Cell phones and other stuff of revolution

Cell Phones: And Other Stuff of Revolution

Joan A. Schlough

Whitewater Unified School District
Masters of Art Education, Boston University

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CELL PHONES: AND OTHER STUFF OF REVOLUTION
Abstract

The following paper contains a compilation of research-based issues surrounding how

cell phones are tools for change that youth can use. The paper offers insight as to how teaching

socially forward art curriculum creates tolerant climates students with exceptionalities to feel

safe and accepted, and fosters inclusivity.

The analysis is based upon my conceptual framework and current context, through the

lens of my personal experiences and my professional history, and established through reflective

practice and previous study and research of issues regarding empowerment of youth.

Joan Schlough

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I am an artist/teacher/researcher. I use many tools but the most important ones, regardless

of my location, the studio/classroom/online or on the computer, are my voice, values, and vision.

Using a smart phone or other handheld devices, one has access to unlimited media and multiple

forms of ways to put forth ones voice, values, and vision. In Toys to Tools (2008), Kolb aims “to

encourage educators to introduce cell phones to students as potential learning tools and lifelong

professional tools, rather than viewing them solely as a social toy,” (p. 2). Now, in 2012,

educators are sensing the urgency to embrace the idea. From my peer discussion of Toys to

Tools, my colleagues stated:

I know how much technology is a part of my own life outside of school or

it could be because I know there is so much that can be done with technology. I

know that motivation is such an important component necessary for learning. To

motivate students we really do have to meet them at their level which means

incorporating technology, (Jen).

I am most definitely an opportunist! I have seen many, many teachers at

the high school embracing cell phone and other mobile technology already. For

example, the math teachers are open to the idea that at home students are going to

use the calculator on their cell phone or a graphing calculator app on their tablet

to do their homework, so why not have them use it in class so the teacher can help

them learn to use it properly, (Laura).

The 'ah-ha' statement that jumped out at me was constituting a bottoms-up

approach to technology in the classroom, in which the students "propose" which

technologies are useful for them, which then can be used in the classroom,

(Sandy).

Joan Schlough

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Using themes based on social justice, teachers can entwine the vast capabilities of the cell

phone with the skill set of a digital native. A component to empowering these youth, realizes a

role change of the teacher as a facilitator, or even a reversal of the teacher-student dichotomy.

Much of what the world has learned would have been limited by oppressive regimes had not

people, such as Chen Guangcheng, started to Tweet. Chen continued to Tweet about forced

abortions in China even after his house arrest. Chen, a lawyer, who also happens to be blind,

provides an example as to how one can use a cell and the Internet to assert a voice. At the

elementary level, I need to approach social justice from more of a Golden Rule idea but at the

age of 10 children become more sophisticated about fairness and equity. As an art educator, I

know to view art the context often requires a consideration of the human condition.

Albert Schweitzer wrote, “search then, for some investment for your humanity, and do

not be frightened away if you have to wait…. And be prepared for disappointments. But in any

case…work in which you give yourself to people” (Meyer and Bergel, 2002, p. 84). Giving a

genuine self, as Lorde (1984/2007) describes:

My fullest concentration of energy is available to me only when I integrate

all the parts of who I am, openly, allowing power from particular sources of my

living to flow back and forth freely through all my different selves, without

restriction of externally imposed definition. (pp.120-121)

The times in my life as an artist that I sacrificed my integrity are the times that I did not

want to identify as an artist. Now, I exhibit with a gallery, whose owner says to me, “Stay you.” I

paint commissions for patrons who ask for a painting I do; simply because I have painted it. My

commodity as an artist is my dogma; my ideas, originality, and creativity.

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Helping children develop a self-concept, through art education, involves developing and

incorporating artistic voice. My role is to celebrate the process so students can create with

confidence and strong assertion. As an artist, I must at least act confident in order to maintain

momentum until my voice asserts itself. Understanding this about the creative process, I can

nurture students to stay them until their voice resounds. Since a self-concept is the basis for an

artist‟s creation, an artist with a threatened self-concept is paralyzed and any work generated is

usually mired, pandering, and/or propaganda. This is why art teachers must be artists. We know

how integral going against the grain and finding oneself is to developing voice; how being able

to visually represent one‟s difference is one‟s very signature.

