Week #14: Parting Advice for a Pre-service Teacher

As our time in this course comes to a close we have been asked to reflect on everything we have learned in ARTE 560 Secondary Methods for K-12 Certification.  Specifically, we are taking a look back at the advice we gave ourselves and each other from the first blog of the semester and adding to our lists.

The tips I gave myself at the beginning of the course included:

1.  Make personal connections with your students.

2.  Prepare for students with specific needs.

3.  Keep yourself happy and healthy.

Some of the things I have learned from my time during our class and my observations include:

1.  Give students individual attention and instruction.

-In my observations this was a key component of the teacher’s method.  Through individual instruction he insured that every student understood the terms, techniques, and concepts associated ceramics – a medium unfamiliar to most of the students.

2.  Allow students the freedom to work on their own and make decisions about their artwork.

-My cooperating teacher had a flourishing classroom in part due to his quiet, hands-off attitude.  Students knew what they needed to work on, and worked without being hounded or hovered over.

-Cindy Foley gave a wonderful TED Talk about making students better thinkers and better artists.  She claimed that art education could improve greatly by giving students more freedom and forcing them to be comfortable with ambiguity and generating ideas.

3.  Use technology effectively and to your benefit.

-Technology has become an integral part of students’ lives, as well as the school and art classroom.  We as teachers have to adapt to this change and make use of the new tools at our students’ disposal.

-This course introduced me to the usefulness blogs and Google Docs, both things I had absolutely no experience with before.  It also made apparent how important it is to have documents and assignments somewhere online that students can access and view them.

-The school I was observing at was completely technologically integrated with a 1 to 1 device ratio, and introduced me to the Schoology app.  The students were able to see all their documents, turn in assignments, receive grades, and view comments from their iPads.  The widespread use of technology really made the students more successful, and helped streamline classroom management.

4.  Find a system for completing all of the administrative work you need to do.

-My cooperating teacher always stressed the importance of finding a reliable system for grading – one that does not require too much time, one that is not too intensive, one that is based on clear rubrics and feedback, and one that is based in formative assessments.

Week #13: Themes from High School Observations

One thing that I have noticed as a theme in my high school classroom observations is the importance of individual instruction and good class management.  My teacher, Mr. Jones*, has a wonderful relationship with his students despite his quiet, slow, hands-off demeanor.  One of the first things I was surprised by in his classroom was that he did not even have to tell the students what to do, or where to begin.  Instead he had a number of assignments the students needed to work on written up on the chalk board for students to see, and they understood that they had to work their way down the list.  The students always walked in, signed in on the attendance sheet, got their work, and got started.  Mr. Jones described each of these little assignments on the list as a “learning target” with a “summative assessment.”  Consequently, they were exercises that built upon the skills of the previous exercises until the students were skilled enough to complete a larger artwork.  Mr. Jones would only occasionally remind the whole class of when things were due, and he would always call students up individually to grade and critique their work.  This allowed students to work with very few interruptions, with flexible deadlines, and with chances to improve their work.

Mr. Jones was a huge proponent for this individual attention, and he carried it over to his instruction as well.  About half way through my observations the class shifted to a new project based in clay sculpting.  The students were asked to first complete three drawings of visual textures and four drawings of unique non-traditional vases before reporting to Mr. Jones for instruction in how to work the clay.  Their goal was to first produce a textured tile followed by a vase or bowl.  The teacher told me that with so many special needs students in the classroom, and with so many students at so many different skill levels, individual instruction was the only way he could ensure that the class knew how to work the clay properly.  He explained that he had taught the same lesson in a lecture and demonstration style to the entire class in the past, and that many students had not understood, wasted clay, and produced poor work.  His new technique was to take time with each student at a table in the back of the room and show them how to use a wire cutter to slice clay, a rolling pin to create a slab, and a knife and ruler to cut out a tile.  After that he would send the student to work on their own at their table.  He used the same approach when teaching students how to create slab vases or bowls.  As a result all of the students’ work came out looking well crafted, and they seemed to understand every one of the steps involved in the process.

