What is my focus in Master's Research

Possible Master's Thesis Research Project

For the last year I have been learning how to write better curriculum, how to evaluate scholarly journal articles for their usefulness and validity, and increase my own core knowledge of arts and arts education.  Now is the time when I have to start focusing on how I will synthesize all  my newly formed knowledge and provide a document of proof that I am worthy of a master's degree in Art Education.  It's a daunting task that frankly is keeping me up at night.  With so many question of what, how, and why running rapidly through my conscious and subconscious, it's a wonder that I am able to function in my normal role of classroom teacher, wife and mother.

I have this big picture in my  head of creating a curriculum guide, more like a textbook if it could actually be good enough to publish, for high school arts that's based on the central theme of identity.  It would encompass the things that contribute to the formation of individual, and group, identity, how identity is expressed, and why it's important for teenagers to express their identity in a healthy way.  All of which could be learned in the art room.  Well, as the saying goes, "the Devil's in the details".  I've never been good at getting all the details ironed out.  (I wounder if this is why I also HATE to iron cloths.)  I'm good at big ideas, but not so good at all the steps it takes to make them come to life.

Becoming a researcher in art education

            This week's reading gave me much to think about in regards to how and what I will research.  After reading the three articles in Freedman’s series Becoming a Researcher in Art Education (Freedman 2003 - 2004) I went back to table 1 in Koro-Ljungberg et all’s, article on (E)pistemological Awareness (Koro-Ljungberg, Yendol-Hoppey, Smith & Hayes, 2009).   I again focused my attention on figuring out where I stood in relation to the decision junctures described there.  I am all over the place.  My two highlighted pages look like bright yellow rhythmic designs over text. 

  With the information I absorbed this week I learned more specifics on what and why I should research.  From Freedman's Becoming a Researcher in Art Education: Forming Research Questions I learned that my research questions need to be clearly stated and realistically answerable.  I need to ask and answer questions that are relevant and significant enough to my field of art education to be worthy of the time and effort required to conduct authentic research (Freedman, 2004).  I began my research formation exploration with the question "How does art curriculum design, based on a single big idea, enhance student learning?"  This is a broad question that has already been answered by a variety of researchers such as Elliot Eisner, Stewart and Walker, Wiggins, and Walling.  I don't want to just restate prior theorizing.  Rather I want to explore more into how curriculum based on a specific big idea enhance student learning and the positive development of a high school student's sense of individual identity.  This leads me to a more narrowing of my research question.  How could a high school multi level art curriculum guide/textbook designed around the single concept of identity enhance student learning?  This then brings up another question.  Are there guides or textbooks on the market now that address the same issue, or that are single themed?

             Will I continue to build the trellis started by Wiggins eta all with basic research or will I go out on a limb and construct new knowledge that will push the boundaries of instruction and learning therefore further advancing the field of arts education? (Freedman, 2004)  I'm going to walk out on a limb that is supported by a strong foundation of previous research.

            I do have more of a pluralist perspective on research and implementation of new knowledge, which is why I found Freedman's article Becoming a Researcher in Art Education: Developing Research Skills (2004) especially helpful in evaluating what research methods I could use.   From this article I recognize that I will need to utilize both empirical and non-empirical methods.  Freedman states that "Empirical research takes many forms that are quantitative and qualitative."  He further explains that some empirical research "emerge from questions about symbolic nature of experience, such as those that lead to case study and ethnographic methods and depend on procedures such as interviews, participant observations and role-play." (Freedman, 2004)  Because "social and cultural conditions have gained importance" (Freedman, 2004), the investigation of a high school curriculum based on identity is a relevant and significant area of research to undertake.

            It's relevance emerges in two of the four categories of the 2007-2011 NAEA Strategic Plan as presented in the 2009 NAEA Research Agenda: Creating a Visual Arts Education Research Agenda for the 21st Century: Encouraging Individual and Collaborative Research.  This article helped me further focus my research goals in that I can see where my research interest fits into the strategic plan. (The categories of Learning and Research and Knowledge)   As the practitioner in the classroom, my role is not only that of the art teacher, but it is also the active researcher.  By conducting active research on the implementation of a yearlong curriculum based on the single big idea of identity, I am able to investigate the difference between a curriculum design and that curriculum's actual implementation.  Last year I wrote a year long course Based on Identity for an Advanced Art Class.  This year I am actually teaching that course.  My use of a research journal will be part of my documentation of the investigation.  This is only a slice of a bigger pie.  The active research of the process of curriculum implementation will serve as my pilot study and work towards my larger research goal of discovering if an Identity curriculum is a needed and useful resource for contemporary high school art teachers.

References

2009 NAEA Research Agenda: Creating a Visual Arts Education Research Agenda for the 21st Century: Encouraging Individual and Collaborative Research.

Freedman, K. (2003). Editorial: Becoming a researcher in art education: Establishing research goals. Studies in Art Education, 45(1), pp. 3-4. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1321104

Freedman, K. (2004). Editorial: Becoming a researcher in art education: Developing research skills. Studies in Art Education, 45(3), pp. 187-188. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1320967

Freedman, K. (2004). Editorial: Becoming a researcher in art education: Forming research questions. Studies in Art Education, 45(2), pp. 99-100. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1321094

Koro-Ljungberg, M., Yendol-Hoppey, D., Smith, J., & Hayes, S. (2009). E)pistemological awareness, instantiation of methods and uniformed methodolological ambiguity in qualitative research projects. Educational Researcher, 38(9), 687-699. Retrieved from https://ares-uflib-ufl-edu.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/ares.dll?SessionID=P142506687B&Action=10&Form=50&Value=89878

NAEA Research Commission. (2009). NAEA Research Agenda: Creating a visual art education research agenda for the 21^st century: Encouraging individual and collaborative research. Reston, VA: NAEA.

Stewart, M & Walker, S. (2005). Rethinking curriculum in art. Worcester, Massachusetts: Davis Publications, Inc.

Wiggins, R. P., & McTighe, J. (2006). Understanding by design. (2nd ed., pp. 13-34). Prentice Hall.

Zimmerman, E. (1998). A visual arts research agenda toward the twenty-first century. Arts Education Policy Review, 99(5), 30-35. Philadelphia, PA: Routledge.  

Thoughts on reflections

Possible research questions:  There are many possibilities, these are just a few.

·      What is the role of student self-assessments and artwork reflections in the high school art classroom?

·      What is the benefit of student self-assessments and artwork reflections in the high school art classroom?

·      How do you get students to take an active role in assessing their own work?

I had my students in the 3D Design class and the Advanced Art Class both do a self-assessment and written reflection of their artwork.  3D created a relief identity sculpture using their initials, cardboard and paint.  AA created an identity sculpture utilizing the frame of a window.  Both classes utilized assemblage, collage, image transfer and painting techniques.  Reading their responses has produced new questions.

1.     Do I write comments on their actual papers?

2.     If only 10 out of 25 in 3D and 3 out of 14 in AA turned in the assignment to a take class time to make them all sit and write the reflection?

a.     Why did they not turn it in?

b.     Did I not allow sufficient time for them to complete the artwork and write the reflection?

c.      Did some students take the writing assignment home with them to complete it and will bring it back next class?

d.     Did they not understand the directions?

e.     Do they not care?

3.     What is my next step?

4.     Do I continue on the group critique or do I make the students write/rewrite their reflections first?

5.     What about the student who DID do the assignment?   What do they do while the rest of the class is catching up?

6.     How do I encourage those students who have not worked on their project to the point of almost complete, have not attempted the reflection or didn’t bring their artwork into class to work on or turn in?

Sorting out the answers to my questions

·      If more than ½ a class is not at the same point in the learning process then I cannot responsibly move on.  While this may add extra days into the plan, I think it’s necessary in order to get a real sense of completion of this unit.

·      So here’s what I think needs to happen at the next class meeting.

o   1^st – Ask students if they have a completed self assessment / reflection to turn in (Maybe they took it home)

o   Go back over the process of the writing assignment.

§  Talk about grammar, answering the actual questions, supporting their opinions

§  Reiterate that students should refer back to the grading rubric that was distributed at the onset of the project when they assess their work AND that if their work does not have an aspect of the project criteria then they should explain WHY it doesn’t.  If they can back up their reasoning for not using a required or suggested media, technique or process then they could have a valid reason for being excused from that particular criterion. 

o   Separate the students (out of their social groups AKA chosen seats)

§  Maybe go to the commons so they can really spread out with their artwork and their paper.

§  Maybe get a computer lab for the smaller class to type their reflections. (bring their artwork with them)

o   Set a time limit for writing to be complete then have the large group critique.

o   Allow time after the critique for the stragglers to complete the task.

o   For those students who are complete

§  1^st have them rewrite their response if there are grammar mistakes or missing requirements.

§  Work together to make a display sign to go along with the sculptures in the display case.

§  For the AA students work together to install completed window in the display windows.

There were a few great self-assessments / reflections that were turned in.  I want to scan them so I have them digital in their original form before I write my comments on them.  I think these types of documents could be useful in my research this semester. 

So between now and my next post I’ll get these scanned, write on them, return them to the students and try out my own answers.

Diversity, Pedagogy, and Visual Culture

Today's blog is a reflection and response to Patricia Amburgy's article in the September 2011 issue of The Journal of the National Art Education Association

Diversity, Pedagogy, and Visual Culture

By Patricia M. Amburgy

The Journal of the National Art Education Association

September 2011, Volume 64, No.5

Patricia M Amburgy is a professor of Art Education at Pennsylvania State University.  Her article in the September 2011 issue of The Journal of the National Art Education Association address the education of pre-service art educators as it relates to a course she teaches entitled Diversity, Pedagogy, and Visual Culture (A ED 225).  As a high school art teacher I was intrigued by this article in that I wanted to know more about how today’s art education students are being trained.  I find it interesting that there is now a great focus on teachers being “agents of change”[i] where it relates to social justice.  In this article I will address some of the key points form Amburgy’s article as they relate to teaching high school students.

When I was in undergraduate school (1993-97) the focus was on teaching how to think and speak about art, make art and critique art.  This was approached by my professors in terms of generalities; not any specific social relationships.  The format of describe, analyze, interpret and judge for critiquing a work of art were laid out but there wasn’t much focus on relating what students saw in an artwork to contemporary visual culture specifically.  The focus was on art from history and what we can learn about history through examining the art.  Visual Culture is a relatively new paradigm in art education that I am playing catch up with.  Even in making that statement I realize that it’s not necessarily true.  It’s a new terminology and a revived focus on how art documents, comments on, and judges and influences a particular culture or society.  It’s looking at contemporary art in everyday life, not just in a major museum or by dead artists.  It’s realizing that we are constantly bombarded with visual messages and we have to either accept the dominant message or see if there is any hidden meaning behind the image.  That hidden meaning varies depending on who is the viewer.  This focus on visual culture is changing the focus of art education. No longer is it acceptable to just teach media, art making techniques, or art history.   Art education now is more about teaching students to think for themselves, make judgments while being tolerant and accepting of diversity, and to how to become agents of social change.   

Amburgy’s article is about the course she teaches, but it also exemplifies what the current beliefs about the “what” art teachers should be focusing on in their instruction, but not the “how” to incorporate it into practice.  Those things I will have to figure out for myself.

 While reading this article I kept asking myself, “How can I relate this to teaching high school student?” To do this I need to break down the article into specific points for further investigation and reflection.

Point 1: One of the missions of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) is to “prepare knowledgeable, skilled, and caring professional educators to become critical, reflective practitioners, researchers and artists, and agents of change for social justice in diverse contexts of educational practice.” (Art Education, 2009-2011). ^[ii] 

My first reaction was to think, “So now we are expected to rid the world of social injustices while also teaching children how to make art?   This sounds a lot like politics in the classroom, and that could get a teacher into trouble in a public school.”  Then I thought some more about that mission statement and realized I’m already doing that with my instruction and have been all along.  I just have not been focusing my art instruction exclusively on the social implications of the images we are bombarded with everyday.  This reminds me of a quote by Picasso in reflecting on his painting Guernica, “Art is not made to decorate rooms. It is an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy.”[iii]   Contemporary art has become more political, often subversive, but that doesn’t mean that all art has to be political to be a catalyst for social change.

            I’ve taught units on documentary and commentary art with a focus on how artists use their art to comment about an event or a social injustice.  However, I’ve always used Guernica as the main artwork and compared it to representations of Goya’s Third of May and Velazquez’s Surrender of Breda to investigate the difference of documentary and commentary artwork.[iv]   While I still think using those paintings is a good idea, maybe it’s time to bring in some new, more contemporary images that students may be more able to relate to.  This means more research on my part.  But isn’t that part of NCATE’s mission as well?

