I'm Freaking Out About This Unit Plan Right Now...

DISCLAIMER: [Please, I need your feedback on this one! Theory and Practice kids, If you're going to read any one of my blog posts this should be it!!! - you can even skip to the bolded paragraphs if you want]

In case you don't already know this about me: Hi, I'm Jenn (everyone: "Hello Jenn") and I am a PROCRASTINATOR. If they had weekly meetings for this problem, sign me right up, because guess who has 2 and a half lessons to finish this weekend? I do. Whenever I have a semester long assignment (or any assignment that isn't due for a long time... hey, kind of like these blog posts!) I put it off for as long as I can, and then wait a little more, until finally it comes down to me losing sleep over it when I finally find the time and the mindset to sit down and do it.

In my defense, I do end up writing my best work when I'm under this kind of pressure, for whatever reason. That doesn't mean that I like this characteristic and that I do this to myself all the time, it's just the cold, hard, truth. I think what it really comes down to is that I get my best work done in the most efficient amount of time. When I know that I have a long time to complete an assignment and I try to get it done ahead of time, it just really never works. That's when I procrastinate, and I let myself get very easily distracted (to the point where I've actually considered whether or not I have an attention disorder). So I've learned that the only way I can really finish something in one sitting is if I wait and wait and wait until right before it's due. Then I can sit down with a clear head and work until it's done.

In my defense again, I know that with this semester in particular, I didn't put off these lessons for no reason - I've been working my butt off in all my classes, leaving no time between that and work to even sit down and really work on them. (These blog posts on the other hand, I have no excuse for, I really could have been writing one a week instead of finishing them all this month). But anyway, back to the point, I now have 2 lessons to complete, 3 teachers samples, and the daunting task of the CC/SLO assignment looming over all of them. I think another problem is that I just don't really know what I want to write these next two lessons on, and that's scared me into putting them off too.

The point of this post is to ask what you all (all of my measly 8 followers) think of this idea. (If anyone reads this I would really love to know your opinion, is basically what I'm saying). I have this cool idea for one of the lessons in my unit plan, but I don't know if it's stretching the unit them too much and that I should save it for another time.

So let me know what you think about this: my unit is on SLEEP, and my partner Megan and I did a lesson on nightmares together in our T&P class. I was thinking about doing one of the 3 lessons on dreams, but because dreams are so close to nightmares, I wanted to play with the word dreams and use its homophone instead, and base my lesson on the other kind of dreams. I wanted to do some kind of self-portrait based on students' dreams and aspirations, where and how they see themselves X amount of years in the future. I haven't chosen a medium yet but I am imagining these cool (probably 2D) busts of how students envision what they will be like, or want to be, in the future. Prospective self-portraits, I suppose. I know this kind of a lesson could fit really well in an Identity Unit, but can it work under Sleep too? Is using the homophone of dreams too much of a stretch, too unrelated to my sleep unit, to use as one of my 4 lessons? HELP ME, YOUR OPINIONS ARE NEEDED.

Should I have gotten a BFA?

Recently I've been wondering if I should have gotten my BFA while getting my art education degree. I know what you're thinking - that sounds crazy intense, no way! And it is. I've heard from many classmates (in both my studio and art ed classes) that getting your teaching degree while doing the BFA is one of the most difficult (and even regretful) things they've ever done. So... why am I worrying that I didn't chose this path?

For one, I've heard from a few sources that when applying for art positions in public schools, having a BFA increases your chances of getting hired by a landslide. Well SHOOT, I hope no one with a BFA will be applying for the same positions as me?!

Secondly, I still feel like an art education student, not an artist. Since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to be a teacher. I also always loved art, but I was never too serious about it, even in my AP Portfolio 1&2 classes. It wasn't until coming to college that I really decided that art was where I wanted to be for the rest of my life (in addition to teaching). Although I feel proud of a lot of the work I make and I've taken 10+ studios here at New Paltz, somehow I still have a hard time calling myself an "artist." See, I even had to put the word in quotes! I'm not sure why I have this complex, but I think what it comes down to is that I don't feel confident enough in my skills or my work to really call myself an artist, more just that I am someone who really enjoys making art. Even when people give me positive feedback on a piece of mine, I almost have a hard time believing them, and don't even get me started when I had offers of people wanting to buy some of my paintings! Lastly, I could never see myself choosing to do solely art for the rest of my life instead of education, so what does that say about me? I think if I had chosen to do the BFA in addition to art ed, I think this mentality would have gone away by now. I would feel a lot more confident in my skills and therefore my work, and maybe then I would feel like a "real artist"... whatever that is.