Below are a few examples of the work

Students completed as part of this project:

This approach is interesting to me because it is contrary to most of the teaching instruction I have received in school.  Most of my teachers urge me to develop lecture-based lessons to give to the entire class.  Perhaps the risk of leaving the class unattended while individually instructing students is too great for them.  However, Mr. Jones’ method seems effective – so long as the class is managed well enough.  This is a technique that I can take into my teaching career because it does work so well, and because it teaches students to be more autonomous, something that I value.

*Names appearing in this blog entry have been changed to protect the privacy of the school and individuals mentioned.

Week #13: Ideal Teaching Environment

At the beginning of the week this week we discussed interviews for teaching positions, and Gina gave us a chance to think about and answer some of the questions she actually asks potential art teachers.  After having this discussion we were asked to take a little time to reflect on our ideal teaching environment – and that is the topic I will be covering in this blog entry.

(Retrieved from:  http://www.inaperfectschool.com/)

My ideal teaching situation would definitely involve being part of an established art program with multiple teachers, access to supplies, and the support of the school and district.  Having multiple art teachers would be a major asset to me, both as a new teacher and as an artist.  Being able to share ideas and techniques with my peers is something that has always helped me succeed.  In addition, I feel that having access to the quality facilities, supplies, and materials that a strong program provides would be conducive to my performance.  If I have access to good supplies my lessons can be more effective, interesting, and creative.  As a result students can be more engaged, learn more, and create higher-quality works of art.  Lastly, having school involvement and support would help me to show student work, engage the student population at large, and participate with parents and the community.  These things are not always considered an essential part of what goes on in the art classroom, but they make for a stronger program, a stronger curriculum, and – in my case – for a better, well-rounded, involved, and active art teacher.

All of these circumstances, the circumstances of an established art program, also contribute to student achievement.  If the students are excited about what they are learning, the materials they get to experiment with, and the opportunities they have to share work and be recognized, then they will actually learn more and produce better work.

My ideal teaching environment would also include plenty of room for my own growth and development.  Continued learning is really important to me.  Every lesson can be improved, and every teacher can learn.  I would definitely take advantage of professional development opportunities provided by my school and district, but would make use of other teachers in the art department and the school as a resource.  I find that the people I have closer relationships with professionally help me generate better ideas and more ideas.  I would also love to be involved with NAEA and the SCAEA, and take advantage of their conferences, meetings, and workshops.  

Week #12: Portfolio of Artworks

During the latter half of this week in class we talked about our portfolios, and how it is important that we present our work to potential employers.  I would like to take a little time to discuss myself as an artist and share some of my work here.

As an artist my strengths are within the sphere of two-dimensional artwork.  My emphasis is photography, and I have a special love of film photography, but I am also fairly skilled in printmaking, drawing, and painting.  Sculpture and ceramics have never been my strong suit, but I have had to learn techniques in both.  I find that I have an easier time with constructive sculpture such as wood working or jewelry making, and I think it is because my dad was such a handyman when I was growing up and I often helped him with his projects.

I would love to teach any kind of art class, and would definitely be up to the challenge of a sculpture class or a media class.  My wheelhouse is definitely the world of two dimensions, but I have always been excited to learn new techniques, and even in the artistic subjects I struggle with I have always received positive feedback.

I have a large variety of work, which is unfortunately poorly photographed, or not photographed at all.  This makes it hard to share my work from the last few years, but I can provide a few examples (these will be displayed below).  In addition, I can provide links to my current website and Flickr page.  My website is a little outdated and needs improvement, but has a large amount of my work, and my Flickr has a good collection of my photography.

Nathan’s Website:  nathansartist.wix.com/nathansmith

Nathan’s Flickr Page:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/139372233@N02/

Below are a few examples of my more previous work.  These pieces have not been documented completely or added to my website quite yet.  They are mainly projects are from classes in jewelry making, printmaking, figure structure drawing, digital photography, and large format black and white film photography.

Week #12: College and Career Guidance (For the Art Classroom)

This week we briefly discussed the fact that our high school students will be on the search for potential colleges and careers, and that as teachers it is our job to attempt to guide them.  We might not be guidance or career counselors, but as the art “specialists” in the building it is our responsibility to make sure our students are informed of careers and universities in the arts.

