In one week, Art teachers from across the country will flock to San Diego for the National Art Education Association 2014 conference. Here are 4 reasons I am super excited:

4. Escape from the Polar Vortex: Even though we are into our first weekend of Spring in Michigan, it still seems like winter. Flurries, barely above freezing temps, and cloudy skies have plagued me (the snow bank by my house is still as tall as me). Getting the opportunity to be in warmer weather is just the type of boost anyone from the Mid West will need to help fuel them through this conference and through the rest of the school year. 

3. Access to Resources: The conference offers teachers access to the vendors of favorite products. It is awesome to see live demos, participate in make-and-takes, and hoard the samples as you make your way through the booths. 

2. Learning New Things: One of my favorite things about attending any conference is taking back the new and interesting methods of instruction back to my classroom to benefit my students. Last year, one of my biggest take-aways was this printmaking process shown below. Being able to learn from teachers that are from across the country is something I value greatly! It helps me become a better teacher and bring back the best instructional resources and strategies to my students. 

1. Connecting with Others: I am most excited about seeing my friends from across the nation who I connect with regularly through Facebook and Twitter. I am particularly excited about our Sunday morning meet up (7 a.m. at the Hilton), where everyone is going to be sporting their #artsed San Diego gear! I feel really fortunate to have so many teachers to turn to for ideas, advice, and to share stories and resources throughout the year. It is an added benefit to be able to see them face to face at conferences like #naea14! 

As we get ready for NAEA14 in San Diego, it is time to plan for something that is just as important as going - getting the shirt to make the statement. After much discussion and debate on Twitter, here is something I whipped up in tribute to one of my favorite childhood game shows (WITWI Carmen SanDiego?) and two of icons of art (thanks again, Holly, for the inspiration). 

If you would like to show your #artsed PLN pride, download either the Dali or Nerdy Lisa and go to www.customink.com to get it printed on a Red shirt. You will have to do it soon to get it in time for the conference. There has yet to be a decision on when we will wear these, but it should be figured out soon (probably on Twitter). So stay tuned and hopefully we can have the same amount of fun we did last year in our Super shirts! 

I had the great honor of being the closing keynote for the Ohio Art Education Association Conference in Toledo, OH. I was invited to speak at the conference after meeting their conference coordinator, Sarah Danner, at the NAEA Conference in Fort Worth. 

We were sharing a shuttle bus back to the airport and I started talking about some of the things I was doing with technology in my classroom and she quickly offered me the invite. Every time I have had the opportunity to share my story with others, I hope they walk away with their thinking stretched of the role technology can play in their classrooms and how it can offer students authentic audiences for sharing their work. 

The 2013 OAEA Conference Theme was "Reflecting the Standard." When I heard the title, I started thinking about what the "standard" is and who gets to decide that. As I started preparing my presentation, I decided that the standard can be something we all set through our expectations and outcomes in the classroom and it can evolve over time. It is also something that as Arts professionals we can help educate others on through research and practice.

As a part of the Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment project, we created a blueprint that outlines the "gold standard" in Visual Arts education. Part of the issue when doing this, is the Visual Arts is a subject area that is so used to being cut and diminished, when it came actually outlining what the standard should be, we had to do so without all of that baggage of what has been done in the past to cloud our vision. Students deserve quality Arts programs - and that means that the standard must include certified teachers with quality contact time and sufficient resources to provide that. 