Thirdly, I feel really inferior to the people in my classes who are doing the BFA. Especially those who are also in art ed with me. I feel judged by some people in my class because my work isn't on the same level as theirs, and I feel stupid a lot of the time because of how little I know about ceramics as they do, even though it's my concentration. I have to always remind myself that, at one point, they were all at this level too, and I'm just still learning! :/ It's hard though sometimes, and even a bit discouraging.

But the main reason I regret not doing the BFA is because I know I could do it, and so does my teacher, who has told me so at least twice now! Anat Shiftan, an incredible ceramic artist and a really intimidatingly knowledgeable teacher approached me and asked if I had ever considered applying for a BFA, after only working with and knowing me for 2 or 3 months. I told her my plan of study and where I was at, and why I hadn't even considered applying before - because I never really knew it was an option for me. I didn't take my first ceramics class until the second half of my junior year, and that's when I decided to concentrate in it. Had I known how much I loved ceramics earlier in the picture, I would have absolutely considered the BFA. And now hearing from Anat how I "have the right spirit, and the right attitude to be a great BFA candidate" [ HER WORDS! :') ], along with the reasons above, I kick myself for not doing it in addition to art ed. If only I had taken ceramics earlier and known that the double major was a really great opportunity, where would I be now?

In the end, harping on all of these issues doesn't change the past, I know that. But I still can't help but wonder if I made a mistake with my undergraduate degree, or rather, lack of a second one. I guess I just have to remember that everything happens for a reason.



SIDE NOTE** If you don't know Anat/haven't seen her work, and you have any interest in ceramics... check it out! You won't regret it. (Her website seems to be down for some reason).

THESE ARE AWESOME MATERIALS TO HELP CLARIFY COMMON CORE

Actually, I'm editing the post to be more like: AWESOME LINKS FOR FUTURE ART TEACHERS.

The Arts Education Partnership is dedicated to securing a high-quality arts education for every young person in America.
I found some really interesting articles/web seminars/videos on incorporating the CC in art ed on this website. And they pretty much stand for everything us future art teachers stand for - the need for good art education for every student!

This really awesome guide showing how easy it is to incorporate CC - these lessons essentially could have (and probably did) already existed in some similar way before June of 2010 (when CC was passed).

Something similar to above, but more of a workbook format.

Just open this one, it's pretty self explanatory.    <-- I'm not sure why I haven't forced myself to go to NAEA meetings on our campus, but I'm regretting that decision of mine right now and I think I should start going to them.

Haven't really explored this one yet but it seems pretty cool. It is a .com website though and that makes me a little hesitant, but I think it seems legit. From what I understand, this is a website that connects art educators from around the globe.

This NY Times article talks about a really cool thing. Paper Monument’s editors "asked dozens of artists and teachers, some well known and some not, to speak about the best art assignments they’ve given or received or even heard of."

That's all I've got for now... I'm sure I'll come back to this post a bunch of times whenever I find more cool stuff, but in the meantime, I recommend checking those out when you've got the time!

The Common Core, Or At Least My Understanding Of It

After doing a little bit of technological surfing, I can finally say that I have a little better understanding of the common core and why it's such big talk these days. Here's the mission statement from the home site for the Common Core States Standards Initiative (CCSSI):

"The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy."

So basically, the states want to be more consistent with each other on how they are educating their students and preparing them for secondary education or the workforce. This definitely makes sense to me because as a member of the next generation to enter the real world and start having real influence over others in our careers and other aspects of our lives, I want to be on-par with others my age and education level from across the country. When I have to work with and collaborate with my peers from other states, (in whatever setting that may be), we should be able to relate on what we've learned and know because of the past 15-20 years of school. Additionally, when it comes to competing for jobs, there should be a fair playing field in the education sense, because for one person to have an advantage or disadvantage based on what state they grew up in is not fair at all.

