GD K-1 My Many Colors

Successes: What I felt to be most successful in this unit, was the student engagement in the process of making art. It seems that these students rarely have the opportunity to paint and make patterns on a large scale.  I also think the multiple mediums allowed for very different artistic experiences within the same project. There was no prescribed outcome for this project which allowed students to make their own choices about what colors to chose and what kinds of pattern to make. What was reinforced to me throughout this unit was that student choice, in art making, can lead to higher investment in the work, which then can result in higher quality work. 

Challenges: Some students had a difficult time cutting out their figures. They are still young at this age and haven’t fully developed their fine motor skills. They needed quite a bit of help, especially if the poses they took on for their silhouettes were more dynamic. The final challenge was the background. For this part I let students do whatever they wanted. It acted as an extension for those who were done early. I’d like to figure out a more directed idea of what kids could do for their backgounds. 

GD 2-3 Splish Splash Banners

Successes: I think that the idea behind this unit is good. Creating banners to declare and celebrate respect in the classroom. I also found that the streamers were a fun addition at the conclusion of the banner-making.

Challenges: This has been a challenging class from the start because it’s a very large group and  there have been so many contrasting personalities. Classroom management has become a large focus within each class. I think that there was a lot less investment from the students in doing this project. One reason why this art exploration was not as successful is because of the lack of the personal meaning.  Recognizing this,  I created my next lesson to have that personal tie-in. The 2-3rd Graders are now becoming superheroes, creating a symbolic mask showing their super-strengths.  

GD 4-5 Dream School Project

Successes: In terms of student interest and investment, this has been the most successful art exploration. The project is collaborative. Students have really gotten into this idea of team-work. Last week Rashwana who was acting as a leader for the team told her group at the end of class, “I’m really proud of our work”. This was after she mediated a heated discussion about who was going to use the glue saying, “We just need to work together, disagreement is going to set us back.” Joi in another group told me, “What I like about this art program is that you listen to the kids’ ideas.” Both of these comments were very meaningful to me as a teacher, because I think collaborative art making is really good for kids to learn how to probem-solve and the skills developed by this experience are built upon and used throughout life.  Joi's comment was important because student choice is so important in education and especially in art making. Choice allows for creativity.

Classroom management has prevented me to do collaborative projects with my other classes. I want to find a way that students can still work together despite this. That’s for me to think more about.

Challenges: At the beginning it was hard for the class to focus on my demonstration of making paper shapes. When the kids are working, they are focused and energetic about their art, it’s when they are waiting or watching that they become disrespectful. I’m learning that demonstrations need to be short and to the point. But I’ve also had experiences where demonstrations are too short and then the quality of student work suffers because a student didn’t know what to do.

Teaching an after school art enrichment program has given me the opportunity to develop and implement a unique arts curriculum. I have sequenced it in four parts, one influencing the next. 

DREAMS: I chose this as the first theme because I wanted students to think of the imaginative, the impossible, the extreme, the absurd, and magical. The units that surround this theme allow students to escape from realities and create their own worlds and ideas. These units I have been striving to make light hearted, fun and exciting. 

SELF: These set of units surround the theme of identity. Who am I? What do I value? Where have I been? and Where am I going? Students will look inward to what makes them unique. My hope is that I will get a chance to know my students in a different way and understand how they see themselves. I believe that it is important to know and understand ourselves before we make assumptions about others. 

SCHOOL: After investigating who we are as individuals we will take a closer look at our school. This theme will be broken down into two sections. What do value about our school? and What needs to be improved? My howpe is that the unit for this theme will be the same for all grade levels. It will coincide with the political campaign to obtain the Block Grant Bill to fund the renovation and rebuilding of all Baltimore City schools. Students will have an awareness of the meaning behind the campaign and will use their art to communicate their ideas. 

COMMUNITY: Moving outward, beyond our school we will look at our entire community, what and who it consists of and the relation we have to our community. This is the last theme of the year. It's now pretty far into the future and I'm not exactly sure what this project will look like. It is my hope that this unit will come in the form of a collaborative mural telling the story of our community. 

I believe that storytelling is a timeless and effective tool for teaching and learning. That is the lense that I am taking with this entire curriculum. I want the students to be the researchers, learners, experts, storytellers. I want them to be able to express what is important to them through their works of art. 

In the end I hope that this curriculum helps my students become more aware of themselves and surroundings. I want it to empower them to continue telling their story and be perceptive of the uniqueness of others, too. These are high ambitions for a first year art teacher, I'm aware of that.  But if we as art teachers don't give kids this opportunity to celebrate individuality and community, who will?  

Today is the first day of the after-school enrichment program! I am excited to begin teaching and getting to know my kids. The lessons that I have planned allow room for creativity and personal expression so that I can begin understand what values these students find important and understanding their processes of thinking. After this first week, when I will be teaching grades Pre-K through 8, I will have more of an understanding of what ideas to focus on and I can concretely map out the curriculum. This is an adventure. I'm dedicated and open to the possibilities that will be cultivated this year.  This week is a really about developing a classroom community, getting to know my students, being open about who I am, and making art together. We'll be setting up the stage for what is to come. 

I'm going to attempt to post my lesson plans at the conclusion of each week with reflections on strengths and challenges. This will both enable me to process and debrief from the week, modify my lessons for next time I teach them, and it will become a resource for other artist/teachers. 

But for now....a couple more things to prepare, and HERE. WE. GO.... ------->