We’ve just wrapped MAM Q1 and I’ve never been prouder of the persistent students and innovative teachers I’m grateful to work with!

I want to share some ideas I learned from my amazing co-teachers at West Adams Preparatory High School and John Muir School for adapting Media Arts Matter practices to the virtual classroom: 

1. Add a Nearpod Collaborate Board for Visual Thinking Strategy Students may feel more comfortable typing than speaking on Zoom and I love how this feature allows for many student ideas to be expressed simultaneously. This is a great example from Ms. Hudson’s 11th grade American Literature class.

2. Encourage student participation and activate prior knowledge with a KWL chart Ms. Slason’s 6th grade English Language Arts class kept track of their learning at the beginning and end of our introduction to Graphic Design. It can feel lonely teaching on Zoom so getting this instant feedback from students is really encouraging. 

Create special moments: The Art Show still matters! Build in time for students to share and discuss their artwork with peers. Students can submit their final artwork to a Google Slide deck and prepare a short presentation on their artwork. My students welcomed a structured opportunity to use their microphones!

Ms. Slason’s 6th graders were asked to imagine that a local non profit org, Youth Mentoring Connection, was launching an Instagram campaign to help teens feel less alone. Using Adobe Spark, students applied their learning about color, typography and emphasis to mock up an Instagram post that would appeal to an audience of their peers.