In my field, art education, a current curriculum push is art as an agent of social justice.

Using handhelds, to include cells, with the Internet will transform lessons and many types of

projects, interwoven with social justice themes. In Appendix A, I have done the aforementioned

to a lesson. Mel Alexenberg (2008) identifies eight realms of learning for educating artists for the

future. In the realm, “Learning through Moral Courage,” Alexenberg explains:

In the kabbalistic schema, beauty is the balance between compassion and

strength. This vital balance teaches that it is not enough for artists to rest content

with their compassionate responses to the cries of the world through their

artworks. They must gain the strength and moral courage to use art to confront

hatred, bigotry, racism, terrorism, genocide, and cults of death and destruction. (p.

331)

Lampela (2010) elucidates the importance of using LGBT artists as our exemplars:

Often students only see depictions of heterosexual identity in the curriculum.

Including artists that represent other sexual identities can not only help lesbian,

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gay, and queer students develop a positive sense of self when they see

representations in the curriculum, but can also help all students understand the

meaning of living in a democracy. (p.27)

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever

we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect,” Chief

Seattle, 1855, n.p.).

The context of hostile learning environments for LGBT students is germane to this

paper‟s focus, to empower youth by helping all students assert their voice. Sandell (2006) reveals

the role of context in the formula of a lesson design:

With contextual information, we can perceive the intention and purpose of the

artwork. Our ability to interpret and evaluate the art is enriched by identifying

personal, social, and other contexts that influence the creation and comprehension

of the work. As we distinguish how the form and theme work together within

specific contexts that reveal the function of the artwork, we can also note its

relevance and significance for the creator within his/her culture or society. (p. 34)

Social networking sites and text messages make harassment viral, exponentially

increasing incidents and severity of attacks. The anonymity allows attackers to feel shielded from

recourse. School climates of hate speech escalations fester the higher the grade level and reports

of heightening violence as a result of hate speech suffuse the media. Moore (2010), for

CNET.com reports cyberbulling hits LGBT youth especially hard, referring to the study of Iowa

State University researchers, Cooper and Blumenfeld, who identify strategies of LGBT youth to

thwart cyberbullying. Words not only hurt but can kill people, according to Blumenfeld:

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Especially at this age--pre-adolescence through adolescence--this is a time when

peer influences are paramount in a young person's life. If one is ostracized and

attacked, that can have devastating consequences--not only physically, but on

their emotional health for the rest of their lives. (n.p.)

From the Human Rights Watch‟s (2001) Hatred in the Hallways:

When harassment goes unchecked it may escalate into more serious

behavior. „It was horrible,‟ said Dexter P., a nineteen-year-old high school senior,

who reported that other students started harassing him in the first grade. „At first

they made fun of me because I was different. Then it was because I was gay.

They'd call me things like fag and cocksucker. It went on through middle school

and got really bad in high school.‟

He publicly identified as gay during the middle of his sophomore year.

„After I came out, it was like I had a death wish or something. I was pushed

around, thrown into lockers. I can see it all in my head. It was just constant.

Everybody was always harassing me.‟ (p. 06a)

A tree is not just its roots. Although nourished, or not, through its roots, a tree is

also an outgrowth of its surroundings, but the tree is also its branches, leaves, and

contributor to its surroundings. “Art is a vehicle through which meanings are conveyed”,

wrote Judith Simpson (1998), “Making sense of the world around us, our interactions,

and experiences compels us to make literal and metaphoric connections” (p. 49). Art

education accesses self-concepts, and subsequent metaphoric connections. “All aspects of

cultures must be examined as the context in which art is produced. Not allowing

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ourselves to think this way is to continue to minimize the importance of our field and its

syncretic meaning in education” (p. 50).

