Reflections

GUDE REFLECTION:

"Creativity is conceived of as pertaining, not merely to the domain of making art, but also to living a constructive, meaningful life."

Gude is describing creativity and the creation of art as a lifestyle. It is something in which to fully immerse yourself. Gude claims that meaningful life is one that centers on creation and art. It's not enough to just simply study art as formalized art classes are often bogged down by bureaucracy and streamlined to overlook creative processes. Gude pushes for instead holistically complex creation where art is multidimensional and arts go through a process to gain inspiration for creation.

I think the quote reminds us to be creative. To create class environments where students are students are immersed in the process of creation and to find ways to embrace and encourage creativity so that students may grow holistically. I think this is good advice for the classroom as all students can benefit from being allowed to explore their creativity in a way that feels right to them and not in a way that is mandated by educational standards.

P5.JS REFLECTION:

This was the first time I had ever tried coding to make art! I have some experience with basic HTML coding, I've used it before for a writing website I was on as a kid and to create a Twitter bot that tweets quotes I like.

That being said I struggled a lot making this portrait even with the video's help. I understood it when it was explained in the video but I struggled when it came to creating things on my own. Originally this version of me was going to have wavy hair and be wearing a hat but I couldn't quite figure out how to edit arcs and triangles respectfully to do that. I struggled with remembering how each coordinate affected the overall shape and ended up giving up. This was a little frustrating to experience because I didn't think I was doing anything different from what was shown in the video and yet I was still struggling.

I think this can be an effective teaching tool, the program has great potential to get students interested in computer science and coding. If I had to use it in biology class I would use it as a challenging way "sketch" plants or animals. I would also give my students I think a lot of time to work on it because if I can't do it how can I expect my students to. Overall it wasn't my favorite activity we've done but I think I learned the basics of a new skill and maybe with more practice I can figure out how to add a hat to my portrait.

INVENTING TO LEARN READING RESPONSE:

How is the maker movement connected to the prior progressive education history presented in Chapter 1?

• Emphasis on learning through hands-on and personal learning

• Emphasis on experimentation

• Maker movement and early education both put emphasis on letting students create

In Chapter 2, what are some of the ways that making, tinkering and engineering support a classroom designed around Pappert’s learning theory of constructivism?

Making, tinkering, and engineering support the idea of constructivism because they are all forms of creation. When you are making, tinkering, or engineering something you're not just trying to memorize knowledge but instead, you are creating knowledge through doing and experiencing! Making something gives you a personal connection to the knowledge, tinkering allows for students to be immersed in learning and collaborate, and engineering is the process of taking those experiences and applying them to theory and learned knowledge. These principles go past transmissible knowledge and put focus on creating a personalized education experience. Making, tinkering, and engineering is Constructionism in action.

ELIASSON DOCUMENTARY