Final Reflection

This class has been an amazing experience and has provided me with so many valuable opportunities to grow in my understanding of the arts and how to create art in an elementary classroom.  I was a theatre major and music student in university, so I have no problem thinking of ways to incorporate the performing arts into my classroom.  Fine art, however, was something I struggled with.  I knew I did not want my classroom art lessons to be “craft” lessons.  I wanted students to be able to explore and really engage in true artistic experiences.  However, until this course I was unsure of how to even begin to approach that.

            The one thing I have most connected with is the idea of using art as the gateway for inquiry.  I see the cross curricular nature of the arts and their ability to open students minds to think of things they wouldn’t otherwise have explored.  The article, “Growing a Culture of Inquiry Through Art” really stuck with me and I hope to use a lot of the ideas brought up in that in my classroom as well.  The experiences you, Jan, shared working with students with disabilities was also so encouraging.  I will be going into an inner-city school in September and already know two of the children I will have in my class.  They are extremely challenging but I hope to engage them through art.  In the primary classroom you can usually start every lesson with a story, I would like to challenge myself to use art as lesson entry points.  I see opportunities in math, science/nature, and community building. 

            I also really enjoyed the movie “King Gimp”.  This was again likely a personal connection as I had a student in my 401/402 class who had spina bifida.  I was encouraged to not overly adapt things for him, and in one lesson we actually worked on movement for a play we were creating.  He participated in all the things we did in the gymnasium, and it really forced me to begin to question my philosophies behind inclusion vs. exclusion.  There are benefits on both sides, and I still struggle with what I believe about it.  Either way, I know art will be the first thing I turn to when I struggle to reach a student.

            One thing I really want to do in my 405 semester is create portfolios for my students.  I was really encouraged when we got to view the preschool portfolios that were available for us in class one day.  I think this is very in line with building art-based inquiry.  Portfolios like this also provide clear instances of growth and questioning.  They allow students to chart their own learning and see all the wonderful and insightful things they are capable of doing/saying.  Portfolios are also a good way to stay on track with students’ growth as a teacher.  Allowing students to add things they are proud of, as well as adding things you have noticed as their teacher is a good way to build the student-teacher relationship.  I can only imagine how valuable for parents it is as well to see their children growing and learning.

            Aside from those big discoveries I made about myself, and the teacher I hope to be, I takeaway so many activities and ideas from this class.  The main one is a result of the Reggio Emilia presentation.  The presenter stated that students were given real art materials to use when creating art.  I plan on doing everything I can to make this a reality in my classroom.  I would much rather invest in a classroom set of chalk pastels and clay bucket than fancy technology or a smart board.  The experience children have with these real materials must be so amazing.  Being trusted with real materials and being able to create art beyond crayons must foster an environment of creativity.  I have also decided I would like to do clay play afternoons every 2 weeks.  Being in a Grade 1 classroom and dealing with multiple students with challenges, I hope this will be a positive experience for all students and an opportunity to reach those who have a difficult time with more traditional learning environments. 

            Finally, I want to create an environment of inspiration.  I found it so helpful to come to class with a piece of art that I found inspiring or beautiful or interesting.  While I didn’t always create from that piece, I knew that if I was stuck or feeling discouraged, I had something to fall back on.  I would like to have students find art works or photographs that they connect with and find places in the room to display them.  This feels far more valuable to the students than just putting up cookie cutter craft pieces, or popular works of art that I am imposing on them.  This would be a really great beginning of the year, community-building activity.  It would hopefully release students who feel pressure when creating art to know they will always be able to look around the classroom for inspiration when they are stuck on a work.

            The textbook has been an amazing resource as well.  And while I haven’t had the chance yet to use all the things I have underlined or bookmarked, I do not feel overwhelmed about teaching art in the coming months.  In fact, I feel more overwhelmed with narrowing down everything I want to do!  I am so excited to introduce all the things I have experienced over the past few months to my students.  I hope my excitement and my love for exploring through the arts will be an encouragement and contagious experience for my students.

Christy Gage

Week 11 - Random Acts of Art

This week the class went outside to explore “random acts of art” in nature.  I was unable to attend this session as I was at my sisters wedding in Missouri.  I was able to debrief with fellow students upon my return and their experiences were very positive.  It seemed as though it mirrored the soundscape class in its camaraderie and community building.

Adaptations:  From what I understand students go outside and explore ways to create art using found materials in nature.  This is a really wonderful activity to do in a primary classroom.  I actually included something similar to this in my artist unit plan, so I would definitely use this in my own classroom.  I am feeling very drawn to using art as the basis for inquiry, so I think this would be an amazing way to encourage exploration in science and nature, or environmental stewardship. 

Assessment:  It seems students would be assessed based on their ability to simply create something using found objects.  If students are able to connect with nature and create something then that in itself would be the mark of a successful lesson.  I would allow for debrief time in class.  I would also want to document the pieces the students create to allow them to talk about the experience when returning to the classroom.  I would love this to also be a weekly/bi-weekly activity.  I think this would be a very easy thing to do on a regular basis because it require little prep and clean-up, but the rewards/experiences seem like they would be great.

