Theme 1: Viewing and Responding to Art

     Beginning class I already felt that viewing and responding to art was incredibly important.  Having several art history classes as well as studio art courses I felt as though I already understood the concept of "viewing and responding" however, I wasn't aware that the term for viewing and responding to an artist's work was VTS (visual thinking strategy) and I never took into consideration how much learning can be accomplished through such a thinking strategy.  I think part of the reason I never realized how much learning came from a VTS is because I never had to do one until I was in college as an art student.  I find myself baffled at such a concept since I was active in my art classes K-12.  I realized this semester that showing students (especially those not that interested in art) a work and letting them respond or even create their own story for the piece can get them excited about art.  A simple VTS is enough to get students thinking creatively about the art world and all the meaning that it holds.  As a teacher I will definitely incorporate VTSs as well as have active critiques to prompt students to think deeply into visual meaning.

Theme 2: Developing Art Curriculum

     Going into the school year I had no idea how substantial developing an art curriculum would be in actuality, especially creating a curriculum based on one big idea that students would find exciting.  I found in the classroom that students are rarely excited about that is centered around the big ideas from their social studies classes with strict limitations about what they can actually do.  I found while I want to have a curriculum with set limitations I want to keep my curriculum at least a little open ended since art is   and should be personal.  However, that being said, i think building a curriculum can be difficult when planning timing and budgeting since both will vary more when projects are more open ended.  Still, the stronger the curriculum the easier it becomes to assess particular aspects of the plan and change them depending upon the group of students working within it.

Theme 3:  Teaching Art

     I learned a lot about teaching art this semester partially through building upon all the themes we were working with in class but also through experience in field.  I feel like our building of the themes helped me to recognize several ways of teaching something and then through teaching I learned which ways work best for particular situations.  I really enjoyed working with our Tiger Artists groups.  I felt as though I was able to obtain a stronger grasp on how planning lessons and executing them related and effected one another.  I was truly inspired to see students who had such a strong interest in the arts, since I felt as though that was not so much the case during my field.  As much as I enjoyed going to field and liked my field teacher I felt like I learned a lot about things I wouldn't do in my classroom, which really got me thinking about how I would better execute certain situations in my own classroom.  After experiencing two opposites on the spectrum of classroom excitement and learning I feel a lot more confident in my abilities to call shots as a teacher.

Theme 4:  Peer Units Review and Unit Self Evaluation

     I learned a lot during our peer units review not only through my own lesson, but also when hearing everyone else's idea's.  By the time I was able to present I felt as though my concept or big idea of identity may not be very original since I saw there were a few people doing similar lessons.  I felt like there were a few unit plans with big ideas that I had never really considered before which had a big impact on me.  I feel like through exploring different concepts and media in lesson plans I can grow as a teacher and my students will be able to grow as artists.  I also learned that while I want to leave projects more open-ended to leave room for personal growth I also need to carefully consider how that may impact time and money constraints.  After my unit plan presentation I also noted that there were several artists mentioned that could be used as excellent exemplars for some of the lessons I planned to teach, many of the artists I had never heard of and was unfamiliar with their work.  I feel like it inspired me to do extensive research when planning my lessons and have as many example artists as I could possibly find.  It was a subtle reminder that as a teacher and artist I should constantly be submerging myself in the art world to gain consistent insight and have that information readily available for my students.

     I have gained a lot of insight this semester and feel like there was a lot of growth built on our overarching themes.  I feel more prepared than ever before to be an art educator and to make carefully considered decisions for students creating an exciting, safe, and expressive environment.