Often, adaptations and modifications special educators use to address the learning needs

for students with exceptionalities benefit regular education students, especially when the Q

stands for questioning, as opposed to queer in the acronym LGBTQ. Art teachers are particularly

concerned with identity as it relates to themes and context that the student develops in their

artwork and interprets in the artwork of others. Sexual minorities number few, “5 and 6 percent”

Huegel (2003), and “somewhere between 3 and 6 percent” Keen (2007). Conversely, youth who

are questioning, aspects of their identity and culture, represent a majority. Every lesson tailored

to LGBT and Q youths‟ art learning needs, serves the learning needs of a greater majority.

Special educators, Gerber and Guay‟s (2006), in Reaching and Teaching did not address

the learning needs of LGBT youth but their philosophy aptly suits LGBT youth, who “come in

all colors, socio-economic backgrounds, levels of intelligence, and have the strengths and

weaknesses of any group,” (p. 139). The important distinction is not how many, it is how

individual. “Each student is an individual and brings a different background, experiences, and

abilities to the classroom” (p. 13).

In Appendix A the lesson plan, Kinesthetic Identification Experience (KIX), teaches the

theme of tolerance versus discrimination and the sub-themes of friendship, caring, service, and

courage; themes related to ways we can stand up, assert our influence, and raise consciousness.

In The Sneetches, Dr. Seuss‟ (1961/1989) character, Sylvester McMonkey McBean, represents

the agent of change, “the Fix-it-Up Chappie…. Changing their stars every minute or two” (p.

21). Artists and art educators, architects of change, necessitate teaching social justice with art

students.

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Today, charges Winner and Hetland (2008), “start using the arts to restore balance and

depth to an educational system increasingly skewed toward readily testable skills and

information…the arts teach vital modes of seeing, imagining, inventing, and thinking” (p. 31).

Art education is the last bastion of “thinking skills rarely addressed elsewhere in the curriculum

and that far from being irrelevant in a test driven education system, arts education is becoming

even more important” (p. 29). Many people, including teachers, are unaware or not concerned

about how their bigotry is seeping from their pores. Many people, or the majority, have little or

no experience at being a minority, having lived and worked in homogeneous environments their

whole lives. With a cell and access to the Internet, one has viable tools to assert ones voice,

values, and vision as a distinct individual part of a diverse whole.

I wrote the Legacy Curriculum. Considering legacy, students think about how their story

does and how will it matter. Voice, values, and vision are the parts of the legacy‟s story. Through

alternative self-portraiture, students will begin building their legacy, first internally, and then

externally progressing to local and then global commentary. Authentic art studio habits develop

aesthetic preferences and begin to establish how students will leave a legacy and what their voice

looks like. Intelligence, states Eisner (1998), is not just “constrained by the rules of logic. Human

intellectual capacity is far wider. The realization of this capacity is surely more likely as we

create a richer, more nurturant culture for our students” (pp. 85-86). The visual arts help us think

contextually, assert our own meaning, and “create a life worth living” (p. 86).

Lesson Plan

Following this paper in Appendix A is the lesson plan, Kinesthetic Identification

Experience (KIX), which is a part of the Legacy Curriculum. Sandell (2006) wrote, “the big idea,

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explored through specific themes and sub-themes, is revealed by the artists‟ chosen expressive

viewpoint or perspective that reflects his or her culture and era” (p. 34). The lesson, KIX, relates

to the big idea, discrimination and its antithesis tolerance, and explores the sub-themes from a

lesson, Teaching Reverence for Life, by Lindberg in Meyer (2002), “friendship, caring, service,

and courage” (p. 277). The experience will affect “how they view other people, their classmates,

people in the town where they live, and those from different cultures….most importantly, their

role and potential contributions to society” (p. 276). KIX incorporates Schweitzer‟s commitment

to service, Lorde‟s free flow through different selves, and Alexenberg‟s assertion to have

courage. Connecting interests allows all students to focus on similarities, despite differences.

