Blog 11

What are the benefits and limitations of integrating the arts throughout the elementary school curriculum? What issues are you encountering as you plan your unit? How do you think these issues might present themselves in the classroom situation? How are you addressing these issues now? How will you address them in the classroom?


The benefit of integrating art throughout the curriculum is that it helps reach students with different learning styles, especially kinesthetic and visual learners. A limitation of integrating art is that art becomes a tool to teach another aspect of curriculum. We can lose sight of teaching art for specific art purposes. Often I found that when I am planning a lesson, it's difficult to keep sight of specific art objectives when I'm attempting to also cover goals from another subject. Some other issues that might show up is how is the integrated curricula going to meet the child learning needs, and will it create interest in the child. I think that when applying these to classroom situation, the issues becomes more difficult because you have to think about more than one child; twenty different learning styles must be addressed in the best ways possible. The way that I would address these issues now is to plan well by getting to know my students learning styles and address them in my unit planning. In a classroom, I think that trying to plan lessons so that they meet the needs of different learning styles as often as possible, and not just one, is important. I also realize, however, that it will not always be possible.

Blog 10

Discuss the relationship between popular culture and art. Why is it important to provide children with a range of media from traditional/historic media to contemporary/popular art media?


Children have to be able to experience and express what they see/hear/feel in the world around them. Pop culture is an essential component for many young students as they are influenced by the trends of the day. In many cases, pop culture IS art, and vice-versa. At the same time, children also need to be able to experience the art, culture, and ideals that have endured over time. A lot of popular culture disappears quickly, which does not necessarily lessen its value or impact, but students need to understand the transitory nature of some popular culture. Allowing them to engage with traditional or historic media allows the to experience something that haas endured, and then asks them to explore WHY it has endured or stayed valuable to a culture.

Blog 9

In Kalin's chapter, we are given some suggestions for creating a safe (physically, emotionally, and socially) environment in which children can learn in, through and about art. Look at the guidelines on pg. 154-155. Describe how you might address each of these guidelines with the child you will be working with.

1. Establish a sense of security through consistently dealing with students in a fair and balanced way using persuasion rather than power or threat to solve problems

• Consistency is key; I would make sure I would deal with each student in an equitable manner while understanding and managing that each student is an individual. I would give them positive comments about their work by telling them that they are doing a great job; by doing this, you give the students confidence when they have a problem. Telling them the possiblities of solving a problem and being enthusiastic about it is also a key, so that they are not concentrating on the frustrating aspects of a situation

2. Set up parameters for class interaction and limits on behaviour.

• I would set up rules of how I would expect the students to behave. As a teacher, you are always around the students to monitor different behaviours to prevent them from getting out of control before something inappropriate happens, or reacting to inapproriateness with a reasonable but firm response. I would do that by using non-verbal cues first, like eye contact, to let them know that you are aware of their behaviour and giving them a chance to stop. This would be dealing with situations in a calm and quiet way without getting other students attention. If a non-verbal cue is not enough, however, I would then progress to direct verbal communication of what I would expect, and deal with the situation from there.

3. Allow students adequate time and instruction so that they can have the opportunity to develop a sense of competence in particular art activities.

• I would instruct them at the beginning of the art activity so that they know what is expected to be done at the end. You don't want to rush the student through the development of the art experience. Setting appropriate timelines, though, also help the students focus and plan. I would make sure to leave an appropriate amount of time for each activity!

4. Provide immediate and meaningful feedback during the formative stages of learning so that students know what they can do well and how they can improve.

• Giving the students positive feedback about their art work allows the student to be confident and encourage them that they can do art very well. When you see where the students could improve their work you give them suggestions of how they can improve without giving them any negative vibe.

5. Strive for a sense of connectedness within the class.

• Talking to the children and getting them involved and excited about the things that they are doing builds your relationship with them. Both sides are happy and enthusiastic. Getting students to celebrate their own work and the work of others, and working on colllaborative projects, also builds a sense of community within the classroom.

6. Show respect for individual differences across cultures, religions, learning styles, race, gender, and thinking by using activities, language, and visuals that support student diversity.

• Helping them understand that everyone is different and unique, and that diversity makes all of us special, is important. Allowing students a chance to speak, demonstrate, and work with culturally diverse materials allows for respect and tolerance to grow. We live in a multicultural country where there are many ethic groups. Showing respect to others mean others will respect you.

7. Develop a feeling of belonging by letting students collaborate and bond with a variety of peers under various circumstances.

• I would form the students into groups where they get to know other people besides their friends, allowing them to communicate and cooperate with each other. Groups would change all the time, and hopefully students would have a chance to "shine" in different circumstances, enhancing their self-worth.

8. Focus on the postive and build on students' unique strengths so that students will persevere in their artistc endeavours.

• Again, giving them positive feedback lets them know that you are aware of their abilities and helps them build self-esteem. Allowing students some choice in projects and assignments allows them to build and showcase their individual strengths.

9. Be caring, respectful, and nurturing at all times.

• Showing that you care and respect the students allows them to build self confidence and lets them know that they will have someone to help guide them if they need it. Providing opportunities for students to be successful allows them to grow both intellectually and emotionally.
  
  

Blog 4

Questions :

5) How will you create a holistic portrait of the learners in your classes? What will you need to know about them, and how will you apply your knowledge?

