Understanding Street Art




How many times a day have you been walking along and seen something that breaks the monotony of your routine? When was the last time you randomly saw something that while driving your car made you stop and think? Laugh? Get angry? Maybe it was today, or last week, or 2 years ago. Regardless of when it was, you may have experienced street art.

Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to art of an illicit nature, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art, flash mobbing and street installations. Typically, the term Street Art or the more specific Post-Graffiti is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art.

The motivations and objectives that drive street artists are as varied as the artists themselves. There is a strong current of activism and subversion in urban art. Street art can be a powerful platform for reaching the public, and frequent themes include adbusting, subvertising and other culture jamming, the abolishment of private property and reclaiming the streets. Other street artists simply see urban space as an untapped format for personal artwork, while others may appreciate the challenges and risks that are associated with installing illicit artwork in public places. However the universal theme in most, if not all street art, is that adapting visual artwork into a format which utilizes public space, allows artists who may otherwise feel disenfranchised, to reach a much broader audience than traditional artwork and galleries normally allow.

(The last two paragraphs are from the related Wikipedia article.)

Some Street Art Links:

Wooster Collective

Streetsy

Gimpy Raven:
-U.S. Invasion
-Watership Down

Norway 2006

VoiceThread is a new internet application for me. Quite frankly, I'm very impressed by what it offers and its potential for application in a K-12 educational setting. Voice thread allows you to post photos, drawings, videos, and all associated thoughts in a single interactive and easily accessible place. As a future teacher I can see VoiceThread being easily used in a classroom. VoiceThread can be a means by which a teacher can prepare a multimedia rich lesson in advance. This would also be beneficial for substitute planning. If a teacher used VoiceThread and had a number of projects already created, it would be easy for a substitute to use those threads to help teach the class. VoiceThreads are a great potential means for students to culminate and present a project. The vast connectivity inherent in VoiceThread is one of the nicest features. Students could easily show their parents their work, comment on each others' work, or collaborate with another group of students anywhere in the world. Continuing in this connectivity vein, VoiceThread would be a great way to communicate with parents, other teachers, and the community. VoiceThread has immense potential and can really be used in any way imaginable.

Some classmate's VoiceThreads:

World Youth Day, 2005 Germany

A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama

Sense of Place Poster

There are nearly limitless applications of poster software in an Educational setting. Posters are everywhere, and as such are a form of communication that the students are very familiar with. Poster projects can be a fun and creative way for students to show what they know. Not everyone learns the same way and making a poster is a great way to engage hands-on and visual learners. Programs like ComicLife give students the ability to create and share their knowledge/understanding on a nearly professional level, with high quality final products that are extremely tangible. This nice and polished final product can really lend to students' sense of accomplishment. (Posters can also make great holiday take home gifts).

I feel very comfortable using programs such as ComicLife. I have done comic work and extensive graphic design in Photoshop and haven't really found anything as easy to use as ComicLife. ComicLife is straight forward and has a vast arsenal of tools at the user's disposal. I ended up upgrading my version of ComicLife and can see myself using this program much more in the future.

Flickr Slide Show


(Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.)


The ability for students to store and share high resolution photos online has incredible amounts of potential. Flickr is any easy means by which project photos and artwork can be protected under a copyright. Flickr Slidr allows a quick loading high quality slide show to be embedded in any HTML editable website, such as a blog or a forum. Online digital photo sharing can be incorporated into almost any project. When working with students in an online system such as the internet, privacy and safety should always top the list of concerns. Flickr has a convenient option to choose who is able to view the photos students post on their accounts, which helps to address these concerns.

I have been using Flickr for several years and have found it tremendously useful. I have never had any problems using it and exporting and embedding a Flickr Slidr show was incredibly straightforward. I feel very comfortable using and teaching others to use Flickr.

Digital Video



Digital Video applications (in the vein of iMovie or Final Cut), when combined with the rapid expansion of internet technologies and information sharing, have greatly changed how we view and use video. Video editing used to either be cumbersome or restricted to the pros. This is no longer the case. Students, and adults, of all ages can easily and readily make digital videos using current digital video applications. I like to think of digital video as another means by which students can express themselves, and also another means by which I can teach. Often times in Education courses we stress the fact that everybody learns and expresses themselves in different ways. Digital video could be one of those ways. There is something almost living about video. Video is able to capture emotions and convey meaning faster and easier than many other forms. The application of digital video for students is limited really by their own imagination. I think it isn't a choice of trying to have digital video available to students, but rather, an educational imperative. It is our job to as teachers to prepare our students for the future and to allow them to excel in the way that best suits them.