KIX is an open-ended lesson designed for the needs of all students as individuals. To see the

Legacy Curriculum and how his lesson has been adapted for the use of cell phones, go to

slideshare to view the lesson plan in the original form. http://www.slideshare.net/joansloo

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References

Alexenberg, M. (Ed.). (2008). Educating artists for the future: Learning at the intersection of

art, science, technology and culture. Bristol, United Kingdom: Intellect Books.

Chief Seattle. (1855). Humankind has not woven the web of life. Retrieved from

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/chiefseatt104989.html

Eisner, E. W. (1998). The misunderstood role of the arts in human development. In L. Bridges

(Eds.), The kind of schools we need: Personal essays (pp. 77-86). Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.

Gerber B. L. & Guay, D. M. (Eds.). (2006). Reaching and teaching: Students with special needs

through art. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Human Rights Watch. (2001, May 1). Hatred in the hallways: Violence and discrimination

against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students in U.S. schools. Retrieved from

http://www.hrw.org

Huegel, K. (2003). GLBTQ*: The survival guide for queer and questioning teens. Minneapolis,

MN: Free Spirit Publishing.

Keen, L. (2007). Out law: What LGBT youth should know about their legal rights. Boston, MA:

Beacon Press.

Kolb, L. (2008). Toys to tools: Connecting student cell phones to education, Washington, DC:

books@.iste.org

Lampela, L. (2010). Expressing lesbian and queer identities in the works of three contemporary

artists of New Mexico. Art Education, (63)1, 25-32.

Lorde, A. (2007). Sister outsider: Essays and speeches. Trumansberg, NY: Crossing Press.

(Original work published 1984).

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Meyer, M. & Bergel, K. (Eds.). (2002). Reverence for life: The ethics of Albert Schweitzer for

the twenty-first century. Syracuse, NY: University Press.

Moore, E. A. (2010, March 9). Cyberbullying hits LGBT youth especially hard. CNET News.

Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com

Sandell, R. (2006). Form + theme + context: Balancing considerations for meaningful art

learning. Art Education, 59(1), 33-37.

Seuss, T. G. (1989). The Sneetches and other stories. New York, NY: Random House. (Original

work published 1961).

Simpson, J. W. (1998). Myth, metaphors and meaning. In R. J. Saunders (Ed.), Beyond the

traditional in art: facing a pluralistic society (pp. 48-50). Reston, VA: National Art

Education Association.

Winner, E. & Hetland, L. (2008). Art for art sake: School arts classes matter more than ever-but

not for the reasons you think. Arts Education Policy Review, 109(5), pp. 29-31.

Joan Schlough


Appendix A

LEGACY CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Art Education Department

TEACHER'S NAME _Joan Schlough SCHOOL Lincoln Inquiry Charter School _
GRADE 4th/ 5th LENGTH OF LESSON Time based on previous knowledge, 3- 45 min. per.

TITLE OF LESSON: Kinesthetic Identification Experience (KIX)______________ _________

RELATIONSHIP TO THE UNIT: (Kinesthetic Identification Experience-KIX)
KIX relates to the big idea, discrimination and its antithesis tolerance, and explores the sub-
themes from a lesson, Teaching Reverence for Life, by Lindberg in Meyer (2002), “friendship,
caring, service, and courage” (p. 277). The experience will affect “how they view other people,
their classmates, people in the town where they live, and those from different cultures….most
importantly, their role and potential contributions to society” (p. 276).

RELATIONSHIP TO LIFE:
KIX simulates values clarification strategy emphasizing nuance of difference, promotes
awareness of potential bias, and cumulates in renewal through the identification experience.