In the Visual Arts, we are poised in a unique position because we get to be the place where all other subjects come and play; we create learning opportunities that make those concepts have meaning through application. When we fuse technology to that mix, we can truly reflect the standard of not only what quality Arts education looks like, but what quality education looks like, period. Many look to the STEM to STEAM movement for this, but I think it is just something we need to start embracing as a part of how we interact with Art and share with the world. After giving my presentation this weekend, I began to think of how I integrate technology and created the chart below:

This chart based on the most recent project I did with my students dealing with printmaking, but it can be used in almost all of my lessons. When we started, students worked digitally using the presentations they were provided and the images they selected. They then took those images that were either generated through searching online or pictures they took and transferred them to their plates for the more traditional means of art making. After creating their prints, students then turned back to digital means to share online on Artsonia with their family and friends. And it might seem like the process stops there, but in many cases, students then mashed up their project with others in Photoshop for their Photoshop Priday pieces and uploaded them again. These type of processes for meaning making allows students to demonstrate understanding in a multimodal manner and participate in complex transliterate tasks. Before deciding you do not have time for that, or that digital art is not "real art," I would challenge you to first ask: Who would want to cut a program or limit the access for students to Arts programming that is demonstrating the skills and tasks that is offering those methods of teaching and learning? 

I had a great time sharing this past weekend and hope that it demonstrated what is possible when you integrate technology into the classroom and allow your students more ways to communicate their vision and share with others. The video below is a condensed version of my presentation that was originally created for the 2012 k12online conference.  You can also find more resources on blended learning and technology integration throughout my site. 

How do you blend learning or integrate technology in the classroom? 

Saturday morning was spent with other Art Educators from around Michigan at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. As a panelist for this PD, I shared my experiences with using technology in Art Education and gave examples and methods for integration to others. One great thing that the GRAM Educational team set up prior to the event was the hashtag #gramteachertech to help organize and archive ideas and resources gleaned from the event. 

Several key questions emerged that I wanted to address in more detail now that I have had some time to digest the whole conversation: 

I look at the use of technology in the art room in three ways: 
1. Teacher Tool 
As a teacher I use technology for creating presentations, screen castings, research for projects, gradebook/attendance, and PD. I use technology to stay up to date with information in my field and also use it to give demonstrations through my ELMO, projector, and other digital tools. I have recently transitioned into a blended classroom model through the use of Moodle to house information and also receive student assignments. You can find more information on this on the Blended Learning tab of my website. 
2. Student Tool
 I also use technology as a tool for students to create with. They make videos or digital collages to express ideas and visually communicate messages - but this is not ALL that they make. My most successful lessons either start with a traditional method and end with a digital tool or visa versa. Just because we use technology to create with does not mean we forget about painting, drawing, sculpture and the like. For a well-rounded program, there needs to be time for both (especially at the lower levels). One thing I had to rethink as a teacher once I started teaching, was that Art isn't just drawing. Drawing is one form in which Art is made, but there are many different ways to visually represent ideas. If I only focus on one task or skill or genre, then I am doing my students a disservice.
3. Classroom Tool
The most important way I use technology is as a tool for organizing the classroom. My blog, Moodle page, and online student gallery help me stay organized and my students stay informed on what is happening in class. One of the easiest first steps to incorporate technology in the classroom without feeling like you are losing any traditional methods is to start an online gallery with Artsonia. This also allows for your students to have a broader audience for their work and can be a great advocacy tool with parents and the school community.

I strongly feel that if we approach technology integration in the Art classroom as a way of doing business, then we will see a shift of the Art class as being a marginal thing that could be cut to a central need of every school. 

Not having the resources to incorporate technology is something that I think every teacher struggles with at some time in their career. When I was looking to add a Digital Art component to my curriculum 6 years ago, I started by finding exemplar programs from around the country and researched how using technology in their classrooms had impacted student learning and growth. After putting together a proposal and working with both teachers in my department and administrators, I was able to acquire equipment and resources to get started. I also wrote multiple grants (one of which you can read about here) to help build resources for my program. The result is multiple local and national awards for Digital Art and Video projects that my students have made due to the investment. If you are serious about wanting to incorporate technology, talk with your administration about being a pilot teacher with iPads, or iPods, or Macbooks. Write out a proposal and look to other programs as models. If you hit a roadblock with your administrators, check out potential grants or partnerships. The big thing is to not get discouraged if you hear a "no" the first time. Change doesn't always happen fast, but it can happen if you are willing to be patient with the work. 

