Classroom Management

During my field experience I've encountered many different approaches to classroom management. I think that most problems associated with classroom management can be attributed to the way teachers enforce rules within their classroom. If you do not follow through on rules, set limits, expectations, and hold students accountable for their work, then you will have an unorganized classroom. I believe that when students are set in an environment that is conducted in such a way, it is difficult for students to complete assignments.
I think that some problems that may be associated to classroom management in addition to the teacher's role within the classroom is what may be happening within the student's personal and social lives both inside and outside of school. When students are of the school age, schoolwork often times becomes second hand to other issues in their lives. When their friends and/or enemies may be in the classroom this may pose as a distraction from assignments and tasks at hand. As teachers we need to make sure that we are tuned into what is happening within the school environment. Also, this is one very important reason to get to know your students. We will be able to better control our classrooms if we have a better understanding of what issues are arising with our students.
Some strategies that I have observed to be successful within the classroom are holding your students accountable for assignments and to keep them motivated. If I knew that my peers would be walking around to look at my project half way through, I would want to make sure that it was well done and progressing, also, if I knew that I would have to present my work in a critique, I would want it to be completed to the best of my abilities. This can also be achieved by sitting down and talking to the student about why they are interested in certain projects, by creating assignments that relate to students lives, and by setting classroom rules that relate to students progress on assignments. For example, my high school art teacher used to require that we work on our projects in a mostly talk free environment. We could talk quietly amongst our neighbors while we were working, but could not be up roaming around unless it was to get new materials. She allowed us to listen to music as we worked, and this kept us focused on our work. We understood this to be a privilege so we obeyed her rules and didn't tempt her to have to take the music away.

ITM: Sourcing Inspiration/ Activation

The following are categories that apply to my creative process or that I would like to cultivate in my art practice:

Heart, mind, imagination, intuition, conscience, soul, intellect, memory, intelligence, thought spirit, vision, psyche, wit, feelings, recollections, instincts, ideals, opinions, sensitivities, anguish, rage, joy, glory, serenity, desire, misery, sorrow, bliss, kindness, humiliation, sympathy, ectasy, grief, distress, boredom, resentment, fury, panic, elation, fame, ethics, ambition, heartache, fear, meditation, dream, prayer, travel, trance, perception, frustration, observation, revelation, encouragement, splendor, activism, trauma, comfort, security, gradeur, beauty, excess, defiency, order, chaos

In terms of activating my inspiration, I apply the following categories:

Solo/collaborative, sustained/instantaneous, spontaneous/systematic, passionate/trial and error

ITM: Self-Identification

Family: daughter/sister/aunt/niece/granddaughter
State of health: Healthy
Education: High school degree from Camanche High, college degree in Art Education from the University of Iowa
Gender: Female
Sexual orientation: Straight
Race: Caucasion
Religious affiliation: Christian but open minded to persons of other beliefs
Economic status: Poor college student
Political belief: Liberal
Preferred leisure activity: Sketching, spending time with family and friends, running, being Auntie

Motivation

I think that as juniors and/or seniors in college, we can all relate to that feeling of being just about ready to run off somewhere new and different because we are ready to be done with what we have been working at for close to four years. The anticipation for that degree, the new job, and the ability to actually put to work what we have been practicing for so long is intoxicating. However, as much as you can be ready for that new change of pace, you can also grow extremely tired and impatient with the "old" pace that is required to get you to this new life. I sometimes find myself in this position. I love college dearly, and am going to be very upset when I do have to move away from good old Iowa City, but I am more than ready to be done with actual school work. I enjoy the hands on field experience classes, because they allow me to practice what I have been reading and take from what I have learned and evaluate my experiences. But the lectures that I am in because they are required, the endless pages I have to read because they are required for the exams......these require extra motivation in order to complete. What pushes me to complete assignments is that I know they are essential for my future, or in other words... teachers create assignments for our better well being. I know there is a method behind the maddness. This does keep me motivated along with experiences I have had with the outcomes of not following through when I wasn't motivated. These experiences left me less than satisfied and feeling as though I didn't have control. Which happens to be a feeling that I dispise greatly. There in lies my motivation: my future and having control over my future.
I think that I will be able to relate to my students because I know that most if them are feeling the same way. They feel grown up, they think they are adults, and yet they do not see the method behind the maddness. We have all felt this same way before. Senioritis....that may last from freshman year to senior year in high school. I think that as teachers we need to keep our students motivated by relating the material we are teaching to their lives. If we can center projects that we assign around a way that will allow them to display their personal experiences, thoughts, opinions, plans for the future, etc. we will have a better chance of motivating them, and especially important, getting to know them on a better level. What better way to kill two birds with one stone. The two very most important things to us as teachers: to motivate our students to work towards their future and discover themselves and to get to know them all the while doing this.One student I think of in relation to this blog is a young man I worked with at the high school. He is extremely talented in art, and seems to be a level headed and an intelligent person. I never had trouble talking to him about art projects and motivation. He seemed to always be busy and invested in his work both in and out of class. We were speaking the other day about his future plans after high school. I was asking him if he had thought about any colleges yet, and if he would want to carry on with art as the basis for his future career, or if he had any other ambitions for this. He responded that he did not really know if he should even look into colleges because of money and other factors. He asked me, Where is this money supposed to come from? What if I don't finish? What am I going to do? He seemed to be overwhelmed about this, so I responded honestly and talked to him about my own experiences in relation to this, and I responded to him that you finish because it is important. You finish because you need that college degree to get a job anymore. I spoke with him about possible careers involving art, and ones that don't, and also about speaking with his counselor to start looking into colleges. I think that it will be our jobs to not only inspire motivation in terms of art, but also in our students lives and futures, if they are willing to open up to us in this way.

