Portfolio Semester Reflection

Check out my teaching portfolio here: http://issuu.com/katestieren

HOW HAVE YOUR VIEWS ABOUT ART EDUCATION CHANGED THIS SEMESTER?

            My views about art education were completely changed this semester after learning what an authentic, high-level, engaging curriculum can be applied in the art classroom. Coming into the class, the only information that I knew about art education was based on my own art education. From what I remember, I do not recall spending nearly half the amount of time studying artists and their work as we do in this class. I now believe that this is a critical component of a quality art education and can teacher students how to be visually literate. Visual literacy is a term that is new to me this semester. Understanding what it means to read and write art is important for me as a successful art educator. Students of the 21^st century need to be visually literate in order to not only process the thousands of visuals they are encountering each day, but also to be able to communicate and express themselves visually.

HOW HAVE YOUR EXPERIENCES ALTERED OR ENHANCED YOUR TEACHING THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY? (DISCUSS THE CLASS TOPICS: VIEWING AND RESPONDING TO ART, CREATING ART, TEACHING ART, AND ART CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT)

Viewing and Responding to Art: My ability to view and respond to artwork has grown leaps and bounds since the beginning of the semester. During undergrad in my art classes, I always felt like I was missing information to be able to view and critique art. I felt as though the other students had much more experience than I did in that area. I want to equip my students with the knowledge and vocabulary needed to talk about art. Even if this is on a very basic level, such as dissecting an advertisement, it is an important skill for students to have.

Creating Art: This is one component of an art education that I knew I would be teaching to students. However, I did not realize the importance of the artistic process. I did not realize that students could learn so much by working through the creative process, analyzing and making choices. I want the process to be exciting for my students, and I want them to feel proud of the final work that they create due to the amount of time and thought they put into making the best final product.

Teaching Art: When I first began the semester, I felt somewhat intimidated by the thought of jumping into the classroom, teaching the Tiger Artist lesson, and even creating my own curriculum. The intimidation faded, and was replaced with excitement. I had no idea that curriculum could be so authentic and fun for students. I also learned that the best way to learn, when it comes to teachings, is simply by gaining experience. The more time that I spend with children and in the classroom, the more I learn what does/does not work and strategies that I can apply in my future classroom.

Art Curriculum Development: After seeing the many fabulous units developed by my classmates, I realized that there are endless opportunities to create really exciting projects for my students. Creating curriculum can be a fun task when you know that the limits are endless. I am inspired by the many units I have seen this semester and all of the big ideas woven throughout. Art can be extremely meaningful and I want my students to see that and experience it firsthand.

HOW HAS YOUR IDENTITY AS AN ARTIST TEACHER DEVELOPED AND EVOLVED? WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR STRENGTHS? AREAS OF FURTHER DEVELOPMENT?

I have developed a great deal as an artist teacher over the course of the semester. I feel as if being an art teacher were always my calling, but I could not see this until just a few months ago. And now that I have discovered this, I feel truly passionate about what I am doing. I get excited about the projects we are working on and truly want to do my best work knowing that it is not only for me, but for the students I will be teaching someday in the future.

My areas of strength are developing exciting lessons/curriculum, connecting with the students on a personal level, and experience with a variety of mediums. My areas of weakness are knowledge of classroom management strategies, inspiring students who appear disconnected, and knowledge of art history. I hope that my areas for improvement can be improved over the course of the next year and a half as I gain knowledge and experience. It is important to me that I can make my class engaging for all of the students, not just the majority.

WHAT KINDS OF EVIDENCE WILL YOU ADD TO YOUR PORFOLIO IN THE COMING SEMESTERS?

In the coming semesters I hope to add more lesson and unit plans that showcase the kind of learning that I want to happen in my classroom. I also would like to add examples from a cohesive body of work that has a themed concept throughout. Currently I feel as though I have a large variety of pieces in different mediums that will be great for showing experience, but I would also like to show that I can think conceptually as an artist to create a body of work. 

Unit Plan

Here are some of the important slides from my unit: Capturing Art History through Collaboration

Journal entry: classroom management

In Ms. Stoddart's classroom the supplies are organized by table. Each table has up to four students and on the table is a carry-all container with scissors, glue, colored pencils and a few other supplies. The containers sit in the middle of the table for the students to share. Each table is labeled with a color and the color that is "today's helpers" is hung on a bulletin board in the back of the classroom. I would like to adopt this strategy for my own classroom because I think it saves time in getting started with a new class and allows every student to take part in some point with passing out supplies.

