Working With Others/Puzzles

To sum it up working with my classmates both in our peer teaching and in our final project has been an amazing experience. Working with others particularly in the final project with our balloons was a valuable experience as got to see a project from different viewpoints and learn from one another. If anyone hit a stumbling block we were able to look to the group for support and solutions. It was also really great to work with different members of the class who were not necessarily part of our peer teaching groups.

It was nice to incorporate our puzzles into our final work because I feel like the puzzles were the foundation for the adventure we had together. Our puzzling experience allowed us to communicate and work as a team while really coming together as a community. Puzzle time let us get beyond class discussion and really get to know our classmates which is valuable because it allowed us to trust each other enough to share our ideas freely and create such a great final project!

Thanks everyone for making my first University art class experience a great one!

Experiences

Discuss your experiences in Art 307. What have they contributed to your understanding of Art? Of the Role of Art in Leaning? Of what the relationship between education and learning is? Of the role of the teacher in this process?

Art 302 has been a very positive experience for me. It has caused me to question how and why I learn and how best to help the children I work with learn and understand truly the concepts I teach them. Above this I have learned to be a better listener and take value in the lessons others teach me and accept that sometimes there are many different ways to reach the same goal and they are not better or worse than one another but just different.

Though our discussions I have learned to broaden my view of art beyond traditional definitions of drawing and painting and can now see art as a full multifaceted course. After reading through our text and exploring the concepts in class discussion I can now see the importance not only in integrating art into other subjects but engaging it as a subject of its own and acknowledging the importance it holds in developing well rounded children and adults.

Through this class I have learned that the role of teacher is not to simply ensure children know the right answers and can demonstrate the right skills but it is much more than that. The role of teachers in education is to provoke children to go beyond simple repetition and memorization and explore their learning and understanding. The teacher is not simply a passive guide they must interact with their students on a one on one and class basis so she can meet each child’s special needs and like the balloons in our class program teach the children to steer their skills and their lives so they can meet new heights of understanding and development.

Working Collaboratively

What has this experience of working collaboratively added to your understanding of what one learns through art?

The experience of working collaboratively has added to my understanding of what you learn through art because it has helped me understand how art fits into a classroom and experience the roles of both student and teacher. Working collaboratively teaches you to respect those you work with and understand the different processes different minds and different artists must take when creating and they influence the final product especially in a project with more then one creator. Working collaboratively taught me most importantly that we must respect and strive to understand the differences in the classroom so we can help children reach their full creative potentials

Visual Arts as Solitary

Where do our notions of visual art as a solitary activity come from? What are the benefits and limitations of engaging in collaborative works of art?

Our notions of visual art as a solitary activity come perhaps from our historical view of the artist. We see artists such as Monet, Picasso and Escher as solitary people, individuals creating individualistic work that is all their own. Therefore as with all new ideas it is hard to expand our view to include groups and collectives. While collective art may be limited in that it can be plagued by creative differences, restraints due to over influence of one another and lack of understanding it has many benefits as well. Benefits of collaborative work come in many ways from these limitations in that the many creative minds that might stifle one another will also feed each other. That they can share different perspectives and build on one another to create dynamic works that will represent many of the group and therefore reach a wider audience.

Child WOrkshop Reflection

Reflect on your time with the child you worked with. What succeeded and why - refer to Dewey and other readings? What did not succeed and why not - again, try to find a reason based on the readings you have done for this class. If you could work with this child again, what would you like to do next time to develop what you today's experience?

In my project I worked with Tristan aged five. We created the most wonderful earth sculptures and indulged in photography. This project succeeded on all levels largely due to the fact that both myself as the teacher and Tristan as the student had room for flexibility and were open to changing and growing our plans and concepts. I think the main lessons an educator I would take from this project is to adjust to fit the needs of my students and I think having that flexibility, that movement and adjustment that comes from being in tune and aware of your students learning is very much a concept of Dewey. I know now more about focusing my students attention and how to listen more carefully when they share with me because it is important to documenting and understanding their learning but I don’t believe I would change anything were I to do it again. The learning I gained even when my project didn’t go to plan were valuable to me as a teacher and even to Tristan as a student as in a classroom setting as with our time together we can never guarantee that the day will go exactly to plan.

Special Education

How does learning in, through or about art change when we begin to look at moving beyond a standard, Western European based, middle class curriculum? What to these “special” cases reveal to us about the central issues for our practice as art educators?

