"Standard #1 Content knowledge aligned with appropriate instruction. The teacher understands the central concepts, structures, and tools of inquiry of the discipline(s) and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful and engaging for all students. [SB 291 Section 160.045.2 (3) The teacher is prepared and knowledgeable of the content and effectively maintains students’ on-task behavior.] Quality Indicator 1: Content knowledge and academic language Quality Indicator 2: Student engagement in subject matter Quality Indicator 3: Disciplinary research and inquiry methodologies Quality Indicator 4: Interdisciplinary instructionQuality Indicator 5: Diverse social and cultural perspectives"
Personal Definition Upholding standard 1 in art education means that the teacher personally studies and practices art and is involved in the art community. The art teacher carves out time to experiment with various mediums and techniques, not only to satisfy their own artistic practice, but to learn the best way to build them into interesting lessons and also be able to clearly demonstrate them to their students. Quality art teachers keep up to date in current and local art happenings and connect that knowledge and those events (e.g. art fairs, contests, artist meet and greets, etc…) into the classroom as a way of making art a relevant and authentic learning experience to students. Because of this active relationship the art teacher has with the tools, techniques, and culture they know what they themselves have found interesting and can share their genuine experiences. If the content of a lesson genuinely captivates the attention of the teacher, it stands a reasonable chance of also engaging their students when thoughtfully assembled into a relevant lesson. When the teacher actually practices what they teach, it also demonstrates to the students that these things in art actually matter and are not just busy work.
Artifact My current personal daily sketchbook
Rationale Maintaining a daily sketchbook is a powerful tool that artists use much like keeping a journal for writers or aerobic exercise for athletes. My use of a daily sketchbook helps me follow a thread of inspiration, keeps artmaking casual and habitual, and serves as reference material for larger or deeper artworks. This not only helps me with my art, but serves as a valuable example to students that art means something to me personally and that I myself am a practicing artist, not just a teacher who talks about art from an academic perspective. I would like to try implementing the use of daily sketchbooks in my classroom because it’s important for students to understand where artists get their ideas and many, no matter their studio expertise, draw daily as a creative habit. Working artists can’t always wait around for the right mood to strike, because art is their job and not just a hobby. Artists need ways of keeping their creativity flowing on a more or less consistent basis. Ideas for artwork don’t just happen as a result of rare talent or genius, they are the result of habit, focus, and experience. Practicing what we teach is an effective way to communicate to students the value of what we ask of them in class and serve to motivate them. Children have an innate desire to learn the world and themselves and if teachers can supply the right motivation with consistent guidance and specific feedback students will naturally want to explore and grow.
"Standard #2 Student Learning, Growth and Development The teacher understands how students learn, develop and differ in their approaches to learning. The teacher provides learningopportunities that are adapted to diverse learners and support the intellectual, social, and personal development of all students. [SB 291 Section 160.045.2 (1) Students actively participate and are successful in the learning process; (5) The teacher keeps current on instructional knowledge andseeks and explores changes in teaching behaviors that will improve student performance.] Quality Indicator 1: Cognitive, social, emotional and physical development Quality Indicator 2: Student goals Quality Indicator 3: Theory of learning Quality Indicator 4:Differentiated lesson design Quality Indicator 5:Prior experiences, multiple intelligences, strengths and needs Quality Indicator 6:Language, culture, family and knowledge of community values"
Personal Definition This teaching standard expects educators to always consider the individual student’s needs when designing lessons. Students come to school as complex human beings with varying levels of ability, quality of home life, and sense of self-efficacy. Teachers who exemplify this standard consider ways to not only make each of their lesson objectives accessible to all students by providing scaffolding but also how to open pathways for deeper exploration of the objective. If a teacher believes that all students can learn, that means they give each student what they need to make progress each day. Some students do not only need academic support but psychological support; in other words they need someone to believe in them and care about them as a person. Teachers who value the ideals of this standard find moments throughout their day to get to know and acknowledge their students individually. Children want to learn naturally. It’s the job of a teacher, to the best of their ability, to provide the tools and support for students to do so.
