The Synthesizing Mind

The assignment:
Share a classroom strategy (e.g., project, activity) that incorporates the use of digital resources to help students synthesize information.
Or, provide a brief review of a digital resource, tool or website and then tell how you would use it to help foster the development of the synthesizing mind.
Use these sites to help identify a resource:
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators - http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/edtools.htmlWeb2010 - http://web2010.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools.cfm
Edudemic - http://edudemic.com/2010/07/the-35-best-web-2-0-classroom-tools-chosen-by-you/


Hmmm.....I'm going to nominate glogster as the tool that I'm going to use within my computer lab to help students incorporate and organize digital information, as well as help them synthesize that information.

Although this is taking Howard Gardner's idea of disciplines and the arts quite literally, I am going to have my 7th grade students identify an art discipline, and then they will be researching it, and finding individuals and groups through videos, text, and audio that provide examples of that art discipline. This could be anything that the students have a passion for, whether it be dance, rap, visual arts, movies, or the spoken or written word. I am going to have them compose a glogster poster that celebrates the art, provides examples, and also asks questions of the viewer that would provide insight into the possibilities of the future of this art concept in digital form.

The school I teach at is devoted to the arts. We have dance and drumming classes, conducted by Master Artists. We have Artists-in Residence programs come to our school and work with classes. We have so many programs-Clay Studio, the Shakespeare Project, Singing City, Comic Creators...the list is added to every year. I want to be able to add to the arts through technology. I want to show students that art is not confined to an easel and paint, or a drum, or costume and dance. I think this would be a great way to introduce the students to this concept! I'm excited!!