When we teach we have the fortune to teach children from all walks of life with all sorts of unique skills and abilities. In addressing all of these differences we must recognize accept and accommodate all of these differences. In the past we may have separated our special needs students from those we classified as “normal” because we didn’t ant coping with the special to handicap the majority now however we have grown past this older notion.

Practice now is to integrate our students and all of their abilities and skills into one classroom. This aids special students in avoiding being ostracized by their peers and encourages tolerance and acceptance amongst all of the students. While benefiting the students socially and even in many ways developmentally having integrated classrooms also presents an interesting challenge. Teachers must be versatile and open minded in addressing the needs of all their learners. Whether that means going slower for children with delays or providing special programming for children who are gifted and have passed the knowledge of their peers. Classroom assistants can help monitor the special and gifted children to ensure all needs are met.

In Art we have a special opportunity for this integration. The creative side of art the freedom and ability for self expression and self discovery allows for every child to find their own spaces and own expressions based on skill and developmental levels. Art can cross the bridges between these differences because it can embrace differences and highlights the benefits in diversity.

Community Based Learning

What does learning in a community-based setting afford children? What are they able to learn in a community-based setting that they would not be able to learn in a school setting? What does teaching in a community-based setting afford the educator? What can one do in a community-based setting that one could not do in a school?

Community-based learning is very valuable for children. It allows children the opportunity to learn outside of a traditional setting which can afford them a certain amount of freedom and flexibility. This can mean more diverse experiences, often culturally based as well as more involved and hands on projects that they would not normally encounter in everyday life. It also allows an opportunity for new teachers with new perspectives that will broaden both student and teachers perspectives helping them grow as humans and artists.

Additionally the generally voluntary nature of involvement on the behalf of the participant lets the participant take much of the control and lead in their own learning. This can often mean learning in new avenues or directions than are covered in the standard curriculum. The smaller groups and less structure also allow for more individualized learning suiting the varied developmental levels found in modern classrooms.

When teaching in a community setting the educator can take more ownership for their lessons and programs. Developing it and tailoring it to the specific needs of their students once again taking education in new directions and into new subject areas accessing new resources even as far as new educators.

Museum and Gallery Experience

Describe your most meaningful learning experience in a museum or art gallery. What elements made it so. Relate this experience to Dewey’s notion of a “good” experience.

My most meaningful experience in a museum or art gallery occurred fairly recently, last year in fact at the Glenbow Museum. It was my first time participating in a museum school tour and in the Art of Asia gallery the first gallery on our tour Michelle Gallant the head of the Museum school program had us all, students, teachers and volunteers sit as she showed us a Buddha statue and told us the story of Buddhism. Though she didn’t ever say it the lesson Michelle taught us that day on that tour were of how to look listen and truly engage with art in a museum or gallery setting. It was the first time I actively connected with a piece of art and was able to spend time with it, engage and learn. It was a good experience because it opened my eyes and gently led me to a more in depth understanding. In regards to Dewey it was a good experience because Michelle used art to provoke and foster further learning and investigation.

Lesson Plan Issues

What issues arose as you tested your lesson plans? Why did these issues arise? Can you ever fully anticipate every detail of the situation you will be working in? What role does planning play in a responsive teaching approach? After reading Chapter 19, do you need to modify your plans to address safety issues?

The main issue that I encountered when I was testing my lesson plan was my child’s disinterest. He did not fall neatly in line with my plans but had strong ideas of his own about what he wanted to do and where his interests lay. I had underestimated his creativity level and understanding. This was actually a valuable thing to have happen because you can never fully guarantee or anticipate every detail of your working situations and having an unexpected hurdle with my plan reminded me to be open and flexible.

Planning plays an important role because without planning and premeditated ideas of how your lesson is meant to go you wont be familiar enough with the skills and objectives or goals you mean to teach to flex your lesson and activities to meet the goals if you do encounter obstacles. A plan gives you guidance and a fallback plan to keep you on track even if you go a completely different direction.

As far as safety is concerned I do not think I will need to modify my plans, except I will need to remember to reinforce the guidelines and boundaries between Tristan and I before we depart on our trip to Nose Hill so we don’t have disagreements or misunderstandings when working in a large park with a number of strangers.

