Blog Twenty Three. Alas the last!

A Work of Art with Others

This class was so disconnected I found because on our last day each of us got down to business and focused on our parts of the world and our own balloons and only in some situations did we meet up to either share our paint or the hot glue gun or to help put away the desks or string up the balloons. I often decide that if I feel like an inferior person in the group I will often just recede into the background and work in a solitary way. I still laugh and say jokes in the group but the work I do is often solo. In this group I felt like I shouldn't offer suggestions because I am not a visual arts student and I should just listen to the ideas of others. I gave my idea about the hot air balloons and then left it to the group. It felt so nice to be along side everyone as we worked away on our pieces of the big puzzle that was our presentation. I felt this great energy as all of us coated out balloons and dealt with construction issues on the fly. I believe as I had mentioned earlier that all of us just wanted to arrive at a destination as this part of the year is like being in limbo. I often feel the need to be an aggressive Type A personality because I want everything done in just the right way and with this project I couldn't be that way because I had no seconds to spare and because all of us are so unique and with out and prodding we all met up in the same idea. I was so proud of our piece and like a little girl it reminded me of a memory box and the lights of a puppet show I wanted to spin amongst the floating levels of developmental outcomes. I painted my balloon blue with white clouds and swirling rainbows and colored shapes. I chose this because students reflect their environment and that is one of the most important lessons that I have learned this year. If the content, teacher attitude, team dynamic, lesson plans, or materials do not suit students they reciprocate their negative impulses which causes distress in the environment and thus the environment will push back. So If my balloon is in the sky it will reflect the sky but with it my balloon carries shapes as my age group is working on shapes and representation through symbols and the rainbows are to symbolize the use of color but more importantly the concept that at the end of every lesson there is magic!

I really regret that I couldn't stay to help put up my balloon and I really hope that you do not view that as my attitude towards your class because I had an exceptional year in your classes and I am so very grateful for the knowledge and understanding that I have gained. I believe a Developmental Art(S) group is a beautiful idea so that we a teachers may skip ignorance and go straight to enriching our own personal vocabularies. Thank you for everything, -AZ

Blog TWENTY TWO!

Art 307

Puzzle making: I discovered that I let people take the lead and that I work harder on group projects when I take parts home with me. I learned that sometimes I need kinesthetic activities like this to organize my thoughts. I realized that there is a huge sense of accomplishment when a group actually works as a team. I found that in the second half of the semester I barely worked on our second puzzle because Amanda had it so organized and she had so much of it done on her own that it felt like interrupting and so after class I would sneak pieces on but mostly I just stayed away. I found that this kind of work is great for conversations which base themselves around talking over problems or asking questions and getting feedback because our group would often discuss our lessons or life problems as we sat and puzzled. It was healthy and therapeutic.


Project Number One: The Book
I was so relieved to find out that i know how to make a project using computers. I was more excited when my peers enjoyed doing it and when it worked out in the end. I found out so so so much about how K-grade 3 students develop in Language Arts and in Visual Arts. I discovered that they are on an journey where they are solidifying motor skills in symbol making and that they understand how to use symbols to make representational figures. I know that in Language Arts they are learning about expressing their own ideas and feelings. I have discovered that they are working on filling their vocabulary and putting words into expressive use. I discovered that they are figuring out how their relationships with friends and authority figures can exist if different ways and that they relate to their peers. Students are also coming to realize spatial awareness and they understand different environments as they are leaving home and understanding school and it is also a science unit. I discovered that story lines can be exciting to learn if you can make the pictures exciting. I have found that group projects are important at this age because so much focus is on the individual and building individual skills and at this age group they need to start making a classroom community which exists separate from home, sports, and best friends. This way peer teaching can take place, students have to share and accept ideas, and students were able to learn and work in PowerPoint. I have discovered that PowerPoint isn't as horrifying if you take the time to explore it yourself.

Project Two: Unit Plan for Child Workshop
I learned how to deal with the unexpected. I found that I need to discover when the time and place is for the teaching personae. I believe it is important to be a support but not a friend as a teacher but as a cousin I still had family obligations. I discovered that different types of documentation work well to discover what has taken place such as picture taking, note taking, looking over artifacts and created work, as well as having charts of expected outcomes available for after the project. This way the students developmental levels may be assessed and then further dealt with. I learned that lessons that work for one age group can become disastrous if it isn't shaped to fit the other age group.


This semester I have learned so much about how I view art as a way of communication. I never considered it to be a tool for understanding the learning levels of my students, I never considered that issues like negative drawing have such a huge impact, I also never considered how important documentation can be after actually creating lessons. I learned how to make student based learning Unit Plans. (Thank you Dr.E!) I realize now how easy it can be as long as the teacher and students are motivated the material will flow easily. I understand now why so much planning has to go into making unit plans so that students at different developmental levels will be able to access valuable material throughout the process of art creation. I believe that it is important to expect so much out of your students because they will still wow you even if they are slow learners if they are given wide enough doors and great stimuli (personal material such as Dewey would recommend ) then you can have your students hooked into learning.
I believe that Dewey has it right because considering that Art is a tool for communication there is no better way to get students thinking about what interests them which becomes metaphysical inquiry and thus can turn into outward research for answers.

I believe that the relationship between education and learning is that education is material and curriculum's and organized environments where as learning is when a teacher gives students an opportunity to grow and expand their base of knowledge and depending on how that teacher chooses to share their classroom and create a community of learning the students will reflect back what they have learned, plus they will ask further questions so the teacher can then reflect and grow and then reciprocate. Learning is the symbiotic cycle of knowledge exchange and skill refining and education is the structural support and the matter that helps feed the members of this relationship.

