Art Education

Nearing the end of my blogs I found myself lost for words. I was having trouble thinking of another blog so I decided to google 'art education' to see if that sparked any ideas. I clicked on images and found some interesting thing. There were a few things that I noticed about most of the photos. Many of the photos were of younger children. To me that says that many people think of art education as something for little kids. It says that people think that the only think that is done in the art room is coloring with crayons and that there is not any learning that actually takes place. Another aspect that i noticed was that most of the pictures were very colorful and involved either painting or drawing. These pictures barley touch upon the surface of what is encompassed in art education. There are many other projects that could have been included such as sculpture (ceramics), mixed media, collage.... I am offended that many people do not understand what art education entails. 

These are some of the photos that are found on google when you art educations:

Although both of these images portray a positive outlook, I do not think that all the photos as a whole represent all aspects of art education. 

Student lessons

After watching all of the presentations in our class I am left with many ideas for future lessons. I enjoyed participating in other students lessons because it was nice to be a kid again, if only for a little while. It was also great to experience aspects of some lessons that did not work well. For example counting off into groups. It seems like such a simple task but it require some thinking. It is important to fail sometimes in order to learn and grow and understand how to change. Watching the other students lessons allowed me to view parts that did not work and therefore I know not to include those aspects from a lesson that I might teach in the future. The opposite was also important. Watching the lessons allowed me to view lessons that worked really well. This is important because I can bring those aspects in to my classroom. Observations of lessons is essential in learning how to become a better teacher. I feel that I learned more this semester by watching others lessons then I have in many other semesters of learning. Most people go on to student teaching after theory and practice, I am however moving on to curriculum and instruction. I feel confident that I will do well in that class because this class has prepared me so well for a real teaching situation.

Need for Critical Media Literacy

It was written in the article Need for Critical Media Literacy that "we are concerned with the use and abuse of the power of the media to control masses of people, especially children, for the profit of those who own those media and their potential allies". This quote makes me wonder if the advances in technology are causing more harm then good. Do you think that our younger generations are becoming to reliant on the technology in the classroom? What can we as educators do to ensure that technology is being used both for the students and teachers benefit while ensuring that the student does not become reliant on technology for all of their needs? 

These were the questions that I posted after we read "Need for Critical Media Literacy".I think the question that I asked is a difficult one because each student will be affected by technology in a different way. One way to ensure that children are progressing along with technology but not becoming reliant on it, would be to use it sporadically. For example if a child was taking a photo class, the teacher could teach lessons both in photo shop as well as in the darkroom. As a photo concentration I can safely say that learning the workings of an enlarger and physically exposing a photos makes photoshop much easier to understand. It is important to understand why clicking a button in photoshop does what it does. By physically experiencing it in the darkroom, a student can understand the technology of photoshop much better. One of the students in our class shared the lesson that she showed in her fieldwork. She was placed in a graphic design class but the lesson that she chose to teach was on color mixing. She said that the students were perturbed at the fact that had to physically mix colors but she said that they really began to get involved in the assignment. It allowed the students to have a hands on approach so that they could better understand color mixing when using the computer. Advances in technology will be forever growing but I think as long as we remember to combine technology with physical activities, then the students will not become too reliant on technology. 

Why are education is important

I often feel that when I tell people I am an art education major they look at be strange and sometimes give me an answer like "oh that's nice", it is clear to me that those people do not understand why art education is important. Many people think that art is not a necessity is curriculum and that it is merely time for the math, science, history and English teachers to get a break from their students during the day.  This video has many quotes that I think verify that art education is vital to a child's future. One of the quotes in this video states that art allows children to express themselves in ways that they cannot express through words. Art is a great outlet for a person of any age to express themselves. Aspects that are learned in the art room can be brought to other classes as well. Art projects require concentration and discipline, they often require meticulous planning. All 3 of these aspects are essential in every day life and art is a way to help children learn. I am worried that art programs will be cut out of schools and people will begin to see how much art is needed in the curriculum once it is too late. Art education is essential to a child's learning and it is important that we spread this information to ensure that art programs will always be offered in schools.

