Journal Twenty One: Review Wexler Reading, “Beyond Accommodations: Designing for Nonverbal/Nonauditory Learners in the Inclusive Art Room.” By Dorothy Smith | 15 November 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D REFLECTION ON WEXLER.
With so much focus on social justice in education and politics, and with so much emphasis on giving a voice to those who are marginalized within our society, people often focus on racial issues and don’t give a passing thought about those who have developmental delays or physical disabilities. I would think that having a learning disability or physical disability would be extremely difficult and frustrating at times. Those who are under stress can have a difficult time engaging in the classroom, focusing, and working with others. I’ve always been very interested in learning more about how to work with and teach students that are differently abled. I’m looking forward to this reading. “Unexpectedly, however, we found that the physical arrangement of the art room was an obstruction to collaboration, independence, empathy,and dialogue.” For a group of students who could not follow a lesson verbally or audibly, one must consider the learning environment as a possible third barrier blocking engagement with and of the students. Some students, such as those with sensory sensitivity and overload, may need more personal space, noise-canceling headphones, and calming colors. “He said that mutual respect comes from love and understanding each child’s disability. Teachers must want to teach everyone.” As a future art teacher I understand that I must consider my students’ learning environment and manipulate and arrange it to be inclusive, comfortable, to have good lighting and windows with natural sunlight, and to insure that my non-verbal and non-auditory students still feel that they can participate, learn, and interact with one another in a safe and comfortable environment. I must also guide them to see that they have a voice through their artworks,and that they can always express themselves freely and safely in my art class. ---------- Reference: Wexler, Alice, and Aleánna Luethi-Garrecht. 2015. “Beyond Accommodations: Designing for Nonverbal/Nonauditory Learners in the Inclusive Art Room.” Art Education 68 (2): 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2015.11519309.
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Journal Twenty: Review Lee Reading, Culturally Responsive Teaching for 21st-Century Art Education: Examining Race in a Studio Art Experience By Dorothy Smith | 15 November 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D SELF REFLECTION AND BACKGROUND.
When I think about race-relations I find myself to feel uneasy. As I’ve said in previous writings, I am an optimist - and I strongly believe mutual respect is to be given regardless of mood or circumstance. In today’s society in the United States of America I feel that the fabric is being torn: One side on being unified as a country, all-inclusive, and “color-blind”, while the other side pulls strongly on holding onto keeping segregation by race and drawing attention to marginalized people of particular races (but really to anyone who is not white). Personally I feel that racism has definitely had a major effect on the history of the United States of America, and that there has been a lot of effort made by groups and by individuals to reduce the stress and conflict between races over the course of several years, and through several movements. While I would rather be color-blind and embrace all races as one human race, as a future teacher I am learning that I must be sensitive towards non-white students to make sure they feel like they have a voice that is as important as white students. “Exploring the role of culture and race in students’ lives and introducing racial dialogue into art education courses helps teachers perform better within increasingly diverse school populations, and prepares them to connect more meaningfully with students and their creations.” I completely agree that it would be beneficial for teachers to learn more about cultures that are not their own so that they can be more comfortable and accepting of diversity. While attending Appalachian State University I chose to learn more about diverse cultures of the world to expand my mind of what art means to different people. I have taken World Literature (novels from Chinese, African, and Maori authors about their culture), World History 1200s-1940s, Understanding Culture (anthropology), Art History Prehistoric - 1400s, and Art History 1400s - Present. In my art history courses I had the opportunity to learn more about all kinds of cultures around the world and through different periods, not just ancient Greek and Roman statues or French and Italian paintings. One thing I noticed, though, is that most non-European artworks recorded in literature, like textbooks, did not have any credit for their artist. The only information was the location, the medium or materials used, and maybe the tribe or people the art originated from - but not an actual artist’s name. I was thinking about this a little bit and realized that anthropology (the study of humans) is a fairly new concept and study. It would seem that in the days before anthropologists studied secluded and marginalized peoples and their culture they never really had