The teacher needs to be so creative, so flexible, so in-tune with the students and the material so that students can learn in the best way possible. Teachers need to be exceptionally well rounded and must be able to roll with the punches.

I have learned the importance of a wide understanding of subject matter because as George Balanchine a famous modern dance choreographer has said when asked if he pre-plans his dances, "You can't plan steps ahead of time, just as you cannot plan words when you are about to write something. It's part of your ability. You have enough vocabulary and grammar in your head when you need them -everything that's required to start writing when the moment comes." I need to personally work on crafting my own vocabulary so that I may be able to answer questions, change lessons plans, and best support the individuals in my classroom.

I think that it was so important that through this semester we would look at the curriculum when we made our projects but instead of worrying all about the curriculum we worked on actually looking at what students need to be learning to grow into their next developmental stage which better reflects biological and mental needs of students as opposed to dictated outcomes by an education board.

Blog 21!

I chose this picture because it is a picture of Contact Improvisation where two dancers try to support one another through spontaneous lifts and movement.
This to me is a collaborative work, ideas will keep coming out and the best way to work on a piece which needs to be finished right away is to say 'Yes' even if you mean 'Let's compromise' and each person will rest their thoughts on one another.
If the group has trust, integrity, and related intentions not only will art and chemistry result but a community is formed.

Collaborative Project

I honestly felt like all of us just wanted to get a solid idea down right away so we could start working. Keeley, Kristen, and myself figured that hot air balloons would work so we brought it up to everyone and there were no qualms. I believe that it has much to do with how at this time of the year everyone needs to have positive energy even if they are the ones that need to give it but more importantly I believe that at this time of the year it is better to be progressive and start working then to philosophically nit-pick.

I believe that each of us has a starting place and a vision and as an art teacher it is important to give students that starting place that very lift off opportunity and through our own need to excel, communicate, experience, and question we decided to go on our own journey. This is what our students will need especially if we as teachers want to give our students recurring moments of enrichment and engagement.

I think that it is important as a group member to see what your personality is like, and to watch others in the group. Is anyone else like me? I like to put my big bossy idea in and then help with small details later because I get scared of leadership roles with my peers. Are other people commanding and crazy, has no one else answered if they don't do they look uncomfortable or do they look like they have checked-out? These values are important to study because students will have group projects and it can be valuable to try on different personality types and see how you interact in this setting so that if problems were to arise in a group setting then I as a teacher will understand the personality conflicts and will be able to divide work up and give the proper direction to those who need it. It is also important to discover how you work with peers because in a school setting you are never alone as there are administrative members who you never want to piss off because they can help you, there are fellow teachers who are also allies and at times foes and dealing with them to protect your classroom environment is essential to professionalism. There is also support staff like resource teachers and if you are in a group and are a go-getter you will work well with resource staff because they need organized individuals who use initiative.

Group work is important on both a teacher-networking level and also in regards guidance and supervision over group work in the classroom.

Blog Twenty!

Visual Arts: Solitary or Not Solitary that is the Question!

I believe that my notion of solitary Visual Arts has come from my personal desire to make Visual Arts known as a unique identity and only complementary to the other formal education core subjects. I feel too as a theatrical and movement artist that as we rely almost entirely on our body and are only helped by lighting, scenery, props, and costume that I put visual art in it's own category. I find it easier personally to deal with arts of the body because we can work with the one tool that we've got and in an endless fashion as we search in pursuit of new ways of recreating ourselves. Visual Art is a whole new dimension where you have to be in control of your body that in in control of tools which are in control of media. I find that often theatre doesn't need visual arts because I love minimalist sets where the raw nature of humans existing takes place right in front of the naked eye. I do also love musicals. I also love spectacle such as choreographic works of art created by Edouard Lock who uses scenes and sets and costumes and digital media. I am also a sucker for naturalism and ballets which use impressively painted sets and elaborate lighting schemes. I find that visual art in this sense adds to the fullness of "the production" as it communicates location, money, commercialism, skill, and trickery. Visual Art on its own however to me is an extraordinary entity in that it is so communicative on its own. It says so much when it is on its own where as when it is in theatre it is often made to help establish an illusion. I believe visual arts need more credit than that so I find that I separate them and look at installation pieces and am in awe over their size and skill level or look at paintings and am fatigued by just considering each stroke taken. I find that theatre hushes art in the forms of scene painting and costumes. It is so true though that in many cases the costume, lighting and set design have saved poor human communication on stage. I believe that visual art and music make a captivating duet such as those beautiful stories that are told through watercolor paintings or clay animation and musical scores. I do believe to that if the artist works with the composer or if one artist applies their art to the other it works well. I believe that music has the ability to pull the mood out of visual art and it can also punctuate rhythms without it. So much art though again can live completely alone and in certain cases sounds can often take away from the art piece because it is so strong on its own. I do find it interesting though that the human arts can exist well as human arts and the human arts often wrap themselves in visual arts while musical art attaches itself to moods and the feelings of atmospheres for human performances and visual art pieces and that music and art work so well together and they are arts created from humans controlling objects and movement and drama work together because they are both body exterior and interior formations when communicating. I believe that each art form compliments one another and when teaching about the different arts I think that they should be equally represented and shown together because this way it can help to inform other artists about further possibilities.
I also want to mention performance art. This last semester I used a clown to experience art which I think that in a public setting may be a great way to involve the 'captive' audiences in viewing art work. I think that Performances can be a great guide into the opportunity of viewing of explaining art. Just as there is deconstruction in choreography where the choreographer creates a dance that shows how the choreographer comes together and can be taken apart performance Art can be either be a piece which uses human bodies for the subject matter or can use them as a way to showcase visual art in the form of a composer.

Blog NINETEEN!!