These photos were taken from the PDP Elementary Generalist facebook page.  Again, I was not a part of this class but really appreciate the beautiful work my classmates created!

Week 8 - Colour Theory

This week there were a few different options for people to create art. This was the lesson after the Reggio Emilia presentation so there was more than just colour theory activities available.  I chose to explore with the clay.  What happened ended up being a really fun experience.   

Reflection:  I had created a clay tile work for my 401/402 semester, so I didn’t feel pressure to create something that needed to be fired and painted.  What ended up happing was a really cool group collaboration piece.  It was very organic how it happened.  Each of us created something on our own, but then began connecting them and creating more pieces to add to the little clay community.  We ended up with a silly little animal/plant/thing community.  We took pictures to remember the crazy community we had created.  We then filmed ourselves destroying it and returning it to the clay pile.  It was great to experience something like that and create something that I will always remember without the pressure of it needing to be something precious. 

I think our time creating what we did was influenced by the ideas brought up in the Reggio Emilia presentation.  The presenter showed a video about children being able to play and explore with clay, but without being overly connected to creating lasting pieces.  The play/explore time is what is valuable, not the end result (how very “Apocalypse Now”, journey not destination). 

Adaptations:  I inquired about the cost of clay and was so happy to discover it is more than reasonable to have a classroom clay bucket.  I see huge value in using real clay over playdough.  The experience it totally different and much more connected with the earth than plastic-y, cartoonish playdough.  Also, the possibilities are so much more for what you can create with the more sturdy clay.  I plan on purchasing clay for my 405 semester and depending on how much students connect with it I will likely have afternoon clay time every 2 weeks for the entire afternoon.  I will be teaching at an inner-city school with students with very extreme challenges.  I am so encouraged with all the things we have done in this art class.  I may be thinking a little lofty, but I have high hopes for clay and a couple of the other activities we have done.

Assessment:  Are students comfortable exploring?  Are they exploring 2-D and 3-D images?  Are they using tools provided to work on details within their piece?  If their work is not easily recognizable as being a representation of something, are they able to explain what they have created?  If doing clay work over time, are students growing in the tools they use and the depth/detail in which they are creating pieces.

Week 7 - Collaborative Art Activity

This week we were supposed to bring in an example of art in our community.  I brought a photo of the skate park near the community centre where people have created some beautiful graffiti (beyond just tagging).  We were then split up into primary and intermediate groups and did separate activities.   

Reflection:  I was in the primary group and we worked with creating different things with felts.  While I didn’t dislike this assignment, I didn’t connect with it because I found it frustrating I wasn’t able to create what I wanted (a felt covered rock).  Because I don’t feel I have a good handle on how to really manipulate and create something with the felt, I just don’t think I would attempt this with my class (or I would bring in an expert to help and do the lesson with the class).

I really loved the playground the preschool class created for their felt rocks, though.  And I really loved the felt rocks the students created.  I would consider doing this activity with using yard and glue to create colourful rocks.  Or just paint the rocks.  I just really liked the idea of the other material covering the rocks.  I wouldn’t want to force the idea of creating a rock playground, but I would encourage the students to create a community for their rocks.  How would they all live together and play together? 

Adaptations:  I think I would be inclined to use the community/classroom flag idea as well.  I would adapt this for the primary classroom by showing students examples of flags from countries first.  I would discuss with the class what things make each flag “good” or “not as good”.  Is it easy to recognize?  Easy to re-create?  Does it represent the country well?  Stuff like that.  I would ask what they would change about a flag to make it better, too.  I would encourage parents to come on this day to encourage students to think about what things are important in their community.  I would likely do a class brainstorm first to help students think beyond just “firemen, police” etc.  What are things you want from a good friend?  Would you also want those things to be in your community?  I would also definitely get students to use primary colours and paints.  I would like the flags to be very saturated colours.

Assessment:  Were students able to come to a common understanding and create a flag they all agreed on?  Did they create something that represents the words they came up with to describe their ideal community?  Did they use colours that are recognizable and attention getting?  Can they explain and talk about what they have created?

I would consider allowing students to vote on one of the flags to be the classroom flag.   I think primary students would be able to do that without being sad about theirs not being picked.  I would make it a secret ballot because I think that would be a really fun thing to do and would make the students feel like their opinion really counted and didn’t need to be influenced by other students.

(Unfortunately I don't have any photos from this week of the primary activity, nor can I find my felt piece I made).

Week 6 - Integrating Art Forms

This week we created soundscapes with fellow classmates.  We were instructed to bring in instruments or objects that could be used to make sound.  We formed groups and using landscape images we had brought to class chose one that we all agreed on and connected with.  We then used the image as an inspiration to create a soundscape experience for our other classmates.   

Reflection:  My group chose an image of a glacier between mountains meeting the sea.  We developed a soundscape that we hoped would represent the glacier moving and scraping against the mountains and eventually breaking off into the sea.  This was such a fun experience and I was really proud of what my group created.  We had our classmates sit on the stairs and we created the soundscape underneath of them.  Not only was I proud of what my group created, but it was so much fun to experience what the other groups had created.  This felt like a class in which we all really connected.  I would love to explore this with activity in a primary classroom.

