Sarah Showalter
Summer 2007

Staff Development Plan for DoDDS Pacific Art Departments

Background

During school year 2005-2006, DoDDS Pacific purchased new equipment for all DoDDS Pacific art classrooms. All DoDDS Pacific art teachers have the following equipment in their classrooms: 

5 digital cameras
3 computers
1 In Focus
1 scanner
1 color printer
Photoshop OR Photoshop elements

In middle and high schools only:

Wacom tablets for each computer (3 tablets)

Many teachers were able to immediately infuse these pieces of equipment into their curriculum but other may still require training or coaching to incorporate them into lessons. The DoDDS Visual Arts Program Curriculum Goals are based on the Discipline Based Art Education model (DBAE) and all lessons must include the following four goals or objectives: 

1. Create Works of Art (Art Production or AP) 
2. Develop a Knowledge of Art Heritage (Art History or AH)
3. Utilize Critical Judgment of the Visual Arts (Art Criticism or AC)
4. Demonstrate Aesthetic Perception (Art Aesthetics or AA)

Purpose

Although many of the teachers were quick to use the equipment for their own needs, the goal for this staff development plan is to give local district art teachers at all grade levels a time to meet and plan ways to utilize their technology and get the students more involved. This way, students are given opportunities to manipulate the technology themselves so that they may learn with technology rather than simply learning from technology.

Some initial training was offered at the time the equipment was purchased. However, staff turn over is high and faculty members frequently move from school to school and between DoDDS Pacific and DoDDS Europe divisions. Furthermore, the training was offered during a weeklong conference, which did not allow teachers to try the new equipment in a classroom setting between meetings.

The goal of this plan is to create a local support network and art community within the district. The community should be a place where art teachers can learn together and share ideas in a yearlong follow up training course. Teachers will be encouraged to attend sessions on each piece of equipment and for those who need additional training, other sessions between topics will be provided to better acquaint them with programs that are needed to make the items work. 

Lesson ideas will also be provided and at each training session and demonstrations will be done to show how the peripheral can be used in the classroom to engage students. 

Needs Assessment

The first step is for each district to conduct a needs assessment tailored to gathering information on the programs and peripherals that the local art teachers have in each classroom. A survey should be conducted before the training begins to determine which areas or topics may need the most attention. Later a mid-plan follow up survey should be administered to check the effectiveness of the program and a final assessment can be given at the end to see how many changed their minds during the course of the training. 

Teachers should be asked to rate their comfort levels with each piece of equipment and each program. Teachers should also be asked about the frequency in which they use the equipment and how often they allow their students to access the equipment. Other details may be gathered with written responses such as problems they have encountered or additional topics that they would like to cover during the course of the plan. Surveys should also include a section about the level of support that teachers feel they have and whether or not they feel the support is currently helpful or adequate. 

Teachers will also be asked when they would like to meet for sessions. (Tuesdays are already set aside for meetings. One Tuesday a month may be used for this training. Most staff members only attend faculty meetings and one additional school improvement committee meeting during the first and second Tuesdays of the month respectively, leaving the last two Tuesdays free for most teachers. However, another day of the week can also be agreed upon). A centralized location will be determined so that all art teachers in the district may meet at one school, or if preferred, teachers will rotate which school the meetings will be held at so that they may see how other art teachers set up and manage their art rooms.

Content

The staff development course will be divided into six main topics that will be covered throughout the school year:

1.	The In Focus Projector
2.	Photoshop
3.	Digital Cameras
4.	Scanners
5.	Wacom Tablets* 
6.	Color Printer Uses

*Note: Although elementary teachers were not provided with Wacom tablets, all DoDDS art educators are certified to teach K-12 and therefore may come into contact with the tablets at a future assignment. Therefore, all teachers should attend sessions for this topic.

Each month of the school year should be dedicated to a topic. For topics that may take additional time, more than one month can be assigned. After a topic is introduced, follow up sessions and support sessions may be conducted for those who need additional training with the equipment and programs.

