I am in my first year of teaching as well as my first year of graduate school. I graduate with my undergraduate degree from Mizzou in Art Education, and I decided that it was he place I wanted my advanced degree as well. It has been a busy year combining my first years together but I am happy that I am doing it now with all of the great people I am having a chance to meet through this program. Marshall High School is treating me well, and my family is healthy and happy.
Reflection:
I thought that this article was good, for the most part. Of course, I think the most important is being passionate about teaching young artists. Also, organization is one that I am good and bad at. I am a list maker and a calendar filler, however, with everything that I am juggling right now, my organization at school is suffering. But, The one I am most interested in is number 4. It's is not that I don't understand how school plays a role in a students life, but it is my students that do not understand. My Art 1 classes, that are made up of mainly freshmen, are so very frustrating. The other art teacher and I have tried so hard to make everything fun, and creative, but they just don't care. I feel like they think that we don't understand what they are going through. I want to work more on showing them that I care that their "lives suck" sometimes, and that I am not going to leave them behind, especially when they are getting left behind in so many other classes. I would give myself a 2 on these strategies. I think I excel in some areas and do well in others, but there are ones that I know I need to work on.
Lineage: For my lineage I found myself thinking about a game board. Trying to get to a goal/degree with ups and downs. With that in mind the only game I could think of is chutes and ladders. I noticed in mine that I had many ups and downs with the same teacher. I had the same art teacher K-6 and Again in high school. I noticed that I had many more positive experiences with her in high school, I think because high school was her preference. One moment stuck out in my mind as negative; I was in 6th grade and we were doing a halloween or winter landscape (not sure which), we were using oil pastels and I was shaving the sides of the pastel with my fingernail because I thought it looked like snow and it made it different from anyone else's. She told me to stop, and that I was "hurting" the supplies. I was so afraid after that to do something outside of the rules that my artwork looked like everyone else's he rest of the year. But I have also had amazing teacher as well, a lot in the college level.
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| Sorry for the rotation! |
Erika! Your translation of your lineage is a fabulous idea! It is playful, leaves room for possibility and additions while also visually being very clear. Fantastic metaphor! I wonder how dice might fit into this concept???
ReplyDeleteYour frustration with you Art 1 students is understandable. Some of this takes time of course and your perseverance will pay off. Sometimes kids sabotage their learning because they have been left behind. :( Maybe have them do a drawing that illustrates how there "lives suck" or what have you. Really get into it. Let them indulge. Then, the second part of the project, make transformative. (don't tell them ahead of time) Challenge them to take ownership and create what they really want. Transform it. Might help them understand choice and see they have more of it than they thought. Just an idea. Might help you connect more personally with them too, which is one of the traits many people have felt was important in their own education. Hang in there. :)
Dear Erika - I really get the idea of shoots and ladders! Our experiences don't always lead us in linear trajectories. Also, have you thought of doing a similar project with your students?
ReplyDeleteAs for your underachieving Art 1 kiddos: there are readings and strategies you can use to build them up. Try googling Motivating Underachievers. There is also a book you can buy with the same title, published by Pieces of Learning.