I think that in the long run the 'content' is best defined from a logistical
standpoint by the needs of the students and the range of facilities that you
have available to you in your particular situation. Certainly to give
students a solid grounding in things such as the elements and principles of
art, a range of 2 and 3 dimensional art making experiences, skills in
graphic arts that would be helpful in gaining experience with visual art /
communication techniques and procedures that would be useful to them
vocationally, interdisciplinary and cross-cultural information relating to
the visual arts and as much art related history as can be instilled in them
as possible to give what they are learning some historical and societal
context, would be extremely important. What is feasible within any given
program in any school or school district will certainly dictate just how
much of the above can be done by virtue of budgetary and student contact
time issues. Once you have a handle on how many sections of what you are
able to teach (and at what level), it would be much easier to go online and
search for what you need.
When you are ready to take that step, here are some online resources that I
have found valuable:
Some of my particular favorites:
ArtsConnected: http://www.artsconnected.org
Interactive collaborative site developed by the Minneapolis Institute of Art
and the Walker Art Center (Minnesota, USA)
art-themagazine.com: http://www.art-themagazine.com
An e-zine that comes out of New Zealand that is written by and for artists,
scholars and art educators from around the world, that is the brain child of
Ian Clothier, a professor at Aukland University. I am responsible for the
Insite column on the magazine.
Photoshop Tutorials: http://www.teamphotoshop.com
Detailed information on the various procedures needed to successfully teach
and learn how to use Adobe Photoshop
TappedIn: http://www.tappedin.org
A monthly real time discussion forum for educators (Teacher Professional
Institute),in all curriculum areas. There is a monthly calendar posted for
all of the discussions that have been scheduled and is posted on the site.
I facilitate a monthly discussion / workshop on using ArtsConnected here.
Here is a partial list of additional sites I have compiled that have been
helpful from time to time by category:
