Guest speakers

P. Larson:
Ms. L is a local elementary school teacher. She is one of the most organized art teachers I have ever seen. She also has an obvious passion for working with kids and it shows through her prepared materials as well as in the way she talks about her students. The information she provided about organization was very interesting and helpful although I don't think I will ever be able to obtain her level of organization.

B. Marine:
Ms. Marine is a certified special education teacher, her insights into inclusion of students with exceptional needs was extremely interesting. After hearing from her about her experiences it really made me want to do more with those students. I also really enjoyed her emphasis on the concept that they are "our students" not just belonging to special education but that they belong to all of their teachers and it is our responsibility to give them our best because they always give us theirs.

Bob and Darrel:
These guys were awesome. Although we were talking about some serious stuff they still found a way to get some humor in there. The information they provided about unions was great and it was refreshing that they chose to present both sides of the issues not just one or the other.

T. King:
As a former student teacher Mr. King's information was really valuable and helped to relieve a lot of my own anxiety about student teaching. His personality and professionalism were great to see especially because he found a way for them to work together in a way that was productive.

4/3

Safety is a huge concern in Mr. R's classroom, particularly because of the nature of art. All students are aware of the safety procedures in the classroom and are also aware of the safety hazards that surround them. The entire time I have been observing Mr. R I have seen one student violate safety rules (throwing clay) and Mr. R's reaction was very interesting. After the clay had been thrown (a very small piece, probably the size of a dime), Mr. R confronted the student and asked if he knew the procedure for discarding clay and if it was appropriate or not to throw the clay in the first place. The student replied that he knew the rules and that it was not appropriate. Mr. R then went on to explain why throwing clay was not acceptable and then allowed the student to continue to work.

3/27

Today I asked Mr. R if he teaches about other cultures. He said of course he does because art is a product of culture, however he tries to avoid doing projects that mimic or mock cultural traditions, such as creating a paper kimono, african masks etc... because he feels that because we are not a part of that culture we do not understand these items significance and are not respecting the cultures they come from. I never really thought about things in that way until now, but after hearing it, it does make a lot of sense. Especially when we have not experienced or do not have an in-depth knowledge of culturally relevant practices, should we really be teaching them? Yes it is important to present the information and perhaps a project with adaptations but to use another cultures symbols in a way that we do not fully understand is to mock rather than pay homage to that culture.

The rules in Mr. R's classroom are not posted but they are laid out in the syllabus and students are frequently reminded of the procedures and expectations them in the classroom. With every project new safety rules are introduced. Because of the high-expectations Mr. R sets in his classroom there is not a lot of disciplinary problems. Although it seemed that a handful of students were off-task Mr. R tried to redirect in a guiding way rather than a malicious way, but if they chose not to get back to work Mr. R would allow them to stay off-task and deal with the natural consequences of not completing the project on time and receiving a poor grade because of it.

3/6

Today Mr. R and I went over the rubric for the lesson that I had taught and the students final product for the project. Although a lot of the students did not have their projects completed the ones who did we graded. In the rubric Mr. R creates he allows the students to grade themselves and give an explanation for their grading decisions, along side these grades is space for Mr. R to put in what grades he gives them in each category (design, craftsmanship, use of technique). Grading was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated, because art metals is my concentration and I tend to pick pieces apart, so I tried to grade liberally. Mr. R noticed my grading was very lenient and told me that if I was to be lenient with their grades when I knew they were capable of more they would stop trying to do better work. This was a very profound piece of information and one that I had not really thought about before.

Today Mr. R also introduced the next project, batik. This is going to be a very interesting project for me to help with because I have never heard of it let alone helped guide students in creating a batik project. When introducing the project Mr. R used the smartboard to peruse the internet to find different examples of batik as well as give a brief history of the process. After all of the background information was given he gave a brief presentation about techniques to be used, it was brief because in the M school district many of the students do batik in elementary and middle school. Finally to conclude the lesson Mr. R goes over the rubric for the assignment and states his expectations.Mr. R does not use lesson plans or curriculum maps, but instead uses rubrics, that outline the expectations for the projects and goes from there.

2/28

Today I asked Mr. R how he was evaluated by the principal and how he prepares to be observed. He said that he is evaluated by his principal by being observed by one class and generally the principal does not stay the entire class period. At this point in his career he does not really prepare to be observed because he is comfortable with his teaching style and classroom management techniques.

When getting the students attention Mr. R generally just walks to the front of the class, either by the white board or the smartboard and just begins to speak loudly. This gets the students attention because this is not normal behavior and generally Mr. R is very soft spoken.

2/21

Today I asked Mr. R why he decided to go into teaching. His answer was not exactly what I had expected. As he began to tell me he wanted to make clear that at first what he had originally wanted to do was drive semi's, but his parents encouraged him to go into education. But he did not chose art until he began his pre-student teaching observations, because at the time those placements were not based on your content area but whatever placements were available. Throughout his education at UW-Eau Claire he was met with a lot of obstacles in his program including failing one of his student teaching placements. However his second placement was a lot better and he decided to stick with it.

Today I also observed the students entering the classroom and notice that they seem to have a good concept of what was needed for them to prepare for the class. The majority of the students came in, went to their designated seat to put down their backpacks, gathered their projects/materials needed and went back to their seats and waited for class to begin.

How do you assess student artwork?

I assess student artwork in two parts. Immediately after a project a rubric will be use to grade the technical and design aspects of the piece, in accordance to the students abilities. Another form of assessment will occur three times during the term. These three assessments will be summative to track the students growth through out the course. The initial assessment will be used for both my benefit as well as finding a baseline for the students skills. I will benefit from this assessment by learning the skills of each student and adapt my lessons to their skill level while still challenging them. The second and third assessment will act as bench marks to show a quantitative developmental change.

