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.