Point 2:  In describing her course content Amburgy explains constructions of diversity.  As it relates to her class, “diversity includes all aspects of people’s identities that help define who they are.  Aspects of identity include ethnicity, social class, race, gender, sexual identity, age and ability, among others.”[v]

  I recently began a unit on identity with my 3D Design class.  We created a class word web about all the things that contribute to shaping a person’s sense of identity.  I found it interesting that no one brought up gender or sexual orientation in any of the discussions.  So many other contributors were identified easily and with only some debate.  To me, this shows that as a group no one is comfortable bringing up sexual orientation as a contributor to who a person is.  Which is interesting because the students in the halls of my school (especially the girls) don’t seem to have a problem expressing their sexual orientation what ever it may be.  It’s a little different for the boys.  Peer judgment is much harder on them than it is on the girls.  I didn’t push the issue in class and sometimes I wish I had.  On one hand I feel like I missed an opportunity for enlightenment.  On the other hand if the students are not ready for such a discussion then as their teacher I don’t think I should force it on them.

Amburgy goes on to explain that one of the course objectives is for students to understand how visual culture contributes to placing people in “categories of privilege and social power, and keeping others in disadvantaged or subordinate positions.”[vi]  

Diversity has many implications in life and education.  The focus in public schools has been on teaching awareness and acceptance of diverse populations of people without judgment and with equality in social and educational opportunities; so long as everyone conforms to the accepted school behaviors.  We are expected to embrace diversity.  We are expected to individualize and diversify our instruction to meet the needs of all the students. Yet, in reality that doesn’t happen.  The need in education to classify and target certain populations is accepted in the name of meeting the needs of students.  This doesn’t always help the students as much as the administration thinks it does.  What it does do is offer more services to students on either extreme of the ability spectrum and just pushes through the kids in the middle.  There seems to be this expectation that all students’ educational curriculums need to be aimed at all students going on to college and university.  Some students have more of an aptitude for specific skill instruction that is not necessarily “academic”.   Not all students will have what it takes to succeed in a university, and forcing them into a structure of courses with that expected end could set them up for failure.  This in turn perpetuates the separation between privilege and disadvantage.  You are at a disadvantage if you have no skill or education.  If your education stops at high school because you have become disillusioned with learning because your abilities were non-academic than you will be disadvantaged in life. 

What all students need is to learn how to think for themselves.  If students can learn how to interpret the barrage of images and information they interact with everyday then they are more likely to succeed in their chosen path in life.  Knowing how to interact with all types of people and to be able to decipher, interpret and utilize information for a new purpose are important skills that are being left out of core area instruction.  This is where the arts are necessary.  Through the utilization of a visual culture approach students can be guided to develop their own conclusions about the intended or implied messages sent through the visual media they interact with every day.  Through breaking down contemporary and historical imagery students can learn how to decipher, make connections and construct their own opinions.  I am glad to see this becoming a focus in an undergraduate art education curriculum.

Point 3: “Visual representations are constructions, not mirrors of reality.”[vii]   This reminds me of another Picasso quote. “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”[viii]   I used this quote as a writing prompt in my Advanced Art class last week.  It led to an interesting discussion about what is presented as real but is not, such as images of models in magazines.  These images are presented as the ideal forms of beauty.   The projected “truth” is that beauty is attainable by those who buy the advertised products.  This discussion led into how the media influences our sense of beauty and “fitting in”.  Yet, the reality is that most all of those images have been digitally altered to smooth out skin and hair, accentuate the essential features and trim down the body.  It is the lie that makes us realize the truth.  The truth is we all don’t have body editors to “fix” our appearance.  IN education the lie is that everyone, if given the same instruction and opportunity, will be prepared to go on to university after high school.  Deciding for one’s self what is “truth” is an important skill for anyone in general.