Rationale This project for my Practicum experiences is designed so that I as a student teacher can give a few students who I think need extra help for any reason the attention they need to be successful. I have selected four students to observe, develop goals for, assist, and get to know individually. This in-action research will help me develop a sense of some typical issues possibly “at-risk” students struggle with and strategies that may help them grow. I have drawn up a plan for each student and certain actions I will be taking to help them. This will also serve for me as an exercise in effective teaching behaviors. This practice will most definitely help me better serve all my students in my future classroom because it provides me authentic experience in differentiation. At the same time, it benefits the focus students by providing them that valuable extra attention and the feeling that someone cares. For some students today, it is knowing that someone acknowledges them as a person by addressing their specific needs, big or small, that motivates them the most powerfully.
"Standard #3 Curriculum Implementation The teacher recognizes the importance of long-range planning and curriculum development. The teacher develops, implements, andevaluates curriculum based upon student, district and state standards data. [SB 291 Section 160.045.2 (1) Students actively participate and aresuccessful in the learning process; (2) Various forms of assessment are used to monitor and manage student learning; (3) The teacher is prepared andknowledgeable of the content and effectively maintains students’ on-task behavior; (5) The teacher keeps current on instructional knowledge and seeks andexplores teaching behaviors that will improve student performance.] Quality Indicator 1:Implementation of curriculum standards Quality Indicator 2: Lessons for diverse learners Quality Indicator 3: Instructional goals and differentiated instructional strategies"
Personal Definition
Effective teachers have specific and broad goals that they set far in advance so that they may design daily steps toward them. Students learn that they are capable of achieving great things when teachers break up complex tasks into the smaller steps and connect it to what they already know. This is how effective teachers are able to set their standards high and encourage student growth. Even if most of the details of the content they learn do not last a lifetime, what tends to stick is the sense of self-efficacy they gain from steady progress toward achievement.
Students, of course, are complex beings with various needs and abilities. Quality teachers design their instruction so that it accommodates for a range of student skills and knowledge. All students can make academic progress, regardless of whether they enter the classroom with disabilities or highly developed abilities. A great teacher can experiment with various tools to help extend the reach of students with disabilities and also deepen/broaden the exploration of the Big Idea for a gifted student who would otherwise not be challenged by the lesson.
Artifact I watched the NAEA Webinar “Documenting Student Growth and Assessment”.
Rationale This lecture covered in-depth how using programs like Google Classroom and Schoology has evolved the classroom management of 3 art teachers. My participation in this webinar will help my students because after listening to these top quality teachers explain how these programs have helped them document student progress with relative ease and effectiveness I will be experimenting with them in my classroom. Google Classroom is a great way to document art work throughout a student’s career. It’s a powerful thing for a student to see where they started and where they are now. It gives proof that they do learn and improve with effort and attention. Teachers can also use Classroom to create tests that are not only automatically graded but each question can have its corresponding curriculum standard(s) notated for any curious administrator to view. Having all of the students’ work saved in the Cloud makes arranging a progress report much simpler, as well as sharing with parents or giving students what they need to create a portfolio.
When students can see where they have come from, it may give them a sense of where they can go with continued effort and bestow the motivation to trust the process in art. Art is an open-ended activity and student products will vary greatly and some will feel they fall short by comparing themselves to peers. In my art room I want to emphasis that students must focus on doing their own personal best and avoid measuring themselves against others. Art is personal not competitive. Using electronic portfolios, students can also decide for themselves in what ways they want to see themselves improve and I can step in, as the teacher, to provide the guidance necessary to do so. This self-determination gives students their power back.