Lesson plans, handouts, Power Point presentations, web sites and ideas will be provided at each session to help teachers begin using the new equipment and engaging students in their classrooms right away.  At each session teachers will be asked to share questions, resources, problem situations and successes. Teachers should bring a thumb drive with them to each session so that they may copy data or save notes (thumb drives are loaned out by supply to individual teachers for the duration of the school year). 

Teachers who already have knowledge about the peripherals or programs may volunteer to become mentors. During sessions they may be asked to help those who are struggling or need one-on-one attention. 

Teachers may also be asked by the instructors to bring in lesson ideas that they have written as a result of the training, or they may be asked to write one or two new lessons before the completion of the training. These lesson ideas may be compiled into a book or onto a CD so that other teachers in the district will have new ideas to try in their classrooms. A resource list of helpful web sites may also be compiled on a hot sheet and included on the CD or offered for download from the school network or web site.

Another goal of the training is to create a wider support network of teachers. Local teachers are expected to spend time during the sessions discussing ideas, problems and successes. In addition, teachers across DoDDS Pacific may make use of a Blackboard community to share ideas and lesson plans between districts while all teachers are participating in the training.

Throughout the training teachers should be encouraged to “learn by doing.” During each meeting teachers should be given the time to explore and learn, on their own, by using the equipment and resources as much as possible. 

If extra duty assignment money is available, peer mentors may be able to claim their time as an extra duty assignment and may get a small amount of incentive pay like department chairs or other committee leaders. Schools that have two art teachers should provide common planning periods so that the teachers can meet and discuss the methods and new lessons they are using in their classroom.

If possible, college credit may be offered as incentive if teachers do some additional assignments (such as create new lesson plans or write short reflection papers about each meeting) and pay a small fee. Often the University of San Diego offers credit to DoDDS educators who attend conferences about new curriculum implementation.

Tentative Schedule for Topics Covered in Staff Development Plan

The following is a tentative schedule for each development topic. Included are possible support topics that may need to be addressed. Each month of the school year should be dedicated to at least one topic. The schedule is subject to change according to the individual needs of the district in which the training is being conducted:

1)	The In Focus Projector: The primary use of the In Focus will likely be to present Art History slide shows. Teachers who are not already making use of it for this purpose will be introduced to web sites where scans of famous artwork can be found.  

Creating Power point slide shows of art work allows teachers to conserve money that was once set aside to purchase art prints so that it can be used on more consumables or put toward other classroom equipment. However, slide shows do not have to be “boring.” Interactive slide shows and Flash Files from the internet can make art presentations more engaging for students. For example, although a Smart Board is an ideal companion for an In Focus, an economical alternative is to use the In Focus on a white board. Lessons such as “one Point Perspective” can be come more fun and engaging for the student when students are allowed to go up to the picture and trace the horizon line. Or in an MC Escher lesson, students may be asked to circle “what’s wrong with this picture” during a lesson on his Impossible Structures. Flash files with animation and sound such as the life story of Japanese artist Osamu Tezuka, http://en-f.tezuka.co.jp/osamu/story/index.html may make introductory lessons more fun. 

The In Focus may also be used for critiques in high school or sharing time in elementary school where students will be allowed to display their art projects for the whole class and talk about them. Students in the class then can offer feedback about the projects during aesthetics discussions. 

Links to online resources and galleries will also be included. Teachers will be asked to share at least one internet resource that they found for pictures or flash files.

		Support Topics:
			How to use MS Power Point
				- Text boxes
				- Backgrounds for slides
				- Adding pictures

2)	Photoshop: This topic will cover the use of the Photoshop (and/or Photoshop Elements) program to create or finish art. Photoshop can be used as a tool for making art or simply cleaning up art. Teachers will most likely use it to edit photos that are taken from the digital cameras. However, students in middle and high school will wish to use some of Photoshop’s more advanced tools and features. The use of layers will be covered as well as how to add text to a picture. Support topics for this program may take more sessions than other topics, as Photoshop could be a whole staff development plan in itself. School districts may choose to make the Photoshop topic last 2 months. Tutorial handouts made by the instructors with step by step screen shots and resources from the internet should also be provided if available. Teachers will be asked to share resources about Photoshop that they found on the internet. 