Smartboard

One of the things that we have discussed all semester is technology. We are living in a time when technology is evolving and at times it might be difficult to keep up. Aaron has taught us that it is important to keep up with technology in order to provide your students with all kinds of resources and ensure that you can evolve into a better educator. One of the tools that might be located in a classroom is the smartboard. I remember the first time that I saw a smartboard. I was in a high school math class and my teacher had begged for one to be installed in her classroom. She was the instigator of the smartboard into our district. Soon there were smartboards in many other rooms as well. While I was sitting in my math class many other teachers would come in to ask a quick question about the smartboard or sit in on her class to see how it works. Theory and Practice was the first time that I really had interaction with the smartboard. I really enjoyed being challenged. It was difficult at first to understand the magic behind the board but it was a nice introduction to the growing technology. The video above is a short tutorial on some of the aspects that are included in the smartboard. This is just one example of the growing technology that needs to be kept up with. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed at the fact that I will forever have to learn new programs and change my way of teaching as the programs progress. Although it is scary to think about changed I also feel that as technology progresses, it will bring new learning and teaching adventures.

Modifications

The modifications section on our lesson plans have always been a bit of a mystery to me. I understand the purpose but I often have a difficult time coming up with a solution. In my observations this semester I noticed a situation where the modification section would be necessary in a lesson plan. There was one student in my observations that had learning difficulties. The student was diagnosed with ADHD however there were also learning disabilities that were in the process of being diagnosed. The student also had a large cyst on his brain. Doctors were not sure if the cyst was contributing to his difficulties in the classroom. When I began my observations, school was only a month into the school year and I could already see my teachers frustration with this boy. Sometimes she would cast him aside and not pay attention to him because she knew that he would not understand. She also sent him to his guidance counselor on numerous occasions and asked him to withdraw from the course. I took it upon myself to try to help this boy. I figured it was rare that she had help in the classroom so I thought I would try to help while I was there. I found it difficult to communicate with this boy. For the sake of this blog I am going to call him Bill. While talking to Bill he would never make eye contact. I would sit next to him and try to explain the assignment and I could tell that his mind was somewhere else. Sometimes he would tell me that he understood and I could tell that he did not. When he tried to go off on his own and attempt the assignment he would not know what he needed to do. I began to understand how the teach would be frustrated with him. She shared with me that she felt it was difficult to have him in the classroom because it hindered her teaching the other teacher if she would take extra time to explain things to him. This was a difficult scenario because it is unfair to tell a child that they should not be in a class, but it is unfair to the other students to take away time for their learning. While I was there I think I was able to take some of the burden of my teachers shoulders but now that I am gone I am curious if Bill is still in the class and how is doing.

Millennials coming to college

After reading "Millennials Coming to College", by DeBard I wrote a question on the discussion board,

Why do you think that Millennials feel such a strong desire to please the people around them?

After reading this question I was a bit puzzled, so after going back and reviewing the article I began to remember our group discussion. Before reading this article I had never heard the term millennials. After understanding what the term meant I remember thinking that I do not feel as though I fit into the category of millennial, even though I do in fact fall into that category. My answer to my own question has multiple answers. One being that personally I make it a goal to please the people around me specifically my mom, because I know how hard she has had to work in her life to keep our family afloat. I look at her and I only want to make her proud of me. I also feel that many millennials do not feel the need to please people around them. Our generation is so immersed in technology that some millennials have a sense of entitlement and do not feel that they need to work for anything and therefore do not feel the need to please anyone around them. However it is also conceivable that since millennials have had interaction with technology for most of their lives that they have been exposed to a higher power of learning and have a higher sense of self, therefore they want to please the people around them even more. I am torn on the answer to my own question. I think that there could be a plethora of answers to the question. 

