The art blog: your own place on the web.For many of us, the needs of our busy classrooms can overwhelm o·ver·whelm tr.v. o·ver·whelmed, o·ver·whelm·ing, o·ver·whelms 1. To surge over and submerge; engulf: waves overwhelming the rocky shoreline. 2. a. our desire to communicate with parents and with others in our field. The Internet provides a wonderful setting for this, but publishing a Web page can seem a daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin experience for nonexperts. What Is a Blog? Web logs, or "blogs" are a very satisfying solution to that problem. A blog is your very own place on the Web where you can write and post photographs, updating as often as you wish. New posts show up at the top of the page, but readers can scroll To continuously move forward, backward or sideways through the text and images on screen or within a window. Scrolling implies continuous and smooth movement, a line, character or pixel at a time, as if the data were on a paper scroll being rolled behind the screen. See auto scroll. backward to see previous writings. You can change or remove posts at any time, and your Web log can be con figured to accept comments from readers if you wish. How to Create a Blog To begin, choose a free blog hosting service See blog. such as Blogger.com. Their Web page includes a virtual tour of features and easy-to-follow instructions. You can choose among several templates for your page. Following the simple instructions you will be able to publish your Web log in minutes. Purposes for a Web Log Your Web log can serve many purposes. It is important to clarify your needs and to identify the audience you intend to reach. The title you choose for your pages should reflect this. Some artists use their blogs to document and publicize pub·li·cize tr.v. pub·li·cized, pub·li·ciz·ing, pub·li·ciz·es To give publicity to. publicize or -cise Verb [-cizing, -cized] their personal artwork. Journal entries can include digital photos of new work, artist statements, and information on exhibits and prices. A Web log can open communication with parents and your school community. Virtual visits to your classroom, photos of students at work, and journal entries highlighting artroom happenings can serve as an exciting electronic color newsletter. When publishing this sort of blog, it is important to follow your district's policies for publishing student photos, artwork, and names. Connect with Other Art Teachers Art teachers are among the most isolated of educators. We are often the only one of our kind in our schools. The Internet has opened up exciting lines of communication "Lines of Communication" is an episode from the fourth season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. Synopsis Franklin and Marcus attempt to persuade the Mars resistance to assist Sheridan in opposing President Clark. among art teachers separated by distance but not by interests. In November 2003, I began posting short essays and favorite quotes on my Teaching for Artistic Behavior blog tabchoiceteaching.blogspot.com. I like to refer people to this when I present at a conference or teach a college course. My blog is aimed at choice-based art teachers and has inspired a number of other Web logs, some of which are listed as links. As each of the TAB teachers joins our Internet community, we are able to "visit" each others' classrooms, share ideas, and coach each other for choice teaching. Our choice teaching concept has spread from Massachusetts into twenty-five states, mostly though simple Web publishing Creating a Web site and placing it on the Web server. A Web site is a collection of HTML pages with the home page typically named INDEX.HTML. Web sites are designed using Web authoring software which provides a graphical layout capability or by hand coding in HTML or both. . When you write, you want an audience. You can share the address with your school community, on your school newsletter, or on various Internet listservs. If you have added a comment feature to your page, you may be opening a long distance conversation that will enliven en·liv·en tr.v. en·liv·ened, en·liv·en·ing, en·liv·ens To make lively or spirited; animate. en·liv  en·er n. your
teaching and art-making.
Creating and maintaining a Web log may be one of the easiest ways of publishing your ideas and work. It is the perfect opportunity for you to have your say in the digital world. Katherine Douglas has been an elementary art teacher since 1969, and is a visiting lecturer at Stonehill College Stonehill College is a private Roman Catholic college located in North Easton, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1948. Situated in North Easton, Massachusetts, a suburban community of 23,329 people, Stonehill is located just 22 miles south of Boston on a 375-acre campus, and Massachusetts College of Art Massachusetts College of Art and Design (also known as MassArt) is a publicly funded college of visual and applied art, founded in 1873. It is one of the oldest art schools and the only publicly funded free-standing art school in the United States. . She co-founded the Teaching for Artistic Behavior Partnership (TAB). TwoDucks@aol.com WEB LINKS www.blogger.com SAMPLE BLOGS tabchoiceteaching.blogspot.com www.artjunction.org/blogcommunity.livejournal.com/ arteddigitalharold.blogspot.com |
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