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