a voice in the world. Anthropology didn’t really start until the 1800s, ironically around the same time that colonization by European countries started happening. As anthropologists started living with and studying various groups of people and writing about them, those marginalized groups were given a voice. REFLECTING ON LEE: Najuana Lee’’s book is Culturally Responsive Teaching for 21st-Century Art Education: Examining Race in a Studio Art Experience. I think it is important to know that “racism is a ‘system of advantages based on race’ (Tatum, 1997, p.7).” During my time in ART 2222: Introduction to Art Education I have determined that art is an expression of feelings - from dance, to music, crafting, writing, videography, and all sorts of visual arts. If students have certain feelings about racism issues I could see how it might be beneficial to express them. I have found that expressing my feelings in times of stressful thinking helps to start the healing process. “This color-blind socialization process wrongly positions race-consciousness as equivalent to racism and further complicates teachers’ understanding of the important role that plays in the lives of their diverse students.” I’m learning that it’s okay to embrace one’s heritage, culture, and race. If a student’s family continues cultural traditions that are from another country or society, they should feel free to embrace that culture, learn more about it, and share it with their fellow students. Only through sharing and listening can anyone become more understanding and aware, and appreciative of diversity. Lee’s reading shares that most white teachers are not comfortable teaching non-white students, and the majority of teachers are white. This is why it is so important to address the fear and discomfort. Many children are empathetic. If their teacher shows discomfort within the classroom the students will know and may react in a negative way. Lee’s reading discusses building a bridge to close the gap of [ignorance]. By making a true effort to get to know the students, teachers can develop understanding through building relationships. “[...] a teacher’s overt and covert cultural biases send messages to students about their academic capabilities. [...] The Pygmalion effect is phenomenon in which a teacher’s high expectation of his or her student will result in enhanced student performance.” I feel that this is a very important point of the reading. If teachers have a cultural and racial bias towards white students they will assume and expect for them to perform at a higher level. When I think about a good quality teacher I think about my sister. She teaches fourth grade at a public school in North Carolina. The school she works at actually has a majority of minority students. I have substituted for her in the past, and have gotten to watch her work on occasion. She always has clear expectations written and posted in her classroom. She also goes over them with her students daily. She is very encouraging, fair, and respectful. If a student is struggling she takes time to speak with one-on-one. If a student flairs up with a negative emotion she’ll gently guide them away from the other students and speak with them privately to de-escalate the issue. She is one of the most encouraging and inspiring - and fun - teachers I have ever met. Through observing her work, and reading Lee’s work, I feel like I have a better understanding of how to treat, work with, and help my future students. I thought the project in the reading was pretty cool. Having the students do some research on race-relations and racial issues, having small group and whole group discussions, and allowing them to reflect on their findings and experiences was a great idea. This, no doubt, allowed the students to learn about and consider what others go through, what privileges, what struggles, and other aspects of racial issues so that they could prepare to express the understanding and their feelings that came about through visual artworks. Some of the students’ works were visual representation of Whiteness, stereotypes, and privilege. Each work expresses personal feelings and understanding of what they learned and discussed. ---------- Reference: Lee, Najuana. 2012. Art Education, Vol. 65, No. 5 (September 2012), pp. 48-53. Culturally Responsive Teaching for 21st-Century Art Education: Examining Race in a Studio Art Experience. National Art Education Association. Accessed: 04-08-2018 22:32 UTC. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23391520. Journal Nineteen: Review Mallett and Curwin/Mendler Readings on Discipline. By Dorothy Smith | 08 November 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D REFLECTING ON MALLETT. Christopher Mallett’s book is The School-to-Prison Pipeline: A comprehensive Assessment. The title alone is quite intriguing. Our reading assignment was for Chapter 1: The Punitive Generation. I was looking forward to understanding our American society better through this new pair of eyes. All too often I look at the world with rose-colored glasses and optimism. I’ve also been pretty blessed to have a good and supportive family and to have lived in a relatively nice community throughout my childhood and adulthood. As a future teacher, though, I know it is important to understand that not all communities, families, and learning environments