MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE...

On Friday, Jessica and I presented our lesson plan called MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE...
This lesson focused on how an artist grabs their viewers' attention and why it is so important. We used our presentation on Janet Nolan and John Dahlsen as the motivation which we presented a few weeks prior to this lesson. Since there was such a large gap in between the slideshow presentation and the actual lesson, it was important for us to take time on re-introducing the artists and the materials they used and incorporate on how these artists grabbed their attention and why they would want to learn more about a particular piece. Perhaps it was the size of the composition, materials being used, COLOUR, or maybe it was just being aesthetically pleasing?! Although there are many other ways that artists grab their viewers' attention, these were the four that we focused on in the introduction of our lesson that would be incorporated into the art-making process.
We had the students use collected post-consumer objects such as bottles, bottle caps, wire, and plastic bags which were also used as the materials in some of the artworks presented. With these materials, the students were to create a three-dimensional sketch of a possible sculpture that would be made much larger for a particular space. The sculpture had to have a concept, or a reason for being made from these materials. This would be collaborated with their group members by brainstorming various concepts and techniques. One group for example, decided to make a kinetic sculpture of jelly fish out of plastic bags and wire to represent destruction of the marine life. Another group used cardboard as their base. They used part of the advertisement from the box, which was a man and surrounded him by garbage using all of the materials that were given to them. They transformed this two-dimensional cardboard box into a three-dimensional composition to symbolize our improper waste disposal and its negative affect on our environment. 
When it was time for critique, we had the students gather around the four sculpture model sketches. To start the critique off, Jessica and I asked the class which sculpture grabbed their attention the most and why. Than we would ask questions what the groups' concept was for their sculpture or if anyone thought a different sculpture grabbed their attention. We wanted to lead the discussion in critique by asking these types of questions but we also wanted to be part of the discussion as well. Jessica and I verbalized our opinion and what their work reminded us of to help ease up the tension that some students get when they have to talk about their artwork.
Overall, I feel that this lesson went really well. We were able to reintroduce our artists and their techniques, materials used, as well as their concepts for their work. The groups collaborated together to  brainstorm and build a three-dimensional sketch using nontraditional art materials, and were able to talk about their work freely and openly to Jessica and I. And more importantly, we didn't run out of time!

Last day of Fieldwork

Yesterday was my last day of fieldwork at Heritage Middle School. I taught the second half of my Ink Blot Creations lesson to the seventh graders. While the students were drawing in the images they saw in their ink blots, they were excitedly talking to their friends about what they were drawing and how they were going to do it. After 35 minutes of work time, we were able to recap and discuss as a class on what everyone saw and what they liked or didn't like about the project.
From this experience I definatly see growth in myself. After every lesson, Mrs. DeLaigle would give me feedback on what to improve on and what were my stronger points. From my very first lesson she had concerns about projecting my voice, gaining control of the class, and having that confident teacher presence. Although my voice was not quite as loud as Mrs. DeLaigle's, I was told I was improving each day. 
I think this placement was the best, most inspiring and beneficial. Mrs. DeLaigle gave me incredible feedback, showed me how their school district works, told me what is important to look into and how to connect with the students. She also taught me the most effective ways in structuring her classroom, orginization skills, and time management.
I'm excited to keep in touch with Mrs. DeLaigle and visit her classes in the future. I'm going to miss Mrs. DeLaigle and her students at Heritage.

Ink Blots!!!

Here are some photos from the Ink Blot Creations lesson I have been teaching at Heritage Middle School.

  Teacher examples with a visual of the step by step process  

Visual of step by step process for second half of lesson

Completed teacher example of Ink Blot Creations composition

Completed teacher example of Ink Blot Creations composition

Colored ink blot teacher examples

6th grade examples of Ink Blot Creations project

6th grade examples of Ink Blot Creations project

6th grade examples of Ink Blot Creations project

7th grade examples of Ink Blot Creations project

7th grade examples of Ink Blot Creations project

7th grade examples of Ink Blot Creations project

Another day, another lesson

I taught my Ink Blot Creations lesson for the second time at Heritage Middle School. The first time I had taught the lesson, it was with the sixth graders. This time, I taught both seventh grade classes and modified the lesson and teaching strategies to help iron out the wrinkles that I had discovered from the first day of teaching. 

On that first day teaching with the sixth graders, I had the class create two ink blot compositions using two-to-three colors for each piece. With the seventh graders, I decided to have the first composition be made of only black ink and the second composition use the two-to-three colors of ink. After I had introduced the project to the class, I only displayed an example of a ink blot made solely with black ink. Immediately kids were responding with things that they saw in the ink blot. Noting the unusual enthusiasm of the class, I had the students volunteer to come up to the board and point out what they saw in the ink blot so the entire class can see their perspective. After a few minutes of this,I then demonstrated the process of making the ink blots and went through it step by step with the class.

