SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSION

Throughout the semester I learned in class, readings/assignments, reflection through comments on assignments(Via Patrick), and even through teaching. The things I learned in the class as well as homework helped developed me into the teacher I wanted to be. More often than not I would find myself thinking back on classroom leanings/ readings when teaching 3D fundamentals/service learning. In this writing I will describe some of the most valuable things I learned through out this course.

      First thing I found very important was the Standards. The standards are comprehend, reflect, create, and transfer. When learning about the differences of standards vs. curriculum I learned that standards are basically the foundation of the house and curriculum is whats inside the house. This was so important to me because I reflected on standards often in making lesson plans. Curriculum helped shape lesson plans also because it was 1. materials, tools, and techniques 2. Art world (contemporary artworks) 3. Idealization 4.critical reflection 5. The language of art; so of course this helped shape the lesson plans, but I really wanted to make sure students understood. Sure I wanted to make the lesson fun and engaging but I also wanted students to look, think, make, and connect when making their art. That is why I found standards so important. A reading/ assignment that really made me think about this was School Art Style, Standards, and Acknowledge Student Interest.

    Second was when we did Explorations, these were very important to me because of the feedback/comments I would get on them. One of the explorations I did was exploration 11 which I painted things around me and compared them. The comment I received for this was "How could you use this exploration in teaching art? How could it relate to how we understand the world (psychological implications)?", I found this input very valuable to my teaching because it made me think of how this could become a bigger idea/ essential question for students. Explorations for me were things I would love to give students, for me they remind me of the lesson menu maps or the creative play sheets. 

      Forth was 3 essential conditions for making art.  These are 1. artistic causality which is what causes someone to make art. So in  my teachings that was usually what drove them, passion. 2. Idiosyncratic meaning which was  life experiences becoming the art we make. In teaching this was personal references students would use to make their art, personal. 3. Intentional Symbolization which was media, process, experiences, and this was non discursive. I usually observed this in my teaching when the students would be trying to get a message across, or maybe the message was one they didn't even notice till the project was made;this was pertinent. The 3 essential conditions for art making soon became the 3 P's; Passion, Personal, and pertinent. With the three P's in mind it helped me create an engaging environment for my students.

     Fifth was something I really do plan on implementing in future classes which is Cross-Content. To me this really makes me feel as thought the student will be in charge of their learning which will make them more engaged and excited; I had these thoughts after watching Setting Sail. I knew I would want to teach cross-content when we were given the assignment Motivation and Idealization, we got to come up with lesson plans for elementary, middle, and high school and for me this was so important because of the feed back I received. "Project One: How do students come up with the pictures in the first ideation activity? It seems that they would answer the questions first and as a result...have ideas for their images. Is that what you intended? Project Two: Consider examples that are similar BUT NOT THE SAME as the project. OR, you can show examples after students have their ideas. This will give them opportunities to consider building techniques without directing their ideas. Project Three: This would be a great collaborative experience with the class defining the how the city will look and function--and then students creating their particular area."The feedback really made me feel inspired that students would feel engaged and interested in what they were learning because it had a purpose. 

     Finally learning about Differentiated Learning in our assigned readings for our service learning 3D class helped me understand the different ways of thinking. One of the most important things I learned from the readings was the word YET.  I often found myself using the word yet when students would feel stuck and say stuff like I can't do it and I would say something similar to you just can't do it yet, but keep trying and you'll get there. D.I was also important to me because it was a way to describe that students are working towards the same goals just using different steps to get there which was kind of like scaffolding; which could be tied into Brain Based Theories.  As teachers we always want out students to succeed so sometimes we need to take a step back and teach things in a different way, because everyone is different. Its also important to challenge students ways of thinking, it keeps them from being bored TRYING new things, and connecting so their brains will be able to store the information they just gained. An important way to gauge students on where there at was pre-assessments, it was important to me to know that this wasn't only a way to see where your students understandings were but also a way to get to know them. A pre-assessment could be what makes them them, and this is important because when you know your students you can design your curriculum; which is what we did after our first assignment. It is also important to learn what our students like but not make it a fixed learning off of what they only like this is fluid not fixed which can go into the categories of one of the learning theories, we want all students to be able to solve problems in order to learn and grow. I saw this in my own teaching when we would come into the problem of one of our students only wanting to make collages, by encouraging new materials and encouraging the try aspect of learning, by the end of the year the student was interested in much more than just the collages (although he did not fully shy away from the collages he did however slow down on the use of magazines for collages and started exploring found materials to add onto his collages.)

     Even though there were many classes, lessons, assignments, etc.  that helped me grow as a teacher the ones listed above are a few I really reflect on and would like to use in my classroom. ALL STUDENTS ARE INTELLIGENT and it is important as a future educator to provide students with the steps they need in order to strive (teachers set the framework, students build on it) and that is what this experience has taught me.