Point 4: There are three essential concepts that govern Amburgy’s course.   In their simplest form; visual representations will characterize groups of people, offer positions from which to view them, and that viewers make their own meaning in multiple ways.⁷   Within those three concepts she discusses how reoccurring imagery, or “stories” are important in shaping the viewer’s understanding of the normal and abnormal, and the desired and the undesired within a society. How can I putting these concepts to work in my own art instruction?  The answer to that would be use the 5, 5, 5 method of instruction.  If there are five artists, five artworks, and five groups of students each investigating 1 artist and 1 artwork then the entire class will have the opportunity to learn from each other’s presentation.  I call it 5,5,5, but really it is four small groups and 1 large group inquiry.  I model the process of inquiry by asking questions of the entire class to facilitating discussion.  Then the students have those same questions again to work on in small groups as they relate to their specific artist/artwork.  Each group presents their artist/artwork for a larger group sharing.  The hard part is finding the artists and artworks that are appropriate and engaging for a high school class, constructing the questions that lead to critical inquiry, and getting students to participate in both the inquiry and the discussion.  I’m not sure which of those three is the most difficult.  No one ever said teaching would always be easy.

While Amburgy has the ability to devote an entire course to opening the eyes of her students to the importance of visual culture, as a high art schoolteacher I do not.  What I do have is the opportunity to incorporate instruction in visual culture into my own curriculum as to teach my high school students how to think for themselves.  From reading Diversity, Pedagogy and Visual Culture I get a glimpse into how the instruction of undergraduate art education is changing.  It is evolving into a more holistic approach to educating the student.  In the contemporary art classroom there’s more than just art being made.  When there is diversity in instruction, which includes visual culture, in the k-12 art curriculum then there is thinking, investigating, art creating, discussion, reflection, personal expression and new knowledge being constructed by students.  The more I read, the more I learn.  This leads to the reconstruction, and new construction, of learning opportunities for my students.  With these learning opportunities I hope that I can be a positive “agent of change” in the lives of my students.

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[i] Reference to the terminology used by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education in their mission statement and quoted later in the text.

[ii] Patricia Amburgy quoted this selection from the NCATE mission statement in her article and cited its source as from the Journal of Art Education 2009-2010.

[iii] There are many websites listing the same quotes by Pablo Picasso.  This one came from http://www.oxfordartonline.com/public/page/lessons/PicassoLesson5

[iv] For more specific information on the unit I created and taught on art as documentary and commentary visit my website. http://wirtartalk.weebly.com/unit-1-overview.html

[v] Patricia Amburgy’s definition of diversity that she uses in her Diversity, Pedagogy and Visual Culture class at Penn State. For more information about her visit http://sova.psu.edu/faculty_staff/faculty_directory/patricia_amburgy/patricia_amburgy_phd

[vi] Patricia Amburgy’s definition of diversity that she uses in her Diversity, Pedagogy and Visual Culture class at Penn State. For more information about her visit http://sova.psu.edu/faculty_staff/faculty_directory/patricia_amburgy/patricia_amburgy_phd

[vii] Patricia Amburgy’s definition of diversity that she uses in her Diversity, Pedagogy and Visual Culture class at Penn State. For more information about her visit http://sova.psu.edu/faculty_staff/faculty_directory/patricia_amburgy/patricia_amburgy_phd

[viii] There are many websites listing quotes from Pablo Picasso.  This one came from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/pablo_picasso.html

When The Administration Visits

Kristen's sketchbook assignment for "A Hand Holding Something"

I thought this image was appropriate for my day today.  "That awkward moment when" the assistant principle comes into your classroom just to see what's going on in the art world.  It's funny how the students' backs straighten when they notice she is there.  Some actually focused more on their work as to not be "noticed".   I see that she's there out of the corner of my eye but I'm too busy mixing more glue and talking to a student about their project.  In fact I didn't even address her at first.  So what do you do when one of the administration comes in.  Well, my thinking is unless they stand and wait to be recognized and addressed by you then you do nothing.  You carry on with your instruction.  After all, that's more likely what they are there to observe anyway.  I was hoping none of my students would shout out "Mrs. Wirt the assistant principle is here"  They were great.  As I was working with a student I heard her ask another what they were doing.  Thank goodness they were able to accurately describe their project.  I guess that means I'm doing something right.

When a student can tell another person what they are working on, how they are doing it and why they are doing it then they are internalizing what they are doing.  One of the best tests to see if your instruction is sinking in is to have a student explain to another person who knows absolutely nothing about art the concept you are teaching.  Students were working on the "Layers of Me" project.  We had finished our discussion just a little prior to our guest's arrival and students were full into their studio time.  When I did get a break I went to speak to her.  She was all complements.  I further explained how students were using their initials for a relief sculpture all about their world.  I explained how they broke down the layers into different parts of their world and used paint and image transfers to illustrate the important things in their life.