		Support topics:
Basic Photoshop tools (paintbrush, pencil, paint bucket, auto-shapes, line tool text boxes and text art etc).
				- How to switch tools
				- How to enlarge and reduce tool sizes
				- How to change colors, or create your own colors
			
			How to make a canvas to paste images on
			How to resize images
			The difference between resizing an image and resizing a 					canvas
			The lasso tool
			The crop tool
			The magic wand tool
			Backgrounds and transparent backgrounds
			Layers
			Making a transparent .gif (ideal for title graphics for 					Power Point presentations)
			Preparing images for printing (image size, RGB vs. CMYK)

3)	Digital Cameras: Most teachers have used the cameras to photograph student art. However, some of the advanced functions of the cameras are less frequently used. This topic will take teachers beyond the “automatic” modes of the camera and introduce some of the more advanced functions. Included will be lesson ideas to help introduce camera functions to students. These projects will also integrate Photoshop. 

Another use for the cameras that may help teachers is using cameras to photograph art in books. Sometimes scanning art from a book is harder than simply photographing it. 

Teachers who need it will also be given a review of how export pictures from the camera to the computer. 

		Support topics:
			How to use the digital cameras (basic functions)
			How to copy photos from the camera to the computer
			How to copy and paste photos into Photoshop						How to re-size photos in Photoshop
			How to crop photos in Photoshop

4)	Scanner: The scanner topic will cover ideas for scanner usage including: scanning art books, and using the scanner to scan line art that can be colored in Photoshop. 

One idea for a lesson that incorporates scanning and Photoshop would be to have students create an Andy Warhol style portrait. Students could draw and ink self-portrait line art by hand, scan it into Photoshop, replicate it on a canvas (at least four times) and color each portrait in different colors using the fill bucket.

		Support topics:
			Using Photoshop to scan images
			What is dpi?
			Text scanning vs. image scanning
			Cropping your scan or scanning a specific area

5)	Wacom Tablets*: Sometimes the best way to learn how to use a new tool is to sit down and practice with it. During the Wacom tablets session, teachers will be instructed on how to use the tablets, how they can be used in conjunction with Photoshop to do drawings, and how to customize the tablets such as changing sensitivity settings. Project ideas will also be presented.

		Support topics:
			Practice time with tablets while mentors are present 
			How to adjust sensitivity of the pad

*Note: Although elementary teachers were not provided with Wacom tablets, all DoDDS art educators are certified to teach K-12 and therefore may come into contact with the tablets at a future assignment. Therefore, all teachers should attend sessions for this topic.

6)	Color Printer Uses: No doubt all teachers have made use of the color printers. The purpose of this topic is to give teachers more ideas about how to create image libraries and use the printer to print out pictures from image searches. Students may be given time to do image searches for visuals during observational drawing projects. For example: one tool that teachers may wish to employ is Google Image Seach for pictures of animals. 

Perhaps the most obvious use is printing out artwork for discussion and display in the classroom. The internet is a valuable resource for hard to find images. Many pictures of art and architecture online may not be easily found in books at local school libraries. Using the color printer to make one’s own image library on topics one covers in class will save time in future projects. Laminating everything that is printed will ensure that they will not need to be printed again for a long time. Keeping an in-class image library for students to explore is also a great way to allow students to choose topics that interest them in art. Art teachers can also draw from their image libraries to create bulletin boards and other displays for student study. This may also be an ideal time to review file management so that teachers can save and sort pictures they find on the internet for use in their classes.  