Child Workshop

Successes:
-Declan was able to use his athletic target practice skills.
-Declan learned different techniques of breaking balloons and taught his brother how to use one of them
-Rylan continued to keep trying even if the balloons couldn't quite break the balloons
-We created a feeling of connectedness by getting Declan to share his hockey stick with Rylan and when Rylan and I worked on breaking balloons with our feet
-Rylan told me about how he wanted to try baseball and then he practiced his throws.
-Declan spoke about his hockey tournaments.
-Both kids were able to express stories with detail about what they wanted to do or had already done
-Declan is trying to understand himself and his relationships with others so when he tested authority with me I decided to maintain our family relationship status and so I treated him in a respectful and silly way as we chose to make compromises.
-As we made our superheroes Declan showed a great understanding of symbol use, planning, motor skill with cutting, he cut out a heart for me which he used from recall from his art class, and he helped Rylan with cutting
-Rylan made his own character discoveries by acknowledging that a snake superhero cannot live with the bird an pterodactyl superheroes.
-Declan chose to look up on the computer what wings would look like and asked for help.
-Declan chose to combine his other interest in dinosaurs into the piece which is the Dewey concept of relating the work to the student or allowing for those opportunities to take place.
-Rylan would often recede into his chair and say he couldn't do it which just meant that I needed to offer him suggestions of help and with the classroom atmosphere remaining positive he felt safe and able to ask for help and questions after a while
-We took swing breaks so that the boys could release active energy.
-Though Declan was sick of the project he still helped me get to the end by using some pre-cut shapes and eyes and told me where he wanted to glue everything. this was exciting for me because it showed that he understand spatial awareness and was able to create a balance tri-fold.
-I learned how to make the project flexible and also that the time limits need work
-I learned about other things that Declan is excited about such as dinosaurs, paper airplanes, coloring, and trying out coloring tools like my smudging sticks.
-Declan and Rylan still wanted to colour and make art when the project way over
-Declan was able to visually represent himself as a superhero which is one of the Language Art requirements which is the ability to express yourself with the means of different media

Non -Successes
-Rylan had trouble with aim and with breaking balloons and was upset even though he continued to try
-Declan did not use the pre-cut shapes unless he was disinterested so I felt like I should have had more faith in him
-It was super messy
-Rylan was no where near using symbols and often decided he would rather tell me stories and got upset when he couldn't cut things out nicely. I think that next time I would take Rylan away from facing his brother at the table and he and I could have sat on the ground and colored in a background for the monster. There was so much white space that Rylan could have used for experimenting with marks. This way he would have stopped comparing himself to Declan and then when Declan was gluing on our superheroes I could have helped Rylan to pick pre-cut shapes to stick onto his head.
-I think that I will need more time next time to create such an in-depth project.


I think It would be fun to work with Declan in using Tri-folds that we have painted and make them into backdrops then we could make dinosaur masks which he loves so much and then we could work on video taping him and I as dinosaurs. we could make a story line to involve Language Arts and he could even use science to explore two dinosaurs that we would be in the story. Then after making a lesson plan I would sen him home with the video footage and then he could make it into a movie with his dad. I say this because his dad is and I.T. guru and would love to help Declan with this and the project is active which would suit him and he can work on learning how to make art for different functions and how to use digital media. Plus his dad is a specialist in Mac programing so Declan could work with a specialist to learn about the technology side. I would also make up a lesson plan to use for the computer program in Imovie so then that way I am not just passing off the assignment and he will be involved with family at home.

BLOG 18!

(I chose this picture because students who have any disabilities can be given the opportunity to surpass many of the handicaps that they endure by accessing communicating through art.)

"Special" Cases

I believe it is important to remember that no matter where art is being taught it will always remain a form of communication. I fell in love with the idea that when I was reading the article on special needs learners that students are able to release their emotions through art, they are able to communicate what they can't through reading and writing, and are able to learn and understand concepts through visual art understanding such as relating terms from art to the visual representations that they create or see in famous art.

I found through reading this article that the stimuli and time taken to create art work is the aspects that that are often the most manipulated when working with students. This is seen through the manipulation of the surroundings, textures and rhythms for students with visual impairments, organization and flat surroundings for students who can't be over stimulated, time fluctuation and repetition for students who are slow learners. Most often the environment as well as the time for projects to be done are what changes the most for these students however in the cases of student who are ESL or hearing impaired they are often on the same developmental level as students that are their age (despite emotional set backs and at times these do not even occur as they are more excited and willing to celebrate their successes)

These students show art educators the power of art as a communication tool, the adaptability of art as a means for teaching other material, the way that art can be accessible to all learners. These tools are important to recall when a teacher is stuck in a formal education setting and they have a student or student(s) who are struggling with learning how to write, or how to associate words, or are unable to create images. These skills can be used for students who may falling behind, as teachers can have their art work assessed by therapists and can even be assessed by the teacher so that they understand where their art making developmental level is. This understanding can also help reach students who are emotionally disabled or who have expressed emotional trauma and are unable to talk about their problems or journal about what has happened to them.

Considering that art is ultimately one of the most accessible ways to evolve in early education teachers should understand how to adapt their lessons, classroom environments, and methods of instruction so that students can achieve greater and greater levels of understanding art and thus will be able to apply their knowledge to other areas or remain skilled at using artwork as a means of communication.

BLOG SEVENTEEN!!!

Community Based Education

In Community-Based learning environments where learning is concentrated around a specific objective or subject matter, students are able to obtain a completely rounded education in that field.

I believe that organizations who create community-based learning experience often try to hire specialists and because their focus is on one subject the students will be able to learn about so many different aspects of that material, while receiving personal attention from individuals who are professional or else well experienced or even in cases of volunteers willing to know as much as possible about the projects and forms of attacking the lessons.