(please ignore the bad audio)

Some things I didn't know:

• The Common Core is based off of a lot of real experiences/ideas from teachers, content experts and, the general public.
• The Standards are internationally benchmarked
• The Standards aren't a set of vague markers for what students at each level should know. In fact, they "include sample texts that demonstrate the level of text complexity appropriate for the grade level and compatible with the learning demands set out in the Standards. The exemplars of high quality texts at each grade level provide a rich set of possibilities and have been very well received. This provides teachers with the flexibility to make their own decisions about what texts to use – while providing an excellent reference point when selecting their texts."
• The CC incorporates other disciplines (ELA, Math, Science and History) into all curricula, but not in the sense that Art teachers now have to teach math; rather, different disciplines should be teaching their respective subjects with the same curriculum as before, just through different lenses, some being literacy based, others mathematically etc. The standards help build knowledge in different subject areas while preparing students with the reality that reading, writing, and math will always pop up in their everyday lives, and that a knowledge of history and science will be significantly more important and beneficial to their lives in a much broader sense than the tests taken in the classroom. Hence, the importance of including them in all subject areas.
• The Standards do not tell teachers what to teach. Rather, they tell teachers what students need to know. NOTHING ABOUT HOW THEY SHOULD ACHIEVE THAT KNOWLEDGE -that's still up to the teacher and the school!
• ^ That has already been implemented in the classroom, because every school has a set of curricula for each grade and each class that students need to know in order to pass. This stuff isn't new, people... it's just a new lens of teaching, a new way to frame your lessons and objectives.

Now the question is... how exactly to I implement the CC in each lesson I've written in the past, and every lesson I will write in the future?

This video is..... interesting?

So as I'm sure most of us are, I'm still pretty unsure about these two terms we've been hearing a lot about this semester: The Common Core and SLO. (At least I hope I'm not the only one this confused?!) And I know the only way to get answers when my professors don't really have the answers for me, or better yet, I don't really know what to ask exactly, is to turn to the HANDY, DANDY, INTERNET! The easiest way for me to understand things is through visual terms, so I figure, why not start on YouTube? (Watching a video is also so much more fun than reading, isn't it?)

This is one of the videos I stumbled across:


... I'm not really sure where to start. I guess maybe the pros? I can see how this video is slightly informative, giving a nice general idea of the main points of common core are. But why the robot voices? The first comment really summed up my thoughts, "School administrators are hoping their teachers will sound and act just like this!" Why do the teaches sound brainwashed? Why do they sound like they are reading from a script? It makes me feel like some Big Brother type personnel from either the school district or the state is forcing these teachers to have this type of conversation, to sell the idea of common core. It feels very info-mercial like, but if the common core and it's implementation will be so great for our schools and our students, why does it need this gimickey sale pitch?

I don't mean to sound like I don't understand the general benefits of the CC/SLO, or naive to the fact that changes like this have always been made, and will continue to be made throughout history in the field of education, because neither of those are the case. I think I'm just confused because this is all so new, and not many answers are out there yet. And although we've talked a little bit about it this semester, I haven't really seen it being implemented yet so I'm just not fully understanding it. I'm going to continue doing some research now because I know it's stuff I need to know, and it's going to show up a lot more in the future! I should probably focus on finishing my Unit Plan though.......

Some Things I have Learned From my College Professors About Teaching

I saw one of my classmates, Julia, write a blog post about a demonstration that our ceramics professor did today in class. She was basically asking why a college professor can get away with an unprepared and scattered demo, while we are being trained and taught how to avoid that at all costs. It got me thinking: what have I really learned about education and teaching from my professors and their hidden curricula?

1. Teachers are not perfect. We are all humans, and understanding that our teachers (and us when we are teachers) will make mistakes, things will go wrong, and that is okay. Students need to let go of the fact that just because we are their "superiors," it doesn't mean that we are perfect all the time. It's like when little kids finally learn that their parents are the superheros they thought they were, you still have to love them just the same. However, that being said....

2. Preparation and practice are keys to success! The only way a teacher can avoid these momentary mishaps would be to plan what they are going to do and say and when everything is going to happen, and even like the old saying goes, practice makes perfect! Why not practice that demo at home once before you do it, or at least the speaking portion of it if lack of materials are a concern, that way you know what you want to do and it makes your job easier when in front of your students. I somewhat agree with Julia in that our ceramics teacher did seem unprepared, and a lot of time was wasted because of this. She even admitted it had been a while since she worked with those materials, but that shouldn't be an excuse for wasting your students time and not teaching as effectively as possible. Plan, prepare and practice, that will help lessen the possible mistakes you will inevitably make!