"Standard #4 Critical Thinking The teacher uses a variety of instructional strategies and resources to encourage students’ critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. [SB 291 Section 160.045.2 (1) Students actively participate and are successful in the learning process.] Quality Indicator 1: Instructional strategies leading to student engagement in problem-solving and critical thinking Quality Indicator 2: Appropriate use of instructional resources to enhance student learning Quality Indicator 3: Cooperative, small group and independent learning"
Personal Definition
The issue surrounding Standard 4 is that of the teacher leading students toward how to think and not what to think. School would be boring and unpleasant if all students ever did was sit quietly in a desk and absorb facts and memorize theories. Fortunately today, great teachers have the training and desire to make learning an active process for the students that gives them opportunities to build their own knowledge through experiences, thought-provoking discussion, and open-ended problems to solve. When students are given the keys to discover things for themselves, the knowledge gained is that much more valuable to them because they themselves discovered it. Learning is never over. One’s “education” continues ceaselessly throughout life but we learn more quality information if we have quality lenses through which to inspect all that we find.
In my classroom we look at art using Visual Thinking Strategies, which ask, "What do you see?, Why do you say that?" and the process keeps going, keeps spiraling out by then consistently following up with, "Tell me more." This activates their critical thinking minds without having to know any historical background knowledge. This is a great tool for stirring up discussion because there will always be variable opinions of the artwork.
“Using the Arts to Promote Critical Thinking” is a video on the Teaching Channel website featuring two art teachers from the same city who use their own style to teach critical thinking as an artist in their respective classrooms.
Rationale
This video is an artifact of the critical thinking standard because it shows two exemplary art teachers who lead their students through thoughtful experimentation and problem-solving. Each teacher excites their students about the possibilities by discussing a famous artist’s work and then they set up how to work with those same materials and techniques, which is not the same as telling them what to make with them. They teach the students how to think, how to work with the given tools, not what to think or create with them. This is teaching critical thinking. This is open-ended problem-solving, not a step-by-step tutorial with one acceptable result.
In my classroom this is how I want to present my lessons to students. I will want them to take ownership of their work. Their work should not look just like mine, their neighbor’s, or any of our master artists’. It should be something they can reflect back upon and elaborate on their thinking process as they made their creative decisions. “Artists think,” is a phrase used in the video. One teacher even goes so far as to say she tries to make art not “fun” because she believes her students turn their “brains off” when she doesn’t set up the project as an active learning process where they are aiming for growth as thinking artists. In my classroom I want students to know that we are here to experiment and grow and I will do this by consistently emphasizing that they are learning a thinking process not copying for sake of making something “look right”.
"Standard #5 Positive Classroom Environment The teacher uses an understanding of individual/group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages active engagement in learning, positive social interaction, and self-motivation. [SB 291 Section 160.045.2 (3) The teacher is prepared and knowledgeable of the content and effectively maintains students’ on-task behavior; (5) The teacher keeps current on instructional knowledge and seeks and explores changes in teaching behaviors that will improve student performance.] Quality Indicator 1: Classroom management techniques Quality Indicator 2: Management of time, space, transitions, and activities Quality Indicator 3: Classroom, school and community culture"
Rationale As I lead the 2nd grade class through a character education lesson on being proactive, as per the Leader in Me program, I continually stop and ask students for their input and check for understanding. I asked for examples from their own lives, their interpretations of certain images, and encouraged multiple correct responses from students throughout the room, including those in the far back. My artifact is only audio due to privacy policies in place at the school, but I was purposefully walking all around the large group of students to help keep their attention and to better be able to call on a wide variety of students. To maintain a culture of respect, I reminded students that I was only calling on those who were seated correctly and raising their hands quietly. This helped reinforce those expectations by rewarding those who demonstrated correct behavior with simply being called on and getting their chance to be heard. To better prepare myself for this presentation I read up on the book the program was based on, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This made it so that I could speak more fluidly on the subject an better hold their focus and ask engaging questions. Thus, I kept students active in their learning process, maintained a respectful culture of listening to each other, and informed myself on the content to be covered for the benefit of my students.
