"Madcap Logic is thrilled to partner with BrandStar Entertainment's TV popular morning show "The Balancing Act" on Lifetime in their effort to address the complex educational needs of today's students."

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“On November 7th, 2008, New Museum staff Chio Flores and Stephanie Pereira gave a presentation at to Al Smith and Hamilton Fish After School Program’s 9-12 year olds. They first described to the students the mission of their museum and talked about contemporary art in general. They presented slides of various artwork and talked about their past and current exhibitions.

We found those students who have been participating in Creativity Express since the Summer ’08 season, were more apt to participate in the group discussions about the slides. They were more confident (than others) to raise their hands, as well as had a larger vocabulary with which to articulate their ideas and opinions about the artwork presented.”-Olga Gazman, Director Computer Resource Centers, City of New York Parks & Recreation

Woodcraft Rangers’ Huntington Park Elementary After School program in Los Angeles using Creativity Express!

Wendy Rominger is currently teaching art in grades 6-8 in Jackson Hole Middle School in Jackson, Wyoming.  She first found out about Creativity Express through a postcard she received from an art education convention.  The program seemed to meet many of the needs she was struggling with in her own curriculum and mixed computer use with studio activities, assessment quizzes, written reflections, and creating computer images that could be stored in a portfolio.

We asked Wendy about how she uses the software in her classes and the kinds of art her kids have produced as a result. Here is what she had to say: “I have the kids create a handmade cardboard journal that houses all their Do Art activities.  I have expanded the chapter Messages in Art as a spring board for a T-shirt design using lettering for their own message. I see my 6th graders 2 times a week which limits how much time we spend in Creativity Express but I strive to have them all complete up to 8 chapters if I see them for a semester. It has proved incredibly helpful when I have a substitute in my room. They have commented how wonderful it was and how engaged the kids were during the class.”

Wendy has noticed that some kids take more readily to the software than others however, and that if she doesn’t keep an eye on them they will skip over sections that are more or less optional so they can get to the challenge (at least they are ambitious!). Some of the kids are also moving quickly to wait to find out more about the artists or concepts covered, but they really love working with Corel Painter and expressing themselves on the computer. Interestingly, some kids prefer the idea gizmo than their own ideas for completing their art activities while others prefer to challenge themselves to come up with their own solutions. The software is flexible enough to cover both audiences and their needs! One favorite activity for all seems to be pulling the handle on the machine!

When we asked Wendy what she would tell a new teacher who had never used the program before, she recommended working through how to log students in, then unlock the chapters, explore the features of the gallery, artist cards, and how to track student scores before exposing the kids to the program. A digital painter program is really essential if students are going to create images on the computer. If you are wondering about the images in this blog, they come courtesy of Wendy’s students, wonderful examples of the kinds of artistic expression they found through the software.

Thanks so much for your time Wendy, and give our thanks to the students for their beautiful work!

With thanks to Circumerrostock for the sign!

Encouraging the artist within!