Construction Meaningful Curriculum

                 Teaching high school for me is eye opening. I had never considered that high school students would not know how to use a ruler, until I saw many of my students struggling to create a grid of one-inch squares. The grid was supposed to help the painting students through the drawing portion of their Andy Warhol self-portrait project, however it proved to do more harm than help. Many of my students were frustrated and gave up. After encountering this struggle I thought about how the content and skills I teach will impact and influence my students when they graduate.

                  My aspiration is to set all my students up for success, because as our youth, they will grow to be the change for our future. When I realize this, I know that I need to be diligent when planning lessons. I want to construct my curriculum to cover skills that will benefit students throughout the rest of their lives.

                  “Why are we learning this? What does this have to do with me?” many teachers have heard similar questions and many students have spoken these words. Ultimately, these are the burning questions I ask myself when writing lesson plans. I want my students to connect with the projects and artists we study and ultimately better understand their relation in the world today. The artists I choose for my lessons are innovators, designers, and creative minds who focus on concepts that help create a global community. Candy Chang, Vik Muniz, and Ellen Lupton are a few of the artists whose ideas I cherish and hope to share with my future classes. As I develop my lesson plans for the next few weeks I want to focus on big ideas and skills that will help my students gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their communities. I want them to become aware of ways they can make a difference and create a positive impact on their proximal community as well as the global community.

Seeing Challanges as Opportunities

On the first day of my student teaching at Antietam Middle/Senior High School my cooperative teacher, Mr. Chad Shalaway, was absent due to bronchitis. Because I could not get more familiar with him, I spent as much time as possible getting to know my students. This was a fantastic opportunity because I feel like they have more respect for me now that I have shown interest in their lives. And it will help me to better understand the student body for which I will be planning lessons and activities, especially after my initial concern learning which classes I would be teaching.

            Chad teaches three sections of computer graphics, two sections of photography and two sections of painting, and when I learned of his schedule I was initially apprehensive, because I didn't feel qualified to teach the Computer Graphics course. I have some experience with Photoshop and iMovie from my digital media class at Kutztown University, however I felt like that was ages ago. So the first day I set my nerves aside and entered the classroom without any preconceived notions as to how it would pan out.

            I spent the first day of my student teaching talking with students about their artwork. I asked them what projects they had completed, which projects were their favorite, and which ones they disliked or found difficult. After seeing many of their previous projects I was eager to begin working with my students because they have shown a tremendous amount of progress, after only two marking periods. However when a question arose during the first period computer graphics class I felt somewhat helpless. I had never used Adobe Illustrator before and the student was unsure of how to complete the next step in their celebrity portrait project. After reading through Chad’s instructions for the substitute, Mrs. Moon, I found no guidance, and did what I saw best for the student. I opened the floor for any other students who understood the next step to help their peer. Unfortunately, none of the students had learned it yet, and the students had to wait until Chad returned the next day. This was a paralyzing moment for me; I struggled the first day because I felt as if my one purpose in the classroom was unfulfilled. However, as the week progressed I became more and more familiar with the program. By Thursday, I was able to guide all the students through transforming their Andy Warhol inspired self-portraits. And although I had initially doubted my abilities, I feel confident and positive about my first placement here at Antietam School District, and I look forward to my next challenge whatever it may be.

Full Steam Ahead!

Today I made my first google form! An individual reflection about painting, for each student to complete, and google will even organize all the data into a spreadsheet for me.

I was excited by the capability to organize each student’s responses in such a quick and easy format. This introduction activity was a pre-assessment, and ultimately a great way for me to understand where the students comprehension levels are at before I begin tailoring the lesson to fit their needs. I am excited to begin this particular lesson on design in nature, and create abstract paintings from photomicrographs. Taking a closer look at everyday objects more closely will help illustrate how art elements such as texture, color, shape, and line all relate to things we encounter in everyday life.

The students are able to type “microscopic organisms” into their Pintrest search bar and an endless number of images are readily available for them to explore. This is a quick way for students to visually explore what they are unable to see with their naked eye. Technology offers an opportunity to students to encounter more information than ever, in an organized, visual interface. Besides utilizing Pintrest, I encouraged the students to look at photographs from National Geographic’s nature and science selection, and photos from an exhibition called microscapes. Students collected images from these sources and they pinned onto their “Micro” Pintrest boards. The students will keep these images as a reference for the composition when they begin their paintings.

Teaching art is my way to share my experiences and education with my students. My content is not only justified but also reinforced when we can integrate different subject’s content to create cohesive lessons. Technology offers these opportunities for learning that help connect us with our world around us. I was awestruck by the research my students have accomplished this far, and I look forward to the inspiration it evokes in their final paintings.

Integrating Arts

      Life introduces us to instances every day where we must apply our knowledge. I strongly believe that in order to fully benefit from our education it is important that we practice merging and making connections between various subjects and disciplines. Integration is the practice of combining things to make a whole. By bridging the boundaries that some people believe exist between math, science, technology, and engineering students can make associations and relationships that build on their previous knowledge in order to develop concepts more thoroughly. However these boundaries seem to overlap from the beginning when you account for the similarities that link the fields. I know how powerful it is to reinforce content knowledge with practice and incorporating ideas, theories, and skills from other fields. Not only does this emphasize the importance of learning but also it enhances this experience. Hands-on learning is beneficial for twenty-first century learners because it encourages the students’ participation, and does not enable them to be idle learners.