Studio Reflection

Reflect on the studio work you have done this semester. Which experiences did you find the most successful, in terms of Dewey's criteria of a "good" experience, and why? Which experiences did you find least successful, again according to Dewey's criteria, and why? What have you learned about art and learning? What would you still like to learn

I found all of the studio projects I did this summer were very successful. They provided useful ideas of projects we could implement in practical settings when we actually begin to work with children. They also helped us understand the process of creation and planning that goes into various projects.

The first project we did, my project, the one with painting and drawing as effective because it helped us relate symbols and shapes to reality, providing understanding of the construction of images and art and how symbols connect to our work and the world around us. The creative aspect and the flexibility of the creations fed the development and fluidity of the story telling age of our children.

The second project, our fish sculpture/diorama project was engaging as we were able to use both visual cues such as books and tie them to our imaginations to create in 3D. This helps us understand special awareness and distance as we could manipulate our sea creatures in the environments we created. It also encouraged us to explore new textures, shapes and tools.

The next project, where we created a book with our own characters using technology and PowerPoint to bring the book to life. This taught practical computer skills as well as fine motor definition in manipulating the mouse to make our creations.

The last project, our bubble painting and paint mixing was good as it brought in our understanding of states of matter, taught us about the creation of color and also allowed us to freely create without guidelines.

The variety in our projects and what they taught us allowed a strong understanding of the fact that the key to art is flexibility. It taught me that art can be created and defined in so many ways and used to teach and grow in so many ways that they are an invaluable tool to allow for children’s developmental growth. Art is significant as a tool to teach children to be well rounded and to explore their world, moving outside of the box. In my continual learning I would like to develop my own skills and do more research into intergrated learning.

Learning Characteristics Questions

Questions I will ask my child's parent about her learning characteristics:

- What are your child’s reactions to art and his current involvement with and preferences for art?

- Is your child willing to move outside of his comfort zone to create art?

- What experience or exposure has your child had to art created by others?

- Where is your child comfortable creating art?

- What other learning’s would you like to intergrate with your child’s art?

Drawing Experience

What is your drawing history? Where have your notions of the role of drawing in art come from? How do you manage your “drawing anxiety?” After reading Kalin’s chapter, describe how you might mentor an anxious draw-er into the joy of mark-making.

I have an extremely limited drawing history. While I used to sketch and draw a lot as a child I do not do it so much anymore. While I doodle in class or when I am on the phone I very rarely attempt realistic interpretations. The feelings and notions I have about drawing in art come from my early experiences with art. I was never could at creating drawings that were true to reality and this resulted in my having negative feelings about drawing. Those negative feelings transferred into a feeling of failure in terms of drawing and therefore art, I felt art to be defined by your ability to draw and as I felt I couldn’t draw I felt disconnected from art.

In terms of how I manage my drawing anxiety I don’t really I guess. I mainly avoid drawings I would have to share others or make jokes and use humor to distract from what I feel is my lack of drawing ability and the lack of realism in my art that makes me feel like it is not very good.

After reading Kalin I would mentor an anxious drawer by trying to teach to engage with their creativity and understand there is value in whatever skill and skill level they have. I would share with them work outside of realism so they understand that they can create their own art and not to get discouraged. If they understand there are different styles of drawing they will be encouraged to embrace drawing for how they can use it to express themselves and their unique personalities as well as embrace who they are as people.

Discuss the importance of documentation to teaching and to a child's learning

Discuss the importance of documentation to teaching and to a child's learning. What are the challenges of documentation to the classroom teacher? What are some strategies that would help address these challenges?

Documentation is important to teaching and to the learning of children because it helps to reinforce the ideas and objectives of the teacher. Documentation also shows valuable information about the progress of the children, which could otherwise be lost in the larger classroom setting. Documentation allows for children to become better listeners who are more in tune with their students.

The challenges to documentation for the teacher involve one teacher trying to monitor and take note of the behaviour and development of group of students that outnumbers them significantly. It is impossible for the teacher to monitor the entire class at once. To aid in the documentation of the entire class the teacher could implement a number of strategies. They could utilize parents and classroom assistants to monitor the children and help with documentation to ensure no aspect of learning and development is overlooked. This will also help in overcoming another obstacle, which is the challenge of distraction from teaching that can arise from documentation distracting you from your focus to teach.

What were the benefits of the peer teaching events? How would you incorporate peer teaching in an elementary classroom?

