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.... ------->

I believe that it is an exciting time to be a part of the world of education. There is a buzz as we see the Common Core Curriculum and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) emerging into schools with great potential. I see these initiatives as being steps towards more holistic learning in which different subject areas, and ways of problem-solving will overlap and become connected. Isn't this a perfect time for art to play a vital role in the education reform? Art is a tool to connect different ways of thinking, it is a means of exploration and discovery, and a way to ask big questions. This is the time for art to have a voice and be recognized as essential component of education for children!   Being freshly out of school (graduate school to clarify) myself, I'm excited to be a part of  this transformation. But I also question my exact role in all of this actually is.

• In what ways should I connect with other teachers? 
  
• How should my curriculum be scaffolded for my after school program to support what kids are learning during the school day? 
  
• How much influence should my students directly have on structuring the curriculum? 
  
• What are my main objectives for learning? 
  
• What are the schools main objectives?
  
• What are Baltimore's main objectives? 
  

With this in mind I have been brainstorming, mapping, and writing out my ideas for this coming year. Barclay Elementary Middle School is a community school.  Being a community school means there are many partnerships with neighboring non-profit community organizations, there is significant parent involvement and many additional volunteers who run programs during the day and after school. Whatever emerges from this year should embrace all of these layers of the Barclay community.