I. PROBLEM/ACTIVITY:
Students assign symbols to their interests, hobbies, favorite subjects and foods, personal and
physical characteristics, and aspirations, drawing at least two symbols on small square cards.
Students attach symbols to a large connect card to align symbols with other students‟ symbols
like dominoes. In addition to being able to move the entire domino card to different parts of the
mind map or even different maps, each of the two symbols are moveable, as all of the
aforementioned components are jpegs. Part of the experience includes exhibiting cards, using
separate mind maps. Students experience how separate may not be equal and how sorting
methods are demoralizing and rejoining offers renewal. Students attempt to connect with their
peers or certain peers more frequently, by analyzing interests less rigidly, attaching and
reattaching cards, and drawing more symbols to facilitate a match with a symbol of another.

II. GOAL(S):
KNOW…
basic vocabulary related to their study of art (Performance Standard A.4.2).
that art is a basic way of thinking and communicating about the world (Performance
Standard A.4.6).
that art is influenced by artists, designers, and cultures (Performance Standard B.4.4).
how the design of the art changes its meaning (Performance Standard C.4.3).
about basic concepts in art, such as “form follows function,” “less is more,” balance,
symmetry, and originality (Performance Standard D.4.6)
how to create works of art that have meanings (Performance Standard G.4.4).
creating or looking at art can bring out different feelings (Performance Standard I.4.6).
their own ideas about the purposes and meanings of art (Performance Standard J.4.5).

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UNDERSTAND…
that their choices are shaped by their own culture (Performance Standard B.4.5).
their creative process to better understand their work (Performance Standard C.4.9).
art communicates ideas and meanings of other artwork (Performance Standards G.4.1-2).
that creating or looking at art can bring out different feelings (Performance Standard
I.4.6).
their own ideas about the purposes, meanings, and value of art as a basic part of being
human (Performance Standards J.4.5-6).
and apply the role of art criticism and aesthetic knowledge in art and design (Performance
Standard J.4.7).
connections art makes to other subjects and life (Performance Standards K.4.1-3).
the role that personal traits, such as independent thinking, courage, integrity, insight,
dedication, and patience, play in creating quality art and design (Performance Standard
L.4.3).

BE ABLE TO…
develop a basic mental storehouse of images (Performance Standard A.4.1).
explore the elements and principles of design (Performance Standards C.4.1-1).
explore what makes quality design (Performance Standards C.4.1-2).
use design to improve artwork (Performance Standard C.4.4).
use sketching to develop ideas for their artwork (Performance Standard C.4.6).
develop basic skills to produce quality art (Performance Standard C.4.7).
explore the natural characteristics of materials and their possibilities and limitations
(Performance Standard C.4.8).
develop personal responsibility for their learning and creative process (Performance
Standard C.4.10).
use problem-solving strategies that promote fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and
originality (Performance Standard D.4.6).
communicate basic ideas by producing studio art forms, such as drawings, and graphic
design (Performance Standards E.4.1-2).
use the visual arts to express ideas that cannot be expressed by words alone (Performance
Standard E.4.5).
talk and write about the meanings of artworks and design (Performance Standard G.4.3).
show differences among colors, shapes, textures, and other qualities [line] of objects in
their artwork (Performance Standard H.4.3).
work alone and with others to develop visual ideas and objects (Performance Standard
I.4.7).
talk about art in basic terms (Performance Standards J.4.10).
connect their knowledge and skills in art and to other areas, such as the humanities,
sciences, social studies, and technology (Performance Standard K.4.1).
invent new ways to communicate ideas and solutions to problems in art (Performance
Standard K.4.2).
use what they are learning about life, nature, the physical world, and people to create art
(Performance Standard K.4.3).

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develop conceptual thought processes, and learn to use metaphors to arrive at original
ideas (Performance Standards L.4.1-7).

See http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS-S_Standards.sflb.ashx and
http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx for technology
standards for students and teachers.