During this topic, teachers will again be asked to list and share web sites that they frequent for images. Teachers may also be asked to compile a district image library on the school networks that can be accessed by any teacher not just the art teachers. Some images that they may wish to include are: artists, artist self-portraits, people, animals, landscapes, cityscapes, plants, flowers, famous art works, sculptures, paintings, Native Americans, Asian art, African Art, South American Art, Western art, outer space, interiors, houses, architecture etc. Teachers may choose to work in teams and split up topics for image searches. Having a common image resource to pull from will make lesson planning quicker and easier. Image file names should include as much information as possible, such as the artist name, title of the work and year if available. Teachers should also strive to make sure the images are high quality with a minimum pixel size unless no other pictures could be found.

Support Topics:
			Trouble shooting the printer
			Creating image folders and file management
			Looking for good pictures, why do pixels matter?
			Saving and uploading images to the network drive

After the final session one follow up session may be scheduled at a later date to check the progress of the teachers who were involved. At that time a survey may be given to see if teachers have increased the frequency for which they are using technology in the classroom, record changes in their comfort level, follow up on the support network and check to see if more students are gaining access to the equipment. 

Instructors and Support

During the course of this plan, a support network of teachers, peer mentors and Education Technologists will be essential for the success of all involved. Teachers who are implementing these new resources for the first time should be given ample support in order for them to make technology infusion a part of their art curriculum. 

The support network should include school ETs, fellow art teachers as well as other staff members who volunteered to be technology mentors. Volunteers do not necessarily have to have an art background if they have sufficient knowledge about the programs and peripherals that are being employed. Preferably, if there is more than one art teacher at a school and one teacher has knowledge in an area that the other is weak in that art teacher will mentor the one who needs additional help.

Peer mentors or coaches must be ready to help with individual needs and willing to listen to ideas that the teacher may have. Peer mentors should try to help the art teacher make their own ideas a reality if at all possible, not just present their own ideas. The coach’s job is not to run the class nor is it to design the whole curriculum for the art teacher. They are meant to provide a scaffold for the teacher to build upon until the teacher is ready to take control of their own technology planning. The peer mentors are also there to provide the teacher with resources and ideas to help support the art teacher’s own plans and curriculum. A peer mentor, such as an ET, may come offer support during a class project, but the art teacher should be conducting the class and presenting the material as much as possible, the peer mentor should be primarily an aide rather than the facilitator. Mentors should be prepared to make themselves available to help with more intense lessons. 

Ultimately, all teachers should be encouraged to post ideas and findings to a Blackboard community that connects them with art teachers all over DoDDS Pacific. DoDDS already makes use of Blackboard, however if Blackboard is not available a web site forum or e-mail mailing list may be employed to help relay messages and questions about technology use. This community should be set up during the training so all teachers may pull from a wider network of resources and ideas. Lesson ideas, resources and Power Points may be posted to share with other art educators. 

If possible teachers should also be allowed to visit other art teachers or even other classroom teachers, within the same school or at different schools, during technology infused lesson introductions. This way, teachers can gain new insights and ideas about classroom management and how to introduce technology to students. 

Evaluation

At the beginning of the training, ETs and peer mentors should compile information from the initial survey to see where the strengths and weaknesses of the local teachers lie. It will be this information that they use to check the progress of individual teachers as well as the success of the overall program. They may also use this information to tailor the program more to the needs of the local teachers especially if one group seems to need more help, or is more advanced than expected. 

Before each session begins, a discussion should be held about progress in the classroom. Teachers will be asked to share successes, failures, management problems, and tech problems.  ETs and peer mentors should make notes of the problems and work together with the teachers to come up with solutions. Possible solutions may be discussed at that time, during follow up sessions, or if necessary one-on-one with the teacher who needs help. 

A second survey should be administered halfway though the training to make sure that needs are being met. ETs and peer mentors should hold short meetings or send e-mail reports sharing what problems and ideas are being shared among participants at each school. 

A final survey should be given at the end to evaluate how opinions about the programs have either changed or remained the same and how have their teaching practices been influenced. Teacher should also be asked what they felt worked during the course of the training, what ideas did not work well, how could some things be done better in the future and what was done well. ETs and peer mentors should compare responses from the teachers in the district and if a common survey was used, results can then be compared across DoDDS Pacific.

Sample Art Lesson for Staff Development Plan

Sarah Showalter
July 2007

Lesson Plan: Digital Camera Exploration

I. Lesson Name: Digital Camera Exploration 
Grade Level: 5th-12th 

II. Class Sessions: 2-4 (depending on the block of time) 

III. Learning Standards/Objectives:

1.	AP: The students will be able to successfully use a digital camera to photograph their own artwork for a portfolio or display. The students will be able to import the sample photos they took, crop them and label them for comparison using a computer program, preferably Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.
2.	AH: The students will be able to identify the parts of a camera. The students will discuss how digital photography differs from traditional photography and how the two are the same. The students will be able to describe how the parts and mechanics of digital cameras differ from traditional cameras.
3.	AC: The students will be able to compare, contrast and discuss how the different settings for shutter and aperture affect the lightness/darkness and color value of their photos.
4.	AA: The students will discuss any technical difficulties they experienced when working on this project. The students will describe in their write up how each setting changed the way their art worked appeared and which setting they felt created the most desirable exposure.

IV. Learning/Teaching Activities:

1.	AP: The teacher will explain how to operate the digital cameras before the students begin experimenting. The teacher will briefly discuss each of the icons shown on the digital camera setting selection wheel. The teacher will instruct the students on how to set up the artwork to be photographed. The teacher will demonstrate how to crop the photos and add descriptions, preferably with a program like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.  
2.	AH: The teacher will present a brief lecture on the history of photography. The teacher will talk about how photography has changed, how cameras have changed and how digital photography and equipment compares to traditional photography and equipment. 
3.	AC: The teacher will ask the students to present their findings about how the different settings for shutter and aperture affected the lightness/darkness and color of their photos.
4.	AA: The teacher will encourage the students to discuss any technical difficulties they experienced when working on this project. The teacher will ask the students to describe which setting they felt created the most desirable exposure. The students will discuss any technical difficulties they encountered while working on this project in their self-evaluation

V. Production

1st 	1	The teacher will begin by giving a brief lecture on the history of photography. The teacher may choose to discuss any or all of the following topics depending on the grade level of the students and the depth to which the teacher wishes to discuss the topic of photography (recommended topics for any grade level in bold): 

“Invention of the Camera”

“Mechanical Aspects of Traditional Cameras and How They Operate”

“Traditional Process for Taking Photos and How it Has Evolved Since the Early Days of Photography”

“Traditional Parts for Cameras (lens, light meter, shutter, apertures, etc.)”

“Taking photos, Developing Film and Prints”

“Traditional equipment (lenses, cameras, enlargers, chemicals such as developer, stop bath and fix)”

“Black and White Vs. Color Photography”

“The Advent of Digital Photography and How it Changed Traditional Photography”

After selecting topics for study, the teacher will hold appropriate class discussions about the equipment and history of photography. If available, the teacher should have both traditional cameras and digital cameras on hand for students to view and discuss. Despite the topic chosen, the teacher should be sure to include in the discussion the similarities and differences between digital and traditional photography as well as present vocabulary to aid the students in using their cameras. Some words to review should be the names of parts of the camera including:

Aperture - Also called aperture stop. In optics: an opening, usually circular, that limits the quantity of light that can enter an optical instrument.

Shutter - a mechanical device for opening and closing the aperture of a camera lens to expose film or the like.