There are many benefits to peer teaching. It enables us to enhance our teaching skills and practice in a safe and constructive environment. It allowed us to experiment and to learn from our mistakes and take growth from it. As the students in the exercise we got new and interesting views into how the lessons worked and saw new ways to improve and grow with them. It also allows for brainstorming and cooperation resulting in the best lessons possible.

To incorporate peer teaching into an elementary school classroom in many ways. In the younger grades like k-2 I would have the children “teach” by having them share what they had created and explaining their procedure. This way the students would learn from what their classmates did and gain new perspective on the class projects. In older classes 3-6 I would assign small projects to the class and in small groups they will teach each other different lessons. This could be integrated into almost any subject. This will give the students experience in sharing and communicating with their classmates while also instilling confidence and creativity n how they present and develop their projects to their individual interests and abilities. The students will be able to learn like we did and also enjoy learning in a non-traditional setting that gives them more freedom then they may normally enjoy.

Puzzling!

Our group has amazing puzzle skills!

Even though we all have to admit Amanda is undoubtedly a puzzle queen she did not over power anyone in our puzzle making efforts. Instead Amanda was a great leader and all four of us were able to function really well as a team! We began our puzzle very strategically, by separating the colors and then by isolating the edges. I think having this strategy helped us because it gave us an idea of the space the puzzle would occupy before we even began. Once we had the edges in place this was even more helpful in conceptualizing how the puzzle would go together.

We were all really drawn to the puzzle, some might say even a little addicted, so we finished in record time. I think that this shows our group had a strong ability to communicate with one another and work as a team. These skills are great for us because as future educators we will be working with others and relying heavily on our ability to communicate in the future!

I can't wait to start our next puzzle now the new color sorting has begun!

February 10: Integration

What are the benefits and limitations of integrating the arts throughout the elementary school curriculum? What issues are you encountering as you plan your unit? How do you think these issues might present themselves in the classroom situation? How are you addressing these issues now? How will you address them in the classroom?

There are a great many benefits to integrating art throughout the elementary curriculum. Art when combined with other curriculum areas can enhance the development of children by broadening the scope of their learning as combining two subjects allows the students new viewpoints on both art and the other subject matter. They are introduced to broader more inclusive learning systems that will improve their abilities to cope with different problems and situations in their own unique ways. Integration does not only enhance creative and “arts” skills, but encourages a better use of reasoning skills and logic to stretch their understandings and look outside proverbial boxes. Finally, integrating the arts with other subject areas addresses classroom differentiation by meeting the needs of a variety of learning styles.

The only limitations that I can see are sadly some large ones, such as the financial strain of providing the supplies for integrated art programs and inexperience or lack of knowledge and motivation to learn how to accurately bring art into other areas of the curriculum.

In my classroom I will look to address these issues by constantly striving to enrich my own knowledge of the arts so I can integrate it with my lessons. Making connections with local artists and inviting them to the school and my class will make art a real and visible presence in the school. As a teacher I know I will be engaging in tactics to stretch the funding for art materials. Some strategies include: recycling, sharing amongst classrooms, finding a classroom/school supporter of the arts and fund raising by selling some of the art we create. Within my classroom I may also encourage art projects that can be taken home and integrated with other subjects to ensure the learning is complete.

February 8: Art Education and Pop Culture

Discuss the relationship between popular culture and art. Why is it important to provide children with a range of media from traditional/historic media to contemporary/popular art media?

In the world today popular culture is unavoidable as a result of the fast paced, at your fingertips media. Today’s children are even further immersed in this world than we are. Children are at ease with television, movies, YouTube, print and the Internet at large. Possibilities we could never imagine are part of our student’s lives, and these possibilities can be used to both good and bad ends. While we should have some concern over what are children are experiencing we should also embrace what we can gain from the media to educate our children. We are a click away from displaying various pieces of art and museums are accessible through virtual tours. Movies can tie into curriculum and even advertising techniques help us engage and educate.

It is important to provide children with exposure to a wide range of media, both historic and contemporary so that they are aware of the positive uses. It is no longer just a toy, an amusement or even just a simple method of communication like written letters or the phone. It is a completely new entity. It is important to provide children with an understanding of all media and its history so that they are prepared to function in the media based society. To ignore where media began would leave them without an understanding of how modern technology came to be which leaves them with no foundation for future understanding. To understand modern media is to give them even more building blocks to succeed in society. Without computer and media savvy we would all be lost. The more children know, the more we teach them to engage and utilise media in positive ways the better prepared our children are to learn, to explore and to grow.