I believe that this is a great opportunity for children to experience Art in Community-Based settings because this way they will learn about art as a solid and unique unit which is often lost in school settings where art is often lumped together with other subject matter. This is not to say that art is made for art sake in fact it is quite the opposite because in these settings students would be allowed to take projects in the directions that work best for their developmental skill level and personal interests because they are not trying to get a mark in these places and rather are there for the experimentation and experiences. The pressure it taken away as well when there are no marks involved and there isn't as much weight put into a final product. This will often let students create without fear or more importantly the need to please others it if for their own growth.

Plus generalized teachers cannot necessarily assist student who require further instruction or even student who require a challenge as they are not experts in the area of study. This can alienate students who are gifted and those who are challenged or perhaps need a different style of instruction. For example a generalized teacher says that things like 'that looks good'. An art teacher can bring up ideas about technique, creative response, further options or ideas, and suggestions, while giving praise for the aspects of art which the student has shown that they understand.

In these schools students are often allowed the possibility of working with materials and tools which are not offered in schools such as carving tools and stone, or silk screens, or even clay as kilns are not in all schools.

Students can learn about specific style techniques and about art history which they may not be able to hear about in a public education system as often very little time is awarded to art studies.

Teachers in a community based setting are able to work with student who are present for the very reason of learning about that one core subject matter and are often interested in learning about that experience. This way student will not have as many student who are disinterested. Often class sizes are much smaller so teachers can better assess their students and meet their personal needs. These classrooms often have support staff as well which can be a great success because the teacher can focus on assisting students rather than about the material clean-up and administrative issues. Teachers in these settings are able to teach the one subject that they specialize in and therefore can be better and more responsible teachers and they will be passionate and encompassing in their teaching and will not have to try to mix art into other subject matter and thus accidentally losing its relevance.

In Community-Based settings there is no curriculum and specific set of rules like there is in formal education. There are teaching mandates but teachers have the teachers have the flexibility to teach what they wish to teach about without having to worry about making sure that curriculum expectations and outcomes are being met. This would help to make a class that is based on student guided learning because the teacher has the freedom to accept the needs of the student over the content of the lessons.

Blog 16!!!!

Art Experience

I have always enjoyed art galleries because I love to imagine how artists make their pieces and I love being astounded by their skill and talent. I have to say I love museums because I love knowing that before us there were people with thoughts, traditions, and actions that effect us today and ours will be the same to generations later on.

I have to say that I love art and I have seen some beautiful work but the piece that is featured above is my most memorable experience. I saw this piece by Canadian David Robinson in Newzone Art Gallery in Calgary in my first year of University. For our performance creation class we were told we had to visit 4 galleries and pick one art piece and write about it. We had to go and see it twice and journal about it each time and each time we saw it we had to see teh piece and go away and quickly write about it. Then we had to sit near it for 40 minutes and write about its relationship to the principles of art and design and how those relationships such as use of contour, or texture and color made the piece effective and lastly we had to level and write about our feelings after.

At this point I was in my second semester of first year and I was going through personal trauma. I was full of hurt and rage over how I didn't think I could act any more and how I was so sure everyone knew it and was laughing at me while I sat there and took it with stupid smile on my face. This beautiful sculpture was in the corner by the receptionist desk and it sat in front of a break in a window so it had its own eerie spot light unlike any other piece in the gallery. This man is so full of despair and yet he held humility in his hand and he was trapped atop a seat of ridicule. He was so beast like with bulging muscles and the putrid paleness of the polymer-gypsum but yet the fragility of the idea of a balloon held up the only uplifted part of his body and I wanted so badly to say it's okay sweetheart and take his hand and save him from this place. When I saw this piece every other one that I was interested in melted away and there he sat in my thoughts with the soft surface of that metaphorical balloon squeaking against the insides of my heart and brain. I cried right there like an idiot in that store because I was an emotional wreck and this piece fit me perfectly but yet I still wanted to care for it.

110% of the reasons why I felt this piece effect me this way was because at the time I could relate. I see it now and I feel a lump in my throat because he holds a key to that ache and sorrow. He is so soft and sweet but yet anyone can see by how hard he is willing himself to hold in an outburst and by how humiliated he is to hold the balloon but yet he knows that the balloon is the only thing holding him up from a complete introverted collapse. It is exactly a Dewey representation of a Good experience because it was a connection to my current situations it reflected me and yet it was more than me so I had to question just what was so damn bad about myself and so it invoked inward reflections because this figures humiliation would never cease and I had the potential to stop holing onto the things that hurt so much but yet kept me afloat. This piece continued the cycle of thought and it brought me from personal content which I knew about which was my feelings to outside of myself where I could think about them and how I felt about that experience.

Blog Number Fifteen!

SURPRISE!!!

Well my project certainly did not go as planned when it came to timing or the students involved which thus pretty much threw everything out of whack! But it was fun it was crazy and though I didn't have time to trial-and-error my project I learned so much and the project seemed to be a hit!

So as you can see there are two kids in this picture. The taller child is Declan he is my seven year old cousin for whom I made this project and behind him is his younger brother Rylan who is three. Needless to say I was extremely surprised when my cousin Shay who is their mom called me to say that due to a family emergency they would be coming over a week early and the surprise was made a we bit more extreme when I noticed Rylan was in tow. There is no way that I could leave him out so I tried to involve him in the project.