are the same. “[The School-to-Prison] pipeline is best understood as a set of policies and practices in schools that make it more likely for students to face criminal involvement with the juvenile courts than to attain a quality education (Advancement Project et al, 2011).” When I came across this excerpt my optimistic personality was quite skeptical. I was thinking, “Schools cannot be that bad! The intentions of the states and the nation are to create a population of able-bodied, skilled, and valuable people who can contribute. There is no way that the intention of the schools can be to actually rout students to prison.” Naturally, I felt an urge to keep reading. A good point was made that often the students who are sent to juvenile court, suspension, or detention also have personal issues such as poverty, trauma, developmental or cognitive delays, or mental health difficulties. This also made me think of the special needs children, also referred to as exceptional students. Exceptional students have more obvious issues concerning their physical health and abilities, as well as obvious delays in cognitive ability, while other students without the “Exceptional Student” label may not get the attention and assistance they need in and outside of the classroom. As a substitute teacher in a difficult school I have seen that often children act up when they get frustrated. They may get frustrated at not understanding directions, questions, or procedures. Other frustrations may be from being hungry, tired, or having issues with a friend. If I was not able to help relieve the tension of the students who had a hard time I would call the principal’s office, a counselor, or another teacher. I would always take detailed notes for the teacher I was substituting for so they knew how their class behaved. Besides a talk with the principal or a counselor, sometimes the alternative punishment would be silent lunch or silently walking around the track during recess instead of playing on the playground (I substituted for grades pre-k through 5th grade). Sometimes the teacher(s) would let me know that the class I was helping already had a punishment left over from the day before. Not wanting to go against the lead teacher’s instruction I would comply and follow-through with the silent lunch or walking the track. Some students had their iPad privileges taken away because they would sneak them out and play games, or steal them. Those children were poorer and did not have the luxury of having a computer or tablet at home to play with. There is also a growing divorce rate, and an absence of a father-figure and true authority figure in the home. I feel that this decreases the caring control that single parents have on their growing children. I know from personal experience that even one child is hard to handle at times, even with a spouse or partner, let alone multiple children. Children need guidance, and they also need to know true consequences of the choices they make. The world is ever-changing, and I believe this generation of American children have been exposed to so much information that they should be able to hear and consider the effects of the choices they make - good or bad. These results do not necessarily have to be a “punishment.” Perhaps if the students are warned about the long-term results from their choices they may be deterred from making bad decisions. What good is keeping a child out of school? Out of a place where they should feel safe and cared-for? I only believe in suspension for the children who have proven to be violent, and even then I believe they should speak with a counselor and perhaps a true psychologist to get to the root of the issues at school and at home, and work towards resolving them. “The increased use of zero-tolerance policies and significant expansion of police (safety resource officers) in the schools have exponentially increased arrests and referrals to the juvenile courts (Advancement Project, 2005).” When I read this I thought of a bigger picture: The state is trying to get absolute control of the people. Whatever happened to guidance, communication, and working with the student to resolve issues? It seems that the “issue” (disobedient student) is simply removed from the equation (school). This done not resolve the issue. It’s no wonder, then, that the United States of America has the most incarcerated population in the world. The US of A also has the highest divorce rate in the world - it has become normalized within our society. The great American nuclear family has been torn apart over time. Mothers cannot simply be mothers and give their attention to their children, raising them with morals, encouragement, responsibility, and life-lessons while fathers go to work and bring home the bacon. No. Now the family is spread thin. Inflation has gotten so high that each family typically requires two incomes to make ends meet. The children of today are suffering from lack of at-home discipline and guidance they would have normally gotten in decades past. Children and young parents of today may not even know how to have self-discipline, structure, goals, and stability - making for greater long-term risks and hardships. America has truly fallen with the fall of the nuclear family dynamic. When considering the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child,” I don’t think