How do you approach planning and teaching to diverse learners? What accommodations have you made for diverse learners?

When I first read this prompt I was a bit confused. What/ who is a diverse learner? So, what do I do to help settle my confusion? Google the definition of diverse, of course. And, this is what came up “adjective

1. of a different kind, form, character, etc.; unlike: a wide range of diverse opinions.

2. of various kinds or forms; multiform.”

(Of course I already knew what diverse meant, I just needed some inspiration after my long day) So, really, this is a whole range of students that will be in my classroom.

The wonderful thing about art is that the majority of the time there is never a wrong answer. And, I think that this statement alone opens up the door to diverse learning. There is no formula that you can give all of your students to get them to have the same end product. You have to help each individual student as you go, which also allows you to build relationships with each individual student. So, really, I my mind every student that enters the door of my classroom is a diverse learner. And, you have to get to know every single student to understand how they learn best, and accommodate to their individual needs. Because, really, everyone learns differently.

Promoting Student Success

Think back to influential classes you have taken.  How were expectations set to promote student success?   

A lot of the art courses I have taken through out the years I was self-driven in. I wanted to succeed because I wanted to get better. But, I understand that this will be rare occasion when I am the teacher. So, thinking back to other classes, and what expectations were set to promote student success is hard. Because, I really only cared about art. There are two classes I have taken where I can think of examples of promoting student success. And, this is probably because they were both scarring for me.

Both of these experiences took place in middle school. And, they were both ways of rewarding students for their hard work, in front of the entire class. The first example of promoting student success is from third grade when everyone would get a star next to their name for completing one of the times tables, orally, in front of the teacher. Needless to say, I had about three stars while everyone else had about ten. It was horrible. The second example if from 8^th grade, when students would receive a certificate for getting an “A” on a history test. Again, this certificate was given in a public setting, in front of the entire class. For the students that never received a certificate, it was embarrassing. I think I received one.

So, what I learned from all of these experiences is that if you want students to succeed you need to find a way to make the material important to them. And, finding a way to do this without a physical reward. Because, that often makes students who have never received that reward feel horrible about themselves. And, lets face it; it is the students who aren’t feeling so great about a subject that need the most encouragement.

Introduce your student teaching setting.  How do you view the expectations and classroom community established in your current placement?

I am currently placed at an elementary school. My cooperating teacher sees about 450 students a week, because he sees every class once a week for 50 minutes. So far I am very pleased with my placement, and I already feel I have learned so much. Including a way to promote student success.

In my current placement the is a definite set of guidelines that the students must follow in order to succeed. And to encourage these behaviors there is a star system set up. I know, I know, I was just talking (typing?) about how I am scarred for life because of a star system, but this star system is different. Instead of it being for individual students it is for the whole class. And, I truly think there is something to it. Every class starts out with four stars at the beginning of the class period. Each class can earn up to ten stars. There are set guideline for ways the stars can be earned. One, if the students walk in quietly and sit in their proper stops they receive a star. Two, if they are quite and raise their hand during question and answer time. Three, if have five minutes of silence at the beginning of work time. Four, if they work hard. Five, if the clean up. And finally, six, if they line up properly. The four stars that are in place are there to be taken away if things going poorly during the class period. If any class gets ten stars by the end of the period they receive the “trophy win”. Which means, there homeroom class gets the art trophy of the whole week.

The First Step of the Final Chapter

What do you find most daunting about finishing student teaching and graduating from college?

What I find most daunting about finishing student teaching/ graduating is trying to find employment, as I am sure it is for most people. But, I do believe that as an art education major (I know this is isn’t the proper term for my degree/ certification, it is just easier to say this) my fear of unemployment may be greater than the average college graduate. Every single time I tell someone I want to be an art teacher they tell me “Good luck with that”, or give me a fearful face. Yes, I am well aware that art teaching position aren’t plentiful right now, but a little it of hope would be nice.

What was the pivotal event that made you decide to become a teacher and enter your teacher preparation program? Employers almost always ask a question similar to this.

The pivotal moment in my life that made me decide to become an art teacher was when my “mentor” sat me down to talk about my future. He was the head of the art department at my high school, and someone who had made a positive impact on my life. He told me that he believed I would make an excellent art teacher, and when he told me that it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I had always known that I wanted a career that involved children, and art just simply makes me happy. So why not combined the two and be happy for the rest of my life? Well, my career life.

In what ways will you wardrobe change during student teaching and as a teaching professional?

I think the best way to describe how my wardrobe will change during student teaching and as a teaching professional is that my wardrobe will become more conservative. When I go out shopping for teaching clothes I always try to find tops that go up to my collarbone, and are longer at the bottom. As for pants, I try to find nicer dark wash jeans that do not have any holes. I am allowed to wear jeans at my placement, so I am lucky I do not have to worry about dress pants (because of my height) I have also decided that I will only wear my teaching pants while teaching so I do not ruin them some other way. Also, I bought an apron to wear over my clothes while in the classroom to prevent getting art materials on them. 

Teaching Reflection

At first, the project “Piecing Myself Together” seemed like the perfect combination of mosaic and clay hand building… but, as the class went on, my view on the project started to change. Our students were taking the project in a completely different direction then we imagined. Which, is completely fine with me, but, the end results were not what I was hoping for. There could be multiple reasons for this. The first being, the project was not presented well enough for the students to completely understand it. Or,  it just could have been the make-up of our group.