I feel very comfortable with using digital video applications (iMovie especially). I remember the first time I used a digital video editing application back in my 7th grade computers class. At the time we were using one of the first versions of Avid Video. Since then, the quality of digital video programs, and of digital video itself, has vastly improved. Right along with increased quality has come increased usability. I enjoy using digital video editing programs and can see myself continuing to use them in the future.

PowerPoint as an Instructional Tool

PowerPoint (and other such presentation style programs, Keynote, ect...) have vast potential for instructional purposes, both in and out of the the classroom. The past several decades have seen an increased focus of technology as a teaching and presentation tool. The modern PowerPoint has a huge array of tools at your disposal when putting together a presentation.

PowerPoint can be used to make lectures/lessons more interesting and easily tangible. Some students are visual learners and as such it is our responsibility to cater to their individual needs. Continuing in this vein, audio can easily be added for students who need to hear the same instructions multiple times.

A bank of easy to make PowerPoint instructional presentations would be an indispensable tool for teaching students/peers how to use new technology, applications, or processes.

I have been using PowerPoint, or such applications like HyperCard, since middle school. Over the years I have seen some awe worthy and outstanding presentations which I have attempted to emulate. I feel very comfortable using PowerPoint for various purposes and in various contexts.

Carbon Footprint

Hopefully, by now, everyone has seen An Inconvenient Truth, watched a nature documentary about, read an article on, talked with someone about, or at least heard about climate change, and humanity's role in that change. Every year, every day, we as a race actively, whether knowingly or unknowingly, impact the environment around us. Right now this very second, as I type this, or you read this, we are negatively impacting the world's climate.

One of the major topics of interest lately has been CO2, and other greenhouse gas emissions. We as humans produce CO2 in a variety of ways. Every time we breath, we take in mixed air and expel primarily CO2. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is also produced by humans when we burn any type of fuel (gas, diesel, oil, coal, wood, ect...) for a wide variety of purposes. The chief purpose of which, is energy production. All of the products we use and consume daily result in some sort of energy production/use, and therefore put more carbon into the atmosphere.

I recently decided to try and figure out how much of an impact I was having (i.e. my carbon footprint) on the climate/planet/environment. I was easily able to find 5 free, and there's plenty out there, websites that provided carbon footprint calculators. I tried each of these calculators. I used the same (or as close to it as allowable) information in each calculator. The results varied somewhat, but all gave some sort of result listed in number of tons of carbon emissions per year (tons of CO2/year).

The site who's calculator I liked the most was CarbonFootprint.com.

The five calculators are as follows:

CarbonFootprint.com's Calculator

ClimateCrisis.net's Calculator

The EPA's Calculator

Nature.org's Calculator

BP's Calculator

Try them out! Test for yourself!

EduPool 1.0
by Lodi Unified Schools

Grade/Age level: All ages.

Subject Area(s): Spelling(English), Math

Platform: Mac OS X

About EduPool 1.0:

Kids of all ages can learn to read and spell 700 of the most used words in English. Basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills can be improved by counting objects on the screen.

Engaging and fairly entertaining program. Has a surprising amount of content to choose from. Good for beginning spellers and math students. Works great as a basic mathematics refresher for anyone.
Simple graphics, straight forward design.

EduPool 1.0 is available for free download from:
Apple - Downloads
EduVentures

World Continents Quizzes
by Sheppard Software

Grade/Age level: Early Elementary; great geography refresher for anyone!

Subject Area(s): Geography

Platform: Online Application

About World Continents Quizzes:

"By using Sheppard Software's learning games, you will gain a permanent mental map of the world, its continents and geography. This knowledge is the key to learning more about the wonderful world around you." -Sheppard Software

This online geography quiz game provides an interesting and engaging means by which to learn about the world around you. Game includes a Tutorial and three different difficulty levels (ranging from Beginner to Expert). The quiz includes educational information about each continent or ocean on Earth.

Note to educators/parents: Sheppard's website is a safe environment, but there are advertisements and web banners/links on nearly every page, including the game page itself. Be aware of kids possibly linking to other websites.

In addition to this game, Sheppard Software has a multitude of other games in Geography and every other major subject.