Field Experience

My initial expectations for the field experience this semester were varied. I was nervous, curious, excited.... wanting to be confident because of what I have been taught in college thus far about being an art teacher. What I have experienced thus far in our field experience cannot be taught by simply studying a book. I have worked with students who want to challenge me as a part of getting to know me. I have worked with students who exceeded my expectations beyond belief. I have worked with students who have multiple layers to their personality, who are much different than they appear on the surface. Some students are soft spoken, some are out spoken. Some are making plans for their futures, and some have no idea what tomorrow is going to hold for them.
One student that I encountered and worked closely with is a young woman who is about to graduate. She has a mature and positive outlook on life, and though she is friends with many different personalities, seems to keep everyone in line in a quiet, soft spoken way. She often tells me of her plans for after high school. She seems to come from a supportive family, and is in a supportive relationship with a young man. Her opinions of her peers and her future plans are all positive and level headed. When I speak with her, I feel like I am speaking with someone my age, not years younger than I. I feel like I can relate to her because she seems to be looking over her friends, and seems to be in control of her life yet observing the world around her closely, but at the same time seperately. I feel that I can relate to this because this is how I felt during high school and often feel that way now. I have always been told that I come off as the motherly figure among my friends, and I have always planned for what is to come next in my life. I, like her, need to have a plan for what is to come next. I think that I can learn a lot from her, however. She always seems to have a calm and collected outlook on what is unknown and whatever may be happening at the time, whereas I can get worked up and worried about these things. I think that as teachers we should not limit our expectations to what we will teach our students, but should be open to what our students may teach us both inside and outside the realm of our subject matter.

Advocates for the Arts: Keeping the Creativity Alive in Our Communitites

I think that the best way to be an advocate for the arts in your school district is to not limit the creation of art to only your art classroom. When I was in high school, my art teacher had us involved in creating art for all sorts of events. Students would partake in the designing of Homecoming buttons, signs, shirts, etc. We would help to create floats for the parades, and everyone of the students became involved in this. We had a competition between the grades for the most creative float, though all in good fun. The entire community was invited to come and watch our parade and other community members were also involved in this event. Another way to be an advocate for the arts is to cue into community events or important historical events that may have some sort of dedication services to it. For example, in my hometown we had a special event that had to do with businesses from years and years ago that helped get the town on its feet. Years from then we were holding dedication services for important moments like such in honor of our town. Fellow peers of mine and I worked on projects for the dedication. This also got the entire community involved and our artwork was seen as a very important key component to the dedication.
If you approach other advocates in your school district (of sports, theatre, etc.) with an open mind and a willingness to work with them, then you will have a better chance of your efforts as an art advocate to be recognized and appreciated in a respectful and meaningful manner. If you balance your efforts in this way then you will be able to maintain the "flow" within your district. Your love and advocacy for the arts is more likely to be taken seriously if you are willing to work in this manner, just as with anything else. If you chose to do the opposite, then you could be doing more harm to your advocacy than good.

Collaborative Art Making

I think that it is important to fit at least one collaborative art project into your curriculum. While I do think that it is important for students to work on their own pieces most of the time (as an outlet for personal self expression), I do think that it is valuable for students to learn how to work alongside their peers artistically. Collaborative artwork allows students to share personal views and artistic input, and in turn to see how their peers perceive an artistic task. When students work together they may learn from one another in terms of how to solve a creative problem encountered while working, and also to possibly pick up different styles other than their own. Service-learning projects can be worked into curriculum by working with the community to learn about what sorts of events are going on. From there you can discuss with your students what they feel as a class they should do to contribute.

An experience I've had with collaborative art making comes from the work we are currently doing with the local high school students. What I have learned from this experience is that when I incorporate a collaborative project into my own classroom, I will need to find a way to hold the students accountable for the work they are doing....or are deciding not to do. At this time, I am not in charge of grading of any sorts, so I really do not have a way to motivate them in those terms. But what I have learned from this collaborative experience is this: when you let students decide on a subject matter that motivates them, you really get to see and hear their personal views of the world as they know it. And students who are truly motivated by the subject matter that they chose to create a work of art about feel strongly about these views and opinions they hold. I am working closely with a young woman who came in on the middle of a collaborative piece and now is my main artist working on the project with me, and when we speak about the content of the piece, she opens up and allows me to be apart of her world. And when students invite you into their world, you better listen, because they have some very intriguing and meaningful things to share. I think that art may be one of the only subjects that really allow teachers to connect with their students on a different level in this way. We should value the opportunities we are going to be given as teachers to connect with our students, even if only a handful of them are willing to open up.