As far as the dangerous side of popular culture is concerned, children can be provided with critical thinking strategies so that they can challenge various media messages. Students can be taught how to view movies, read literature and advertisements, and critique art in such a manner that they will be able to discern that which is harmful or untruthful. Teachers and parents can work together to make sure that children have their first experiences with various medium in a supported manner and teach viewing strategies until children gain independence.

February 3: Safe Classrooms

In Kalin’s chapter, we are given some suggestions for creating a safe (physically, emotionally, and socially) environment in which children can learn in, through and about art. Look at the guidelines on p. 154-55. Describe how you might address each of these guidelines with the child you will be working with.

Classroom Management
In this section of text the key message is flexibility. It states that no classroom and no child is the same and some experimentation and trial and error might be needed to find what class management tactics work best for each teacher and each class.
When I am working one on one with Tristan, the child I am partnering with I will have to adapt this guideline on a smaller scale. I want to provide an open and enjoyable environment for him to learn, but I also realize that guidelines and rules will be necessary to make our project successful outside of the structure of school. I can set the tone for our work together by providing rules and guidelines for our time together and ensuring the atmosphere we are working in is supportive and safe both physically and emotionally. I will be ultimately in control but as it is one on one situation I will allow for Tristan’s input and suggestions regarding things that affect our classroom atmosphere such as music or seating arrangements. I want this time to be enjoyable for him and I feel that if this is to be accomplished, a firm understanding of how we are to operate as partners in our learning and art objectives is necessary..

Discipline and Art Activities
In this section it is brought to our attention that art is different from other subjects in that it often allows more freedom and movement in the classroom, which can make the challenge of classroom discipline even more difficult. Art activities often involve students in expression through physical activity, or require students to move about the classroom and vocalize. However this should not lead to a classroom free for all. On the contrary art classes require students to be self disciplined. This takes lots of work on the part of the teacher to model and allow for practice of the ways students are expected to behave. In teaching these behaviours there also needs to be a lot of praise for appropriate behaviour. Students will gain confidence as they practice and the behaviours become habits. Once this happens students may be able to verbalize why this safe and structured environment enables them to be cooperative, active and creative learners.
To provide this safe environment Tristan and I will, as I have mentioned create some rules together. These will be three or four sentences describing positive behaviour expectations. I will write these down so that we can post them in our work space. As Tristan doesn’t read, pictures of him doing the positive behaviours would be good prompts. Being in a visible location reminds us both to review them regularly. As he knows me as a friend more than a “true adult” we will discuss how although I want him to be in control of his own project, I am the leader during our art time together and we will be following certain guidelines. We will also discuss what happens if we do not follow the rules and how the rules ft into the pre-established rules of his house. Finally, we will use some of the time together to practice the rules.

Student-Teacher Relationships
In having a positive student teacher relationship there must be security, fairness, respect, understanding, and communication. My part in this is to provide the security in the classroom by setting parameters for class interaction, by providing the students time and positive feedback, by connecting with my students on an individual level, and respecting all of my students and embracing and supporting their differences and unique personalities and backgrounds.
In working with Tristan I will address these guidelines by striving to fulfill each of the criteria to provide a secure, connected and involved educational experience.

Safety
To ensure the safety of the children in one’s class it is necessary to have a set of safety procedures that the children understand and follow as part of their routines. There are many considerations that may be summarized in three main areas. Movement is a prime concern; such as: when and where to get materials and how to do so without running or pushing and shoving. Handling resources and tools in a safe manner is important. Procedures involved with hazardous materials like hot glue or scissors must be established to protect the students. Finally communication is an important safety factor. Teachers need to have a signal by which students stop and attend to the teacher immediately. The use of a hand signal or noise, such as hand clapping is effective. To make this a routine for the students’ frequent review and practice is necessary. Students should be able to verbalize and put into action the safety rules and procedures. Once again in my one-on-one setting we will discuss our safety routines before we begin and practice them. At each of our lessons Tristan will be asked to tell a safety rule and give it’s importance.