You have probably also noticed the ponchos. This was an ordeal to say the least. Declan was so sure that they weren't cool so I had to think up exciting ways to try to get him to wear them because I know he hates messes and to be honest I had no idea how much splatter would be caused from the slap shot of the balloons because I had only thrown two to test that dynamic. At this point I had to decide on my teaching personae because I really just wanted to pull the bossy teacher attitude but I knew this wouldn't work with Declan because he is testing his limits with me and I knew that if I didn't act like "Cousin Alli" he may loose respect for me or he may just check out of the experience. I decided to play around like it was a cape and by getting Rylan and Shay to wear one he thought it may be okay. Moments like these are also inspired by this developmental level where at age 7 students are trying to see how they relate to peole in their family/friend/authority relationships.

The first thing that I would say is that next time I really need to test out the balloons before we try to make this project because it took me ages to figure out how to fill them up because the two pumps that I had wouldn't work due to the viscosity of the paint and also because when the boys went to break them Declan got them to break extremely well with his hockey stick but when they threw them we had problems. It was exciting because Declan noticed that even though the balloons wouldn't burst the first few times, they would actually leave interesting prints on the tri-folds and he also discovered that if you squish the balloon lot's of times before throwing them they will actually burst way faster. I quickly told him that he was making the little parts that make up the balloon warmer and when particles get warm they move around so it is easier to separate them. I know this is science from grade three and he is in grade 2 and his brother is only three but at least this way the ideas will be in their heads. Rylan had a tough time with the balloons he didn't have a hockey stick so in my project I let the boys throw them as well. Declan did offer his stick to Rylan but Rylan could only just move the balloon on the ground and Rylan couldn't aim like Declan or break the balloons by throwing them so we got Declan to stand back (he hates messes) so that Rylan and I could smash them by jumping on them. Speaking of messes I lucked out by using a ton of plastic to cover my garage but if I had had more time I would have set up a spot outside because it took 2 hours at least to get the plastic up and to take it down.

After we made two tri-folds one for my house and one for their house to work on, I put my cousins in the living room where I had pre-set out the craft materials for them to work on but I had doughnuts and chocolate milk ready to go for them. I know that these are favorites and because I know that it can be a too much to keep working on one project. I also wanted to mention that before we started either parts of the project I kept explaining the different parts of the project such as what we would be working on because then that way the two boys would know what we would be doing next and they could consider the things that we were working on.


Then we went for a swing in my backyard because Declan is a fun and active kid so I wanted him to get some of his highly kinesthetic energy out because I didn't want him to get too bored with the next portion of the project. *Note if I did this in a class or if I could have had the two days that I was supposed to have to work on this I would have ended there but talked to the boys about the next part of the project. So we went into my living room and I gave the boys a picture of themselves and I took one of myself and I told them we were going to make ourselves into superheroes using the craft materials that I had gathered and pre-cut shapes. Declan started right away and he seemed to know exactly what it was that he wanted to do. He cut out his head and started to draw an orange rectangle that he wanted to cut out and he got some red pipe cleaner. I kept asking him what he was up to and he knew he wanted the rectangle as it is his favorite color and that it would be easier for him to pre-draw the shape to cut it out and also that he needed a frame for his head. He is so impressive because he was planning everything and he never once used the pre-cut shapes because he wanted to make them himself so I felt kind of badly about underestimating him which is something I need to evaluate for next time. The pre cut shapes were great for Rylan though as he used them though the whole time he was not very involved and as I mentioned earlier I knew this would happen because he withdrew over the project difficulty. He required so much attention in the sense of idea, provocation, and help with the tools which I loved to help him with as long as he was willing to take part. Declan knew he wanted to make a pterodactyl superhero and he needed help with wing shapes, we looked some up and I drew an idea for him so he drew and cut his own, he then helped Rylan cut out his face as Rylan said he couldn't do it. YAY PEER TEACHING AND THE FEELING OF CONNECTION IN THE CLASSROOM! I was so excited and happy to see this. Next I asked what Rylan wanted to make and he had no idea. I tried robot, animal, dragon, dinosaur and he didn't know. I asked if he knew shapes of animals he knew snake but he didn't want to be so his could like with Declan's an mine (mine was a bird) I was excited because Rylan was using his own logic. I wanted to keep the boys engaged so I joked around and put a big yellow beak on my face to tell them I was a real bird superhero and they didn't believe me so I said look even the picture of me has one and I put a beak on it. Declan started to get restless so we went for another swing outside where he talked to me about his sports and about a new Transformer that he got. I then told him we did have to get this project done and so I asked him if he would he said he wasn't sure so I offered that we could swing for a bit then we could finish and then the next hour was all ours. He agreed. Thank God. Rylan was always off and playing with us. He followed where his brother went. SO we went in and I could tell Declan was no into it so I suggested I will glue everything can you please just tell me where you would like to put them. He agreed and I was excited because he made the picture balance!! Yay a great concept of space!! I left the other tri-fold for Declan to work with Rylan on at home and they were supposed to make their parents into characters. Right after this Declan sat down and calmly made an impressive paper airplane and Rylan coloured....so though they were done with the projects because the materials were available they still wanted to keep working with art supplies. I loved this so much. This showed me a huge difference with Rylan and Declan because Declan separated the page into even thirds and coloured it while Rylan made experimental marks all over his page.

Ultimately:
Work on time limits!
Sometimes you don't know about the motor skills of students or their ability to understand concepts so sometimes projects have to be changed.
Sometimes the energy levels of students are unpredictable at young ages so working with students to get into the right frame of mind or by compromising with students a project may have to put on hold or altered.
Though I had to help Declan he was still willing to finish the project and I was able to see the type of spatial relations skills that he had and he still stayed engaged with the materials which is inspirational.
If a student is perhaps bellow the developmental level of a project there is no need to give up on them because they can still consider aspects of the piece such as Rylan with the bird idea and he received assistance from his brother and I so he was still connected and not forced to withdraw from the project....HAVE FAITH!