Worlds Continents Quiz is available for free online play at:
Sheppard Software

One to One

The video in class I felt was very eye opening. It gave a good view into the many different aspects of constant computer, internet, and technology use in a working educational setting. Personally, I was super excited and impressed to see technology being used in such a prominent and effective way. For someone such as myself, who is big on computers, it really reinforced the notion that there is so much to gain by the effective use of such technology. I think the key word is effective, and this is something that was touched on some in the video. In a small district, like in the video, they allowed students access to gaming programs and other social applications, messenger, ect..., during breaks and downtime. It didn't seem to be that big of a focus issue for the students and they had a good system down for when it was appropriate to use non-educational applications. In a larger district, say in Fairbanks, there would be a whole new set of related and compounded challenges. Effective use would ideally be using the laptops/technology as seamlessly as possible within the current curriculum, with room to grow and expand upon new options brought forth by the laptops.

I drool over the prospect of having a future classroom where every one of my students has an internet ready laptop in front of them. In a world that is ever changing and ever advancing, I think it is essential for their success to become familiar with the internet, laptops, and other such technologies, as soon as possible. What better environment to do this than school, in a classroom? Technology can be great, but we must also realize that it can be no substitute for human interaction and traditional classrooms. People must be prepared for the future, and the one to one laptop program can be used as a keystone portion of that. We just need to keep in mind that we are biological human animals and these are our offspring.
Question: How far should we take technology...?

Neko Type-R
by Vince Tagle

Grade/Age level: Early Elementary(beginning typing) through adult.

Subject Area(s): English/Language Arts
      (spelling, writing, ect...)

Platform: Mac OS X

About Neko Type-R: 

"Run, kitty, run! *insert furious typing motions here* Neko Type-R is a small game I whipped up in 21 days for “Accelerated”, a racing themed contest that the fine folks over at iDevGames.com ran in January 2005. You must use your elite typing skills to race your cats to the finish line before the computer’s team does the same. Anyway, this game has been sitting on my hard drive for a while now and I’ve always wanted to go back and do more with it. However, I didn’t want to waste my time working on something that no one wasn’t going to enjoy. So I’m going to officially throw this release out into the public (after applying some updates to it so that it runs properly under 10.4) and see what kind of response I get. If you like this game and want me to work on it more, please e-mail me and let me know." -Vince Tagle

This is a simple and engaging educational game for learners of all ages. I have admittedly spent more time than I ever intended perfecting my 1337! typing skills...
Now if I can just get those darned cats out of my head...



Neko Type-R is available for free download from:
Apple - Downloads
Malarkey Software

pity this busy monster, manunkind,

not. Progress is a comfortable disease:
your victim (death and life safely beyond)

plays with the bigness of his littleness
--- electrons deify one razorblade
into a mountainrange; lenses extend
unwish through curving wherewhen till unwish
returns on its unself.
                         A world of made
is not a world of born --- pity poor flesh

and trees, poor stars and stones, but never this
fine specimen of hypermagical

ultraomnipotence. We doctors know

a hopeless case if --- listen: there's a hell
of a good universe next door; let's go.

 --E.E. Cummings

To cognizantly try and express the way one feels is an effort in futility. The very act of language and interpretation runs contrary to basic and fundamental human nature. Nature being the key word here. No matter what people try to convey to one another, it will never be received and experienced the way in which the person who was trying to do the conveying intended. Conveyance of ideas and feelings and beliefs cannot hope to be achieved by any person the way nature has built us. Turning chemical reactions and internal neuron firings into segmented, regimented vocal (sound wave) symbolisms for objective representation can never hope to fully convey the intended feeling. People are isolated, but are forced to try and communicate still.
This is why, when often confronted with writing as a means of necessary conveyance, we all will fall short. And it easily becomes a basis by which to understand much of human social behavior(s).
Seeking solace through written language is ultimately futile because it fails to appropriately explain human emotion or feeling or experience.
And it is at times like this that all efforts for spoken language seem irrelevant.

Yet, despite the shortcomings of expression, writing and art (as it is labeled), are the only concrete means by which to attempt inter-personal relation(s).

If this be so, then the power of written, not written, but say, concrete imagery becomes apparent; if it is the only means for true communication.

Some people can just inspire and inform you.

And how acknowledging and accepting what someone presents as concrete idea-forms, is what gives it power. Everyone's unique interpretation changes the amount of power concrete idea-forms can hold.

Man has long sought truth and meaning in the world around him. The constant human struggle is to find one's place in this world. Conditions of existence often seem to conspire against the pursuit of peace, happiness, and knowledge. The everyday trudge can take its toll and often times it is easy to lose track of who and what we are. We are carbon. We are air. We are water. We are the rocks and the trees. We are the rivers and the oceans. The mountains and the fields. We are all and nothing. You are me and I am you. There is nothing that cannot be taught, nothing that cannot be learned. We only need to be listening, for the silence within.