 When the entire class was finished and put their ink blot on the drying rack, I led another small discussion to find out what they had seen in their ink blot or their friend's ink blot. During this discussion I asked "Do you think color can change or alter these images that you see within the ink blot you made?" I recieved a few responses such as 'Color can add new images to the ink blot' and 'Color can add detail' I displayed my ink blot that I had made using green, gold, and red ink. Again, students were eager to share what they were seeing in the ink blot design. I again had students come up to the board and point out what they see. I showed another example I had made using different colored inks; red, yellow, and blue and asked one student what colors she saw. She responded with red, purple, green, yellow, orange, and blue. I than asked another student how they thought I was able to have so many colors by only using three different colored inks. I wanted to incorporate the color theory lesson that Mrs. DeLaigle had done with the class weeks prior and have them use this knowledge when deciding what color inks to choose. I again held another demonstration and explained the process step by step.

After the entire class was finished with their second composition and had cleaned up their stations, I asked the students what they thought we were going to do with these ink blots. I than passed around two completed ink blot examples with drawn images while I introduced the second part of the lesson. With only a few minutes left I led another discussion with the class about the images they saw and how they would draw it. Would it be realistic looking? What details would you include? Would you use only black fine point markers or would you use colored fine point markers? It was important for me to have this introduction discussion with the class before we began this process so the students could start thinking about and brainstorm ideas for how they want to execute their designs.

I definatly feel that this lesson with the seventh graders was more successful than with the sixth graders. Time management was a major issue with the sixth graders which I think improved greatly with the addition of the second demonstration and additional discussions. Although it was repititive, I believe that going through the process for both compositions step by step decreased the amount of horse play and increased their attention span/focus. When the students had to move around to the color stations they were careful about transporting their work from one spot to the next and also considered others who were passing by. For example, if they noticed a chair was not pushed in or an area was too crowded, students cleared the pathway and waited for stations to clear out; something that was not seen in the sixth grade class.

Student Teaching Reflection

Today was the second day teaching the Ink Blot Creations lesson at Heritage Middle School. To begin the lesson, I asked the sixth graders what it was that we had done last time we had met. After we had reintroduced the first half of the lesson, I asked the students what they thought we were going to do with these ink blots. This allowed me to determine who remembered our closing activity from the previous week and also allowed the students who were absent to know what we did and why we were drawing these various images throughout our composition. After our discussion, I then asked the students to gather around the center table for a demonstration on how the students were to create these images. For example, I shared with the class one image that I saw in the ink blot we had created together during the demo last class. With a thin marker, I drew in the face that I saw using both the negative and positive spaces in the composition. I asked for volunteers to point out what other images they saw in the ink blot and had them draw it just as I had done. I wanted the demonstration to be interactive and playful so the students knew exactly what was being asked of them and they understood there was not one correct answer but there are numerous possibilities. I felt this type of demo is unique inside the classroom and truly captured the playfulness of the project itself. After the demonstration was complete, the students traded one of their ink blot creations with a friend. This was a different way for the students to collaborate with each other about what they each saw while also creating their own individual artwork. The students spend the remainder of the class period working on the two compositions, eagerly sharing with their neighbors about their images and how these images change with a different point of view, such as rotating the paper or looking at something from a distance as opposed to a close up.

                  Although there are some areas I wish to work on, I think overall the lesson was a success. All the students participated and seemed to enjoy exploring the new materials and different ways of ‘seeing’. However, looking back, I wish I had spent more time on the demo and added details to the figure that I had seen. Wanting the students to have ample time to trade projects and create their drawings, I had only done a quick drawing in the demo to allow the students to participate in the example we were making together. Noticing that a few of the students were only drawing the outlines of what they saw, I feel the lack of details in the demo could have caused some confusion even though the teacher example was completed with detail. I feel demonstrations can be one of the hardest parts of a lesson, especially while student teaching because time is limited and as the teacher you want your students to get as much out of this experience as possible.    

Presentation Analysis

Jessica and I focused on environmental awareness in our motivational presentation. It was extremely important for us to provide a strong, purposeful introduction to our students so they would have a clear understanding on why we were introducing these two artists; Janet Nolan and John Dahlsen. We were teaching our students the importance of this theme and we considered the artists as our ‘supporting actors’ to help emphasize this importance. Although teaching a lesson with another person is not common inside a classroom setting, we wanted this unique experience to feel as organic as possible. For this to happen, we thought it would be best if we knew exactly what we each wanted the class to get from the information we were providing and use this to bounce off each other to create a comfortable dialogue.      

Looking through our assessment sheets most of the students found our introduction to be useful and engaging, however others felt it was too lengthy and was not specific enough to our theme. Putting this feedback into consideration, we feel it is important for a teacher to find a middle ground in order to teach a successful lesson to their students. Guiding the students into a discussion which explains the rationale of the lesson will give them a better understanding on what to expect from the artists and the work they are about to be shown. It was also said that our first slide, Canopy Flight (1978), was a difficult slide to begin with. We could not provide a larger image of this composition because of its poor image quality. Knowing this, we now realize how important it would’ve been to either begin with the Canopy Flight (1983) composition or find another resource to sight this earlier work. However, with these minor hiccups in our presentation, we feel like we were quick to improvise and restate questions if it was not easily understood the first time.  We also had some issues with voice projection and time management. Although we got cut off at the end of our presentation, we both feel as if we led our discussion to where it was supposed to go even without the last slide. Our discussions provided enough insight and also engaged our students to the point where they were asking to see more. This showed us that even though we were not able to finish fully, we were able to connect our students with our theme and the artists we introduced.