Adaptations:  I think this activity would translate well into a Grade 1 class.  I think I would scaffold using the instruments/noise makers, though.  I would want to allow students the opportunity to explore their instruments so it would become about creating different sounds and experiences, not just making noises.  I think you could do this as a whole group by using prompts such as, “what sound could your instrument create that would sound like a rabbit” or “what sound would your instrument make that would sound like a tree”, etc.  I think this would get students thinking about connecting sounds with common things around them.  I would move to getting them to try and make sounds for things that wouldn’t normally really have a sound (like a pencil, or a jacket).  I would then try and give them images and allow them to create sounds based on those (using powerpoint I would place an image on the screen and give them time to explore sounds based on that).  I would encourage them to think outside what they would normally connect an image with (like a lion, they might initially think of a roar, but I would encourage them to also think of the prowl).

Assessment:  After the scaffolding (maybe over a couple lessons) I would allow them time to create their own soundscapes as groups or individuals.  I would assess how they used their instruments, did they just use their instrument for only one sound, or were they able to produce multiple sounds?  Where they able to find more than one sound for their picture?  Did they understand the idea of creating a sound-story for the picture?  Did it have a beginning, middle and end?  It would be great to record the presentations and allow students to watch them after.  They could likely assess whether their soundscape was a good representation of their picture.  I think having a class discussion after this activity would be really helpful and a great way to assess the learning done in the lesson.

Week 5 - Text Based Art Work

This week we worked with using pages from books or poems to create found poetry.  We circled words on the page that we connected with or that created a new poem.  Then we filled the space around the words with colour or drawings.  

 Reflection: I challenged myself to create something that wasn’t something I would describe as “beautiful”.  I was happy I challenged myself in that way, but still liked my more “pretty” piece in the end.  The second piece is my "un-beautiful" piece.  I think it's unique and I'm glad I tried something different.

Adaptation:  For Grade 1 students I would definitely save this for a little later in the school year (after they have a better foundation of reading).  I would consider giving them pages I have created with random words.  I wonder if giving them actual book pages may be confusing or difficult for them to pull out different narratives.    I would likely have both options on hand and allow the students to guide what would be the better option.  

One of my favourite parts of this project were the materials we used.  I really loved the chalk pastels we used.  I loved the vibrant, saturated colours that they created.  I would definitely make a huge effort to make these available in my classroom.  I think using real art things beyond just crayons and markers would be so amazing for students.  I believe the investment in those things would be a huge asset to the classroom and the students learning. 

Assessment: I think this would be a really great cross-curricular assignment.   This would be a great way to assess students reading ability and word comprehension.  It would be so great for students to develop schema and access prior knowledge.  This would be an activity I would consider doing more than once depending on how successful it is.  I would also be really interested in seeing how students abilities in this activity develop over time.  I suppose that would be a good assessment piece, to have students attempt this more than once or twice in a school year.  I would keep the students work and use each piece to assess growth. 

Week 4 - Approaches to Drawing

This was the drawing week.  As seems to be the pattern, I enjoyed this class a lot as well.  I was often surprised how much I just loved getting to use something I had never used before.  In this case it was the charcoal.  It made me feel like I was a real art student, like I could actually create something really amazing. 

Reflection:  The first thing we did was try drawing by not looking at our papers, and just by focusing on the object we were drawing (in this case our hands).  This was a fun activity because most people came out with a comical looking drawing of a slightly demented (or very demented in some cases) hand!  This would be a good way for students to connect and to build community in the classroom.  I would adapt this lesson by getting students to draw something simpler, like a juice box or a pencil or eraser. 

After this initial not looking at the paper we proceeded to try and draw other things by still trying to focus most of our time on the object while only referencing the paper.  This was such a cool project.  I really found when I began focusing more on my paper my drawing began looking less and less like the object I was drawing.  I struggled to not look at the paper at first, but then began trusting my hands and eyes more as time progressed.  I was really proud of what I was able to create and would have loved to have continued drawing for the whole time.

We also did texture rubbings which were so much fun.  I was proud of the fun collage I created.  I would definitely do this with my Grade 1 class.

I wasn’t as good with the next activity: gesture drawings.  I had a great time, my end product just wasn’t as “pretty”.  Okay, not really pretty, just less accurate looking.  I would have liked a little more introduction or instruction on how to best do the gesture drawings. 

Adaptations:  I would like to try this with a class, but I may not use the charcoal.  I think I would have to further research options for within the class as well, because I think this was an activity I myself was weak at. 

Assessment:  This is where I feel assessment would get tricky.   Once you have an activity where students are trying to draw or re-create something I think it would be hard to not judge their work based on how close to the real object it looks.  Also, this would be when I bet you would start seeing students get discouraged if their piece was not looking like the object as well.  I’m really not sure how to combat that.  Do you just encourage all students and hope that the encouragement will be enough to sustain their interest?