Critical Problem Solving

E-portfolio- standard D

How is problem solving/critical thinking taught through art? What are some different strategies you have used to promote problem solving/critical thinking?

I have practiced and used questioning techniques to help students develop higher level thinking skills.  During instruction and individual critique asking students the following questions and, more importantly, follow up questions helps to develop their critical thinking skills:

- Describe what you see.

-What does it make you think about?
-How do you think the artist created this piece?
-What do you think the artist wanted the viewer to think about?

-What materials were used to make this?

-What do you want the viewer to think when they look at your piece?

-What do people think when they see your piece?
-How is this work successful?  

-How were you successful in your work?

I use these questioning techniques in introduction of a lesson/artist, in reflection on students own artwork, in critique of other's artwork and in large and small group discussions.  I have found that this helps students to think more critically.

Professional Development and Continuing Education

 E-portfolio- standard H –and your video

What do you see the role of professional development being in your career?

I see professional development as a way to continue to self-reflect on teaching style, learn what is current in educational research and to help keep my teaching methods relevant.

Continuing to learn about educational practices will help to serve as a reflection tool in the classroom and a reminder to push myself as an educator.  In my student teaching I have seen several veteran teachers that have used the same methods as when they began teaching, in some cases this works, but in many the teaching style is no longer relevant or successful with a new population of students.

Keeping up with educational research will help to develop new and different strategies in the classroom as well as to develop deeper understanding of the student population.  In my secondary student teaching assignment I was in a school with a majority of students living in poverty.  One assignment for professional development was to read the book "Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do about It", after reading the book we had small and large group discussion about the topic.  A few weeks later the teachers did a poverty simulation during a professional development day.  Both of these experiences were incredibly useful in helping to understand more about a part of the student population I was teaching and helped me to instruct in a more meaningful way.  

Technology in the Art Classroom

E-portfolio- standard J

How have you used technology to enhance your teaching- how do you want to in the future, what technology is necessary?

In my art classroom I have used several different technology resources to enhance my teaching.  Projection from a computer, video, Elmo, document camera and smart board.  While each of these technologies have helped with instruction, none are necessary in the art classroom.  I believe it is important to know how to use technology but also to be able to work without it.  

I have especially used power point and video to introduce a lesson or unit.  I have found that this helps students to relate images and words to the new material.  I integrate video into my power points.  With one lesson on street art I began each day with a video on a different street artist.  This served as an anticipatory set and inspired students while teaching them about various forms of street art.

While teaching a clay unit I had the opportunity to use a document camera to project my demonstration space to the classroom.  This was very helpful to describe visually and verbally to students the process I wanted them to use to make coil pots.  Using a document camera enabled me to show a larger group of students the process at once, cutting down on individual demonstration time and allowing students more studio time.

While I have used technology to enhance instruction I believe there are times when it is not helpful.  While teaching a Monet watercolor unit to 3rd graders, I found that large group instruction was not enough to teach the students the methods I wanted them to use.  Instead, I made demonstration posters for the stippling effect they were working towards in their watercolors and went around the classroom giving individual and small group instruction.  In this case, technology was not as advantageous.  This shows that the instructor needs to be aware and considerate of use of technology in the classroom.

Art Education Advocacy and Community Involvement

E-portfolio- standards F & I

In what ways do the roles of art teacher and art education advocate overlap? In what ways can advocacy be used as a communication tool? What is your view of the importance of teachers’ relationships with their school community, parents/guardians, and the larger community – include in your discussion the role of professional ethics and school or community projects in which you were involved.

Being an advocate for the arts as a teacher is important in building community support for your program and helping both students and community members understand the importance of arts education.

Studies show that students with arts education perform better on tests, have lower drop-out rates and feel more connected to school I think these results speak for themselves on why we should have arts education in schools.

Being an advocate for anything can tread into dangerous territory, no one really likes to be told what to do or what (you think) is right. Especially in teaching, which is a very public position, I can see that being overzealous in advocating for arts could be a turn off for parents and community members. I do however, think that arts advocacy is incredibly important and a necessary part of being an art teacher. It will be important to know who to reach out to in the community and how, and it may be necessary to start to build a great art program slowly. Having community support will be invaluable for promoting arts and I think that parents and school administrators are probably the place to start.

Having after-school programs, community art shows, and mentoring programs are all places I would start in building an art program in a community. Also, making yourself personally available and getting involved in other extracurriculars as a teacher will show that you are invested in all aspects of a students' education.