III. OBJECTIVES:
1. Once students have been shown and have discussed different symbols, experimented with the
kinesthetic abilities of a KIX, they will demonstrate the sum of these observations by assigning
their own symbols to aspects of their identity, using the media effectively, having had prior
experience assigning symbols to their identity and freedom in choosing media. (Bloom-
Comprehension and application)

2. Responding to imposed limitations of design choices and exhibition space, students will
identify symbol matches with their peers and connect their KIX to their peers KIX, keeping
count of the number of possible connections that they can or cannot make, based on like interests
or based on imposed limitations. (Bloom-Comprehension and analysis)

3. Having participated in a run through of KIX, discovering how difficult or easy it was for them
to make connections, students will be asked to supplement, change, or reinterpret their symbols
in order to make the maximum connections, explaining the process or design choices in writing
or orally regardless of whether their score increased, decreased, or stayed constant. (Bloom-
Synthesis and evaluation)

IV. ASSESSMENTS:
1. Students create at least two symbols that represent an aspect of their identity, drawn lightly in
3H pencil first, outlined with black felt-tip pen, colored in with crayon, colored pencil, or both,
and take pictures of the symbols. The small squares are pasted to a larger domino card, type their
names on their cards, which is a retrievable template saved in file. Each symbol square‟s
background is colored completely. Once a card is made, students save this and every subsequent
domino card in their file in the classroom folder. The point of setting up all these conditions
facilitates a ridiculous list of qualifications, and simulates social restrictions, like discriminatory
legislation.

2. Twice students record the names of the other students they make KIX connections with and
the number of the difference between the scores through a screen capture. Students text or leave
a voice mail to explain why their KIX scores stayed the same, increased, or decreased. Incentives
are given for making a great number of connections, inspiring students to find nuance in their
difference. For example, even though football and baseball are different sports, they are both
played with balls. This encourages students to redesign a symbol as representing all ball sports as
opposed to just one sport, which stimulates assigning syncretic meaning to inclusivity and
tolerance.

3. Students share with Online Stickies what they had to do in order to make more connections, or
make preferred connections. Also, in discussion, students suggest things they did to their KIX in

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order to connect with their friends, or how they made suggestions to help their friends make
more connections, or why they would avoid recording some connections, even though they know
it will hurt their score. This aspect of the thought processes represents bias awareness, the theme
tolerance versus discrimination, friendship, service, caring, and courage.

V. RESOURCES AND MATERIALS
Art vocabulary for Word Wall: symbol, design, media
Task analysis for each day on the Promethean Board and on separate seat sheet
Books:
Sneetches by Dr. Seuss
Signs & Symbols by Gerd Arntz
Examples and non-examples of student sketches and resulting symbols

Teacher samples of KIX (I have not made digital tablet samples, yet):

Ball sports and unicycling Learning and equality

Disc golf and science Peace and music

Assessment tools:
Guiding questions for writing texts and posting to Online Stickies
Lists of ideas about incentives and facilitations of KIX sessions.
Flikr, Mindmeister, Snagit, and saving files minilessons.

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Checklist for Kinesthetic Identification Experience (KIX):
Check the box if you did it. Circle A if you did each one well.

I made sketches that I used for my symbols.

I shared my images on artsonia or flikr.

I designed the symbol so it is simple, yet easy to understand.

I made a digital domino with my symbols and linked it on Mindmeister.

I recorded the number of times I could connect, sent a text about how I changed my KIX
to make more and/or different connections.

I participated in the classroom discussions. I can explain how it felt to not have as many
connections as other KIX, for example.

I checked all the boxes but I could still use a little practice controlling the media and thinking
about how things can be a symbol.

I completed most of the steps shown above but I could still use a more practice with the
media, my ideas, and sharing during discussions.
I skipped some of the steps shown above. I need a lot more practice with the coloring and
getting an idea. I don’t know the art terms very well, yet.

Examples of art with syncretic meaning:
All art images will be shown on the Promethean Board. All of my cultural exemplars are LGBT
artists, who assert their identities and cultural context in their work. Heterosexual artists such as
Käthe Kollwitz or Shepard Fairey lend themselves to these themes well, but using the work of
LGBT artists in the curriculum gives the gay community visibility in curriculum, as contributing
in the world, and to our field. If teaching at the middle school I recommend Jasper Johns and if
teaching at the high school, I recommend Erin Forrest.