Administration

This semester during my observations  complained about the administration a great deal. According to my teacher there was a new principal brought into the district in order to "crack down" on the teachers. A few years ago the basketball team was doing really well and since the teachers wanted to see their school succeed, some of the teacher were allowing the players to slide by on the grades in order to be able to participate in after school activities. Some of the boys that were on the team, consequently did not do well in college since they were used to sliding by and not having to do any work. Those boys then decided to gather and sue the school. The principal at the time was offered early retirement in order to save him from being fired. The new principal that was brought in is apparently being very hard on all of the teachers. The teacher that I observed with as well as many others felt that this isn't fair because not all of the teachers were responsible for the basketball scandal. I presume that no matter where I end up teaching I will have to answer to a higher authority who will want to change my curriculum. I left with a feeling of unease about how much freedom I will have in my classroom. Art teachers are inherently creative and it would be such a shame to squash that creativity by assigning a rigid curriculum that one must follow. After watching the lessons in class I am inspired to create my own lessons and curriculum but I am afraid that I will not be able to do that.

Blooms Taxonomy according to Seinfeld

Although I am not a huge fan a Seinfeld I thought the comparison between Blooms taxonomy and Seinfeld was funny. I suppose Blooms taxonomy could be applied to any aspect of life. First remembering-can you remember the information? Second, understanding-can the student explain ideas or concepts? Third, applying- can the student use the information in a new way? Fourth, analyzing-can the student distinguish between different parts? Fifth, evaluating-can the student justify a stand or decision? Sixth, creating-can the student create new product or point of view?

Student Teaching

Although I am not student teaching in the spring, I find myself becoming increasingly nervous about being in the classroom full time. In class we have talked about many ways to begin to feel comfortable in the classroom. I found this video on youtube describing simple ways to transition into becoming a good student teacher. The first item that is mentioned in the video is being early. I think that is going to be challenging for me. Although I was successful with time management when dealing with my observations this semester, I am worried about arriving on time every day when I am student teaching. Being on time has always been an issue for me. In the time that I have between now and the time that I student teach I will need improve my time management. Although many items in the video have been discussed in class, I think it is an important video to keep on file to remind myself of the important aspects of student teaching.

Fundraising

Today we had our final presentations for our fieldwork. It was interesting to hear other people's experience in their fieldwork. Some students seemed to have a similar experience to mine and some people seemed to have a very different experience. One thing that most of the students have in common was that there were limited funds for art supplies. I know that this is a major problem in most school districts. This made me think of outside ways that a teacher could raise money to help their students. One thing that I always remember in my art classrooms is yogurt containers. When you are dealing with a limited budget, you have to be resourceful. When I was observing in a previous class I remember one of my teacher said that she saves everything and figures out something to do with them later. She saves water bottles, egg crates, yogurt containers...I remember her saying that it is better to have extra supplies and not need them rather then needing supplies and not having them.

Art room fundraising

Money saving tips for the classroom

These are two articles I found that give tips on how to save money in the classroom and also how to fundraise money for the art classroom. I anticipate that is going to be a never ending battle in art rooms so as art teachers we need to do everything that we can to make our classrooms better.

Candy lesson

This post is a reflection upon the lesson I taught using candy as a medium. In hindsight it was not the best idea but I would like to think that there were some positive aspects of the lesson. I felt confident that I conveyed the main parts of the lesson well however I am not confident in the medium that we chose. After the lesson I looked online to see if there were any other lesson that incorporate candy. Many of the lessons I found were used in a math class for counting. http://www.alztest.com/freebies/candymath.pdf
I suppose if I decided to use this lesson in a classroom setting, there would be many people I would need to run the lesson by first in order to get approval. I would make sure that the administration was alright with candy in the classroom. I would also have to make sure that all of the kids parents would be alright with the candy as well. After consideration, I would still enjoy teaching this lesson again if I were able to get approval from all parties