3. Push your students to their limits, and maybe even beyond. Something I noticed this semester in my own classes is how challenged I feel, finally! This has been one of the toughest semesters of college yet, and even though I have whined and complained and lost a little sleep over it, I am happy to know that I am being challenged to do my best work possible, to not give up at mediocricy, and I thank (and applaud) my teachers for doing this for me. Is it easier to just do what's necessary and then call it a day? Of course! But what do you really learn from that? In many of my classes (but particularly in ceramics and T&P) I feel the push from my teachers to always be doing more, and that's great. Even if at the time I want to throw my hands in the air and walk out, looking back I realize that I have done really fantastic work this semester and learned A LOT in both of those classes specifically, probably because of how much we have been pushed to always be doing more, trying this or that, or reworking something until it's (nearly) perfect. Your students may get frustrated with you for doing this,  they might even say you're "the worst teacher ever," but it will make them smarter, better students, and more motivated people after it's all over, and hopefully they'll see this too, just like I have!

4. Nurture your students, but do not baby them. Every student needs to feel like their teacher cares about them and their well-being, but there is a difference between supporting your students and coddling them. One of my professors this semester - who, don't get me wrong, is definitely a great teacher and who I've learned a lot from - just seems like too much of a pushover because she is so easy-going and wants to make us feel good about the work we do, even if (in my opinion) it's not our best. She always tells people how great their work is, or this and that, but I disagree, and if I had been the teacher, I wouldn't have been so congratulatory about it if I know the student could do better. I've noticed this in one of my other art ed classes, where the teacher is so supportive and nurturing, but lacks the ability to tell students if something should be changed or isn't the greatest whatever the assignment was. I just feel like teachers need to find a good balance between the two, in order for students to succeed as much as possible.They need to feel like their teachers care about them and are proud of the work they do, but only when they deserve the pride. When something needs improvement or the student can do something better in the future, that should be expressed by the tecahers, because that is what will help students in the long run. Not a high five after a really great presentation.

Our Fieldwork III Presentations

Today, our Theory and Practice class had a meeting in the lecture center to go over our fieldwork III experiences. We had to create a presentation, dress professionally, and speak about what we learned, what we saw while we were there, and specifically, all about our lesson; what it was, how it went, how it could have improved. We did this last year for our fieldwork at Duzine, so we kind of knew what to expect. What was cool and new about this years was that we were all at different schools around the Hudson Valley.

I really enjoyed hearing about the different lessons everyone worked on with their students, how their classroom was handled by their teacher, and how they got to interact and learn from the students. I really loved Laura's lesson, and actually learned a totally new watercolor technique that I had never seen before, which I think is really cool, especially because it can be used in my own work and in the classroom. Someone mentioned how they got to do a demo on a technique that their teacher had never even seen before, which I was impressed by. I also really liked this kind of presentation because we were all pretty comfortable in front of each other by this point in our art ed careers, but choosing to put us in the lecture center was really smart because it was totally new, and definitely a little intimidating, but a real possibility for our future. It kept things fresh, not having us just sit in the same classroom, in our same seats, but it also helped us to think about projection of our voice, posture when in front of a room but also standing behind a computer, and the task of making eye contact with your audience. Definitely a smart choice, guys!

After almost every presentation, Nicole reminded us that we should be taking notes on what other people learned/did in the classroom - particularly their lessons. With how much she kept reminding us to do this, I realized that "borrowing" lessons is exactly what our teachers want us to do in order to build up our own type of teacher portfolio. Of course each lesson you hear from someone else will have to be appropriated for your specific students, but it's cool that in the end of our 4 years here at SUNY New Paltz, we will graduate with probably close to a hundred lessons or more for all ages, that we can one day use or get inspired by in our futures in the classroom.

