Web 2.0 Tools

Psykopaint

Psychopaint is a digital painting tool. It is useful for making digital paintings. One of the tools available in psykopaint is different types of paint brushes including pencil, Pissaro, Monet, and Van Gogh. Other tools include colors, special effects, and layers.

This tool could be useful in the classroom because it is a lot like digital painting on Photoshop, which is what many digital artists use today. It will help them to get use to using the similar tools available. It is also a good way to use technology to make art.

Lets Crate

Lets Crate is a really easy way to share files with others. Just select a crate, drag and drop as many files as you want into the crate, then share with the people you want to share them with.  Lets Crate provides a short URL to make it easy to use.

Lets crate would be a good tool to use in my art class because it would allow student to turn in digital work to me in a simple easy way. It would also allow the students to share their work with class mates.



Picture2Life 

This is a photo editing tool that has many editing tools. Some of the tools it offers are special effects, collage, and animations. It also offers filters, boarders, and frames. This tool can be used with photographs.

This tool is helpful in any photography project. It will also be helpful with projects that require pixilation like one of my paint swatch lessons that is designed to teach students about color blending.


Tubechop

Tubechop is a tool used to take videos and clip out the parts you like best. There's nothing more irritating that having to watch a 20 minute video just to see the 5 minutes that you actually need. It also allows you to share the clips with people.

Tubechop could be useful in my classroom to show examples of how a project is done. It could also be useful for art history or educational information that would go with the section I am                                                               teaching.

Photosnack

Photosnack is a photo slideshow maker. It is a easy tool to use to make professional looking photo slides. It also is very easy to share your photo slides with others using this tool. Just choose your photo, upload it to photosnack customize it, and share.

This tool would be useful in my class to show students previous student work as examples for the next project they will be doing. Since art students are often visual it helps to see what they are suppose to be making.

Tux Paint

Tux paint is a drawing program for children 3-12. It has be used in schools around the world as a computer literacy drawing activity and it has an easy to use interface. Students are presented with a blank canvas and a variety of drawing tools to help them be creative.
This could be used in art class to allow younger kids to be creative using technology. Often kids are intimidated by a blank piece of paper but with this tool it would be in a different setting and may not be so scary.

chogger

Chopper can be used to create your own comic strip. It has a variety of drawing tools to choose from. This will allow students to digitally create there own comic strip.
Creating a comic strip would allow them to be artistic and creative while also using their writing skills. On top of using writing skills, students could base there comic on a historical event to incorporate cross curriculum in two ways.

letterPOP

Letterpop allows you to make professional looking newsletters and brochures. It is set up in an easy three step process. Letterpop has many layouts to choose from to make it simple.
This tool could be used for students to design there own brochures for the events they are involved in. It could also be used by the teacher to create weekly or monthly newsletters to parents.

Yola

This tool allows you to create a website in minutes! It is a website builder for people who have little computer skills. It allows you to edit in one place and publish everywhere.
This web builder would be an easy-to-use tool for teachers who want to setup a class website. It could be used to keep parents updated and let them see what there kids are learning.



Glogster

Glogster allows you to combine images, videos, music, photos, and audio to create a multimedia page. The canvas freedom allows students to be expressive and creative. Some of the tools available include mix text, graphics, and more.
This tool could be used as a more exciting way for student to share research with one another. It is visually pleasing and would help students get excited about learning.

Effects of Social Networking

The two articles I chose to read on social networking were 5 Effects Social Networks Have On You and The Impact of Social Media in Our Daily Lives. They both voiced very different views on the topic and I mostly agree with the second article.

The first article was very harsh on the subject of social networking. It claimed that if you took too many photos of food that you had an eating disorder. However it did state that kids who had connections with parents on social media actually had better relationships with there parents but it countered that by stating that marriages who were very active on social media often did not last. 

The article also said that people who use social media must be narcissistic and that social media had harmful health effects such as depression, lower grades,and psychological disorders. Like I said, very extreme claims. It did say that social media could be a self esteem booster but it's conclusion was a warning about criminal intent on social media.

The second article was much more optimistic. It claimed social media helped people stay in contact with peers, family, and friend. It did say that parents should monitor their children's social media usage to make sure is doesn't get over used and abused. The article also pointed out the marketing benefits and the easy access to entertainment that social media can offer.

I think social media is a good thing, the pros dependently out weight the cons. For me personally, it is a big help because it allows me to stay in contact with my Dad and the rest of my family in the Netherlands. It also helps me keep in touch with class mates from high school that I do not see often because, just face it, we are super spread out here in America. It's simply too hard to go visit everyone because of the distance between towns and states. 

About Me!

Hello, my name is Sacha Martin. I am a 24 year old art education major at Henderson State University. I live in Amity, Arkansas with my Husband Matthew who I have been happily married to for a little over two years.
I was born in the Netherlands and I lived there until I was 9 years old. Although, I did not speak English when my mom, my sister, and I moved to Glenwood, Arkansas in 2000, I started 2nd grade right away. That was a grand adventure!
Like I said, I am and Art education major and my main interests are sculpture and ceramics. I prefer to work with 3D material because I am a very hands on person. There is just something wonderful about manipulating material into something brand new.
I want to teach art because I believe art helps student to relax and express themselves in a nontraditional way. I love kids and I think teaching is one of the most fulfilling professions anyone can go into. Getting to teach kids about art will be very exciting and rewarding.
My husband and I recently bought our first home and one of our main hobbies is gardening. We plant things like peppers, okra, tomatoes, watermelons, and fruit trees. Almost all the produce we eat, we have grown in our own garden, and we take great pride in that.
Along with gardening, we have started canning many of the foods we grow. Some of our favorite things to can include, pickles, rotel, pepper jelly, plum jelly, deer meat, figs, and sauerkraut.
The reason I chose to write a blog about mason jars is because there are countless ways to use them. They can be used for canning food, storing things, drinking lemonade or sweet tea, decoration, and they can even be used for ART! Through this blog, I will explore various ways to utilize mason jars.

Check out this blog for some adorable mason jar ideas!