            I am lucky to have the opportunity to work with Mrs. Migliore’s classes this fall because of Mrs. Migliore’s eagerness to integrate arts. I work hard to craft lesson plans that are able to incorporate other subjects and strive to adapt content knowledge so that it is relevant to my twenty first century learners.

           

            After working on portraits I wanted to students to feel accomplished and have tangible work to show. My goal was to cover the blank bulletin board with the photo booth style photo strips with portraits of the students. I felt that it would inspire a sense of pride and community in the classroom. In order to create unity, we all followed a specific format for matting.  Each portrait had to be cropped and re-sized to print as a five by five inch square. This process was accomplished on the computer in Photoshop and afterwards the students printed the image out. At first I was shocked that high school students struggled to use a ruler, when a group of students handed in a photo strip with crooked borders and an irregularly sized matte. I addressed my concern to the whole class and we brought up an image of a ruler on the board. After reviewing measurements and how to matte an image the students’ work improved. Without incorporating mathematics and measurement into this class period the lesson would not have been successful. This lesson helped to stress the importance of measurement to the students, and demonstrate why these concepts are important for them to learn and practice. The best integration is that which reinforces skills, ideas, and theories that can later be applied to the students’ lives to improve their livelihoods.

            This semester in the three digital photography classes and the digital communication class we are focusing on how to manually control our cameras to achieve a broader range of photographic techniques and effects. I wanted to break the material into bite-sized pieces for the students, so that we could build upon a strong foundation. First we focused on shutter speed, and I wanted the students to understand why their digital cameras should be used in modes besides automatic or point and shoot. We talked about manual cameras and how an exposure is created based on the amount of light the camera lens allows inside. The students and I discussed what effect the different shutter speeds will have on the exposure. After they had hypothesized and thought more deeply about shutter speeds, they were able to experiment with them hands-on. My students were in groups of two or three and used tables as tri-pods to capture images of two LED hula-hoops. With longer shutter speeds the students captured more light and longer light trails, a visual metaphor of the concept I wanted them to understand. While the students took photos I heard their excitement and could tell that they were engrossed.

            The most rewarding part of this lesson was the astonishing results.  My students were proud of their images, and with reason, these photos were spectacular and each one was unique despite the single subject matter. Most importantly, as I looked through the photographs with each group, the students were able to distinguish without being prompted the different shutter speeds. The science of photography seemed demystified by hands-on experimenting and problem solving. One student said, “This shutter speed was too slow.” As I glanced over her shoulder to see their work, I asked how she knew this, and she said, “There is not enough light.” I could not have said it better myself, or lectured for an hour to better explain what she had explored for herself. I am excited for the opportunities that integrating the arts introduces to the art classroom, and to further explore these possibilities with my students.

Community & Practice Makes Better

Community

A classroom, a hallway, a building these are all community spaces. These common areas contain a diverse population: students, teachers, administrators, and custodians all contribute to the atmosphere. As I walked through the hallways to Mrs. Migliore’s classroom, each teacher that I passed said good morning.  Smiling ear to ear as I entered the art room; I felt overwhelmed with this welcome, especially because I had not even met any of these teachers.

I want my future classroom to be a learning community. I hope to bridge the gap between art history and contemporary art by creating connections that my students can relate to. I want the content to be tailored to fit my students’ interests and to be valuable in our modern society. I’m look forward to encouraging my students to be a part of their learning experience by contributing to class. Students should be responsible for their education by being active learners. My classroom will be a place for students to express themselves and their thoughts. In order to create this kind of atmosphere my classroom should feel like a safe haven. My future classroom will be an oasis, where students can leave any problems and drama outside and enter feeling stress-free. My high school experience was made better by my art teachers who encouraged me to express myself through my artwork and made their classrooms into a home away from home. The art room is such a crucial place for expression, and true expression is hard to communicate unless you are in a comfortable environment.

Practice Makes Better

I’m so glad that my placement this semester has been a simple transition. My previous nervous jitters about teaching have all been put aside now that I feel more confident than ever in my abilities to instruct high school students. Each Thursday I have been instructing the class or what I like to call practicing. Each week I learn new ways to improve my lessons and methods of teaching to better fit the needs of twenty-first century learners.

This thrilling Thursday the students were finished experimenting with different lighting for their portraits and were making these portraits into photo strips. The assignment was to open the file in Photoshop and change the image shape and size. The improvements my teaching from the first class to the third class were amazing, and I appreciate the opportunities for reflection that Mrs. Migliore has enabled me through opening up the doors to her classroom. I was able to reflect after the first class and I realized that many of the students did not know or understand how to use a ruler to matte the portrait. In the later classes I used a diagram on the board, and had a similar diagram on the matte cutting table. After this adaptation, the student’s photo strips were all the right size and matte style. I was excited to see the students work flourishing and knew that when students are offered clear instructions or expectations they benefit and their work reflects this accomplishment.

