Theme 1: Viewing and responding to art
To be 100% honest with you, I never considered viewing and responding to art to be as prevalent as I find it to be as this course is ending. Don't get me wrong, I knew it was important, but by no means would I ever think it would make this much of an impact! Through this course I've learned that viewing and responding to art is absolutely crucial to any art classroom!
I've also learned that not enough art teachers have developed time to be able to discuss and have students respond to art in a productive manner, such as VTS. From this course, I do plan on using VTS as a successful way for students to be able to respond to art in a safe and judgement-free manner.
I still have a hard time understanding how art teachers are not using this vital tool of art history to be able to tie in their own art lesson plans by having their students view and respond to art. I believe if students are able to nit-pick certain artworks it will only allow more creative ambition of their own to express within their artwork.
Theme 2: Developing art curriculum
When developing an art curriculum what I found to be the most challenging was time. Of course time is always an issue with any scheduling, but I feel as though it's especially so within the art education world! Planning with time scheduling was one aspect that I found to be exceptionally hard to develop. I believe that with timing lesson plans it's a matter of trial and error in order to get the perfect amount of time for each particular lesson
I also found when developing art curriculum it's much easier to look at the big picture in comparison to each individual part of the lesson plan. When looking at the big picture you are able to successfully plan each sequence in a timely manner while creating a more natural flow from one thing to the next. I believe that it is also important that once you feel your curriculum is fully developed to print it out and then "assess" your own curriculum. Doing this will allow you to catch all those little mistakes that you don't notice while typing on the computer. I know that myself personally, I also come up with better ideas when I'm able to write/revise on a piece of paper instead of a computer.
Theme 3: Teaching art
Having the opportunity to be able to submerge myself into teaching art both with the Tiger Artist Group and within my observation classroom was such a rewarding experience! One thing that I will learn from these two main experiences is to never underestimate the amount of work a student is able to do or comprehend! Through the Tiger Artist experience and every time I was with my host teacher I was shocked at the amount of thought the students provided within their artwork and their explanation of the choices they made.
I also learned that when teaching art is absolutely important and prudent that a teacher exemplar MUST be made! Creating the teacher exemplar helps both myself as the teacher so I am able to understand the troubles that the students might face while also creating something the students are able to refer back to. The exemplar also is a great way to show students how you, as the teacher, will be assessing their final projects.
Theme 4: Peer Units Review & Unit Self Evaluation
I learned an immense amount from developing my own unit plan. It was absolutely unreal how many different attributes played an enormous role in the overall process of art learning to the actual art making process! I learned that time is one of the largest factors of the planning process! Time is so easily forgotten to be an important aspect that I've know, especially after Tiger Artist and my unit plan, I take it into consideration first.
Like mentioned earlier, I believe that it is also essential to include teacher exemplars as well so you're able to understand some of the struggles the students might face which then allows you to tweak the lesson plan. The exemplars are also great references for the students to fall back on when they are stuck on ideas and creativity.
One thing I learned that was also essential to any lesson plan, and in this case a unit plan, were lots and lots of examples! Especially previous artist examples! Well known artists are important to show with any lesson plan or unit plan and was one thing I failed to include an enormous amount of when dealing with watercolor artists.
The last major thing that I found to be extremely relevant when developing my unit plan was assessment, assessment, assessment! Being able to assess students is unbelievably important and should be done in a multiple amount of ways. I believe that students should have multiple opportunities to achieve success. Therefore, I find it important to include gallery walks, self-assessment, rubrics, etc. etc. in order to successfully assess the students progress
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Overall, I felt that this semester I learned a mass amount of information that has positively influenced me in my journey to become an art educator! I also learned helpful tips and tricks to utilize within the art classroom setting that add a special pizzazz to the classroom. Most importantly though, I learned that art is all about making choices and that the bravest souls make the first mark!