Ian Sands' video How Technology Helped Me Paint With Mud explores how students can turn in their work digitally rather than giving the teacher a paper in hand. He uses blogs and dropbox to help organize student product (as well as show process) for this. I use Moodle to help me stay organized with students turning in work. One benefit from this is that it solves the no-name paper issue. It also helps the process of posting images online and I am no longer dealing with piles of papers on my desk. It can completely change the workflow in the classroom and streamline many aspects of the job.

I want to thank the GRAM and MAEA for holding this type of PD for teachers. Technology is an important component to education and I think having these kinds of discussions with teachers is important. Here are a few other reflections from participants from the day: 

I still get looks from some people when I pronounce my love for Twitter. They crinkle their nose, roll their eyes, and whisper a "pa-shaw" when I tell them how much it has changed my teaching life. 

Sharing content and ideas is a great thing to do and tools like Twitter allows it to be done despite of location. It really allows for people to come together without the barrier of flight costs or language to communicate and exchange ideas of interest. Two things happened within the last day that really solidified my love for this online tool. 

The first is the image created above by Stacy Lord. She is a Middle School Art teacher that has been a part of my professional learning network for quite a while. We first met on Art Ed 2.0 Ning, started by Craig Roland, and have continued sharing ideas through Twitter. She created this AWESOME lego depiction of all of the people in our PLN. I love the fact that she took the time to make something as awesome and shared it online. I am honored that she included me in the professional community we participate in even though we have never met face-to-face. It was a great boost to my day and made me feel good on an otherwise snowy/slushy day.

The second thing that happened was the result of a classroom collaboration with Ian Sands, a High School Art Teacher from North Carolina. He tweeted that he needed some material for his students to animate. I, along with others, gave him links to our online galleries. The result were amazingly fun animations that my students LOVED seeing. I was so happy to see the reaction - everyone in the class was hoping to see theirs selected. It reminded students that when they make art, people are paying attention and even using it to make new art. The moment was truly priceless.

Neither of these things would have happened if it were not for Twitter and the connections I have made with great teachers from all over the place. So, as silly as it may seem to some, I do love Twitter. I am not afraid to say it because it has helped me do so many things through the connections with others - including how adorable I would be in Lego form... 

Well, it is not midnight, and I am definitely not in Paris; but since I am going to Paris this week, it got me thinking about the film and how easy it is to identify with the main character. If you haven't seen the movie, you should, because it is great - classic Woody Allen dialogue with quirky characters and beautiful backdrops - it was easily one of my favorites from the other nominated films it was up against.

The main storyline of movie, if you have not seen it, is that at midnight this miraculous thing happens where the main character is able to travel back in time - to the 1920s - and get to spend moments with his writing idols and artists. The thought of being able to have a conversation with Hemingway or Fitzgerald, hear a song performed by Cole Porter, or see a painting created by Picasso is something that I think appeals to a lot of creative types. It would be amazing to walk into a cafe and run into Dali and or Man Ray and have a surrealist discussion about space and time.

I think the thought "if only I was born in (write time here) or could live in (write place here)" crosses the minds of a lot of people. I have those moments when I study art history and think about how exciting it would have been to be in certain places at certain times and really experience what it was like to be on the forefront of something special.

The thing is, though, if you spend all of your time wishing for that, you miss out on what you have going on right in front of you. As I interact with other teachers on places like twitter, I feel like I am a part of something special. I feel lucky and excited to be in a part of this time period, working with exciting media and getting to meet interesting people who inspire me and what I do in my classroom (even though the "meetings" are usually in under 140 characters and not face to face).

I am excited for my trip this week - I know the experience gained with help me teach my content (as well as gear up for the 2013 trip I am planning - there is still time to sign up if you want to come). I am also really excited to share this experience with my twitter PLN (like Jean King who recently returned from Spain and shared her ventures on twitter, making me feel like I was right there with her).

What is your "Midnight in Paris" moment? What inspires you? Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas below.