Classroom Behavior
Along with knowing the safety rules and procedures students should also know basic classroom behaviors expectations and routines. Again it is important for the students to know why the behaviours are expected. These include guidelines on noise (is there music? Are they talking amongst themselves? How should they communicate?) movement (who gets up, where are they going, and when?), space (where do our materials go? Where do we create? Who sits/works in which spaces) and cleanup (is there a plan for clean up to ensure it gets down and they realize the importance of this last step?). These guidelines are important to the smooth running of the class as it eliminates the stress for students and teacher that a lack of organization creates. Simple classroom etiquette and routines allow students to get the most out of their class learning time in an enjoyable manner.
In working with my child it will be of utmost importance to set guidelines and routines so that the child can separate his art class time from other home activities, and fully learn and benefit from the experience. Again, practice of the routines and reward for cooperation and the demonstration of appropriate behaviours will be the strategies used.

Peer Teaching: Drawing and Painting

My peer teach was the painting and drawing lesson. Overall I think it went very well! Too make sure I stayed on track I created a lesson plan to guide me, it was a flexible plan but it always helps to be prepared and have a cue for yourself in case you get a little lost.

This was my plan:

Lesson Plan

1) Shapes Review:

How many sides does a square have, circle, triangle, etc?

2) Read:

Shapes in Art

Art and Art

3) Discuss Shapes in the classroom:

- Who can find a circle? A triangle? A square?

4) Abstract Shape Drawings Warm-Up

What You Need:

- Paper: at your discretion based on other chosen materials

- Thick black marker

- Your choice of: crayons, pencil crayons, pastels, marker

What You Do:

- Teacher will call out directions for their students and children.

- Students will draw what they hear.

- Students should be encouraged to listen carefully to the directions.

- Students should not look at one-another's work while doing this exercise.

- Teacher can use the following directions or they can make up their own:

For Younger Students:

- Draw four straight lines from one edge of your paper to the other.

- Draw five circles anywhere on your paper.

- Draw one curved line that starts at one edge of your paper and ends up somewhere in the middle of your paper.

- Color in two of the circles -- any color you like.

- Fill in two areas of your paper however you like (completely colored in, lines, squiggles etc.)

For Older Students:

- Draw four straight lines from one edge of your paper to the other.

- Draw two more straight lines from one edge of you paper to the other only this time, make the lines cross over the lines you have already drawn.

- Draw five circles - any size - anywhere on your paper.

- Draw two curved lines beginning at the edge of the paper and ending up somewhere in the middle of the paper.

- Fill in three of the five circles.

- Fill in blank areas of your paper however you would like. Try to include as much color and use as much space as possible.

Once the drawings are complete, students should sign their work.

The work should be put on display in the classroom and a discussion should take place.

Questions:

Do the drawings look the same? Different?

How are they similar?

How are they different?

Why?

Can we see pictures built from the shapes?

Where can we see shapes in other pictures?

Why do we sign our work?

How do you feel about your work? Your originality?

5) Working with shapes further: Paper and Drawing

What you need:

- Large sheet of paper

- Many unique smaller pieces of paper or pictures

- Scissors

- Crayons, markers, pastels, pencil crayons etc.

- Glue sticks

-

What you do?

Students will use paper cut outs of shapes as well as their drawing skills to create pictures. In this way the lines will work with the shapes to create complete images, for example and oval and a triangle to create a fish or a triangle and a square to make a house

- Discuss shapes again, a reminder of how things can be made op of shapes.

- Read this is not a box and talk about imagining things made from shapes.

- Allow the children to trace and cut out (with help) the various shapes and arrange them on the page and glue them down

- Then the children can use their drawing tool (pastel, marker, crayon etc. this is at your discretion) to add to the picture with lines, more shapes and symbols to complete their work.

Discuss their work as you did with the first piece.

End results:

As you can see it is just a vague guideline to keep me on track. Things I would change after my class time and our disscusion would be:

1. Add more direction to the abstract drawing. This will provide more detail and depth to the project.
2. Take into account that different children work at different speeds and have an activity such as a second drawing or a book to read to offer them as options once they finish their original artwork.
3. Warn them about time as it passes so they are aware of the pace they should keep. Perhaps extend the period of time available so they can add more detail and spend more time on their work.
4. Discuss possible subjects for the second project.
5. Provide more freedom in the shapes used for the second subject.
6. Understand both projects will fit and are beneficial together in one class.

I can't wait to try this project again with real children!

February 1: Art and Development

Discuss the role of art in children's development. How are the cognitive and fine motor skills developed in art essential to the holistic development of a child? Discuss this reading as it relates to Dewey's notions of internal conditions of the learner. How does the art educator respond to the individual needs of the learner while ensuring the continuity of experience?

