iChat. Be there for your students. Without being there.

Learn about Ichat

Ichat can be a fun tool to use with your students. If students are working on projects outside of class and you are willing to be on line at a certain time daily or over the weekend. Your students could sign up for Ichat and have access to you for questions. A teacher can build a certain time into their schedule for planning and keep their Ichat active during that time. With I chat you can send photos and site links too!

Remember to Document Your Teaching

Click to hear from a teacher with experience.

If you are a new teacher. Keep a portfolio of your lessons and the work of your students. You may need this for tenure. It is also a good idea to check your progress and the progress of your students. New electronic tools allow us to achieve this easily. Acrobat 8, Photoshop and Indesign can be used build a great teaching portfolio.

Blog of the week

Aziza's blog appealed to me because she always has interesting things to say in our classes. Her blog is no exception. She is fun and creative and incredibly directed. I commented on her self-portrait images. They are not your average images - outside the box and I like that.

The other blog that I commented on was Sara's. She makes fabulous jewelry and I hoped she had some on her blog. I comment on her logo design. I would love to know how it came out.

Blogs could easily be used in the classroom. Artwork that you would like the students could be posted here. Assignments could also be posted. There could be classroom discussions. I wonder if you could have a facebook page link for the art class?

Parents Can Be Part of Art!

Ten Simple ways parents can get more art into their kids' lives.

Integrating the arts at home

It is very important that parents be part of the education process. Above are 2 links that help parents can help art become an educational tool at home.

As an educator it is important to provide the tools for parents to become part of the process. Homework assignments can involve portraits of parents and interviews that accompany them.

The what, why, where and when of communication between parents and educators is important.
Progress is one of the items that all parents want to hear about. It is important to let the parents know when their child is doing well. Teachers should also find ways to help students interact with their parents. It is important for parents to feel that the teacher is available and easily approached. School should be the setting for all interaction. It is a professional atmosphere and should be treated as such.