BLOG 14!!!!

Drawing History

Drawing and painting were the only things that I could distinguish as being art in elementary school because as I had mentioned in earlier blogs our classes often integrated art so much into other classes that it often did not seem much like art at all but rather just an extension of social studies or a holiday celebration.

When we did start to draw though I loved to draw people and I would do it at home all of the time and I would practice flowers and dogs because they were my favorite . I will always remember though in Kindergarten for show and tell I brought my family album of drawings that I had made. I remember some of the kids laughing at my drawings and so I said that I had made them a long time ago and just brought them because i wanted people to know about my family and one girl named Penny asked why I didn't bring pictures because they would look better. I was so hurt and sometime after that I only drew in secret and if I had to draw i would get it over with right away and wouldn't practice. I remember bringing a project home where I had to draw and elephant because it was the animal that I was doing a project on. I asked my mom if she knew how so she got some pictures for me and she showed me how to trace. I hated tracing it felt like cheating and I couldn't stand that so I asked her to draw one on her own. She couldn't it looked like a mouse with big ears and a long squiggly nose. I knew for a fact that my mom was my idol and the fact that she couldn't draw well made me feel a bit better because she can paint really well. So I figured that I needed to just get through doing my drawings and hopefully I could do other art. I ignored drawing for so long because the 'drawers' were exceptional and my drawings didn't look like theirs. I was so jaded by drawing. (hence this color for this entry) I was drawing eyes in grade 9 one day off of a picture from a magazine and my teacher came by and was so impressed she was my lovely art teacher and she said "Alli why don't you ever draw these eyes are exceptional." I was dumbfounded. Ever since in my mind drawing is something that I take or leave but i don't feel inadequate any longer and whenever someone says 'draw something' I draw eyes.

I want to introduce to my students the wide variety of ways to draw. I want them to explore abstract first and figure out how to use cross hatching, negatives, lines, shapes, shading, contour, all while paralleling this work with other art forms to keep students engaged in different tools and aspects of art making. Then we can move into representational drawings. I want to do this while showing students famous works of abstract drawing and realistic drawing so that they can see that if they cannot master one form, other styles are still completely accessible. For students who are already anxious drawers I would suggest a wide variety of material for drawing subjects if they are concerned with realism, while trying to engage them in other media. I think that it is also very important consider having conversations with them about the aspects of drawing that bug them. even if it is in a round about story often students will offer up information. I think that if the student can also work on making art in 3D ways or with painting it can help students to hone their motor skills and also explore forms and ideas and ways of looking at subject matters which can help students to understand how to approach drawings.


The questions that I want to talk about my cousins parents are:
-What does Declan like to talk about?
-What does Declan like to work with paint, drawing, collage?
-Does Declan like to do art on his own?
-How does Declan interact with others?
-I wanted to look at his past drawings and art work from class
-Do you do art work with Declan at home?
-What would make interesting subject matter for Declan?

Blog Thirteen!!

Peer Workshops

The part of peer workshops that I value most is that they are an opportunity for us as teachers to express our concerns and fears to actual people instead of just relying on what the literature says to use. I also feel that it is important to test drive ideas so that you can evaluate the actual timeline of the project, so that you can see all of the technical aspects such as how hard it is to fill up balloons with pain, or how much time it takes to explore different tools in PowerPoint. I also find that often when others are discussing their own projects that I would understand aspects of my own or else it would give me ideas about what I can do for my work. I have to use this example because when Caitlin explained that that child that she was working with has an exceptional talent for land sculptures. I know for a fact that Declan is amazing with hockey and I have played tons of street hockey and practiced sparring drills with Declan so I knew that I could maybe turn his activity into something that incorporated his active life style and impressive talents.

I believe that peer teaching is valuable in elementary schools because it gives students the ability to create a connected classroom community, it gives the students who are are teaching a challenge and the achievement of helping their peers while students who are learning will be able to work with showing respect to their peers and having the opportunity of learning from another source other than just the teacher. This will help students to consider new ideas when they are being helped by their peers and it will also help student who are teaching consider how to present the information that they have learned and also create a meaningful experience for their peers.

I chose that picture at the beginning of this blog because I found that in the group of ladies that I got to work with this semester that each of us was willing to be there for one another, we were willing to listen to the concerns that each other had and we tried to give helpful suggestions and celebrations at all points throughout this semester. I felt like they would be there to hold my hand and guide me if needed but they would only do so if I would give them the respect they gave me thus I knew which path I needed to choose so they did not choose it for me but rather I was able to make my own choices and they helped to nudge me along and have faith in myself.

BLOG TWELVE

Documentation

I believe that the ultimate importance of documentation is that it allows students to think about their work, teachers are able to see where students require help as well as where their own instruction could be improved, and as a way of assessment.

When using documentation in the form of writing journals, recording ideas by planning or taking pictures students are able to look at their work while they are creating it. When this takes place students can critically look at their work which can help to stimulate further ideas and concepts of their own, it can help them to figure out what needs attention and it can help them realize how they think about different issues that the project involves by looking at their ideas.

Teachers are able to assess how their students are learning and receiving the information that they have taught by looking at the artifacts of art, by recording questions and worries throughout the process, by looking at the work done by other students in the classroom, by reviewing class critiques of when students explain their work, and also by the behavior of the students throughout the process where they on task or did they stray away and test authority.

In terms of assessment the teacher may look at photographs of teh process, the students reflections and the final presentation of their piece and in each of these categories after assessing how the project developmentally fit the student the teacher may then use the students grasp of the project and process, effort and consideration to evaluate a mark for their project, This will help to alleviate the stress of having to have a 'final product' and they can rather focus on the project in its entirety which is the aim of the projects to begin with.