2/14 "Why did you decide to go into art education?"

Today was the second day at MHS. I asked Mr. R why he had decided to go into art education. His response was atypical of what I have heard in the past. He said that when he began his teaching observation he was not guaranteed a placement in his field (art). He then said that his observation was not all that he had expected in fact it was a rather negative experience, because a cooperating teacher he had been placed with had essentially not taught him anything nor given him much feedback and another would not really allow him to participate in any classroom activities. Due to this lack of feedback and experience his practicum placement had been, as he had put it, "a complete failure". Eventually he had to re-do his practicum to receive a satisfactory grade. His eventual decision of continuing with art education came with the second cooperating teacher who would direct him from the back of the class and provide in-depth accurate feedback after each observation and guide him through different classroom management techniques.

2/9 Guest Speaker

Today we had a guest speaker, Ms. O from DHS. Ms. O is a very energetic woman who still seems very much in love with her career and very dedicated to her students. I really enjoyed the creativity that Ms. O puts into her lessons and how she involves her students in the lesson planning process, by asking them what they want to do and adjusting her lessons to suit those wants. Ms. O showed us a very entertaining video of a performance painting that some of her students did alongside the school choir/band. Although the painting may have not been perfectly executed the students were very expressive and it sounds like the audience really enjoyed the performance in its entirety. Ms. O's advice was very different than that of what I have heard from other art educators, in that her entire approach to education is student based and for the most part choice based. I really enjoyed that she was still so passionate about everything she was doing and hadn't become jaded by the politics of education.

2/7 First day at MHS

Today was my first day at MHS with Mr. R. In all the day was rather informative and slightly eventful. Not having a lot of experience with high school aged students, I found Mr. R very helpful in easing my nerves. My biggest concern with working with high schoolers is that I am relatively close in age to them, Mr. R said that although we (the students and I) are close in age that I should still present and carry myself like a professional. I feel that there is a large difference between high schoolers and elementary aged students not only in stature but also in attitude towards both art and their teachers. For the most part I felt well received although there were a couple of students who seemed rather stand-offish. Overall the first day went really well and I'm really looking forward to continuing my experience at MHS.

Curriculum

Do you teach a discipline-based art curriculum or a choice-based one?
I think that the students themselves will dictate my choice of curriculum. Students who are younger or need more guidance through projects, discipline based will be more appropriate. Where as older students who have more ideas about where they want to go with their work, the choice based may be more appropriate for students to explore their own ideas, rather than having their ideas dictated to them. Of course there is always a time and place for both discipline and choice within the classroom and even within a lesson.

Trends in education

"Can you talk about trends in education to which you are professionally committed?"

There are a few educational trends that I am professionally committed to, DBAE as well as RtI. I feel that I am most committed to because these are the two that I am most familiar with. DBAE, Discipline Based Art Education, is very important to consider when teaching because it forces the teacher to look at different aspects of art aside from art making. RtI, Response to Intervention, is a great trend that I hope stays for a while because it allows in-depth participation of faculty, students and parents. RtI is also one of the most comprehensive ways of addressing student learning discrepancies.

What is more important?

What is more important art or teacher?

I feel that in order to be proficient in either you must be proficient in both art and teaching. However if I were forced to chose I would say that teaching is something that you can be taught but it is not necessarily an easily acquired trait. Working with students can be very trying at times and you must have the passion to continue to do it. Art on the other hand, while also being trying is also more about self than about others. Skills in art may be acquired over time but not everyone has the ability to acquire the skills to be a great teacher.

Do you need to be an artist to be an art teacher?

I think that being an artist is greatly beneficial in teaching art however as many art teachers have told me, once you become a teacher your art takes a backseat. Yet I still believe that having the artist mentality is needed when teaching young people to become artists themselves. Being an artists gives you a unique perspective that many other people do not have.

Safety in the classroom

How do you deal with safety in the classroom?

In my classroom safety will be a large concern primarily because I would like my students to fully understand the hazards of some materials when misused. At the beginning of the semester I will walk my students through the different safety issues within the classroom and how to avoid them. In the front of the room next to the classroom rules will be reminders of safety precautions that are important in the classroom. For older students (i.e. high school) they will take an exam, so that I know that they understand the safety requirements for the class.

Interview question #1

If you're a student in your art class, what can you expect to see or do on the first day?

On the first day of my art class we will introduce ourselves, review the expectations for the course (i.e. possible projects), go through class rules as well as create class expectations for both the students as well as myself. When we introduce ourselves we will do so in hopes of students becoming more familiar with their classmates and myself. I think it is important for the class to know the possible projects that may be done in the class. I also think it is important for the class to work cooperatively to come up with expectations as far as actions, behaviors and the learning environment. Creating expectations as a group allows everyone to participate and ask directly for what they want. It also allows students to state their own expectations for the class not jus the teachers expectation for them.

Where I am right now....

As of today I feel that through my experiences as an art education student I am on my way to to becoming a very effective and influential art teacher. Through my experiences as an observer in previous art education classes as well as an elementary school tutor and after-school club leader, I feel that I have the experience to continue to work effectively in the classroom. However even though I am comfortable in the classroom I still feel that there is a lot of knowledge I am yet to acquire. I hope to someday work in an inner-city school and help at-risk students find their passion in art and use art as an outlet for their emotions. In the fall I will be studying abroad and I am hoping to become fluent enough to effectively communicate with bilingual, English as a second language, and migrant students and families.