Interesting Dynamic of the Art Ed Program at SUNY NP

Since being accepted into the art education major a few years ago I have enjoyed most of my classes and have definitely taken a lot out of them up to this point. I do have to say though that I haven't felt this pushed and challenged at any point in college, as I am now in Theory and Practice. I was talking to Tanya today actually about how interesting the dynamic of our art ed classes changed as we progressed in the program. We realized that in Intro, Beth created a really supportive, nurturing, and easy-going environment for us newbies, almost like a kindergarden classroom would be like. Then as we got a little further and a little smarter, we entered Jessica's Curriculum and Instruction class. Here, we still had the nurturing support but it was shown in a different way; there was a little more sarcasm, the class was a little drier in terms of how Jessica interacted with us in comparison to Beth, and we were treated as more knowledgeable students, frankly because we were. We definitely still had the comfort from Jessica but she pushed us a little more than Beth, and it seemed like we were growing up to maybe a middle school environment. Then came Theory & Practice. This is our last class before student teaching and we know what the observations are like, we (think we) know how to write lesson plans, and so here is the time for Aaron to really kick our butts a little and get us totally prepared for what the realities of being a teacher are. The nurturing support and babying us through it has gone out the window, because it's really time for us to grow up and get stuff done. We are working with High Schoolers, and it's time to be treated as such! I really enjoy how we grew up in the program similarly to the order in which grades we observed. I feel like the different teaching styles helped ease us into the program, then prepare us for a little harsher environment, before completely throwing us into the ropes before student teaching.

Anyway, the real point of my post was that I haven't felt this challenged in a long time, and although it can be frustrating sometimes, I know that this is a really good thing for me. Aaron pushes us to really do our best work, and even when we think we are satisfied with something, there can always be room for improvement. I have learned that every little aspect of a lesson plan should be purposeful, and if something isn't important to the overall benefit of the students, change that part to something that can be helpful to them. I now take every minute of a presentation or a lesson seriously, even the last few seconds before the bell rings. Every moment is an opportunity for learning. And lastly, life doesn't stop for anything and things will always be thrown at you from any direction - so just accept that and be ready for it. I think Theory & Practice has pushed us in ways that will help us when we are in the real world, and people are pushing responsibilities and jobs and work on us left and right. So thanks, Aaron, for pushing us to be our very best!... Even if it's a lot of work :)

Arts In Education Week?! News to Me!

Arts in Education Week • National Art Education Association

So I stumbled upon something kind of interesting/surprising today that I feel the need to share. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, the House of Representatives passed a resolution two years ago designating the second week of September as “Arts in Education Week.” "The resolution states: [...] Arts education, comprising a rich array of disciplines including dance, music, theatre, media arts, literature, design, and visual arts, is a core academic subject and an essential element of a complete and balanced education for all students." What surprised me most was not that our country would pass such a decree (woohoo, go  USA for some awesome and well-deserved recognition!), but I was shocked that it has taken me until my FOURTH YEAR studying art education to find this information out!


How has this never been mentioned in any of our classes, ever?! I feel like it's a pretty cool thing that could have been talked about, I don't know, maybe one time? Although I do know that NAEA things aren't part of our curriculum, they are vital to art teachers and therefore, future art teachers also. I think it should be more pushed upon us to know current things going on in the NAEA world, and specifically, in NYSATA 7, (our region). I went to one meeting and got to meet a bunch of art teachers from around the state, and I felt really priveleged to by in a room full of my superiors, being that I had just started the art ed program that semester, really. I think this was a great opportunity and should be given to more students at least once in their time in the art ed program, because at least they have the option to get more involved in their own time. I also think that in Intro, Curriculum and Instruction and even Theory and Practice, NAEA updates should be mentioned more than they are. It's definitely been expressed to us the importance in staying up to date, but I don't think it should be left up to us on our own time to do the research that could lead to us not getting a job or the correct things for certification if we don't know the right information. I feel like particiaption and staying informed in NAEA/NYSATA 7 things/events/programs should be way more stressed, because of how beneficial it is to our futures, and especially considering that the yearly NYSATA 7 conference is held at our school! Just a thought, though.

I Guess it's Time to Talk About my Own Lesson...

I always hate talking about my own work, so I definitely write this post begrudgingly. A few weeks ago, Megan and I did our lesson on nightmares, and I am happy to say that it actually went pretty well. It took a lot of work, a lot of planning, and then a lot of reworking, but in the end it was definitely all worth it.

