Unit Plan

Our Unit Plans are not due until the 17th however I know planning a unit is a lot of work and I do not like leaving things to the last minute so I have begun to think about what lessons I am going to do besides my enviroscan lesson.  This has been really difficult because although I agreed to the theme of environment I don't feel a particular drive to create or make anything.  I am very interested in the artists and the lesson we have already done although I dont know what else to do.
 I do not want to do cliche lessons.  Although it is cliche I am going to do land art sculptures inspired by Andy Goldsworthy.  I believe if I do them in a collaborative manner it will be helpful for students.
Next I thought about doing leaf impressions, however the environment is more then just grass and my focus of the theme is taking art and making it accessible to look at and to create.  I found the artist Louise Nevelson who makes found art sculptures.  I think I will use her as an inspiration and have my students make sculptures using found fabricated objects, however is this too repetitive? I want to use unconventional materials but if I do this week after week is it still successful?
Last I want students to have freedom to explore an environment that they encounter everyday or that is special to them.  Then they will use materials and only materials in that space to create their artwork.  For example I thought of the bathroom and using anything I can find in there to make a painting.  However I do not know if this is too broad.  Will students not know where to start or what to use?

Fieldwork 3

Today we met with Nicole for our last fieldwork meeting before our final presentations. Nicole first said to us that we have all grown up, she said it was as if she has known us since we are little and now we are all adults ready to be teachers.  This statement is true.  Although I have only known Nicole since Intro to Art education which was only a year ago, it truly seems like forever.  If I think back to my first fieldwork experience and my last day at Wappingers Falls Junior high I am a different person.  In those first experiences I was just an observer, then at duzine I became a participant and now in fieldwork 3 I am a teacher. T
Although I am afraid and nervous to move on I do believe it is time,  this program has given me the skills and the drive to move on to student teaching. Change is always scary however all you need to do is try and you will succeed. I know I will be a good teacher, I have proved it to my professors, my mentors, and myself.  Now I just need to prove it to the state and the administration of the school I am working in.

Taryn and Amanda's Lesson

I really thought this was such a great lesson.  I was so intrigued by the idea of mark making and using it as a theme for multiple lessons, however I always get confused when they refer to it as mark.  I always want to say who is mark?  The best part of the lesson was that it was innovative they broke the normal way everyone has been teaching and made it more interesting.  By getting the class involved and moving as soon as the class started I was excited.   That excitement carried over to the discussion and was built upon in the actual making process.  Although my favorite part of the lesson was when we collaboratively threw the clay.  It was fun and exciting as well as informative.  I even tried to replicate this lesson in Alice's disabilities class with my student who has autism and down syndrome, although he was not interested.

Today Jamie and Kerstin had a really great opportunity for reflection within their lesson.  I decided to do it myself. Here is the photo I took of Justin.  I do not know if their goal was to answer the reflection questions based on their own self portrait or the image they took of their partner.  I am going to answer from the picture I took of Justin.

Which angle and genre did you decide on for your shot? Why? How did the chosen camera angle and genre work together? Justin decided on a straight on camera angle, however I had to bend down to get to his eye level.  This angle is very dramatic especially since only half of Justin's face and body are in the image. This helps to elude the genre of mystery, since you can not only see only part of his body but you also cannot see his eyes.

How can you derive a story from your self portrait?  You can derive many stories from this portrait.  You want to know who the man is and why he looks like that.

What was your experience like working as a director for you self-portrait? Walking as a director in my own self portrait was difficult.  I did not want to seem bossy or annoying when or if I did not like the picture my photographer took.

What was your experience as a photographer for someone else’s self-portrait?  Being the photographer for someone else's photo was better then directing my own because i like taking pictures.  

Cool, Calm, and Collected

On Sunday I took the ATSW.  I was really nervous and uneasy about the exam because I am obviously not the best math student and thought 12 wrong out of 80 was a 53 when it is actually a grade in the high 80's.  Because of these insecurities I took many practice exams and spent all day on Friday when I was sick studying.  Not only did this help me to know what types of questions they would ask on the exam but the books I was studying gave me helpful tips and tricks for the exam.
One tip was to do the essay first.  When I took the exam I did this and it really boosted my confidence.  The essay question was about using prior knowledge to help students learn new information.  I was so comfortable answering my questions because we have learned about these techniques in class.  Scaffolding and the entire thematic presentation provided me with this opportunity.  I used this experience to explain how I would use scaffolding while viewing art work to teach students new ideas and techniques.  Since I was so sure of my answer to the essay question it made me excited and gave me the extra push to answer the multiple choice questions.  Now all I can do is be confident in my abilities and wait for the results.

ATSW

Tomorrow I am taking the ATSW exam for teaching certification.  I planned to take it in elementary education because curriculum and instruction was based in elementary education as was my last fieldwork experience however now I am a little worried.  I took a practice exam and got 12 out of 80 questions wrong which does not seem like a lot but it scored 53 percent without the essay portion.  I know the essay will bring up my grade but it makes me a little uneasy because while answering the multiple choice questions I have a lot of difficulty.
I really enjoy the art education program at SUNY New Paltz and feel as if I have learned a lot but these questions are not based on what I have learned.  The ones on classroom management and classroom situations are easier to try to discover the best possible answer but some questions are not.  I also feel like many answers could be right but there is only one answer that is best.  I know as long as I read all the questions and answers entirely I will do fine but I get anxiety while taking tests.  I want to be as best prepared as I can but I don't want to make myself crazy and nervous about the exam.
I have read through the tips and tricks, as well as done some more studying and plan to take another practice exam.  In situations like this there are many questions similar to the ones in review books, the more I practice the more comfortable I will feel.  I also have to understand that the numerical grade does not matter.  All I need to do is pass.  I am smart and prepared so as long as I am not nervous I will do fine.  When taking tests I am my own worst enemy.  

Final Fieldwork

This week I completed my final hours of my fieldwork placement.  My school has quarters so not only was it my final day but it was the students final week having art.  The classes were very busy finishing their assignments and making sure everything was done for the quarter.  Many students came during their study hall or lunch period for extra help.  This was really great because I was able to provide these students with one on one help and instruction.  They were very eager to learn tips and tricks with tools and techniques.  I helped one student with shading her charcoal drawing.  I showed her how to put loose charcoal on a paper towel so you could spread it evenly to create a light background shading technique.
I also got to see many of the students completed body of work.  I was able to take with them about their work and how they progressed over the quarter.  They were able to talk with me and tell me their favorite projects  and what they learned about art.  When we were participating in this action I was unsure if it would be a formative or summative assessment.  I know a formative assessment is in progress and helps students to understand or realize something about their work while summative is final and at the end.  I would classify this as both because although students were done with their projects they were not completely handed in or due till Friday so they could still change things.  It was summative because it was a conclusion and an overall conversation about their work, however I am not grading them.
Overall I had a great experience at my fieldwork placement.  I created bonds with the students and my cooperative teacher.  I was really sad to have to leave them as the students were to see me go.  I hope my presence their benefited them as much as it did me.  I learned so much about classroom management, and teaching practices that I know I will carry with me in my future classroom.