Examples of art with syncretic meaning by LGBT artists:

Zero Generation (2004) by Rachel Carns Radiant Baby (ca 1978) by Keith Haring

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Mr. Rabbit (1962) by Maurice Sendak Portrait of a German Officer (1914) by Marsden Hartley
Images:
Symbols mounted on cardstock:

Materials:
1- Bristol paper or digital template 5x8”
2 or more-Bristol papers or digital templates 3x3”
crayons
colored pencils
black felt-tipped pens
3H pencils and erasers
sketch paper

Digital and Internet tools:
In my classroom, I have five design tablets also available, which could be used instead or in
addition to the above list of drawing media. With a design tablet, image capture, upload, and is
unneeded. If all students used and iPad with drawing tools, this would also save steps and time.

Cell phones and/or digital cameras and recorders
Computers and/or other handheld devices
SnagIt
Adobe-Photoshop or other image working software like Microsoft Picture Manager

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Lino Online Stickies
Mindmeister
Flickr (In my classroom, we will use artsonia)
Mindmeister and artsonia apps for mobile and iPad

VI. MOTIVATION
TOPIC QUESTIONS:
Who can explain the ways Nike, Converse, or The Gap are like Sylvester McMonkey
McBean?
What does Mr. McBean mean by “You can‟t teach a Sneetch?”
Look at these symbols. Is there one that you‟d like to wear? What if you would get in
trouble if you didn‟t wear the symbol?

ASSOCIATION QUESTIONS:
Was there ever a time you tried to change something about yourself so you would be
more like other people? The kind of clothes you wear…how you run…liking sports…

VISUALIZATION QUESTIONS:
Why would a radiant baby be a symbol for a man?
What type of symbol could you make to stand for a whole bunch of different people?

TRANSITION QUESTIONS:
Do you think you could pick symbols to express your feelings or your personality?
Do you think some symbols express certain personalities more than others?
Do you think any of this artwork is like a self-portrait?
Can you think of a computer icon that is a symbol for search or to make something
bigger…a logo that is a symbol for a computer…?
Do you know what emoticons are?

VII. ADAPTATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS
All assertions as to syncretic meaning are valid as long as the student can
defend their choice, in varying ways made available to them. If there are LGBTQ
youth and by Q, I mean questioning, the privacy of the written response

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safeguards the student’s personal journey with self-concept. Some symbols
may seem closer to Hammurabi’s Code than the student’s personal voice.
Students,’ who self-concepts are on the rise, may seem disingenuous
occasionally. This may be a self-sustaining or protective behavior more than a
devious or evasive behavior.
Be aware strong views based on some values held by families, such as, Jehovah
Witness, Judeo-Christian, liberal/conservative, or White Supremacy beliefs.
Remind students to respect the other students in schools and choose school-
appropriate symbols and reinforce what is appropriate, as needed. Censor
images according to your own procedures, district and school rules.
Students, who resist speaking in front of their peers may choose writing and
vice versa. These students may also require more time.
Every class I write the description of each step in the procedures for that lesson
on the Promethean Board. Many students like having that description at their
own work area on paper, so they can focus on each step and check off each
completed task. This task analysis breaks down each step even further.
This lesson is designed for the elementary level. The guiding questions, cultural
exemplars, teacher examples, and mediation of the KIX session procedures are
based on their developmental level.
Here is a list of helpful tools for physical exceptionalities:
1.Technology that translates sign language into text aims to empower sign language users
(http://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/details-11751.php)

2.Tongue Drive System Goes Inside the Mouth to Improve Performance and User
Comfort (http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?nid=110351)

3.Eye-controlled computer games for disabled
children(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17179405)

4.Digital revolution changing lives of students with disabilities
(http://gazettextra.com/news/2012/feb/26/digital-revolution-changing-lives-students-
disabil/)