Some things I learned were:

1) The importance of persistence! When you have a good idea you shouldn't give up on it even if you face some struggles while executing it. We knew that our puppet lesson could be really fun because of how different it was than any of the lessons we had seen up to that point, but there were a lot of technical issues along the way. How do we take a concept that's probably considered elementary by most people, and make it appropriate for high school kids? What materials do we use? How can we do this all this in such a short time? But after a lot of planning, practicing, and talking to Aaron and other classmates, we were able to figure out answers to most of our problems.

2) Be open to change! In life, nothing really goes the way they are planned. Although planning is always important, especially when it comes to any kind of formal presentation, you always have to be open to the unavoidable fact that things will change, and that is okay! For instance, in our lesson, our "artist lecture/discussion" went so much faster than we had planned for. At first, this made me really nervous because I thought we would be stuck with all of this time at the end of the lesson. In reality, the extra time was given to the students to continue working on their puppets, and they totally needed it. In fact, several people told us they could have used even more time. This also worked out in the end because our lecture was quick enough to be informative but not boring and lecture-like. We were able to get our information out to students, but also gave them a decent amount of time to work.

3) Happiness is contagious! When you're having fun, it's hard for those around you not to have fun also. Megan and I decided that if we went into the puppet show not afraid to make fools of ourselves, everyone's guards would be down in and they wouldn't worry about having fun and being themselves, too. We tried to have a laid back approach and make everyone comfortable with what we were doing, which seemed to really help the atmosphere and allow for students to really connect to the project.

The future of art ed totally scares me...

I was talking to someone the other day about student teaching and taking those certification tests and applying to grad school and eventually finding jobs, and clearly, this conversation left me feeling more overwhelmed and nervous than I was before having it. Like most college students - particularly college seniors - probably feel around this time, I am constantly worrying about and stressing over what is going to happen in my future - especially when it comes to my career. (If I had a dollar for every time I told someone my major and they asked me WHY? told me to quit, or laughed at me, I probably wouldn't need to work at all!)

Besides those moments when talking to skeptics or people who just don't understand how much work it actually takes to be an art teacher, I am very happy in where my life is going and my college education this far. What makes me nervous is all of the things I still have left to accomplish before I can even start applying for the jobs that supposedly don't really exist. I have no idea what tests I need to take, when I should start taking them, or what I need to do to get into grad school (and where am I even going on that note?!)

I know that sharing these concerns on my blog won't actually fix anything or answer my questions, but it is something that I have been thinking about more and more as my days at new paltz (rapidly) come to an end. I'm also aware that changes like this have probably happened countless times in the past of art ed, and the only way to deal with them is to stay updated and do what you've gotta do when they tell you to, but I just feel so unsure all the time and that scares me. I don't know where I want to student teach (home on Long Island? the city?) and that's really the least of my worries; from what I hear from other people who are student teaching next semester, my questions will only increase. I just don't know who to go to with my questions when my professors and advisers don't even have the answers to many of them...

What's the deal with "stealing" lessons?

Just a random thought I had the other day... what's the deal with one teacher "stealing" or more politely, "borrowing" another teachers lesson plan? I don't mean that they'd do so in a negative way, so I guess stealing is the wrong word. But basically, is it okay for teachers to use lessons written by and implemented by other teachers?

We have seen some really great lessons this semester, in our class but also (hopefully!) in our fieldwork. I know there are certain lessons (or unit ideas) that I could totally see myself using in my own classroom... is this a bad thing? Similarly, if I see a really great idea for a lesson on the internet, , is that too taboo to use in an actual classroom? Or what if it is something that a contemporary artist is currently using in his or her work? Of course in that last situation just teaching kids about that artist would kind of solve the problem, but still, where is the line drawn between borrowing someone else's good ideas and actually taking their lesson plan?

I'm sure this happens all the time in the world of art ed, and probably education in general, because of how easily word spreads about really great teaching methods. But is it necessary for teachers to appropriate or change the lesson they borrowed from someone else? Of course it will need to be altered minutely to make more sense for your students (always remembering-why these students, in this place, at this time?), but would it be wrong to take another teachers lesson if I find it useful and relevant to my class? In other words, would I have to (and how could I) change someone else's lesson and use it in my class without feeling like I stole it from them?