A teacher is only one body and often in classes in the public education system there are at least 35 students per class. The documentation of a process can become extremely difficult if it comes to projects where during the process students cannot be taking notes or planning (this is often during group activities) or when pictures around the classroom cannot capture all of the stresses, triumphs, and celebrations that are taking place. Teachers may choose to use volunteers or to use question based documentation in the form of multiple check-ins and stations for reflection. Documentation takes up time. Teachers will need time enough to consider the work of their students the form of documentation that took place during teh process, and then assessing the reflections after the experience. Ultimately the teacher needs to pick one form of documentation and specific outcomes that they need to address, such as in orientation activities where the teacher learns about their students teh teacher will need to look at only a few aspects of the child (though not neglecting any other information that appears) so then this way the teacher has a better chance of gaining the information and staying true to the objectives of the project.

I believe that for the students many styles of documentation are important because this way the teacher can look into what works best for the students, the students will be able to try so many different styles of thinking about their work which will help them to take a progressive stance on their work by using different ways to approach their work.

I plan to work with having students explain their process in a critical way to others in critiques so than this way they can involve themselves in peer teaching and learning by learning how to express what they discovered and by listening to the experiences of others.

Blog 11

Integrated Arts

I believe that integrated arts can be useful because it is an opportunity for students to have a variety of ways to evolve their understanding as well as communicating what they are learning. It also gives students a chance to learn material in developmentally appropriate ways. I believe that art also has the ability to make lessons in core subjects more interesting or can help students become interested in the core material because it is a way for students to explore their own ideas about something which will often pull them into wanting more information....thus the 'fact' and information part of the core lesson can evolve.

I believe that integrated arts can also take away from the creative aspects of art as final products are often required to be of a specified caliber and it also causes art to loose its distinction and singular gravity. I honestly have very little recollection of "art" because when we would work on a unit in elementary school it would regularly involve a paper and glue or a painting project. The outcomes were always pre-determined and often I just thought it was a part of the unit that we were working on rather that a creative 'art' experience.

The issues that I am encountering in my unit plan is that I am unsure if my activity will be intriguing enough and if it will hold my cousins attention. I was thinking about looking into science and other material that he is learning about in school but as I have written above I want this experience to be about art, his developmental discovery of self, and the Language Arts objective of learning how to express ones self through different media.

I am also wondering about the time line and if I can maybe get together with them on a couple of occasions.

These issues are always what I worry about with my class...HOW DO I KEEP STUDENTS ENGAGED? With the one student it is so much easier because I can manipulate the project so that it can be created just for him but when I am trying to meet the needs of a classroom of 35 students that is when I worry about adhering to the concepts that Dewey presents about student based inquiry. Plus I don't know how to entertain all of the students and also how to make a project that is constantly flexible for students who are above and below the developmental level of the age group while making sure that the project isn't a craft with expected outcomes but rather is a set of open doors.

With Declan I hope to ask him about what interests him and keep the project interactive I want to have many supplies ready such as craft materials pre-cut shapes, media for ideas such as Monsters Inc, and the Transformers movies. This way he will be able to choose what he feels like and if the length of the project is getting to be too much there will be options for breaks that are either physically active like swinging which is part of the beginning with the hockey stick and balloons and movies which are media and accesses yet another level of interest and possibility for idea stimulation. (when we ended up swinging we talked about dinosaurs and also about how he was doing in hockey which further incorporated the material in the project.

In a classroom I hope to make a couple of project ideas and present them to the students I love the idea of work stations as well because that gives students a chance to work on what they feel they want to work on and can do so in an interactive way that while it is always changing they can be projects that require personal ideas and persona taste. Perhaps like my cousin Declan though the project is about superheroes he made his into a dinosaur superhero so that he could incorporate his knowledge and interest in dinosaurs.

Blog TEN

TECHNOLOGY

I believe that the very first most important reason for using technology and media in art education is that these are the new ways of communicating and art in it's every essence is a way of communication. I am often very critical about the use of computers and the lack of mess and fun and creativity that can be had with three dimensional textures and materials however I also understand that technology offers opportunities for students to create art who may not be able to use hands-on media due to disabilities, or distance. I find technology opens two doors: 1.) It gives students so many ways to create record and to make archives of their work as there are video cameras, digital cameras, presentation applications like iphoto or PowerPoint, sound recorders, digital memory stick, CD's and DVDs, 2.) Students will have further opportunities to be creative, there are more ways to evolve ideas, and express them, such as making videos, using graphic tools to plan and design, creating presentations that can access several types of learning as opposed to just auditory.
That last point relates to the teachers interaction with media and their students. Technology offers many ways of instruction for students with varied learning styles. There are videos, slide shows, interactive applications, and vast search engines which can help students make their own discoveries.
Career opportunities are often based on adaptability and the skills sets of candidates. If art teachers can afford their student the experience of working with different programs and tools that student maybe better equipped to explore not only their own artistic journeys and direction but they will be better suited to be competitive in future advancements.
I would like to touch again very briefly on the notion of communication. I think that technology allows for art to be more accessible to generations who complete most of their everyday communication and learning via technological media. Most people for example would never know what Performance Art is if they had never used Youtube before. This way students are able to share art work, access other art, and find innovative ways to explore their own messages and ideas.

Blog Number Nine!