"Standard #6 Effective Communication The teacher models effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques with students, colleagues and families to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom. [SB 291 Section 160.045.2 (4) The teacher uses professional communication and interaction with the school community; (6) The teacher acts as a responsible professional in the overall mission of the school.] Quality Indicator 1: Verbal and nonverbal communication Quality Indicator 2: Sensitivity to culture, gender, intellectual and physical differences Quality Indicator 3: Learner expression in speaking, writing and other media Quality Indicator 4: Technology and media communication tools"
Personal Definition The “Effective Communication” standard serves as basis of professionalism in quality teachers’ interactions with their school community in-person and via media. Teachers must be respectful of cultural norms, effective in their style of speaking and writing, and conscientious of their body language and other non-verbal messages in the classroom. All forms of an effective teacher’s professional communication support and encourage a learning environment where all students are respected, nurtured, and motivated to achieve their unique potential.
Artifact I am the current secretary of the student chapter of the National Art Education Association at UMSL. I produce the minutes of our meeting and do much of the interpersonal communication.
Rationale In my recording the actions and items of discussion in our meetings I have maintained a level of transparency and accountability for responsibilities within the group. I also aim for leaving a record for anyone interested in our activities to have access to the topics discussed in our meetings. Having a professional and supportive group for future art educators is very important to me because the first years of teaching are historically so difficult that having a group of professional peers to turn to for advice and collaboration in our mission as art teachers is an invaluable tool for developing into a highly effective educator. These minutes or meeting notes are evidence of my commitment to providing structure, professional resources, and support to my colleagues.
"Standard #7 Student Assessment and Data Analysis The teacher understands and uses formative and summative assessment strategies to assess the learner’s progress and uses both classroom and standardized assessment data to plan ongoing instruction. The teacher monitors the performance of each student, and devises instruction to enable students to grow and develop, making adequate academic progress. [SB 291 Section 160.045.2 (2) Various forms of assessment are used to monitor and manage student learning; (5) The teacher keeps current on instructional knowledge and seeks and explores changes in teaching behaviors that will improve student performance.]
Quality Indicator 1: Effective use of assessments Quality Indicator 2: Assessment data to improve learning Quality Indicator 3: Student-led assessment strategies Quality Indicator 4: Effect of instruction on individual/class learning Quality Indicator 5: Communication of student progress and maintaining records Quality Indicator 6: Collaborative data analysis"
Personal Definition
If the only thing teachers wanted was to lecture classes all day long then perhaps careful assessment of students would not be an issue. However, thankfully, effective, caring teachers want to know how well students are acquiring the information with which they are engaging. Just like students learn best with variety in their learning and engagement methods, they also benefit from varied methods in assessment. Assessment is not always simple and in fact rarely ever is. Many individual assessments are mere glimpses into the condition of student learning and do not give the full picture of a student's progress or for that matter the exact reason for that progress or lack thereof. For this reason, knowledgeable teachers give their students a variety of academic criteria to demonstrate progress before, during, and after instruction. The data-driven instructor will inform his or her teaching strategies based on how students responded in their given assessments. Assessment fuels how a responsive teacher will shape his/her students’ experiences with the content, deepening, scaffolding, or modifying appropriately. Students also need to be highly aware of what precisely they are being assessed over, so that they can focus on developing those given skills within their exploration of the given content. Teachers who use quality assessments use them because they care to know how well they were able to convey the information and whether the students have had adequate experience with the content.
Artifact
Rationale This is a rubric I co-created with a partner in a collaborative exercise as part of my Theory to Practice class in Spring 2016. This rubric would be given to students before they embarked on their project of planning, designing, and illustrating a storyboard over the theme of good vs evil that they have seen in their personal lives. With the rubric being accessible before starting, students have a guide of the expectations they are to meet and can better plan their use of time and energy. Rubrics are effective in managing to keep art assessment as objective as possible because every student knows what’s expected and goals are established upon standards.
