The Power of Visual Media

For my extra blog I wanted to continue the discussion of the last blog concerning making an impact in the community. As I was writing I began to get really excited just thinking about the impact of art and it's role in the community and in the world we live in. Just think how powerful a single image is? The eye is the gateway to the soul; and what we look at immediately enters our minds and hearts, with our without our consent. To impact communities, we must impact the visual landscape. Many times it is the eye more than the other senses that makes all the difference. Just imagine this scenario... You are walking down the street and you smell cinnamon roles. You then hear someone calling out about them. You are hungry at the time and the smell is intoxicating. The sound of the vender selling them causes your mouth to water a little. Your thinking, I want one of those, but you are in a hurry and know you don't have time to stop. Your are thinking about all the things you have to get done today and also know you are running tight on cash. You ignore the smell and sound, until, suddenly, you come upon a huge sign right in front of your eyes of a giant cinnamon role! The image is no doubt photoshopped, the icing is way too perfect and creamy, but YOU'RE sold!! You turn into the shop and get yourself a role. This is a silly example, but it goes to show just how powerful visual media is. Anyone in advertising will agree with this. It's like shopping. If I don't have the money, I don't look, because I know that when I see something I love and can't live without, I have to buy it. I get really excited thinking about this since it is encouraging as an artist to realize that your art, and your students art, really CAN impact the world. Our television, film, media and clothing all contain art. DM News Magazine says that "each of us sees more ads alone in one year than people of 50 years ago saw in an entire lifetime." Just think how we could impact our school and communities by flooding them with beautiful art that speaks about hope and social change? If the statement "a picture is worth a thousand words" is true, we can speak volumes by being an advocate for the arts!

Art Teacher as Art Ed Advocate

Throughout my experience at Regina, I have helped Mr. Demory in a number of "art's advocacy" projects. These include assisting students in creating a mural of Christ feeding sheep at the Ash Wednesday prayer service on hunger, helping back art work for the Tipton art show, and watching Mr. Demory paint a large book for the Iowa City Community Book project. The mural was a paint by number project where students worked on it during the prayer service so everyone could see it being created. The final result was awesome! Talk about advocating for the arts because at the end everyone stood up and gave Mr. Demory, the art teacher!, a standing ovation. The art show in Tipton was also a great success in which one of our students got first place in drawing and another got third in painting. For the book project, Mr. Demory is painting scenes from Moby Dick on a large fiberglass book that will get displayed in Iowa City. Students can watch him as he is working on the book and also get to see the work downtown once it's complete.

Personally, I think the more involved someone is in their community the better. Matthew 5:13 says that "you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again?" Salt adds flavor to food and also works to preserve things. Art can add flavor to the community by beautifying it and work to preserve the moral integrity of a community by sending critical messages of hope and social justice awareness. As an art teacher, I will make it my aim to be that salt and light that reaches out beyond the classroom into the community. I know that if we don't maintain a heart to reach out, it is all too easy to lose one's effectiveness and go into "survival mode." I know all too well from my own life how easy it is to lose this selfless heart! The whole problem with the world is selfishness. I love the quote that the students used for the hunger prayer service that stated: "what you get makes a living, but what you give makes a life." This is so true!! Having a heart to give is so important! I think there is fear that comes against those brave hearts that makes us only get a little bit involved in things. We are afraid of the cost, or of not making an impact or of rejection. But I have to ask that if we, as teachers, don't work to preserve our communities and art's role within them, who will?

The Importance of Assessment in Art Ed

Assessment in art education is a topic that holds allot of controversy. I personally have struggled with the idea of grading art work since it is so subjective compared to math or science where you there is only one right answer. Do I grade the work by ability alone or by work ethic? What if someone works really hard and shows strong improvement but is not naturally gifted as some artists are? I am really interested to know how they grade art in other countries such as Korea. I imagine that they have a more disciplined approach which hinges upon the notion that art is a skill that can be learned just like math or science if one works hard enough. I say this because I have been amazed at the skill level of the Korean students in all our classes. When discussing this one of the students I learned that they begin learning in elementary school what we in America don't learn until high school. Ideally, I would love to see that same approach and belief system implemented in America. I strongly believe that art can be learned, although it is true that it comes easier for some than others depending on the functioning of the brain, left or right brain strength. It is a difficult subject to address indeed. What I have to conclude from my own experience student teaching is that grading must be based on a number of factors, hard work and effort being the central factors. The finished work is a combination of hard work, learned skill and natural talent. A less talented student can get an A by working hard and showing some improvement. I think grades are important in motivating some students to work, who would not care otherwise.