it was talking about a village of police officers, DSS caseworkers, or principals. Taking a step back I must consider another point of view. I think the intentions are still good. In the schools I’ve substituted for I have heard from the principals, administrators, and teachers that they understand that for some of their students, being at school is the only time they will get a good meal and talk with people who care about them. The principal of Aberdeen Elementary in Southern Pines, NC, Principal Dante Poole, would always end his morning announcements with, “And if no one has told you today, know that I love you. Have a great morning.” During his morning speech and announcements he would recite a school pledge that all students learn about, “I am smart, I am kind, I will work hard,” etc. While disruption and discipline were issues at this school, and it was very difficult for me to work there at times, I feel that these morning announcements truly made a difference and a positive impact on every student attending. "Of the 49 million students in the United States who enrolled in the 2011 to 2012 academic year, 3.5 million students experienced in-school detention, 1.9 million students were suspended for at least 1 day, 1.6 million students were suspended more than once, and 130,000 students were expelled (U.S. Department of Education, 2014a)." The statistics in this book are outrageous! I had no idea that a child is suspended every 2 seconds across the United States of America. That is overkill, for sure! There's no way that children are that horrible to have a suspension that frequently. It sounds like the teachers and administration just don't want to take the time to work with the kids before just sending them away. Thinking about time, the school day is very, very long, yet many teachers don't seem to have enough time in the day to get through each lesson they have planned due to interruptions of announcements, interruptions of students, and other issues. Maybe after teaching so long some teachers just want to get rid of the problem-child to give the other students a chance to actually learn. It's like pruning a tree. Trees have many branches and limbs, but the tree will thrive if some of the dead or insignificant branches are removed. It seems like a nice theory - but children are not branches, and every child needs the chance to grow! I like the idea of alternate schools for high-risk students where they are placed in a different learning environment with teachers who teach in alternate ways, especially with hands-on techniques. I have seen documentaries and movies of these schools in inner-cities. It seems to work quite nicely, especially because those students get more one-on-one attention and help from being in a smaller group. Objectified children who are treated as insignificant, not valuable, and unimportant will often develop mental health disorders, such as severe anxiety and depression, which an lead to suicide. To be taken out of a toxic environment and placed with caring and nurturing people makes a world of difference. REFLECTING ON CURWIN & MENDLER.
The Curwin and Mendler book is called Dignity: New Challenges, New Solutions. Our reading was Chapter 10: Discipline through Dignity and Hope for Challenging Youth. "Dignity refers to respect for life and oneself. Discipline with Dignity is designed to help teachers maintain a positive classroom learning environment by emphasizing student dignity and providing a genuine sense of hope to students who are otherwise likely to drop out of school." This reading hit the nail right on the head on how I thought discipline issues could be resolved and prevented: By treating the students with respect, value, and by giving them encouragement, time, and appreciation. While the other reading focused on the idea that children need stern and radical discipline in the form of punishment, while this reading focuses more on positive treatment to prevent bad behavior. As the old saying goes, It's easier to catch a fly with honey. Being sweet to the students as well as respectful is a more healthy way to treat them. One very interesting point that Curwin finds is that the thing children crave more than anything is attention, and if they cannot gain attention through being a good student, then they will through acting badly. The four-phase plan for educators to help students move toward values-guided behavior: 1) Identifying the core values that the class or school holds and wishes to emphasize; 2) Creating rules and consequences based on the core values identified; 3) Modeling the values continually during interactions with students and staff members; 4) Using no interventions that violate the core values. Tips for teachers to prepare for misbehavior:
---------- Reference: Curwin, Richard L., Allen N. Mendler, and Brian D. Mendler. 2009. Discipline with Dignity: New Challenges, New Solutions. Moorabbin, Vic.: Hawker Brownlow Education. Chapter 10: Discipline through Dignity and Hope for Challenging Youth. Mallett, Christopher A. 2016. The School-to-Prison Pipeline a Comprehensive Assessment. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Chapter 1: The Punitive Generation. Journal Eighteen: Leading Art Class (Day One of Two) By Dorothy Smith | 08 November 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D Download Lesson Outline and Plan here.