Personal Definition Professional educators take seriously the long-lasting results of their teaching practice upon their students and work vigilantly to avoid employing methods that may misguide or frustrate students. Because of this, they use research-based classroom management strategies, engaging lessons, and collaborate with their colleagues. Most importantly, teachers routinely reflect upon the outcomes of their choices in the classroom and evaluate what works, what doesn’t, and what could be improved in order to best motivate and inspire their students in their particular setting. Standard 8 encourages teachers to share ideas and experiences with each other in big ways, like at a national conference, and small ways, like asking the teacher down the hall for his/her expertise on a particular matter. Collaboration is critical in the teaching profession because, in the classroom, it is teaching experience that makes the difference in student performance. When teachers share that experience with each other the potential benefits are exponential. As experts in their subject, teachers also have the professional right to judge what material to include in their curriculum, insofar as it pertains to their subject and within ethical guidelines, this is called academic freedom. Demonstrating fair and ethical treatment of others is a top priority in any quality school.
Artifact I attended and participated in the Spring 2016 Missouri Art Educators Association Conference, where I listened to and took notes from a variety of breakout sessions, experimented with new materials, networked and collaborated with other teaching professionals, and helped with setup and tear-down of the event itself.
Rationale Art teachers demonstrate the ideals of Standard 8 by attending professional development events like the Missouri Art Educators Association annual conferences and employing the knowledge gained by them in their classroom. Large-scale events such as this have a variety of breakout sessions for teachers to choose from individually. As a pre-service art teacher, I was exposed to a variety of new aspects to the profession but the idea that I resonated with most strongly was a revolutionary art education model called Teaching for Artistic Behaviors. This model capitalizes on the motivational power of student choice in the art room. This method can be as straightforward as including more student choice within teacher-designed art projects or as open-ended and student-directed as an open studio classroom where students decide what and how to create their ideas once they have demonstrated mastery of the various studio skills. This will benefit my students in the future because I intend to receive special training in TAB and utilize it in my classroom. Once organized and managed effectively, this classroom model proves to produce interesting and truly creative student work and profoundly transform how art teachers perceive their impact on student learning, as compared to closed-ended models (i.e. “cookie cutter” art projects). This is a fairly new wave in art education and if those art teachers had not shared their experiences and I had not attended the session, I might not have ever heard of it.
"Standard #9 Professional Collaboration The teacher has effective working relationships with students, parents, school colleagues, and community members. [SB 291 Section 160.045.2 (4) The teacher uses professional communication and interaction with the school community; (6) The teacher acts as a responsible professional in the overall mission of the school.] Quality Indicator 1: Induction and collegial activities Quality Indicator 2: Collaborating to meet student needs Quality Indicator 3: Cooperative partnerships in support of student learningThe teacher has effective working relationships with students, parents, school colleagues, and community members. [SB 291 Section 160.045.2 (4) The teacher uses professional communication and interaction with the school community; (6) The teacher acts as a responsible professional in the overall mission of the school.]"
Personal Definition
While it can appear on the surface to be the lone endeavor of the instructor, it is actually the careful preparation of learning activities, communication with parents, planning with faculty, and reaching out to other members of the educational community that truly supports student learning. Teaching effectively is a team effort. Educators need to be able to work together not only with each other, but parents and the community to promote student growth. Unlike more competitive professions, great educators want to share their successful ideas with each other, rather than keep them a secret that solely benefits their own classroom. An excellent school is made up of teachers that support each other by problem-solving together, listening to and communicating with others respectfully, and consistently collaborating with the same larger goals in mind on how best to approach student growth and learning. Artifact
This is a link to a Google Doc that contains unit plans over an African cultural artifact Kathryn Sigmund and I created collaboratively in Fall 2016.
Rationale
This artifact represents many hours of collaborative efforts to create a full unit’s worth of lesson plans by two pre-service art teachers. We were both equally new to the certain philosophy of art education we were asked to work with, that is the cultural artifact model. Also, this was not the kind of collaborative work where simply dividing up the division of labor was needed. We had to communicate continually, respect each other’s opinions, make smart compromises, and meet a hard deadline. We delivered a sample of the lesson together before our clinical educator and peers and I am proud to say we received an A- for our commitment to seeing this project through and bettered ourselves as art teachers. We shared in mind the same goal throughout the project of creating a series of art lessons that would help familiarize students with the artistic motivation of this culture rather than simply have them recreate the artifact in an art class project. This project stretched and grew my skills in lesson planning and true collaboration more than any other I have undertaken.