BP3_2009101_GoogleReader

The RSS Feeds that I Chose from My Google Reader

I am an art teacher and an artist. From actually living the life of an art educator, I know how little time there is to actually be a practicing artist. Researching curriculum, writing lesson plans, ordering supplies, preparing and setting up materials, organizing and inventorying and keeping all of the supplies in order, working on all of the administrative paperwork (usually digitally), there is very little time left over for actually practicing art. About seven years ago, I began to create a website with the idea of organizing my lesson plans and embellishing them with just a bit of technology. This developed into a way of sharing with other teachers.

Now, I see that I can improve my own instruction and share that via my teaching sites with other art teachers. Hopefully, this will have a positive impact on their teaching AND free up some time to invest in their own artistic endeavors. Following are 5 RSS feeds to which I have subscribed:

1. One art educator whose web presence I have followed for over 7 years is Craig Roland. Dr. Roland is an art education professor at University of Florida in Gainesville and created the site, Art Junction. His blog, located on that site, is “The Art Teacher’s Guide to the Internet” (http://artjunction.org/blog/).
2. I have also used Academic Search Premier to subscribe to all articles that Dr. Roland gets published in academic journals. It seems he writes regularly for School Arts and I now have access to all of those articles. I admire and respect his work as an art educator and see him as a mentor in the field of art education. Keeping up with Craig Roland directly benefits my profession as his areas of expertise are my areas of interest.
3. Additionally, I subscribed to Education World: Technology Integration (http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/). Education World is an online magazine for educators containing articles, lesson plans and reviews. The magazine once did a review on one of my sites that led to many more educators being exposed to the site. Following the magazine will show me what my peers are doing and using in the classroom. From this I can speculate how I can create my site in order to address what teachers see as needs.
4. Dr. Deason’s Instructional Design Network (http://drdeason.blip.tv/) is a regular podcast with loads of information on different components of instruction. I felt that I was only able to touch upon the subject while taking his class and that he has much to offer. This way I can quickly see what topics his latest podcasts cover and determine which I would like to experience.
5. Another subscription that I started is the Journal of Extension (www.joe.org). This is the journal for “Outreach Educators.” Organizations such as 4-H Club (Head, Heart, Hands, and Health) are considered extension education. As a child, I belonged to the 4-H Club and loved it when we were able to have a meeting. In 4-H, I learned to thread a needle and sew on a button and to make biscuits. I went to 4-H Camp and made crafts and played learning games and learned practical things. These extension education organizations have often been the source of practical, useful knowledge. It occurred to me that public school education could learn something from its format and content. The very usefulness of the programs make them relevant to many. Studying these should give me some great ideas for relevance.