First Birthday!

Can you believe it? It has been one year of blogging already and from a humble Blogger based online blog, I have branched into Tumblr, Pinterest and Twitter, with loyal followers on across all platforms.

When I started this blog, I was looking for a place to document my journey as a pre-service teacher and the placements that coincided with them. I have since found a place to share my ideas and thoughts, a place to share questions and insights and a way to document the chaos that consumes my life!

A big thank you to all my readers and followers; without you, I found not have continued to update and leep the blog going. Knowing that someone is reading this on their computer, next door or across the world, and gaining some sort benefit makes me want to wake up and keep the queue going!

To another year!

Miss Tracy xx 

In Review - Blogger, the App

Good morning!

Now, I'm sure many of you readers also maintain a blog and perhaps even use Blogger as your preferred platform but how many of you knew that Blogger had an app?

I came across the app awhile ago, completely by accident, and since it cost me a total of zero cents I promptly downloaded it. After playing around with it for a bit and placing it in the 'LMST Blog' app folder on my iPhone, I finally got a feel for what I could this app for.

The app itself is quite easy to get the feel for, you log in and you will see the first screen on the photo set below. From this menu you can see your posts, both published and scheduled and your blog. The blog view is similar to that of the second picture in the photo set above, only it will be your blog! The post list view, shown in the second photo below, is quite similar to that of the web version of Blogger however less tags are shown. From this menu you can also edit or delete these posts by simply pressing the encircled arrow.

You can also change the app's settings and create new posts from here. And this is where my problem with the app begins. As you can see from the third photo featured above, there are similar inputs as the web version, post title, post content, labels and locations. There are also the options to add photos, either from your mobile library or by using the camera. However not similar to the web version is the easy ability to create text, move photo around, add links and format text; some of these features are not even present while others take time and plenty of patience to take form.

While these are deal breakers for me using the app solely for blogging, it doesn't stop me from using the app to make quick fixes and check up on scheduling dates. Check out the app for yourself and let me know what you will do with the app! 

DOWNLOAD THE BLOGGER APP 

Perhaps my next review will be on the web version of Blogger? You never know!

Miss Tracy xx

Assignment File - Sketchbook and eResource Part 2

Hello there,

As promised, here you will find part 2; the eResource. This part of the assignment asked us to create a live webpage using Web 2.0 technology, focused on a single topic relating to the visual arts. This resource would not only be for assessment but for our fellow pre-service teachers as well as teachers out there already teaching with access to the internet.

I chose the theme 'A Bug's Life' after covering a number of artists who focused on natures and the creatures in it. Since I was already extremely familiar with Blogger, I chose this as my method of presentation.

And so my discovery unit was born! Click the title to take a peek...

A BUG'S LIFE

This unit looks at the topic of bugs and insects as a stepping stone for visual art exploration and how to weave this knowledge into other aspects of curriculum and the learning environment.

One aspect of this assignment that I had a hard time working out was the lesson plans I was expected to create.  While I have done 3 curriculum based units, we have not touched on writing lesson plans yet, primarily since we are still studying early childhood. So I took to the internet and put together a template myself, which you can view  as PDFs in the appropriate sections. 

I also had many internal (and one external) debates on how these activities I had designed should be assessed or documented. In the end, I devised a simple rubric with smiley faces, which can be completed by the teacher, student or together as a reflection exercise.

I was very happy with the outcome of both pieces of work and with my hard work and perseverance, I earned myself a credit (C)!

Miss Tracy xx

Assignment File - Sketchbook & eResource Part 1

Hi all,

Here comes another post on one of my countless assignments, this one for a creative arts subject, EDAR-368.

Rather than one set task, the assignment asked us to document our leaning and changed perspective over the semester in relation to this one subject. Using an A4 sketchbook, each class we would sketch what we 'thought' and then what we 'saw' and complete a pre-planned lesson according to a given preparation sheet.

Another component of this ongoing task was looking at a specific artist. Each week, we would have a new focus, which guided our reading, research and tutorials. Depending on the style and technique of the artist, we would take part in activities, such as sketching live scorpions, sketching ourselves using a single line, drawing our tutor with our eyes closed and tearing paper into a thousand pieces.

By the end of the six week block, I had pages and pages of hard work, which I have decided to share with you!

HOWEVER...this was only part 1 of my assignment for this unit! Comeback next week for the next installment.

Miss Tracy xx