Subject Knowledge

The impact that subject knowledge has on teaching is like a beautiful house full of valuable treasure. Proverbs 24: 21 says that "by wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." Enthusiasm for one's subject matter and learning in general will bring about a search for more knowledge in this area. The lessons that have always gone the best for me personally are those that I put lots of time into learning about. Being well prepared with knowledge increases my own confidence in teaching the subject matter and allows me to be enthusiastic instead of nervous about how they will receive it. One of my favorite lesson planning websites is Incredible Art Department (http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/high/highlessons.html). It is the only one I have found that has unique lesson plans that are interesting and detailed. The lesson plans on this page were definitely crafted with passion and enthusiasm. Another book I like is "From Ordinary to Extraordinary" by Ken Vieth.

Rules in the Classroom

Respect is definitely number one for rules that create a positive learning environment. Students must respect themselves and one another for learning to occur. This means that abusive language is not permitted since it breaks down community. I've never thought I would really use rules, when I've considered myself teaching, but now that I've been doing my student teaching, I think they would be more helpful than hurtful. I don't see myself being super strict about them, but making sure kids are aware of what's acceptable and what is not. Especially for the elementary kids, simple rules like not being able to get out of their seats will make a huge difference and are therefore absolutely necessary. It is a little bit more tricky with highschool kids. I know for sure that I am going to be a stickler about making kids clean up after themselves. It takes up other classes time when I have to clean up from the last class to begin the next classes project. There is no reason why highschool kids can't clean up their own work. To create my own positive learning environment I plan to have a well organized classroom that is clean and inviting. I think atmosphere can make a huge difference. Painting the walls and room is something I look foreword to in teaching. Also, music can work to calm kids down. If you keep a calm atmosphere and are well organized and prepared, allot of disciplinary problems cease to exist. Also, caring for the kids is number one in stopping discipline problems. Research has shown that genuine care prevents misbehavior more than anything else. Also, kids usually start misbehaving when they are bored. If I keep them engaged, I think I will have to focus less on rules and more on making art. Setting rules for safety's sake is definitely necessary with certain art materials, but I'm still not sure, if I teach high school, that I would make a list of rules or not. I'll have to ask Mr. Demory about this now to see what he does...

Feb 8th Blog: Diverse Learners

Honestly, I have not put a tremendous amount of time into this since Regina, unlike City High etc, is less diverse. I have one African American student and four Korean students but the rest are American. I do suppose though I have thought about this in terms of artistic ability. Some students are farther along than others in this area. To accommodate for this, I'll spend some extra time assisting those students who are struggling and try my best to encourage them in their work. All the projects I have chosen involve students picking their own images to work with, and this creates opportunity for variation in skill level. More advanced students can pick more difficult images, or do another image if they finish their first project. I also make sure to teach simple skills like color theory and focal point, etc, even though some students may already have this knowledge, to make sure everyone is on the same playing field.

Feb 1st Blog

Thinking back to influential classes I have taken, it was always the classes where it was more the teacher's connection with the students, rather than the teaching style, that made the class successful. Just the arrangement of expectations alone didn't have as big an impact on me overall but when the two went together, I was really impacted. I can think back to middle school and my English teacher Mr. Priest. He always had really interesting projects and would also set the expectations by showing lots of examples and spending a day just going over the projects themselves before we began. His enthusiasm in the projects and the time he put into explaining them made a big difference. It was also evident that he wanted you to succeed, so he did the most he could to make that happen by setting clear guidelines. He also had great relationships with the students and took an interest in them individually, always keeping a great sense of humor.

At my placement, a strong sense of community can be felt in the classroom and it is obvious my teacher really cares about the students. He takes interest in their personal lives and always has a good time with them in class. He holds his students to high expectations by taking time to know them individually and know what they are capable of. He can get the kids to work but also not be overbearing or demanding. In my own teaching, I have learned a few things about setting up clear guidelines. I noticed one student in our 7th period, which is late in the day, was having a hard time working. He did not seem to care too much about finishing his project but when I showed him the rubric and mentioned that time spent working was a big part of his grade, his work ethic improved tremendously. I just mentioned it to him as a fact, so he would be aware that his behavior would affect his grade, and now he works for most of the period. Some students need different incentives to get them motivated but I noticed that all of them need and appreciate, especially in art, clear guidelines with detailed instruction and examples of work. For my painting class, I always do a demo before each major step of the painting, like under-painting etc. and this helps them allot.