KML Curriculum and Instruction Blog

Infographics: An Easy Way to Increase Visuals in the Classroom At the Wisconsin Association of Teachers of Foreign Languages conference this past weekend, one of the sessions was about the use of infographics in the classroom.  Infographics visually organize information about a topic. Doing a simple internet search for infographics about an idea (world religions, periodic table, derivatives) provides you with a variety of charts and pictures that can help students look at information in a new way. If none of the results give you what you were looking for, you can also create your own on a number of different sites. Infogr.am and Piktochart are two popular ones. Piktochart also has an option that you can use to break down the infographic in visual chunks as an alternative presentational tool for a PowerPoint. You could also have your students use an infographic as an alternative to making the classic poster.  As with all material you bring into the classroom, review info...

I recently attended the Wisconsin Art Education Fall Conference at Bruce Guadalupe Community School in Milwaukee.  The most beneficial sectional was given by Concordia University's Director of Art education, Dr. Gaylund Stone. Dr. Stone's presentation focused on conceptual bases and their vital role in curriculum development.  Citing from such educational scholars as Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (UbD) as well as Ernest Boyer, Dr. Stone proposes six conceptual bases, in order of importance, that should be the first factor in curriculum development, even before standards, objectives, or outcomes. Human Purpose: Who am I? Why am I here? How should I then act? Sense of Place: time, space, social setting; Where am I? How do I know? Life Experience: birth, life, death, health, wellness Language Forms: visual, auditory, verbal Interpersonal Behavior: communication, relationships, social structures Production, Consumption, and Conservation: within culture (work-leisure-play...