incorrect or flawed, due in part to our lack of critical thinking and to large degree due to our physical, emotional and intellectual separation from the rest of the world's population. As the world grows closer because of technological advances that allow us to video conference with people globally with the touch of a button, purchase products from the remotest corners of the world with the click of a mouse, everyone must check their egos at the door; fairly address viewpoints with which we disagree; and empathize with others' insights, perspectives and knowledge.

If educators worldwide embraced the idea of teaching critical and creative thinking in a global education setting, future generations would learn the importance of diversity, empathy and fair-mindedness - allowing us as educated citizens of the world to think about our world, those who are in it, and the problems we face as a shared civilization.

Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Cynthia Stephenson brings 20 years of sales and marketing experience to her writing which has included corporate marketing materials, websites, blogs and more. Stephenson received her BA in Journalism in 1989 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and began her career as a graphic designer and editorial assistant for Northwestern University the following year. As a marketing communications professional, she believes that writing should be concise, persuasive and ultimately results-oriented, leading the reader to take action. Whether you need a sales calling script, a press release, or an outline for an online video, her writing style is sure to match your needs, as she understands how to write to her audience, whoever they are. http://www.c3stephenson.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Teaching-Critical-and-Creative-Thinking-in-a-Global-Education-Setting&id=3208812] Teaching Critical and Creative Thinking in a Global Education Setting

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Musim Award

musim2 award (bukanlah,,hanya karena barusan aja ol yang lama gini kan..)..
kali ini dari jagania karomu utk jadikan award backlink...sebenarnya sich ada 2 award dalam 2 waktu yang berbeda, tp kita cek dulu ya award pertama supya kesannya ga serakah gitu...
award ini adalah award backlink yang dimana jika teman2 yang menerima awards ini harus meneruskan pada blogger yang lain sehingga blogs kita akan menerima banyak backlink...
apa aturannya dunk??
Tenang dulu ya...
Saya pengen membagikan awards kedua saya ini utk 10 teman saya di dunia maya yakni :
asepsupr , Priagung Pamuji , Mas tariq , Medbook, Richie , Jeda Sejenak , Amatullah, al basri , jatger , bunda

Tugas teman2 yang mendapatkan award adalah : eng ing eng dapat tugas nech
maaf yah, terpaksa copas, panjang kalo dikata2in sendiri...hehe..dasar...

agi siapa saja yang menerima award ini diharuskan untuk membagikan kembali award ini kepada sepuluh orang temannya. Dan selanjutnya si penerima award harus meletakkan link-link berikut ini di blog atau artikel kamu :

1. omtami

2. blognyaipank

3. blognyaipank

4. avancalinux


5. designofpassion

6. deogracias86

7. Akhi Rido Wahyudi

8. Hana Mugiasih


9. jaganiakaromu

10. nuansa pendidikan

Aturannya begini :
sebelum kamu meletakkan link di atas, kamu harus menghapus peserta nomor 1 dari daftar. Sehingga semua peserta naik 1 level. Yang tadi nomor 2 jadi nomor 1, nomor 3 jadi 2, dst. Kemudian masukkan link kamu sendiri di bagian paling bawah (nomor 10). Tapi ingat ya, kalian semua harus fair dalam menjalankannya. Jika tiap penerima award mampu memberikan award ini kepada 5 orang saja dan mereka semua mengerjakannya , maka jumlah backlink yang akan didapat adalah

Ketika posisi kamu 10, jumlah backlink = 1
Posisi 9, jml backlink = 5
Posisi 8, jml backlink = 25
Posisi 7, jml backlink = 125
Posisi 6, jml backlink = 625
Posisi 5, jml backlink = 3,125
Posisi 4, jml backlink = 15,625
Posisi 3, jml backlink = 78,125
Posisi 2, jml backlink = 390,625
Posisi 1, jml backlink = 1,953,125

Dan semuanya menggunakan kata kunci yang kamu inginkan. Dari sisi SEO kamu sudah mendapatkan 1,953,125 backlink dan efek sampingnya jika pengunjung web para downline kamu mengklik link itu, kamu juga mendapatkan trafik tambahan.
Nah, silahkan copy paste saja, dan hilangkan peserta nomor 1 lalu tambahkan link blog/website kamu di posisi 10. Ingat, kamu harus mulai dari posisi 10 agar hasilnya maksimal. Karena jika kamu tiba2 di posisi 1, maka link kamu akan hilang begitu ada yang masuk ke posisi 10.”

Selamat mengambil award-nya, sobat. Tetap jalin silaturrahim kepada para blogger agar blog sobat cepat naik trafik pengunjungnya. Selamat kepada para sahabat blogger yg mendapat award.
Dikutip dari Jaganiakaromu.blogspot.com

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