Middle School Placement

I began my placement this semester at Heritage Middle School in New Windsor with Mrs. DeLaigle. For the first few weeks of placement I was observing Mrs. DeLaigle’s classes, her style of teaching, and assisting her and the students throughout the lesson. Due to some student’s schedule complications, Mrs. DeLaigle was not able to begin the first art project during that first and second week of school. Instead, she created folders for all of her students in the sixth through eighth grade levels, mainstream and self-contained. Each grade level was to design their folder with their name according to the object of the lesson; sixth grade being more simplistic and eighth grade more complex. For example, the sixth graders were to write their name in bubble letters. For each letter in their name, they were to draw in three to five symbols that represented them that also began with the letters in his/her name. The seventh graders designed their name using one point perspective and the eighth graders were to abstractly design their name using repetition or pattern. All three of these projects derived from one lesson in which she modified for each grade level and/or the type of class she was teaching. Mrs. DeLaigle advised me that each lesson needs to be personal other wise they are not going to care about it or put in as much effort. “Having them draw a still life is not something I do in this art room. I’ve tried it and all they do is just a quick sketch of what they want to include in it, not the entire still life. They won’t sit there and draw in every detail and shading the way you and I would. It needs to be personal to them and it’s a great way to learn about your students and their interests” she told me. Using this advice, it made observations a lot easier and more comfortable. I now knew why they were drawing these particular symbols and was able to begin a conversation with a lot of the students about that particular object and its significance to them. I felt it allowed for them to feel more comfortable with me and my being there inside their classroom.

            I had told Mrs. DeLaigle about what we were learning in Theory and Practice; about the importance of game play, the use of imagination and creativity, and how we connected this with Surrealism and the post-modern principles. I had also told her that I had to write a lesson plan using one of these Surrealist games of play, in which I chose to base mine off the Rorschach Ink blots. She asked if I could send her a copy of this lesson along with a few other ideas to do with her classes. After much consideration and discussion, we decided it would be best if I taught the Rorschach Ink Blot lesson and use this as a possible motivational project for introduction to a larger, more complex surrealist project. Mrs. DeLaigle also advised me that she found that it is easier for her students to have the projects broken down in steps for them so they do not miss or forget any of the criteria. For a better understanding of what the students were to do, I created a sign to hang from the chalkboard that listed each step. I went over each step with them one by one after my introduction and show them a few teacher examples of what the end result might look like. I explained to them that each composition will look different from one another and that this is an abstract, non-representational project. After the introduction and discussion of the steps, I than demonstrated how I made my teacher examples so they could see exactly how it was done to help clear up any other questions the students might have. When the students returned to their seats, I had everyone write their names on one side of the paper, fold it in half and when they were ready to begin, I had them open their paper to its original size again. Students moved around the room to each color station and used their knowledge in color theory to apply and mix the drawing inks appropriately. To both mine and Mrs. DeLaigle’s surprise, each student created two ink blot creations using three different colors in each composition quicker than we had anticipated. Usually the students are hard to motivate and begin working on their project. During this lesson, they all did what they were asked the first time and as a result we had an extra fifteen minutes to spare. As all teachers must do, I had to react quickly to settle the students down and have them regain their attention. I asked them, “What do you think our next step will be once the ink dries?” Some students responded with collage and others responded with drawing. From this I asked them to tell me what they saw in the ink blot examples. I had them come up to the board where the two teacher examples were displayed. When there were not as many volunteers to come up, I gave each station other examples I had made and had them share among their group the different things they saw just like what we had done. “If you have a writing utensil and feel comfortable, you can draw what you see right on top of the ink blot” I said. At the end, I showed them one last example, a work in progress, of what I was drawing in my ink blot. This was another short introduction to what the next step would be for the next time we met. Even though I was not planning on getting this far on the first day of the lesson, I feel I was quick on my toes to accommodate what had to be done next that would still keep the students on task.

This particular experience had its positive and its more negative aspects which I found as great learning tools. I realized how important it is to have more than one teacher example, guide the students to where it is you want them to go, time management, organization skills, and modifications especially. Something will either go wrong or not go the way you planned for it. A successful teacher must know how to fix this or have backup plans at all time which I feel was the most important lesson from this. I couldn’t react the way I felt, which was like a deer in headlights. I had to continue to take control and feel comfortable with this issue I was facing without the students realizing that this was not planned. Although I feel this situation will be nerve racking every time it happens, I also feel these are the hurdles teachers refer back to when they are creating or introducing new lessons in order to become successful.