Each Member of a Classroom Creates the Collective Collage: A Classroom Environment

When I consider class room environments I feel that they will make or break the experience for the children involved as well as the teacher. The most important factors that I consider are:
-Ensure that students know what is going on at all times. I believe that honesty is so important because it will gain the teacher respect plus it shows that the teacher has respect for the students by treating them as adults. I also believe that the more information a student has about the material they are learning about, the difficulty and safety issues that may arise, as well as where the project is headed. If as student knows these issues in advance they can make informed decisions about projects, about how they choose to learn and prioritize information and also it will give them a sense of entitlement for the work that they are doing and will help the teacher to pre-determine areas where students may require further instruction, motivation, or information.
-I believe that setting up classroom rule together as a class is important. This is an opertunity for a teacher to vocalize their concerns for their class and why they feel that certain rules will help to ensure that students will have the best learning environment that can support them. This is important because it opens up communication between the teacher and the students, students and their peers, and also will help the students to feel empowered to treat this environment that they are helping to established with more respect as it hasn't been imposed on them. I like to use the example of the cellphone. Though this is for older students I find that if I explain that if cellphones go off in class it will disrupt the lesson. If the lesson is disrupted then it will take longer to get on to working on the projects that they are creating. Often this is enough incentive especially if students do not like lectures and would rather get through the 'boring talking part of class'. If I bring up this issue to the students they often will want to make up a rule about how you shouldn't have your cellphone on unless it is an emergency so then that way they can get onto their lessons. By the use of provocation and the understanding of what aspects of learning that the students value or would rather participate in the teacher can help students find their own solutions to common problems.
-I think that as a teachers need to have flexible discipline. I do not mean that punishment or resolutions can vary depending on the students because fairness is a huge part of respect in the classroom. By this statement I mean to say that there has to be an understanding between the teacher and the students of what is fair depending on how a rule was not adhered to.

In response now to how I would like to create my learning environment from the guidelines on page 154-55 in my child workshop I am considering the following:

-With my cousin Declan I am worried about my teacher-student relationship because I am his older cousin and he knows me by that relationship and not by a teacher student relationship. When the first guideline discussed security and persuasion rather than power I believe that I will work on ensuring he feels confident within the art making process, that he feels there is a level of fairness by compromising with him if he chooses not to partake in parts of the project this way he is involved in his own solutions, and also by finding creative ways to help Declan explore the process instead of forcing him into each part of the project. (Example: If Declan doesn't want to make superheroes maybe I can offer animals or environments. If Declan is bored I can try to make it exciting by making the project into a mission.)

-For setting up parameters for limits on behavior I find that the easiest way to deal with poor behavior is to be pro-active and make the project so interesting and fun and listen to the actions of Declan throughout so that he will not feel the need to act out. In reading other information on discipline I have found that often kids that are trying to gain attention are either not relating to the information meaning that the form of instruction does not suit their needs or that they are unable to connect because they are either to advanced for the project or are perhaps not developmentally at the same level as the project (I saw this with my smaller cousin Rylan when we worked on this project because he checked-out so often because this projects dealt with concepts which he hadn't experienced yet.) If students try to push the authority of the teacher it is because they feel that there is a weakness in the teachers teaching style or else it is due to a lack of respect for the teacher. If i get warning signs of these characteristics I will be able to assess them right away if I have : Different options to explore with my project meaning either more advanced options, clearer or different ways of instructing, or easier or possibly more engaging ways of doing the project as prescribed by Dewey. A proactive attitude and an engaging project can often resolve behavioral problems before they arise.

-With the project that I made for Declan I am hoping to have several days to participate in the three steps of the project because I find that even if a student has enough time to understand a project if it takes too long to make all of the parts of the project the students will often check out and with out motivation they will often not get as much out of the project. I do need to make a large part of the project though with my cousin before he heads home so that his family who does not participate in art will have a sound and solidified project idea to work with.

-I will give feed back and helpful solutions throughout the entire process. I have planned some break times as well so we can talk about the project when he has his doughnut time or when we are playing in my backyard. I hope to ask him questions like: What way works best for breaking the balloons, do you see any shapes in the splashes of paint, what kind of shapes will help you to make your superhero, what is the best way to cut out and make the shapes that you need and also where on the page looks like the best place to put the superheroes?

-I think that in terms of connectedness I was to ask questions about what kinds of creatures Declan is making and when I make one too I want him to explain what he thinks I could do or to talk about our characters together. I will be there for his questions, if I do not receive any but can sense a a level of concern I will offer solutions. (When we actually worked on this project I tries to ask Declan to help his little brother and when I was working with Rylan to make our superheroes i asked him what he thought about our characters and his and he decided he couldn't be a snake because then he couldn't play with the bird and pterodactyl superheros that we created.

-I showed respect to the learning styles of my cousin Declan because he is an extremely active child. He excels in sports so I started off the activity with an athletic activity of bursting paint filled water balloons with a hockey stick. I also understand that Declan loves Transformers, Superman, Spiderman, and playing games where he is a superhero. I tried to incorporate this by using his face and different shaped paper and craft materials so that he can make himself into a superhero. This way the project is related to his interests.

-For developing a sense of belonging I will work with my cousin Declan and ask for his input as I create my superhero project. I will also ensure to take the time to follow his lead and listen to ideas that he wants to try. (In the project he made his superhero into a pterodactyl which used his love for dinosaurs as well. I made mine into a bird so that it could live with his in the air and so did Rylan)

-In the process of creating I am hoping to work on the strengths that Declan exhibits by using them throughout the rest of the project. I mean to say that if he can cut well or if he uses space well I will celebrate these skills by getting him to try cutting out more material or by helping me to figure out where to place things on my character. I understand too that when a student achieves a goal it is even better to further explore it by offering a challenge so I hope to be able to challenge Declan a well.

-I can not wait to celebrate Declan's success and to find out what is fun for him and how I can entertain him throughout the process. I will listen to his body language and the questions that he asks and I will remain respectful of our relationship as cousins to retain the verisimilitude and respect of our understanding of one another so that he will feel safe and willing to play.