Journal Entry #5

Journal 5: Choose one of the scenarios described in the reading and answer questions embedded in the text of that scenario.

I chose “A Spooky Tale”, which is about four art teachers realizing the downfalls of an art curriculum being centered on the holidays. The scenario talked about the dissatisfaction of these teachers with the crafts that occupy art lessons around the holidays. They solved this problem with some very creative art projects about Halloween. My favorites were the project with an adult giving a make-up demonstration and the discussion about why art, television, movies, etc. are “scary” and what makes us feel fear while watching, listening, etc. to “scary” media.

What are the possible drawbacks with an art curriculum centered on the holidays?

It gives very little to no education about other cultures. Often, crafts focused on the holidays end up being more about the commercial side of the holiday than the religious or cultural (eg. Witches, black cats, Santa Claus, the Easter bunny). It is also very difficult to integrate art education into a craft about the holidays. How can you teach Van Gogh and Santa Claus at the same time? Teaching art is much more difficult if you occupy class time with crafts about the media’s portrayal of the holidays.

Why were the art teachers dissatisfied?

The children in their classes were not getting an art education. They were getting to do crafts about holidays. It would be very professionally dissatisfying to feel like you were not teaching to your full potential. These art teachers did a great job of solving this problem and integrating art into crafts about the holidays.

Wouldn’t it be easier to continue the old way?

Of course it would be easier to continue the old way. A good teacher does what is best and most beneficial to the children whether it is easy or difficult. In the end, the teachers were happier and more satisfied and the children were better educated and probably had more fun.

Puzzles

Journal Entries for Puzzles

Puzzling #1: I love puzzles! However, I am not very good at them. I’m not sure what it is, as I am a very visual person. Perhaps it is that I often learn through repetition, and there is not repetition in puzzles. Once you fit that piece, you fit that piece.

Our puzzle is beautiful, but very complicated. Today we worked on starting the frame.

Puzzling #2: Today seemed like we were starting to get somewhere. The frame is probably about halfway there. It helped that all 4 of our group members were there today. I think it’s really helpful when we each tackle a section of the puzzle and then work on that particular section. It’s really fun going through all the many pieces and seeing, “Oh, that’s my piece…wait, that’s his…that one goes over there…” instead of just being overwhelmed by how many pieces they are. So, already a life lesson from the puzzles: when you break things down and deal with them piece by piece (and as a team, if possible), they are no longer overwhelming.

Puzzling #3: We moved our puzzle to a different table today because we realized that the board we were working with was too small for our puzzle. I’ve never seen such a big puzzle! Today we started to color code our pieces into plastic bags so that we can get the puzzle done faster. Hopefully this will help us to be efficient. It’s starting to feel a bit hopeless, like we’ll never get done.

Puzzling #4: Our puzzle was particularly frustrating today. We have finished the border, but that is all. Even with four of us splitting the work into sections, it is incredibly difficult to find the pieces you need for your part of the puzzle. I’m trying to be optimistic in that when some members of the other group come to help us, the work will go faster.

Puzzling #5: Color-coding was and remains to be the best idea anyone has ever had and I use it in every area of my life, whenever and wherever possible. It is the best idea for this puzzle ever. If I need a piece of a fish, I look in the fish bag. If I need some ocean, I look in the ocean bag. Color-coding made my day today.

Puzzling #6: Biggest puzzle ever, most frustrating project ever, best idea for improving teamwork in a group of people I ever imagined could exist. Seriously, it creates conversation and just forces us to work together as a team. We don’t have a choice. It’s wonderful. Families should do this when they go for counseling.

Puzzling #7: I think the ocean in our puzzle is bigger than the real ocean.

Puzzling #8: Today, it was just Kristen and I puzzling and it was quite wonderful. It’s a bit easier with less people, because we’re not all in each other’s way. Someone else was also giving us a hand with our puzzle after I left on Monday, and it’s starting to come together. Maybe the real ocean is bigger than our puzzle. Maybe.

Puzzling #9: So, we took a pretty long break from puzzling. The next important thing that happened was: Chenelle finished our puzzle! She is the best. Seriously, I am so psyched that this puzzle we’ve spent the entire semester doing is finally finished. This makes me so happy.

Puzzling #10: We’re doing an installation with our puzzles. Here’s the thing: we spent SUCH a long time doing that puzzle. Seriously, I had nightmares about it. And now we’re tearing it up? I’m not sure I like this…but maybe we will be able to collaborate to find a creative solution.

Puzzling #11: Yay! We decided as a group to keep our puzzles at least partially together. This makes me happy. I like the idea that we have to use everyone’s puzzle on our balloon, because that stresses the collaborative part of this project.

Journal Entry #4

Journal 4: How will I create a holistic portrait of the learners in my classes? What will I need to know about them and how will I apply my knowledge?

Creating a holistic portrait of learners in my classes is going to be an incredibly difficult task. A lot of it will be getting to know each learner individually. It’s getting to know how these particular children individually develop cognitively, emotionally, socially, physically, aesthetically, and linguistically. That’s a long list, but it’s worth it to get to know each child’s level of development in each area because I believe that a holistic approach is very important.

When I gain this knowledge about each child I will apply it to make each child’s learning journey a good one. I remember what it’s like being taught math in a “different language” than I speak. If I understand that one child is a kinesthetic learner and another is a verbal learner, I can use that knowledge to be a better teacher to those children.