This is a difficult question! I think that a holistic portrait of the students in my class can only be gained through experience and knowledge of them over time. Kerlavage states that the cognitive, emotial/moral, social, language, physical/perceptual, and aesthetic development of the student must be considered to gain a holistic understandingof each student, and I think this level of information requires intensive and long-term experience (I want to say "exposure") with the child. As we see examples of their actions behaviours, ways of doing things, and ways of thinking, we can batter assess what "developmental level" they have reached. I find some irony that I am considering this article after looking at the problems with a developmental model of art in the last blog - once again, we cannot seem to assess learning without relying on "levels". I do, however, think that the more we understand each child as an individual, with their individual levels of development, the better we can tailor our expectations of growth within the child. This should also lead to a greater understanding of the child's individual learning styles and areas for growth, and make it so I can adapt my teaching style to the needs of my class and the individuals within the class.

6) As a teacher, why do you think the knowledge of holistic development is important in providing appropriate instruction for your students?

Again, as mentioned in the last blog, I do not think we can just teach developmental stages of art to children. A holistic view of the learner allows us to pinpoint strengths and areas of growth within the child, and deal with them (when possible!) on a child-by-child basis as well as tailor class instruction to the needs of the learners. It also allows us to highlight where potential "roadblocks" might occur, and what the causes of them might be.

Blog 8

Discuss the role of art in children's development. How are the cognitive and fine motor skills developed in art essential to the holistic development of a child? How does the art educator respond to the individual needs of the learner while ensuring the continuity of experience?

Art creates opportunities to view and express concepts of life in different ways than the other subject areas. Kerlavage speaks of how art processes influence and develop cognitive abilities as the child moves from representation and symbology, to spacial awareness and visual accuracy, and finally to logical continuity and the abstract. These cognitive processes are essential to a full understanding of the world, and for individuals to reach their full potential. The same form of process occurs with fine motor skill development. Art provides opportunities for students to develop increasing sophisticated and controlled fine motor skills, which allows us all to feel better about the people who fix our watches and operate on our brains! Perhaps more importantly, artistic endeavours provide a variety of ways to develop motor skills, as writing is vastly different than colouring, brush strokes, or manipulating clay. These activities provide a greater depth of experience, and chances for individual growth in the student.

The art educator must consider the needs of the class and the individuals when creating lessons. Hopefully, the teacher then allows for those individual differences, and can differentiate instruction, media, time frame, and/or expectations as needed to meet the needs of both the classroom goals and the abilities/desires of the students. Often the situation itself is not the problem - the teacher just needs to be flexible about how the student approaches that new situation, and respond with appropriate guidance and help when necessary.

Blog 7:

Why do we assess learning in art? How can learning to self-assess in art transfer to other subject areas? Life endeavours?

We assess learning in art because we need some way to quantify growth in students, and thus we need a system that indicates when growth had occured. The values of our society often place emphasis on some form of growth, whether its growth as a society, as a "bottom line", or as an individual, and the value of growth has become intermixed with definitions of success. Somewhat unfortunately, it seems we as educators have to indicate to the different levels of society how growth is occurring in our students; otherwise, how can someone know if we are doing a "good job" of educating?

Learning to be able to assess yourself helps students to learn and improve other academic subject areas, because it forces them to evaluate whatever they are creating by some criteria, often externally created, which says whether their work is "good" or not. Like it or not, society judges its members, evaluating their "worth" and the worth of the things they do or create. Self-assessment allows for reflection and possible correction along a process. This same process of evaluation can help improve virtually any aspect of life, as long as a person is willing to be honest about their goals, difficulties, and strengths.

Blog 6 :

Discuss the importance of teaching art as a core subject. Why is it important to ensure that there is time set aside in the cirriculum, resources (teachers with art background, supplies, community resources) and space provided for art as a separate subject?



Teaching art as a core subject provides the students with the chance to view the world in different ways, and a variety of new avenues with which to express themselves. Having art integrated in other subjects can be good (and in fact, might even be essential depending on the student), but it can also be problematic when we begin to lose the value of art as process and exploration. The danger is that art can become the vehicle which "drives around" the other (perhaps viewed as "more important") aspects of the curriculum. What happens when art is only used to demonstrate a social studies idea, or a science concept? It is similar to language arts in a combined Humanities program, where the danger is that the language arts goals serve as a way of representing the social studies program. There are too many lessons and opportunities for growth and exploration in art to have it solely serve the expressive needs of other aspects of the curriculum. In fact, I would argue that sometimes the exploration NEEDS a lack of structure, or controlling idea, for true expression to take place! If we are going to honour those explorations as essential parts of our growth and being, then time, resources, and space must be set aside in our teaching of children for them, just as they are for other aspects of learning we consider essential.

Blog 5: Teaching All The Students

Questions:

1) Is this situation typical in most schools?

2) How can art teachers accomodate different learning styles and other needs among their students?

3) Is it important for teachers to develop a range of instructional skills?

4) How can art teachers get the most from the visual nature of their subject?



1) Yes, this situation is typical in most schools. We live in a multicultural country where, hopefully, individual differences in culture, ability, and thinking are accepted. As teachers, we do our best to accomodate different learning styles and individual needs, and allow each child a chance for growth. The education system in Canada is integrated (for the most part), so all teachers must accomodate for a variety of learning styles and individual needs, whether they are cognitive, social, physical, or cultural.



2) Allowing multiple ways of approaching a problem to accomodate different learning styles and individual needs. Teachers can also differentiate instruction so different students can understand.



3) Yes, it is very important for teachers to develop a range of instructional skills so they could apply those in situations where students have different learning needs.



4) Human beings are, by nature, visual creatures (most of our brain's sensory receptors are related to sight), so art teachers should employ difference visual techniques to capture the interest of students. They should also help students to understand the power of visuals in the artwork they create. They should, however, also use a variety of teaching techniques that can reach visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners, for not every student learns the same way.