I have noticed that Ms. Stoddart manages her classroom by using positive behavior support. I often hear her say things like, "I love the way Hannah is sitting so quietly ready to listen to the directions," or "Josh did a nice job only using a few dots of glue on his paper." She also gives very clear directions at the beginning of class by showing students step-by-step what they need to do. I have seen Ms. Stoddart use the "safe seat" once or twice in her classroom management as well. If a student is not following the directions or being disruptive she may ask the student to spend some time in the safe seat before completing their project.

I believe that the rules in place have been created by the school. The main rules that I see Ms. Stoddart referencing involve safely or appropriately using the supplies in the classroom. I've noticed that when the substitute teacher has been in the classroom that she prefers the room to be relatively quiet and repeatedly asks the students to keep their voices down. However, I don't believe that I have heard Ms. Stoddart scold the students for chatting with a neighbor as long as they continue to work on their project. I agree with the way Ms. Stoddart manages her classroom regarding conversation because I think that it is an opportunity for the students to talk about art and make meaning in what they are creating. The student may not recognize they are doing this at such a young age, but I hear them discussing with one another the artistic choices that they have made what they appreciate about another student's artwork. I also like the community environment that this type of classroom embraces.

I have only seen one assessment strategy implemented in my host teacher's classroom. I helped grade some tests covering the color wheel for Ms. Stoddart and it was a very basic fill-in-the-blank type test. I don't believe Ms. Stoddart gives grades for artworks that the students create, but she does choose some to go in the art show at the end of the year. Every student has at least one artwork in the show.

Response to the Beattie Assessment Text

How will you know what your students have learned?

Assessment is a tool that can be carefully crafted to analyze what it is that your students are learning. Art educators can track what their students are learning aesthetically by facilitating and listening to class discussions, debates or group dialogues. You can also gain insight about what your students have learned by paying attention to their artistic process and the way that they continuously analyze their work during the process. This way you can see what new techniques they are trying for the first time as well as how regularly they step back and think about how they are creating meaning. You can also compare students work at the beginning of the unit or semester to their work at the end and see how they have grown as an artist.

What does successful learning look like?
Successful learning in an art classroom looks like greater understanding of art across all areas: analysis, study, production, etc. A student who has grown across a variety of creative areas; explored styles, mediums and techniques; and created meaning through visual communication has learned successfully.

What kinds of evidence and feedback do you and your students need and how can you get it?
Art educators can gain evidence and feedback by:

• Discussions
• Debates
• Group dialogues
• Using a WIDE variety of assessment instruments
• Final artwork
• Craftsmanship
• Comparison of first portfolio piece to last
• Pen and paper test

Students can gain evidence and feedback by:

• Having assessment direction, introductory materials and questions provided by the teacher
• Comparing their own work to exemplars provided by the teacher
• Having a rubric to work from and know what is expected of them
• Self-analysis
• Portfolio
• Gallery-walk with peer comments
• Pen and paper test

What different assessment strategies will you utilize in your unit plan? 

In my unit plan I will base assessment on each student's growth as an individual. I will most likely use their portfolio as a testament to their learning and exploration. I will also consider their participation in discussion and analysis of artworks as a component of assessment. It is important that I provide students with a rubric so that they understand what it means to excel in the course as well.

Big Idea Book: Completed

Artist Statement:

The theory of multiple intelligences is of interest to me as both an educator and and artist. As an educator, it is imperative that I create a curriculum that not only inspires "artistic students" but students with talents across all areas. Because art has so many limitless possibilities and can be expressed through a multitude of mediums, it is an opportunity to engage students with strengths across all areas. In my "big idea" book, I have expressed the importance of supporting students in finding their unique path to success, and touched on the ways in which each type of thinker prefers to learn. 

My big idea book coincides with my children's book that teaches children that there are many types of strengths and learning and that each has its own advantage. This theme could be transitioned into a curriculum that focuses on challenging students across all of the areas: linguistic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical and logical/mathematical.

Blog Entry # 3

Because parents are such a large influence in their students' lives, it is imperative that they are supportive of an art education curriculum. It may be equally as important to show parents why art education is a vital component of a quality education as it is to provide students with a quality art education.

A wonderful opportunity to share this information would be parents' night. I designed this presentation to be given to parents of elementary age students, but it could be tailored to apply to all ages. In the presentation I have included important messages from the NAEA website, what it means to teach "big ideas in art" and student examples, big ideas for the semester, along with some resources to help parents guide students interested in art. Although these students are young, it is important to bust the myth that students who excel in creative areas cannot be successful by making art part of their future career. 

By educating parents about art education and creative career opportunities while their students are at a young age, they can be more supportive and informed in guiding them to explore art and become visually literate in an increasingly visual world.

Check out my Prezi here!

Big idea book: guest entry for Christine Cover