This school year was my first year full time with a classroom, teaching art to students in grades K-8. I also spent the year earning my certification, on top of my Masters, from Moore College of Art and Design. One of my Spring classes met once a week on Saturdays, where we, as current educators and students led classes to a group of diverse learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It has been awesome to work with new students and to learn from my peers. I mostly worked with our younger group K-5, and we structured our lessons to teach students artistic behavior (TAB), also known as choice based art education. Students knew the routine to enter, work on a Do Now as everyone settled in, gather on the carpet to hear about the lesson, and then move to a station with the materials they wanted to use to meet the objectives of the project. My Lesson: For my lesson, I introduced student to artist Henri Matisse, through a video on youtube of "Henri's Scissors" by Jeannete Winter. While I have a physical copy of the book, I've found it is easier to reach students if they can hear it and see the book on a large screen. Included in the photo gallery are some images from my presentation. For students with ASD, it can be helpful to have a visual schedule, so my first slide was labeled 1st, and clearly states the Do Now, in addition to images that can help to spark ideas and make connections. Because Matisse's work often has organic shapes which are most often found in nature, I asked students to draw something from nature to get their ideas flowing. Then, after hearing the story on the carpet, students shared their drawings from the Do Now. It is always helpful to show students artwork and ask them to describe what they see. I showed students diverse examples of what artwork with organic shapes could look like, and students set off to create with that background exposure before making their art. For stations, I had students choose between building, painting or drawing with organic shapes. A few students really flocked to building with armature wire and created some amazing sculptures. Reflection: In this class, we had the unique experience of having a very high student to teacher ratio. Because of this, every student was able to get one on one attention which isn't alway the case. There are some students who finish work very quickly, and in this scenario it is always good to have options for what to do when they're done, such as paper available to draw, sensory objects to keep them engaged, or even building with blocks while waiting for class to close. I witnessed some really nice class reflections this semester, and it is so important to close class and talk about or share what each student did, especially with a choice based structure where no two students will end up with work that's the same. Teaching Philosophy: As an art educator, I feel a responsibility to expose my students to art and art movements across cultures and time through multicultural, historical and analytical lenses. As they learn how and why art is created and what this looks like, students gain experience in different art making techniques and approaches. As they recognize, understand, and practice creating art, I equip them with the tools and information they need make connections between the artwork and the world around them. Whenever possible, I integrate my lessons with other content areas to reinforce learning and to introduce themes and concepts to students in a new way. In art, as is in life, success looks different for everyone. A constant goal for me is finding new ways to set my students up for success. I try to create reasonable expectations based on research, developmental stages, National Art Education Standards and their personal narratives. It is my job to provide students with creative, (fun!) and engaging lessons, ask effective questions, expose them to diverse exemplars to help them make relevant connections and learn practical applications, using art as a problem solving tool. My learning goal for my students is for them to look back on their portfolio, full of projects, sketches, planning and refection pages and realize how much they’ve learned, tried, explored, perhaps failed and succeeded. I believe that an educator's job is to provide students with the tools they need to be resourceful and creative as they unravel the world around them. I believe it is an educator's job to create an environment where students have an opportunity to reach their fullest potential. I aim to foster a positive learning environment where students can be challenged and feel relaxed at the same time. I believe that for some students, the art room is a place where they feel they can be true to themselves and grow without fear of failing. And if they ever feel like they’ve failed, I am there to support them and discover ways they can learn from their mistakes. A third grade student told me, “art is something that everyone can do!” As an art educator, my job is to provide my students with the scaffolding they need to figure out how.
0 Comments
|