After the students have been given a brief overview appropriate for their grade level and topic of study, the teacher will then explain how to begin using the digital cameras available in the classroom. Students will be allowed to experiment with basic camera functions such as taking a photo, using the flash, changing basic settings, viewing a picture they just took, and deleting unwanted pictures. Anticipatory set/ Input/ Guided Practice/ Re-Teach if Necessary

2nd 	2	The teacher will briefly review what was learned the previous week about the parts of a camera as well as how to operate a digital camera. The teacher will then allow students to begin exploring each of the settings on their own with the goal of collecting a sample set of pictures using the different aperture settings, shutter speeds and light sources. The teacher will remind them that value is very important in a photo and that a viewer should be able to see not only the lightest lights and darkest darks in a photo, but also should be able to distinguish a range of mid-tones. A good photo is not too dark, too light nor too “gray” - having too many mid-tones. The students will then be asked to photograph something in order to experiment with these settings. The teacher should decide if the object to be photographed would be something in the room, or a piece of the student’s own art work. If the student is putting together a portfolio for high school or college, it may be advisable that the student practice photographing their own work. 
	
	The students will then be allowed to experiment with the different settings on the digital camera. Many digital cameras are equipped with a small wheel near the top of the camera that controls basic settings. For example on the Fujifilm Fine Pix S5100 4.0 mega-pixel digital camera the “mode wheel” has the following settings (settings in bold are indicated by icons, all others are indicated by letters):

		Auto
Portrait
Landscape
Sports
Night scene
P= programmed auto -- pre-programmed by user
S= shutter-priority auto -- change shutter speed
A= aperture-priority auto -- change aperture speed
M= manual --all camera settings adjustted yourself
And Movie (which the students will not use for this project)
	
The students should photograph their image once using each of the settings. The students should photograph their piece twice on “Manual,” once with a flash and once without a flash. For older students, they may be asked to use more advanced settings such as the “Programmed Auto” setting or other small light and focus settings. The students will then be asked to photograph their pieces. Input/Guided Practice/ Check for Understanding/ Re-Teach if Necessary

3rd 	3	The teacher will review some of what they have been talking about regarding how to use digital cameras. After the students have finished photographing their pieces on each setting, the teacher will demonstrate how to import the pictures into a computer program for editing. The students may then crop their pictures (if a piece of art was photographed) and save each picture indicating what setting was used. It is preferable that the students use an art program such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to accomplish this task. After cropping the photos, the students should use a text tool to label each picture indicating which setting was used and paste all pictures together in one large file so that they can be seen together and easily compared and contrasted. Students will then print this file or the teacher will show it to the class at discussion time with a projector, if available. Once this is accomplished, the students may work on a worksheet prepared by the teacher that allows them to write about their findings. Guided Practice/Check for Understanding/ Re-teach if Necessary

4th	3-4	After completing their work sheets, the students will present their findings to the class. They will discuss which setting or settings they felt worked best in this situation. Older students may be asked to do more exploratory work such as speculating how different light conditions will change their findings. After hypothesizing they may be asked to go out and experiment with photographing things in extreme light conditions (both light and dark). After the project is completed, the students will evaluate themselves with a self-evaluation sheet. Guided Practice/Check for Understanding/Re-Teach if Necessary/Question Time and Closure.

VI. Vocabulary Words

Camera, lens, aperture, shutter, landscape, portrait, exposure, enlarger, developer, stop bath, fix, value scale, highlights, shadows, mid-tones

VII. Preparation Checklist

Information and examples of digital and traditional cameras, batteries and USB cords for digital cameras, Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, printer or projector, digital cameras   

VIII. Standards Based Curriculum/ Evaluation Method:

1.	AP: Evaluate the photos taken. Did the students use all the required settings? Did they label the pictures for easy reference? Did they properly use the cropping tool? 
2.	AH: Evaluate the class' ability to identify the history and parts of cameras, both traditional and digital. 
3.	AC: Evaluate the class discussion on how the different settings for shutter and aperture affect the lightness/darkness and color value of their photos.
4.	AA: Evaluate the discussion on the student's technical difficulties and discoveries when experimenting with digital cameras.

IX: Self-Evaluation/ Possible Changes Next Time:

Sample of a Completed Digital Photography Exploration Project