My experience actually teaching the class I observed was quite refreshing! The first class was pretty full with almost 24 children, while the second class only had around 6 children. I was able to get through the introduction of my lesson with brainstorming and having the students develop a six-word story from several descriptive words regarding themselves from prompted questions I asked. This six-word story will become the title of their miniature book.
On the first day I showed a presentation of what supplies and tools are needed to make miniature books, and how to fold a piece of watercolor paper to make the book. To save time I folded thirty books and punched the holes for the spine ahead of time. The students picked out the thread they wanted to sew the spine and got started. Several children were very creative in the way they chose to sew - some spiraled around the spine, some did saddle-stitches, and some crisscrossed. On Day Two we will complete sewing the spine and begin illustrating the book based on the title they chose. Journal Seventeen: Review an Online Art Lesson By Dorothy Smith | 08 November 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D Lesson Brief: Creating optical illusions in drawings using a repetition and variation of line with value and color.
Review: This lesson comes with step-by-step instructions and visuals for each step. t delves into art history of how op art first appeared in 1964 in an article for Time Magazine. Since then other op-artists came about, such as M.C.Escher and Bridget Riley. I've noticed that much of op-art plays with your eye by using perspective and positive vs. negative space. The only thing missing from the lesson was a reference or statement regarding use of either a State Essential Standard or a Common Core Essential Standard. Because I'm still learning how to be an art teacher I think it would be nice to see how others have incorporated the Standards into their lesson, as I often struggle to do so. Journal Sixteen: Art Classroom Activity Idea | Mr. Macaulay of Cove Creek School By Dorothy Smith | 05 November 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D
When an artist thinks about books they usually just think about the cover art, or the illustration. For my student-teaching activity I plan on teaching the students how to make a miniature book before they illustrate it. Book-making is an art in itself, and it is a craft that is not widely encouraged or thought about in this age of digital technology. Making a personalized book and filling it with your own illustrations and story is, indeed, a special activity. What a great little keepsake one can share with their families, too!
My experience. Tips for book-making. When I was at my community college we had a major project to craft a hand-made book. We bought materials that were acid-free because we learned that paper will turn yellow over time if it has acid. Watercolor papers are acid-free. Many adhesives in tape have acid that corrode over time and can damage papers, as well. Typical masking tape actually cracks over time. There are special book-making tools and materials to consider using such as an awl, which looks like a big ice-pick, used to punch through the pages, and a large-eye needle and waxed linen thread (or yarn) to sew the spine. Linen Tape is a good choice to cover the threads and spine after the pages are sewn together. You can get a special binding boards for the cover, and good card-stock or other materials to cover the outside. Content Idea. I was thinking about preparing a list of a few questions such as how would you describe yourself, what are your interests, what are your goals, etc. Each answer can only have one word, but I'd ask the students to list 5 answers to each question. After this brainstorming activity I would give them 5 minutes to write as many 5-word stories they could, then choose one as the title of their book. Because the pages would be watercolor paper it would be excellent for mixed media. The students could watercolor, draw, use crayons, glue in magazine clippings, or color with markers. Journal Fifteen: Art Class Observation | Mr. Macaulay of Cove Creek School By Dorothy Smith | 01 November 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D I had the privilege and pleasure to observe one of Watauga County's finest in teaching, Mr. Daniel McAulay of Cove Creek School. Mr. Mac also teaches at Blowing Rock School. On November 1st I observed the first two morning periods, both with sixth-graders. The first class had 20-24 students with a mix of sixth and seventh-graders from 8 AM until around 8:40 AM. The second class only had six sixth-graders and lasted until around 9:35 AM. They both learned the same lesson and activity.
