time to explore and up skill

In the last few months I have discovered an iPad app that is designed to help teachers centralise their timetable and daily work pad along with class lists and records, it's called idocio.

I've been concentrating on using that and it has taken a bit of time to figure out the best way to set it up for my situation as a specialist teacher rather than a class teacher. but I have to say it is fantastic as a means of capturing the kids work to record their progress with photos. previously I would photograph the kids work then I would have to upload them to the computer then I would have to try to see who's work was who's from the tiny wee thumbnails and then sort them into folders for each class and then for each child, pretty time consuming! 

with this new app I tap on the class list then on the child's name then the camera icon and take the photo then with iPad magic the photo is stored against the child's name!!! So although it took me a while to decide what columns I needed to keep the kind of records I require - having done it one way then completely redoing it for 20 classes I think I've found a way that will work for me and it will be a worthwhile time saver in the end!

However that means that now all my photos are goin onto the iPad and I've been used to doing my blog on the computer now I have to use the blogger app to do my updates now. fortunately it's holidays and I can play with the new (for me) technology and see if I can make more regular updates of what we are up to in the Pally art studio.

Finally those classes working on their printmaking textile project have finished and most of them have pencil cases to store their art studio supplies in or they have created something a bit more exciting like hackney sacks or tshirts!

We've looked at the cultural significance of aboriginal art from simple sharing of dreamtime stories for the junior

 through to the use of stories to educate about the environment and the use of symbols to communicate meaning with the upper grades using the art of the western desert people as inspiration for their own work. The older children looked at the use of symbols and created some of their own for their own life rather than purely copying those from aboriginal tradition.

We have painted 

cute, simplified, geometric, comical cats 

tonal studies based on china plates 

plus explored, researched and sketched

then painted mythical creatures 

that became 3D clay pieces

and made toys that fly off the end of a straw!

and simple puppets

We've made collages 

done some drawing

It's been a busy few months!

And it's been fun!