VIII. PROCEDURES
Day 1
Body:
Instructional Input (15 min.)
Show my KIX samples.
Review what we know about symbols. Remember the symbols students made in 2nd /3rd grade to
represent themselves. Explain what the symbols on my samples mean to me.
20


Show examples of how other artists have used symbols and brainstorm symbols we know,
including logos, icons, and emoticons. Use the book Signs and Symbols if needed.
Read Sneetches: This is a quick read without prompting discussion. The second read is after the
first KIX connecting session and before students redesign or make more symbols for the second
session.
Modeling and Demonstration (10 min.)
Demonstrate sketching, show students‟ samples of sketches.
Demonstrate lightly drawing best versions of best ideas on squares in 3H pencil, show student
sample.
Demonstrate outlining with felt-tip pen and coloring with media, crayon, colored-pencil, or both,
in layered technique. These steps can be skipped and/interchanged depending upon access to
technology.
Distribution: Line up by tables, when called upon, to collect materials on the counter or in the
back of the classroom. Return to counter, independently for more supplies, when needed.
Checking for Understanding (25 min.)
Students use 1, 5 x 8” papers to provide the base of domino for the symbols. The border is
created by tracing around the 3 x 3” squares, and then filled in with either wavy or zigzag lines.
Students will attach Velcro to the back of the 5 x 8” paper to attach, detach, and reattach, to the
display boards, and on the 3 x 3” papers, to attach to the 5 x 8” papers. (see also digital version
of procedure after this and the next step).
Students use 2, 3 x 3” papers to draw and color the symbols that they will interchange and
identify connections from their best sketches.
Students use digital templates to attach digital images of their colored pencil images or can use
an app to upload digitally drawn or converted colored pencil images to jpegs directly to artsonia
and Mindmeister.
Students make first attempt at the KIX connect. Students record their results.
Clean-up: Put media and artwork away according to our procedures.
Day 1 closure (10 min.)
Read through checklist. Play “Line up Game” (student named). Teacher asks a vocabulary
question and the students find the term on the Word Wall, lining up when they answer it
correctly.
Day 2
Body:
Instructional Input (15 min.)
Opening reflection on 1st day progress. Consider formal elements. Review rubric.
Reread Sneetches. Show images of symbols mounted on card stock. The other side of card shows
these images:

21


Jewish family wearing stars and boys with stars.
Modeling and Demonstration (5 min.)
Review procedures. Task analysis is shown on the board, and available on paper to take to
student‟s table.
Distribution: Line up by tables, when called upon, to collect materials on the counter or in the
back of the classroom. Return to counter, independently for more supplies, when needed. Assign
students to available technology, if all have an iPad, review apps.
Checking for Understanding (25 min.)
Students make and/or finish at least two identifying symbols.
Teacher gives new sets of limitations, for example, only the cards with the same types of lines
(wavy or zigzag) around the border can connect if they are on the board marked with the triangle.
The other board, students are told, will be displayed in the lobby.
Students reconnect, recording the new number of connections, explaining and/or defending their
results in orally or in writing.
Clean-up according to procedure.
Day 2 closure (15 min.)
Teacher and students hold discussion and share results and reflection, tell whole class, and tell
me privately in oral or written form. Students check to be sure their name is on rubric, KIX, and
the results log. KIX remain on the display boards.

IX. CLOSURE AND REFLECTION
Hold group reflection of the first session‟s progress at the beginning of second class period:
Show progress, ask students to guess whose symbol is whose. Point out how many of them
blended their colors, giving brilliance to the simple shapes, and made great color contrast,
which made a simple shape powerful. Compare to other symbols. In drawing programs, the
Wacom design tablet, for example, colors can be blended
Hold discussion and/or writing session at the end of the second class period:
Students are free to keep readjusting their KIX. The teacher can reassert new parameters and
students can practice discerning the nuances of differences and broaden their ideas of
identification and inclusivity to realize Chief Seattle‟s (1855) words, “all things are bound
together. All things connect” (n. p.)

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