The lesson Mr. Mac gave was on showing motion with a repetition of lines and shapes. He gave the students the freedom of choosing their subject matter and mediums, but also offered them to use paper manikins with movable arms and legs. He showed an example of other student's works, but also how he made a rubbing with the side of a crayon and the paper figure under a sheet of paper, and re-positioning the figure to show movement. He also gave the example of the Vitruvian Man drawing by Leonardo da Vinci and tied in a little bit of art history into his lesson. He's a very thoughtful and relaxed, and also very interactive and social with his students. Journal Fourteen: Art Lesson Plan Ideas By Dorothy Smith | 25 October 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D Idea One: Interpreting Your Classroom Environment Through Creative Expression Objective Statement: This lesson is intended for sixth grade visual arts. The students will demonstrate their observation and analyzing skills by creating a work of art within the environment that surrounds them. This could be a still life, portrait, or a work of a particular view of the room they are in. The students are free to use a mix of mediums to fully express their creativity in interpreting the environment around them. Overview of Student Learning Experience
Student Learning Experience Statement: The lesson and activity will attract the students’ attention by engaging their individual creativity in exploring their classroom environment, and in expressing their interpretation of that environment by using a variety of mediums of their choice. The students will learn how to pay attention to details and translate that interpretation visually into a work of visual art. They will be able to think critically about how their environment makes them feel, or what the environment or items within symbolize. The students will also think critically to solve the problem of how to represent these interpretation through creative expression. North Carolina Essential Standards: Sixth Grade Visual Arts Note on Numbering/Strands: V - Visual Literacy, CX – Contextual Relevance, CR – Critical Response 6.V.2 Apply creative and critical thinking skills to artistic expression.
NC Standards Statement: The North Carolina Essential Standards are met by the students using their observation skills of their classroom environment, thinking critically to analyze their environment and the impact it has on them, and generating a solution to represent those internal interpretations to create an original artwork representation of that environment. Idea Two: Expressing A Transition from Fall to Winter Objective Statement: This lesson is intended for sixth grade visual arts. The students will have collaborative partnership and use mixed media to create an artwork that shows or implies a transition from the Fall season to the Winter season. Overview of Student Learning Experience
Student Learning Experience Statement: The lesson and activity will attract the students’ attention by allowing them to work in pairs to create an artwork. One student will collect items for mixed media that represent Fall, and their partner will collect items that represent Winter. Together they will arrange their findings (items, magazine clippings, photos, etc.) in a way to represent the transition from Fall into Winter. They will then tie the work together with the option of drawing, illustrating, painting, or using pastels to complete the composition. North Carolina Essential Standards: Sixth Grade Visual Arts Note on Numbering/Strands: V - Visual Literacy, CX – Contextual Relevance, CR – Critical Response 6.CX.2 Understand the interdisciplinary connections and life applications of the visual arts.
NC Standards Statement: The North Carolina Essential Standards are met by understanding the connections between visual art (creating artwork), science (understanding a transition between seasons), geography (understanding the environment and representations of the seasons), and math (use of space in the composition to evenly represent the two seasons in a smooth transition). The students will show understanding of their collaboration and planning in a partnership to create the artwork, and understand the interdisciplinary connections and life applications of planning and working collaboratively, sharing responsibility, and thinking critically about the symbolism and realistic representation of the seasons to be used in their daily lives. Idea Two: Expressing A Transition from Fall to Winter Objective Statement: This lesson is intended for sixth grade visual arts. The students will have collaborative partnership and use mixed media to create an artwork that shows or implies a transition from the Fall season to the Winter season. Overview of Student Learning Experience
Student Learning Experience Statement: The lesson and activity will attract the students’ attention by allowing them to work in pairs to create an artwork. One student will collect items for mixed media that represent Fall, and their partner will collect items that represent Winter. Together they will arrange their findings (items, magazine clippings, photos, etc.) in a way to represent the transition from Fall into Winter. They will then tie the work together with the option of drawing, illustrating, painting, or using pastels to complete the composition. North Carolina Essential Standards: Sixth Grade Visual Arts Note on Numbering/Strands: V - Visual Literacy, CX – Contextual Relevance, CR – Critical Response 6.CX.2 Understand the interdisciplinary connections and life applications of the visual arts.