In the beginning of the class we had one really talented female student, and I was really excited to see her project finished. But, she had to drop the class half way throw. The other female student in our class had a very fun and interesting take on the project. Her plan was to create a human face, using hand-building techniques, and have a tree covering the face. She would later create the leafs of the tree using the mosaic. The hand-building portion of her project turned out great, but when the mosaic-ing started to take place, I started to lose sight of where she wanted her project to go. In my eyes, her color combination could have been better, and the use of smaller tiles (which was encouraged) would have really helped her project. But, she left the class happy with her work, and really that is all that matters. The two males in our group also had different takes on the project. One male created a tombstone, which turned out great. He also created a bunch more work through out the class, because he was a fast worker. The other male in our group had to be pushed quite a bit to create work. But in the end, he created a mask with a mosaic-ed mustache and eyes. Overall, I think everyone was happy with the work they produced, which in turn made me happy.

If I were to teach this lesson again, I would take more time to present it. I think the first day of class I was more excited about getting to know the students, rather than presenting the project. I would also plan for smaller side projects for students who finish steps early. 

Creating a Sense of Community

Having a sense of community is very important in a classroom. It is kind of a “duh” moment when thinking about it. If kids do not feel comfortable in a classroom then they will not want to learn. The not so “duh” part of having a sense of community in a classroom is knowing how to build it.  This is a topic that we have been discussing a lot about in Secondary Classroom Management, and really what I have came up with is: there are a bunch of ideas and theories to help one build a sense of community in a classroom, but really you just have to find out what works for you. It is pretty much trial and error. But, some of the ideas that I believe will work for me to build a sense of community are: get to know the students outside of the classroom, allow students to have input when creating the classroom rule, use a seating chart, have clear guidelines for the type of language allowed in the classroom, and to be a safe zone. Pretty much I would like my classroom to be a judgment free zone, where all kids feel accepted. I will have a very low tolerance for bullying, and try to show students that it is okay to be different. For me to say I know how to create this type of atmosphere right now would be a lie, but I do have ideas for how to do this. Hopefully one day I will be able to achieve this. 

Classroom Management

The biggest issue that I have encountered related to classroom management is, getting the students to stay focused on their work. Especially with the two boys in my group. Both of them have special needs, and it difficult to keep them focused. What I have found to be helpful is it sit down right next to them and talk to them about their work, and where they want to go with it. Once we have discussed their next few steps, and they have started working again, I leave. I have found that when I sit there too long I myself become a distraction, and all they want to do is talk. But, of course, this would be extremely hard to do in a classroom full of 30 students. I have found that when teachers let students listen to their MP3 players during work time the students stay more focused. Listening to their music allows them not to be distracted by conversations and other things going on around them. This way students are allowed to get in “the zone”. But, of course, there is a down side to this. Not all students have MP3 players. I think that when I am a teacher I would like to have a computer that the student would be able to play music on, through sites like Pandora.  I had a teacher in high school do this, and it worked out really well. Of course there were rules and guidelines as to what kind of music you can play, but the students really enjoyed it. In a way it made the students feel more connected to the classroom. 

Advocating for Art Education

There is talk of cutting art programs in my home town right now, and this is a cartoon for the local news paper. I thought it was pretty fitting. 

I believe that the first step to advocating the importance of art programs is to educate people about how art is beneficial is to children. For many people proof only comes in the form of facts, so that is what we will give them. I found a great website, Museum of Children's Art Oakland, that had an article full of great information and facts about art. So, I was thinking for many art classes you have to have the students and parents sign a form alerting them about the dangers of the class, in that form you place these facts as well. This way you are educating the parents about the importance of art, without having to stand on a soapbox. The facts are:

1.              Art stimulates both sides of the brain.

2.              33% of kids are visual learners.

3.              There are studies that show that kids, who make art, read better and get better grades in science and mathematics.

4.              The kids learn by using their senses and art is ideal in this process

5.              The kids need a place to express themselves at school.

6.              Art promotes self esteem

7.              Art encourages kids to give more attention to the physical space that surround them.

8.              Art develops hand and eye coordination.

9.              Art stimulates perception.

10.          Art teaches them to think openly. It represents a culture of questioners more than a culture of responders.

11.          Art teaches that there is more than one solution for a problem.

12.          Art teaches kids to think creatively to solve problems.

13.          Kids can share and reflect on their work of art and learn something about the world they live in.

14.          When art is integrated with the other subjects in the curriculum, kids commit more to the learning process.

15.          In the process of doing art, the child is exposed to different possibilities, to discover and to freedom, this way they avoid falling into the control and the predictability of the conventional education in the United States of today.

16.          Art nourishes the human soul. One feels good doing it.

17.          Art brings the cultural resources of the community into the class.

18.          Art involves parents and tutors in the school, inviting them to participate as volunteers in diverse activities.

19.          Art provides a common ground across racial stereotypes, barriers and prejudices.

20. Art is valuable all by itself

It is important to also get your students involved in advocating for the arts. To do this I feel that students such be allowed to express how they would feel if there were no art programs. This could be done in the form of a project, or a letter written to the school board. Let your students know that their voices are very important and people want to hear from them. By advocating for the arts you may upset people. That is why it is important to educate people about the importance of art programs before it is a problem. There are risks to advocating for the arts, but I feel that if you advocate in a professional way the repercussions would be minor. In some cases though, you may lose your job. But, why would you want to work for a district like that anyways?