Summative Reflection

Viewing and responding to art:  Learning about the Visual Teaching System (VTS) opened my eyes to art viewing.  This method was introduced to us this semester and it taught me how much you can learn from your students by enabling them to make statements and judgments about what is happening in a piece without hearing the history behind it.  I learned how rich of a discussion you can have with any age of student through VTS.  I have also come to the realization of  how important it is to me to show art work during class, to reinforce the lessons we learn, and to expose my students to the work of historical and modern artists.  Viewing artwork from history and current times enables your students to learn from another artist and draw inspiration from their work.

Developing art curriculum:  I have always believed that it is critical to have meaning in your artwork.  As an artist myself I didn’t realize until high school that I could express myself and my opinions through my work. I have learned through this semester and my field work that teaching your students that they have a voice through art can be done with all age groups.  Through the tiger artist lesson plan that my team put together I learned how to teach a complex idea to students from ages 6-13 at the same time.  They all can create meaningful art if they are given the knowledge and tools to do so.  I have also learned how to create lesson plans and units that are rich in content and technical skills.  

Teaching art:  I have learned the basics of teaching these past few semesters.  This semester was the first that I was able to do field work in an art class room specifically.  It really opened my eyes to the realities of teaching in a public school and helped deepen my own values of art education.  I learned that viewing art is just as critical as creating it.  Viewing art work in the class room is a huge part of my goal in my own classroom.  I want my students to learn about the history of art and see how the masters have learned to use color, line, juxtaposition, etc. in their own work.  Through my field work I have had a reality check about the materials and time that may or may not be available.  As an art teacher I will need to be creative and flexible.  I did some work with special needs students in the art classroom as well and that was monumental for me. Through that I learned that getting to know each student as an individual is critical in learning how you can best serve them as a teacher.  You cannot make generalizations and assumptions if you want your students to push past any obstacles and put in the effort.  Having patience and compassion for your students is very important in developing a bond with them.  A bond is important because it enables your students to feel safe with you and be willing to open up.  If a student is afraid you will reject their idea just because it is a little different you will have much less experimentation in your classroom.  Experimentation and play can lead to the best ideas and pieces, just being safe wont get you far in the art world. I have also learned through the unit plan that I created, and the tiger artists lesson plan we created as a group, how to make a unit to study in school.  I learned how to write a lesson plan and all the components you need to include in order to have rich discussion and art creation.

Portfolio:  Having a portfolio is a great way to keep all of you current and relevant work in one place for future employers to look at.  The process of reflection and creation are great skills to be able to show.  They demonstrate that you will continue to look back at what you have done and how to improve.  The Unit plan presentations were all so amazing.  I got so many great ideas from them and they all inspired me.  Presenting our unit plans and the tiger artist collaboration showed me the importance of team work in teaching.  It is critical to have input from another source to bounce ideas off of or to tell you if something doesn’t make sense.