Unit Plans

A few weeks later in the semester we talked about the idea of unit plans - several lessons that connect to each other because of a broader idea or concept. Although we had previously talked about implementing unit plans in past semesters (with both Beth and Jessica), we as art ed students had never really had to consider them up (until this point) when writing our lesson plans. Thinking back to my own middle and high school art experience (even though middle school was about a decade ago - scary!) I don't really remember doing lessons that related to one another in a coherent "unit plan" way. Maybe once I got to AP art things flowed better and seeemed more concise, but for the most part, I remember doing projects that taught us specifically about the principles and elements.

I'm not really sure why my teachers wouldn't connect their lessons under a central theme or unit. It totally makes sense to do so - students can connect what they learn in one lesson and broaden that knowledge to new topics under a related lesson. It helps solidify things you've taught in the past while giving students information they can remember in the long term. I also like that having a unit plan gives teachers a place to start when trying to write a lesson. It makes it easier to conceptualize where you want to bring your students and how you want to help them get there; rather than writing a lesson that is totally out of left field and doesn't relate to anything you've talked about in the past. I would much rather learn a lot about one topic than do lessons that only revolve around the principles and elements because it provides for more interesting conceptual exploration while the lessons can also include important info on the principles and elements snuck in.

Another awesome thing about unit plans is the fact that there are so many possibilities in choosing one! Even just in our class alone, I have seen some really awesome unit ideas that can lead to a huge variety of interesting lessons for students of all ages. Some unit plans - like Identity or Fear - lead to a lot of student exploration of the self, and others - like Transformation - lead to really great material exploration through different media and artist studies. There are so many topics that students can use to really explore on a deeper level that will teach them to look at the world a little differently than before, by using their art to do so.

Grow a Game Day

Another memorable class of ours was the day we played Grow a Game. After getting into randomly assigned groups, we had to work together to create a game based off what we picked in the grow a game activity on the smartboard. This then led us to creating our own game for teachers to play that would help them create lesson plans. Originally, I wasn't sure what grow-a-game really had to do with lesson planning, but I soon realized that it is a great tool for teachers who are experiencing their own version of "writers block." I really enjoyed working in a smaller group to create a fun game that would help formulate aspects of a lesson for teachers who played the game because it showed me that there are places we can go to in order to start creating a lesson, rather than having a totally blank start. I realized that the actual ideas behind a lesson plan do not need to be over-thought, as long as your objectives are clear and useful to those students, at that time, in that place. The games we created showed us so many different ways to include culture/social events, new media, and even the post-modern principles in a lesson, and the culmination of all the games gave us even more potential for new and exciting lessons. Overall, a great activity on how to come up with fun, inventive, and modern lessons in a fun and interesting way!

I should have been blogging all semester! YIKES.

So, falling behind on blog entries was definitely not a good idea nor my intentions at the beginning of the semester, but alas, I have gotten super wrapped up in my assignments/tests that all had stricter deadlines and, well, here I am! It's really tough to think back to certain things I wanted to blog about from the last two months, so I will be catching up on these posts by writing about our 55-minute lessons that have been going on every class for the last month.

 ** Edited, 12/13/12: I didn't really end up doing that at all, so if you're starting with this post don't expect to find many posts like what I thought I would be writing about up there.**


Before I start that though, I will be writing a few posts about some of the more memorable days from the semester. The first one that really stands out would be the day we talked about post-modern principles. I thoroughly enjoyed this class because it basically told us to take everything we experienced in art class and even our art education careers up until now, and completely turn it on its head. Of course the principles and elements of design are important and need to be taught in the classroom, but I loved the idea of teaching them in "secretive" ways - they don't need to be thrown in students faces! There are way more interesting and explorative ways to teach them. Teachers shouldn't make lessons based around a principle or element, because that's just boring and overdone. Teach the elements and principles through lessons that have a grander purpose, a bigger focus, (excuse the unintentional rhyme) and the principles and elements can slide in somewhere on the side. I love this new framework for writing lessons, and I think it's really important to always keep an open mind to new teaching strategies and changes that could and will happen all around you. Staying up-to-date with things going on in the art ed world is really important because it not only keeps your teaching fresh and your students motivated, but it could also help you figure out more efficient ways of teaching which will lead to all around success in your classroom.