Classroom Management

I am a growing educator

As you study this sculpture and think about the form you may wonder, what it is or what it represents. While sculpting this I found it to be a relaxing way to manipulate the clay, however it was afterwards that I found the sculpture to be a self-portrait. 

Fluid movement is illustrated with solid, rigid clay and creates an unusual dichotomy. Points pull from the body and seem stretched outwards as if to reach toward desired goals. I feel that if I want to create curriculum for my future students I need to have a strong structure, while maintaining a fluid ability to adjust to our evolving community. I want to create relevant and meaningful lessons that encourage my student’s participation. Embracing technology and understanding all of its benefits and disadvantages is part of being a modern educator. I believe that technology is a tool that should be used in ways that enhance our student’s learning, and put away when it can hinder their development.

Each day that I enter the Quakertown High School, I find myself reaching out to connect with my students. Whether I ask them how their Thursday is going or what their plans are for the evening, I want them to know that I’m here for them. I am not only their teacher, but I am a resource for them to benefit from. As I continue my studies, not only at Kutztown University, but also as a global citizen, I keep my future students in mind. I know that as our society changes my students will need different kinds of tools to be successful in our evolving society.

Motivation is the essence of dreams.

Lectures suck the life out of students and Power Point presentations put students to sleep. Students thrive when they can participate in their learning. Unfortunately, students do not take responsibility to actively learn, but instead it is our job, as educators, to encourage this behavior.

How do you motivate students? Maybe, the better question is how do you present your content so that students are interested? I found today during classes students would very quickly “zone out” because they were unengaged. I tried to pull them back in by asking questions, but I found some of my questions were lacking. In order to gain the student’s attention I feel like I needed to present them with questions that involve a higher thought process that requires them to be involved with their learning. Today’s lesson reinforced how important planning is. In order for a lesson to be successful every detail must be thought through, even when things do not go as planned. When I plan out lessons I lay out why the students need to or would want to learn the content, as well as multiple ways to present the material. When you problem solve like this you create options, and back up plans. Teachers should always have two or three back up plans, just in case students finish early or the original teaching method does not work out. I learned today that to plan ahead is to be prepared to succeed.

Attention Grabbers?

While instructing at Phoenix Village Art Center the past four summers, I worked with a variety of students ages 3- 13. Throughout instruction I never had a problem maintaining the student’s attention. It seems I have met my match at the high school level. I found it difficult to wait for their attention, as I did not want to waste the other student’s learning time. However, it was necessary to stop side chatter. Mrs. Migliore suggested that I stop and hold onto something, count down from 20, and brace myself because sometimes it can feel like a long time until the students quiet. I practiced this throughout the afternoon classes and found that it worked. However when this did not work I found it helpful to ask the students to stop their side chatter. Telling students what you expect of them and reinforcing these expectations consistently makes all the difference when it comes to classroom management.

Collaboration

Thursday was Google Sites day for all of Mrs. Migliore's classes, and we had a technology specialist come in for a workshop. Mr. Evans, taught social studies at Strayer Middle School, and now he helps classes stay connected by training students and teachers how to better use technology. Today he was showing the students how to create sites from their student google accounts. These websites will become e-portfolios and simultaneously teach the students how to manage their own website.

Google Sites is a simple site builder that has a fairly clear interface. Although I had fewer problems creating my  hula-hoop business site with weebly, I tried my hand at creating my own Google site. While I followed along with Mr. Evan’s demo, I also pushed to do more with my site to personalize it. I used the trial and error learning method to further explore the site.

After the first period I felt comfortable enough to help students at their seats. I walked around while Mr. Evans continued his demo to keep the students on task, and brought some students who were behind up to speed. This was team teaching at its prime. Throughout the day Mr. Evans and I spread ourselves around the room. It was common for more than one student to have a question at a time and having three teachers to cover the room was highly effective. It was not until I drove home that it hit me. Today had been so successful because of collaboration.

When you collaborate, you share knowledge between two or more people. This is so effective because each person has a different background and skill set that is unique. When I played rugby with the Kutztown University Women's Rugby Club I understood how powerful teamwork can be, and how success can be achieved when we all work together. A rugby team has fifteen players, and each player has an individual job to accomplish in order for the team to succeed. A winning team may not even recognize these separate moving parts of the machine, however these parts are what drive the whole. Support is an essential on the rugby pitch, the most common phrase you hear from the girls is “I'm with you, I’m with you”, because we never run without support. I think after teaching on this Thursday I felt particularly accomplished because I had the support of the other teachers. Team teaching benefits the students because it offers the students more than one way to understand the content or concept.

Mr. Evan’s strengths were typically technology based and he was able to explain the Google sites interface to the students. While my inner artist wanted to personalize my website and make it original. Because of my understanding of the site I was able to help the students personalize their sites backgrounds with their own images. At one point Mr. Evans called me over to help a student, while this was his workshop, I was still involved and helpful. This left me feeling like I was an important part of the team, rather than remaining an idle student during his workshop.