She asked me some very interesting questions. 1. How do you keep all 25 of them on pace when they are all doing something different?  2. Do you just keep on going when time is up and students have to make up work on their own time? 3. When is the deadline?  I explained that I don't set a final deadline until at least half the class is half way done with the project.  I have to observe how the students are grasping a concept and then I set a date and we push towards it.  I normally don't like for students to take their art projects home to work on in the middle because they often get lost, damaged or never returned.  Then that effects the student's grade.  I am available after school 2 days a week for open studio time.  However if a student is not progressing as they should in class then I push them to keep on task.  As the deadline comes near I will allow students to take work home.  If a student needs more time on a project when the rest of the class has finished then that student has to come after school to work on it or take it home to work on it.  I don't start new projects with the class when old ones aren't complete.  That's not to say that I don't have students working ahead if the finish early.  Students that have completed their project are allowed to begin sketchbook assignments.  Mostly I find that the first person finished with a project really isn't finish.  It's at this point where that student and I sit and talk about their work.  In these conferences students usually find that there are some aspects that could be improved upon and then they really aren't finished.  The strategy here is to ask questions about the composition and meanings of things in it.

Being Clear About Expectations of Students

Today I reviewed students' research portfolios with them before they processed their first roll of film for the year.  When the class was over I had learned more than I had expected.  By observing their interactions, processes and how they wrote I learned quite a bit about their academic,  intellectual, developmental and and social level and my own teaching.

 Today was 3 classes of photography; 2 intro and 1 Photo II / Honors combo with an independent study student working in the room as well.  So let me reflect on the positives of this learning day.

Photo II Hurray!! Their first roll of film for the year and they all came out well composed as well as exposed.  I guess they remembered how to get proper exposure, focus and how to process negatives from my instruction in last year's intro class.  No social drama! Students bonded at the processing counter as they helped each other keep time for various steps in the process, and they made good decisions on what images were best to enlarge.

We began the class by reviewing the photo portfolios they had each created form gathering images by subject from betterphoto.com.  prior to shooting their roll of film.  Students were to find a good and a bad photo from different categories and critique them.  By doing this they were encouraged to inquired about what equipment a photographer used and how they captured the shot.  They also had to make judgements about the quality of an image and what could make that image stronger.  At the end of their inquiry they were to write a final summary addressing what they learned and how it would help them with their own photography.  Well, lets just say their summaries were not very deep or reflective.  On most of the reflections I wrote comments that asked "like what?", "How?", "please explain", "What image are you referring to?" and "Why do you think that?".  I read many "I learned a lot form this assignment", but not so many that articulated what they learned.  Students could easily pick out information to answer specific seek and find questions, but when it comes to thinking about the images critically, as to be able to articulate what they could observe or learn from the images individually, or as a whole, was not a class wide strength.  I wonder why this is.

I have some theories on that.

Theory 1 - State SOLS training.  (Standards of Learning)

• The class is primarily seniors taking average courses with some in honors academic courses.  They have been brought up on taking state standards of learning tests in academic areas.  This means they were taught to seek and find facts and regurgitate what they read or were told by their teacher.  The've learned how to skim, but not so effectively that they know when to look further into something for better understanding.  They've been programmed to do things quickly as to be able to move onto something else.  The problem with this is that they don't allow themselves the time to absorb and think about the information that they have gathered.  That's one theory.  I still think it's more than that.  

Theory 2 - Laziness is another aspect of this picture.

• Some just don't want to put the time into what they are doing for what ever reason.  Students may think the assignment is just another "busy work" assignment that is delaying what they really want to do, which is to take pictures.  
• Then I wonder, did I not explain the importance of what they were doing?  Did I not explain why they were doing this activity?  This leads me to theory number three.

Theory 3 -Ineffective preparation by the teacher.