(Retrieved from:  http://www.sascs.org/academics/college-guidance)

One way I have seen teachers approach this task is to have students write brief papers about careers within the arts.  If there were extra time within the semester I would probably prefer to ask students to deliver short presentations on different art careers.  This way they can all learn about a variety of possibilities, hear from their peers, and get further practice at public speaking.  Beyond that I would be sure to discuss colleges and careers with noticeably interested students.  I would make special efforts with students involved in Art Club, National Art Honor Society, and AP art classes by including discussions about art careers and schools every semester.

As far as specific advice for students is concerned, I would be sure to give students realistic advice about the cost of particular universities, the strengths of particular art programs, and the realities of particular careers.  For example, we discussed in class how students should know that high paying, high status graphic design careers would not be located in towns like Columbia.  Students would also need to be able to weigh the value of particular degrees versus the cost of loans.  In class we discussed how an architecture degree would be more valuable from Clemson, and how a degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design would be much more expensive loan-wise than a degree from USC – perhaps more expensive than the loans are worth, despite the prestige of the degree.  I would be sure to explain these things to students as they ask for advice, or as they discuss possible plans.

Personally, I had one art professor at USC Upstate that helped steer me in the right direction when it came to my real college career (I was a dual enrollment student at the time).  I was considering either going to USC or College of Charleston, and he told me, “if you want to go to college and paint watercolor pictures of Rainbow Row then go to Charleston, but if you want an experience of diversity in art and ideas then go to Columbia.”  I ended up taking his advice, and I am glad that I did.  Hopefully I can provide equally useful advice to my students.

Week #11: Collage Projects

Last week we discussed and practiced a great abstract collage project that highlights all of the elements and principles of design.  The project was based upon a list of basic compositional arrangements, analogous colors, handmade and textured papers, and kamikaze colors (complimentary colors assigned by the teacher).  Below are a few photographs of my own work and the work of my classmates:

If I were going to teach a collage lesson I would either approach it in a nonobjective way similar to the project we explored in class, or I would use Romare Bearden as a reference and have students create composite landscapes, scenes, or portraits.  His collage work The Block is an amazing example of a combination of colored papers, textured papers, and found images from newspapers and magazines.  In order to make the lesson relevant, I would prompt students to create scenes of their communities.  They could choose to focus on their neighborhoods, their school, their church, the local downtown area, or any location of personal importance.

This is Romare Bearden’s collage The Block:

This is his work The Block II (it features the use of various foils, papers, paint, ink, and graphite):

Here are some detail shots from the original piece:

Examples of similar student projects from around the internet:

Week #11: Alternate Watercolor Techniques

Last week we spent some time experimenting with an alternative to watercolor painting and ink wash.  This process involved using dry erase markers and magic markers with water and brushes to create watercolor-like drawings.  I would like to simply document my experimentation with this process and discuss some of the ways it could be applied in the art classroom.

There were two primary techniques we discovered in class:  one that involves drawing directly on the paper and using water to pull it on the paper, and one that involves scribbling ink onto a palette or plate and using the water as the transfer medium to move the pigment to the paper.  We experimented with a variety of different markers including Crayola markers, Vis-à-vis markers, and EF 400 Waterbase markers.  Below are a few examples of my experimentation with these techniques:

All of the following images are examples

of experiments created by my classmates:

This process could be very easily applied in the art curriculum as an exploration of the elements of line, shape, or value.  It could also be used as a substitute for watercolor or india ink in a drawing or painting project.  Landscapes, still lifes, portraiture, and more are all within the scope of this unique medium.

In relation to Cindy Foley’s TED Talk concerning teaching student to think like artists (that we watched in class) this medium is useful because it has so much versatility.  It is loose enough, and nontraditional enough to allow students to create their own techniques and select their own subject matter.  This would lead right into Foley’s ideas of students being comfortable with ambiguity, and being able to generate ideas.  Her talk can be found here:

Teaching art or teaching to think like an artist? | Cindy Foley | TEDxColumbus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcFRfJb2ONk