I found the section on adolescence particularly interesting because I am very interested in working with adolescents in the area of art therapy. The mention of a higher suicide rate in adolescents was hard to read, but inspiring, because perhaps I can help to lower those numbers. However, I’d never looked at it from a holistic perspective. I’d never taken all the factors that go into a young person’s development and realized that I can use every one of those factors to help that young person.

Why do I think the knowledge of holistic development is important in providing appropriate instruction for my students?

As it says in the article, it is very important to get an overall portrait of the learners in our class. It was really helpful to read this article and get such a full picture of every stage of development. It is important to have a grasp of the capabilities of the children you are working with. You would never you tame tigers without adequate training. To go into a classroom without knowledge of children is almost the same thing. You need to understand what you’re dealing with. It’s so important because without it, not only can we not understand the students to teach them, but we also won’t be able to understand why one child is good at math and another is good at drama. It is very helpful to be reminded that everyone learns differently.

Journal Entry #2

Journal 2:What preconceptions do you hold about the nature of childhood and children? How do these ideas affect your understanding of the role of the teacher and the nature of the content of art education? How did your experiences today confirm or change your pre-existing ideas?

I have a lot of preconceptions about the nature of childhood that aren’t accurate. I often fall into the bad habit of thinking that because children are innocent and often naïve, they are stupid or simple. I love that we watched James and the Giant Peach so early in the semester because it is such a fantastic reminder that children are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. I think Roald Dahl and Tim Burton have an amazing grasp of what children are capable of. My initial ideas about having a children’s movie revolve around giant spiders and other insects is negative but this movie gives so many positive messages and does not underestimate how strong and intelligent children are.

These ideas of mine, the preconceptions, have the potential to hold me back from giving interesting and challenging lessons as a teacher. This is a huge problem because children will work with what they are given. If I underestimate the children in my class and do a craft instead of an art project, they will all lose a great experience. James’ character in the movie helped me get over this misconception that children are both innocent and inadequate. Seeing a child with an imagination use his imagination the way James does is inspiring to me to be a better teacher.

Looking back at this film and this question later in the semester, I find that I am still falling into the same trap of underestimating children while I am planning my workshop. I find that I am consistently questioning whether a child will be capable of that activity or whether it will be safe for them. As adults, a lot of our preconceptions about children and what they are capable of are incorrect conceptions, and I am still striving to remedy that in my teaching skills. It is helpful to remember James and all he accomplished, and to remember that the children in my workshop and in my future classroom are just as intelligent and creative as James.

Journal Entry #3

Journal 3: How do Sylvia Kind’s ideas about children’s art relate to those you have held? How can they guide you as you approach practice?

Narrative was the learning type that interested me the most, probably because that is the type of learner I was as a child. For me, everything had to tell some kind of story. This is probably why I hated math so much. I think as instructors, it is important to keep in mind the difference between what she calls “invention” and “description” (Kind 13). The difference between a child telling his or her own experiences and a child trying to escape their circumstances by inventing experiences is crucial. I think that these two types of narrative art could be used as tools for using visual art as therapy. The way a child views their world, as shown through their artwork, can be a great jumping off point to talk with them about their lives.

Experiential was an interesting type to read about as well, because it reminded me that children are physical learners. Children like to use their hands and bodies to learn. We’ve talked in class about babies using their mouths to test out new things in their lives. As children grow, they test out new things by using their bodies. From an early age, children relate to the world by showing adults their experiences (for example, a child will imitate the bird they saw) using their bodies. It is important as instructors to remember children’s natural physicality when we are teaching art.

I found the similarities between these two learning styles interesting, again because I am characteristic of these types of learning. I like art to tell a story, whether it is a painting, a play, a movie, or a sculpture. I am also a very kinesthetic learner: I need to do something with my hands, not just see it done, in order to understand. The learning types described in this chapter apply not only to children, but to adults as well. As instructors, we need to keep in mind all the different types of learners, but we also need to play to our own strengths. Narrative and experiential learning are my strengths and are two areas in which I hope I can excel when I am instructing art.

Journal Entry #1

Journal 1: Discuss your best art experience in school. What made it so memorable? What made it such a good experience? Discuss your worst experience of art in school? What made it so memorable? What made it such a poor experience?

I found it interesting, when asked to relate my best and worst art experiences as a child, how clearly each stuck out to me. It has always been interesting to me the experiences children remember that their teachers probably do not. As adults (and future teachers), we often make an impact without realizing how large that impact will be.

My mother taught my kindergarten class because we lived in a very small town and there was only one kindergarten class to go to. I remember very clearly the day we were doing cotton ball snowmen. As per usual, we had to cut out a photocopied snowman, glue him on construction paper, and cover him with cotton balls.

However, I cut and glued much faster than the other kids, and I was bored sitting and waiting for them. Deciding to be artistic, I took my markers and drew all over the snowman, which of course was not the point of the craft. My teacher (and mom) wasn’t too upset with me, but I did have to cover all the marker drawings over with cotton balls. This is the first time I can ever remember feeling that as an artist, I was being asked to conform to what everyone else was doing. It’s intriguing that I can still remember this first instance of conformity in such clear detail.

Years later, when I was in sixth grade, we were being taught to paint. We were doing our own versions of Monet’s Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies. The exercise was to teach us how to look at a work of art and then reproduce it ourselves. I learned a lot about art through that project. It taught me about light and reflection. I remember being proud of the painting.

It is interesting that although the second project was a project of conformity, I felt that it was a good project. There is something worthwhile about being taught the basics of art before you create yourself and learning skills that will improve your own creative process. With the snowman, I was bored and unhappy with a craft that didn’t let me express myself. In the Monet painting, I expressed myself and found my creativity improving.