• I explained the project but not the purpose of the project.  It seems I wasn't to successful in communicating why they were looking at these cactagories of images and critiquing them.   The purpose what to investigate how other photographers had created images in different categories so that they could 1 get some ideas on things they could photograph, 2 try and figure out how the photographer shot the image so that they could learn through observation, and three articulate what they thought were characteristics of good and a bad photograph.  I expected them to be able to draw conclusions and synthesis what they researched into a clear expression of what they learned form the investigation.  MAybe I used the wrong terminology.  
• Maybe the directions should have said "From investigating these different photographs explain what you now think makes a good photograph.  What are some of the qualities in the "good" photographs that you can utilize when creating your own photographs. (Be specific)  What are some of the characteristics in the "bad" photographs that you found which you would not want to repeat in your own art?

I realized that many of my students did not get out of this assignment what I had hoped they would.  Yet, even with saying that, I also think that they may have gotten more than they are able to articulate at this time.  I had 3 out of 16 students "get it."  Their final summaries articulated what they learned and even reflected that their opinion of the assignment changed once they got into it.  One student wrote that at first they thought it was just some busy work, but then after more time looking they realized that there are some images that make you want to figure out how they did that and that it was hard to put in words why an image worked and why it didn't.

I told the students that it was interesting that some of them chose the same image to critique but one put the image with the "good" examples and one with the "bad" examples.  When I asked why I was answered with "because people have different perspectives."  Good answer.  After a bit more discussion I instructed students to look back through their portfolios and re-write their final critique.  Their grades improved after the re-write.

Next year when I do this project again I will give more specific instructions so that the students can reach the best outcome.

My next two classes moved slower for me but not my students.  The students didn't need my help much.  I guess that's a good thing.  It means I've taught them what they need to know in order to create what they want.  Now I must stand back and give them the time to create.  This can be, and was for me today, hard to do.   It was nice to have 2 classes back to back where students were focused on their work and enjoying it too.

Busy days are good days

Today was one of those days when you don’t sit down, even for lunch, and then you had students stay after school to work in the studio.  At the end of the day you sit, both wiped out and energized, and feel like you had just blinked and the day passed. 

I had one of those days today.

3D Design had a great discussion on what shapes identity.  Well, those that were interested did.  It’s week three of school and students are relaxing back into themselves and showing their true personalities.  I really hate seating charts in high school.  At 16 and 17, and third or forth year in art, I thought they’d be a little more interested in their art.  It’s interesting how it only takes 2 or 3 student to change the entire dynamic of the class.  I may have to break down and assign seats.

I’m giving it one more week to see if my subtle methods work before I get into reorganizing where students get to sit.  I see a combination of entitlement, lack of goals, disregard for others, ignorance of common courtesy and a “going through the motions” attitude from a small percentage of my students.  So I have a plan.  There was a homework assignment tonight (Wed.) due the next class (Fri.) that students had to complete.  The assignment was to take 3 of the categories we, as a class, came up with that shape a person’s identity and expand on how those categories relate to their own situations.  For example if one category was “family” then students were to break that down into how their family has shapes their identity.  While students are working on their individual art projects I will call each student up to show me their homework.  At this point I have the opportunity to speak discreetly to the students that seem to be, let’s just say, a little distracted.   This is when it’s good to have students working on their art creation after a class of discussion and homework assignment.

After 3D Design my next class was Advanced Art and Honors Advanced Art class. AA/AAH has twenty students in all, each working on their own 4 or 6 panel window identity project, and each needing a different type of assistance.  Then there are 4 students doing an independent study in the room as well.  Everyone is at different stage and needs an assortment of supplies.  So needless to say, the classroom was a hopping.  Clean up time was a rush because I often loose track of time and ten minutes didn’t cut it today.  There’s another teacher and class in the room the next period, and I had to get to my duty station.  Now that our budget was cut, and so were positions, it’s part of the teacher duty rotation to cover ISS (In School Suspension), study hall as duty.  My duty is to cover ISS.  It’s not a bad duty over all.  I can work on lessons, grade, or finally check my email for the day, while I make sure those in confinement are staying on track of nothing or make up work.

The day flies when you never sit down.  When I look back on the day I had many students find surprise and success, frustration and determination, expectation and responsibility.  I helped someone discover a new ability they didn’t know they had.  I encouraged a student to keep going with their idea.  I recognized and cheered a student for their great creation.  I managed to get a class of 25 to all participate at some point in the group discussion.  As exhausted as I was when it was all over I can at least look back and call it a good day.