Art is crucial to the development of children. It expands not only their creative and imaginative capabilities it opens them up to new thinking and new questions and explorations they can apply to the world around them when they view and create art. The fine motor skills are also developed strongly as the children must master small movements and techniques to control their tools and materials. The skills to think and question as well as explain the world around them coupled with the fine motor skill development are crucial as they allow the child to develop in other disciplines. Without them a child would be lost in the science lab where fine motor skills aid in dissection and experimentation or in English where he must take details and tie them together into a story. Art helps strengthen and grow the essential skills that are building blocks of further learning.
In regards to Dewey this idea of building blocks involvement tie in keenly to his works. Dewey feels experience comes from continuity and interaction. Who we are at a given moment in time is a result of our past experiences. Thus we are continually developing and changing as we continue to interact with environments, situations and people. And this in turn determines how we react and interpret various situations. It also explains why these reactions may be different over time.
Understanding that one’s personal experiences over time effect how one engages with new experiences provides art educators with a valuable tool for responding to the individual needs of their learners while ensuring their experiences have continuity. This “tool” is the relationship that the teacher develops with the student. It means that the educator will take the time to know his/her students and to understand their backgrounds. This information is an important factor in planning and implementing engaging lessons.

January 27: Assessing Learning in Art

Why do we assess learning in art? How can learning to self-assess in art transfer to other subject areas? Life endeavours?

We assess learning in art for much the same reason we assess students in other subject areas, it provides a way of informing students and their parents of the curricular expectations in regards to the work assigned. Assessment is also necessary to meet provincial standards and requirements. On a positive note, assessment provides teachers, students and parents a regular and consistent measurement of student growth as they progress through the art program.

Self-assessment is the application of metacognition to your work. And in art is a very valuable skill. Knowledge of your own thoughts and factors that influence your thinking and ultimately your actions as a result of your thinking and learning is something all humans do, but as teachers we can help students develop and expand. At a young age we can model for children. We can do think-alouds and then graphic organizers and soon it becomes second nature. Self-assessment in art is a very valuable skill. When self-assessing in art we look for technique, style, symbolism, and meaning. Similar attributes can also be sought it literature and cinema, as well as the other school based subjects science and math (technique), and English, history and social studies (all of the above). In each subject are we teach a different vocabulary to characterize the assessment.

Self-assessment brings awareness to a student’s work, it forces thought about both the final product and the creation process that will serve the child well when participating in other processes. Students can remember to look at both details and the bigger picture something that is helpful not only in assessing their artwork, but in solving math problems and writing papers.

January 25: Art Education in Contemporary Classrooms

To understand and actively engage in art, a knowledge and understanding of art must be cultivated at a young age. Some of our students will come from art rich environments where knowledge and skills were developed alongside an appreciative attitude with respect to artistic endeavours Many of our students will not have the benefit of such an environment, so our task will be to awaken or instill a positive attitude about art. . Art education is essential to the development of the whole child. Art curriculums serve teachers and students as the foundation from which teachers build lessons that will reach both ends of the student spectrum with regards to art experience. This means that the art we teach our students must reach beyond mere crafts and template projects to methods that would encourage not only the practice of artistic skills like drawing and painting, but also an understanding of what it means to create art, what art is and the history of art. We would be ensuring of course our students really understand the depth of art outside of aesthetic purposes, by engaging them not only in creation but also in research, viewing and discussing artworks of each other’s and in museums. Giving of course a more rounded view and understanding.

In order to have this ideal art education, one that would set students up for a later connection and relationship to art, it is essential that we as teachers ensure the curriculum allows time for these activities. Thus it is important to set aside separate time for art classes with the understanding that it is a stand-alone subject in many ways. It is true that art may be easily be integrated but it is important to ensure that the goals and outcomes are taught and that children are given that time to experience art in such a manner that the develop appreciation for art. In doing this we also must remember to acknowledge the different skills and backgrounds of our students and use this to encourage their individuality and creative growth, allowing them to learn from the world around them and from each other.

In allowing this accepting, inclusive and separate program time children are able to think in new ways leading to a higher level of understanding in all their learning. It allows them to observe, and explore the world around them more fully without worrying as much for the memorization and repetition of a standard lesson. While this new class and new subject may have difficulties with different abilities in its learners and the pressure of mainstream learning the benefits outweigh the difficulties and in assigning value to art programming as necessary not nice we reap benefits that are lifelong for our students.