3D Project With Lauren
Our Aquariums
Drawing Project with Caitlin
SHAPES
Drawing Project With Caitlin
Cut Out Shapes
Cut Out Shapes
This semester has been enriching. In our readings we have learned so much about the levels of development in Children, why they create art, why art is valuable, and of course what we need to encompass as a teacher.
Looking at my Portfolio I was to start with my Aquarium. For this project I put my head down and just kept coloring and cutting and gluing and when I looked up it did not fit but I was too excited about the project to be upset so I put in a hook to make it seem like my Turtle was escaping.
Successful Experiences
Ultimately after reading the Dewey chapter on good and bad educational experiences it is safe to say that teaching that roles with the punches is the best suited to adapt to the needs of the learner and can thus assist them in further growth. Our 3D project was presented in a way in which the learner was able to access continuity and interaction at the same time in that:
-We were able to create sea creatures that we either read about in our books and therefore discovering (continuity) or under water life which we already could recall from our own personal memories and feelings (interaction) such as how I chose a turtle from Hawaii.
-We were able to extract at each present time our own present experience in the sense that we were able to create objects for the background as we saw fit and also as the materials allowed us to do so. I created my seaweed background by cutting long pieces and I wanted them to look 3D but they were too long to stand so I too other paper and made it into waves that could be glued to the sides to help hold them up.
-We worked with our environment. We were a small group and our ideas bounced around amongst one another allowing each of our ideas to grow. I got my idea for 3D seaweed from Amanda and she made an interactive scene because I had to for mine.
-Lauren did not teach in one consistent manor which allowed the material to renew itself and did not limit our experience. She was making new examples that shared new ideas, thus using her insight to explore her own work as opposed to pressuring it onto ours which allowed us to learn for ourselves while still gaining from her demonstration of skill.
-Her art work was universal in that it continued to explore ideas of space and the underwater world which has endless material to learn about. This project also touched on the nature making a narrative which can be continued and explored.
Caitlin's Drawing Projects. Our drawing projects were very open ended and allowed for the student to use their own personal interaction with the continuity of their learning by:
-Project 1: Students extracted at the present time their own present experience when Caitlin asked students to draw a certain number of shapes they we able to take over their page however they saw fit. It was our own expression and our own desire at the moment we were told to draw. Project 2: As soon as students took some shapes they were able to fit them into what ever came into mind. They were not restricted in anyway by content.
-We worked with our environment in project 1 & 2 as we shared our resources which would at times affect our choices. By this I mean after seeing Lauren use the green paper as Frankenstein skin I didn't want to use it for my rose stems and chose crayon instead.
-My activities were affected by events from outside experience because I had just seen a performance of acrobats who were wearing black velvet and were dancing as spiders so my black paper became a spider for project 2. Each of us was able to pull from our thoughts and memories to create our pictures from shapes. For project 1 I used textures that I knew about prior to entering the project.
-Caitlin offered several sources and suggestions throughout the lesson which in a way was consistent teaching and did suggest maturity and the power of insight over our ideas but it rather allowed us to explore our materials further.
Less Successful Moments
Lauren's 3d Project: Only one small part of this project seemed out of place for the group which was being taught and that was the idea of forgetting the nature of those being taught only in the sense of hanging the animals in the box. Young children may not be ready for those tools or for attaching their animal.
Caitlin's Drawing Projects: I believe that Caitlin's projects were extremely successful the only worry I had would be that the books that she shared and her examples could pose to be too much insight as opposed to continuity. I say this only because with the example of the bunny in the box book there were so many idea on squares that students may feel pressured or that they should "copy and paste" the books ideas as their own.
What did I learn about Art and Learning?
-I have learned that education is considered most accessible and most useful when the lessons and materials are adaptable and the teaching happens as the class evolves.
-Throughout the semester I have learned more and more about how to facilitate the Art education for children however the line between helping out too much and cutting off creativity and giving ideas while making materials more accessible is not always evident. It seems at times that we want to help children out so much that we step on their toes and give them pre-digested assignments which have been so carefully monitored that they end up becoming crafts. I hope to stay away from being a safety Nazi and allow my students to learn and experience for themselves.
-I have learned that the freer a project is in the sense of creativity the more it rivals conventional learning techniques. This is why I believe that art class is ultimately so important because it allows students some freedom in their education and room for creating their own questions.
Responding to the needs of Individual Learners while ensuring to maintain continuity...
A teacher has a large undertaking if they choose to learn about the entire livelihood of each of their students in order for their lessons to involve the students exterior environments. I think it would be easier as a teacher to have thought planning sessions and open ended projects. By this I mean that students will be given a project that has only a frame for example: Make a Device that Reminds You of Flight. The requirements are that a structure be built out of clay and other media that resembles ideas of flight. Here the project is open ended. To begin this project I would have students think about things in their life that take flight. I would have them look deeply by inquiring if it needs to be an object could it be dreams or something more? I would have students plan out their ideas thus creating continuity by re-thinking the issue. Plus as they create the project if they write down frustrations and new ideas it is further continuity as the think about their process. Ultimately I believe that is projects allow for students to have interaction with their own personal experience where students can then continue to stimulate new thoughts throughout the project by either reflecting on the project itself or by having new ideas about their project then continuity can be attained. The teach would have to be careful though not to break continuity of thought streams by over stimulating the process such as continually giving new aspects to the project that could hinder the direction of the project already created.
What I would like to learn...
As a teacher I feel like I need a larger more creative brain. I would like to learn how to create projects which are always asking questions. I know how to make projects that can be individual but I would love to know how to make projects that continually demand the artist to make questions about their work. I want to know the best ways to stimulate children into thinking about their own experiences. Do they think about them on their own? Do they need to be asked? Should they be warned about getting ideas? I ask this because as an adult I have a fair amount of life experience so I have a lot of material to work with where as young children will not. Should I start with feelings? Do you remember feeling? Questions like that?
I would really like to learn painting, drawing, and building techniques because I really am not experienced in any field of art and if I were to teach it I think I would have a far easier time thinking up projects if I had the confidence to demonstrate the skills. I would also like to know a way to teach medium specific skills while still allowing the process to be experiential for the students.