NC Standards Statement: The North Carolina Essential Standards are met by understanding the connections between visual art (creating artwork), science (understanding a transition between seasons), geography (understanding the environment and representations of the seasons), and math (use of space in the composition to evenly represent the two seasons in a smooth transition). The students will show understanding of their collaboration and planning in a partnership to create the artwork, and understand the interdisciplinary connections and life applications of planning and working collaboratively, sharing responsibility, and thinking critically about the symbolism and realistic representation of the seasons to be used in their daily lives. Journal Thirteen: Reflecting on Art Lesson Readings By Dorothy Smith | 23 October 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D REFLECTING ON TAYLOR. In the opening of this journal Taylor describes an Interdisciplinary project entitled, “Sharing a Place Called Home,” which resulted in an exhibition of student art. The Essential Standards of Learning for high school were clearly laid out and met for Visual Art, Geography, and Foreign Language. Through this exhibition students, teachers, and parents had a clear visual representation of what the students had been learning. I believe that as an art teacher it is important and valuable to incorporate other subjects into art-making. If you know some of your students are learning about the history of Ancient Rome, or animals from the Arctic, or about the Declaration of Independence, try to incorporate those topics into a visual art lesson. Not only will that be fun and entertaining, but it would also help the students to better understand, retain, and appreciate the topics they are learning in their other classes. This article talks about “flexible purposing” - the value of recognizing new and emergent possibilities for learning and knowing. The more I read the more I realize just how important this is. I found it interesting and smart that the instructor used the essential standards of learning, the end goal, to develop a plan for the process of the project. I often work backwards when I have precise expectations and standards to meet - asking myself what steps I can take to reach or exceed that end-goal This was the technique I used in CI-2300 last semester, as well, when I had to develop lesson plans. As a former substitute teacher understand the hardship of not knowing the topics I was supposed to teach. Because of that experience I laid out my CI-2300 lesson plans in a way that literally anyone could read the materials, understand it, and lead a class through it. I included examples, vocabulary, context, and leading questions for discussion. In those lesson plans, however, it was more about a class discussion regarding art history and/or art analysis rather than a prompt to make a work of art, as I would want to review those things before leading a class into art-making. “Because inquiry and exploration - processes - are equally as important as what students make, share, or exhibit - product - flexible purposing must be central to the goals of successful interdisciplinary curriculum and instruction in art education.” “In my experience, school districts that use a combination of design options manifest the greatest success and the leas fragmentation in their programs. Interdisciplinary designs should not be an all-or-nothing proposition (Jacobs 1989).” When I was a young student the only thing I remember about art class projects was making little pinch-pots, drawing, and painting. As an adult student I am seeing that art should never be limited by materials and medias used. I am seeing more and more that crafts are really fun! This semester I’ve made a paper mache mask with a milk jug as the base, I’ve made a pumpkin-shaped pillow for a decoration, we drew with glue on a piece of black construction paper then colored it with pastels, and we are learning how to make pop-up books and hand puppets! What fun! “Art” is truly just drawing and painting. “It was not simply an exhibition of student artwork. It was a continuation of the learning and understanding process.” When making an art lesson we must include the following:
Note to Self: Assessment is the process or evidence of gathering information about what students have done, made, said, or created. Evaluation is a process or evidence of placing a value on and judging what students have done, made, said, or created. Assessment explains what has been done and evaluation describes the degree to which it was accomplished. REFLECTING ON SZEKELY & BUCKNAM. When reading the Szekely & Bucknam article there’s a section on having an appreciation for unpredictability. The article states, “[An art lesson] does not contain behavioral objectives (‘students will do this’ and ‘they will do this next’) they try to shape the students’ total art experience.” Personally I am a rule-follower, am goal-oriented, and like instruction. In the past lesson plans I have done for the CI-2300 course I always included an Objective Statement. For example, “The students will analyse the Iconography of Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait by using the nine aspects of Media Literacy,” as seen here: https://smithdb1.weebly.com/teaching-media-literacy.html. Another Objective Statement I made is “This lesson is intended for high school students proficient in Visual Art. The students will review the Principles and Elements of Art and Design terms. They will demonstrate their knowledge by analyzing Crochet by Dorothy B. Smith and identifying features of the illustration as they relate to each term.” This can be found here: https://smithdb1.weebly.com/teaching-with-visuals.html. That being said, I have also l come to an understanding that if there are less restrictions for the actual art-making process the students will have more creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking opportunities in their creative journey. I believe it is important to observe the students and to ask what they are interested in, or what is important to them. I have seen that if you start out with a good idea of an art project you can search for and find an appropriate Essential State Standards to incorporate in the lesson. When the teacher inspires the students with a story, video, music, or artwork that they have made it can be a great motivator for the students. The Szekely & Bucknam article touched on this a lot. “A palette of infinite possibilities presents itself in imagining the start of an art lesson. [..] Let’s pretend! Let’s imagine! How can your inventiveness be expressed through art?” “When an art class is tied to children’s creative play experiences, the lesson has a comfortable familiarity; it is not far removed from what children know as their art.” ---------- Reference: Szekely, George E., and Julie Alsip. Bucknam. Art Teaching: Elementary Through Middle School. New York: Routledge, 2012. “Section Five Art Talk - Discussions About Art with Young Artists.” Pages 268-271. Taylor, Pamela G. Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching Art in High School. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association, 2006. Chapter 10: Starting with the End: Standards, Assessment, and Evaluation, Journal Twelve: Reflecting on “Art as Social Action” Reading By Dorothy Smith | 14 October 2018 ART 2222-102 with Assistant Professor Albert Stabler, Ph.D “Social interaction - something as simple as a hug or writing a note to a stranger - is the conduit for creating awareness and dialogue about issues pervading our societies.” -Mjalli In this reading there are a few examples of how to use art to trigger social responses to known issues, or to provoke thought of under-known issues, and to build consideration and understanding in the broader perspective of culture clusters within society. The Displacement lesson plan was a really neat idea, especially one student’s response of creating personal space, such as a living room, within a parking space. My personal reflection on this interpretation was that this student really had a special idea: Our personal space is temporary, like parking a car, and even though we think it’s our very own “personal space” it is within a public society. The Taking on Campus Issues topic immediately made me think about my campus. In our Appalachian State University campus we have Freedom Tunnels that run under the main road where students are free to express themselves through graffiti on the walls and ceiling of the tunnels. Unfortunately, some have chosen to graffiti words, phrases, and symbols that many in our society would find quite offensive. In recent events someone had spray-painted a Nazi swastika with hateful text. A Jewish fraternity found it and was quite outraged. In the past I have observed other texts in the Freedom Tunnels encouraging Marxism, Socialism, and other messages that were negative towards America and American historical figures. While all of these examples are hateful to one group of people or another, they are all politically and sociologically charged and evokes immediate reactions from those who view them. In response to the Nazi graffiti the local Jewish synagogue along with other Christian churches are teaming up to paint every inch of the Freedom Tunnels white. In a way, this protects all from the hateful images and speech graffitied, and in another way it goes directly against the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in keeping the right to Freedom of Speech. After the white wash dries students will be able to make new graffiti in response to the hateful graffiti that once was. Quieting one voice to allow another to speak. Both are responses to social issues through art, but one is more socially acceptable than the other. Prompts for Art as Social Action: After this reading the following prompts are in response to my understanding of using art to represent social issues.
---------- Reference: Sholette, Gregory, and Chloë Bass. Art as Social Action: An Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Teaching Social Practice Art. New York: Allworth Press, an Imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, 2018. |
AuthorDorothy B. Smith, Art Education Major at AppState. Categories
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