History Change Frame

The History Change Frame is a teaching strategy that I could use in my future art classroom for my students to learn the different art movements. I could have my students use this type of chart during their reading assignments to write in the information as they read. I would have to alter the chart to focus more on my content area which could include dates/time periods, important artists, historical events, artist’s influences, and subject matter in the art work. I like how the students can compare and contrast different art movements using this teaching strategy. I can integrate this strategy into my lessons over art history. I would want to incorporate this strategy within my lesson planning because this assignment allows the students to create their own notes and organize them as they are reading.

Classroom Library

    I believe having a classroom library in the art classroom would be very beneficial for the students. When I observed an elementary art classroom this past semester, I noticed the teacher used a classroom library for her students. She told me that her students mostly use the books for pleasure reading during free time or to look up specific ideas for their projects. This teacher also had a specific shelf of books strictly dedicated for her “how to draw” books which were mainly of different animals and objects. The classroom libraries seemed to be used often in her classroom throughout my time observing and the students seemed to really enjoy using outside sources like books to help with their creative projects.
    I think having a library within a classroom that is full of books about that particular class subject is very helpful for students overall. This gives students an opportunity to be exposed to that subject and possibly “fill in the gaps” where the teacher might not have explained in a way that is understanding for certain students. I love how students can have the opportunity to use other resources other then the internet. I think the library is also helpful for students to learn how to look up a topic in a book instead of just googling it online.
    In my future classroom, I would love to have a variety of art history books, important artist biographies, art museum books, and many more. I would love to have a large selection of books in my future classroom library for my students to use as much as possible. I would try to incorporate the books within lessons and projects for the students to do research.

Reading Life

    Growing up, I was not the student who absolutely loved to read. I actually struggled learning how to read in school so it was always a chore for me to read. I had a mild form of dyslexia growing up which was the cause for my struggle. I did love listening to my parents or older siblings read to me when I was younger because I loved stories, but it was usually not my idea to choose to read for pleasure. I was always the child who loved physical activities and moving my body which lead me to play many sports and become successful as an athlete.
    As I got older and reached high school, I admired my friends who always had a book in their hand. I really did. I wanted to be more intelligent and have a larger vocabulary like some of my friends and even family had. Even when I choose a book that I wanted to read, I found it extremely difficult to actually finish the book. There was always something else to that I had to get done for school, like homework, that would stand in my way. Because I played sports, I had before and/or after school practice(s) that took up a lot of my free time. This was another activity that took up a lot of my free time. But, these are all excuses. If I truly desired to read, then I would make the time for it. But, I did not.
    When I was in high school, I did become very consistent with writing. This became my favorite evening activity before going to bed each night. I would have my devotional time with the Lord and I would journal my prayers and thoughts. I found this extremely helpful for myself to write out my thoughts to make sense of what crazy things were going on in my head. This made me have to slow down my thinking process and learn to think clearly to write complete sentences. Because I struggled with reading growing up and did not make the time for pleasure reading, I would only read my Bible for free time outside of school reading. This became my only outside source of reading. I always thought to myself growing up, that if I only have a small time frame to read for pleasure outside of school then I want that book to be important and meaningful to me, which was the Bible.
    My reading habits are still very similar to how they were in high school, but I do have more motivation now to read. I love to learn new things and be able to comprehend the information that is presented. Most of the time I have to work extra hard to comprehend what I read and not just read the words in front of me just to finish something. I do find satisfaction in my reading and I do enjoy those quiet and peaceful times in a book. When I read today, I like to read in the mornings with a cup of coffee in a quiet room beside a window for natural light. This is my favorite atmosphere for both reading and writing.

Writing About Art

    Today, students have access to unlimited information and resources because of the internet. There are now numerous types of literacies they are exposed to compared to just a decade ago. There is digital literacy, media literacy, visual literacy, data literacy, game literacy, health and financial literacy, coding and computational literacy, and so many more. Literacy is more than just reading and writing as many thought many years ago. Our world is evolving and so are our education systems. Knowing this, teachers also need to evolve with this change and teach students the how to be successful within these new literacies.
    As a future art teacher, I want to incorporate technology at the appropriate times in my teaching and also with my student’s projects. I want my students to learn how to properly use internet sources for their projects and for research. I wish for my students to be aware of current day art and artists for them to learn from other artists. I do believe that students should first be taught the importance of safety when using the internet for education and also the skills and techniques to better navigate through sites. 
    Other than using the internet within my teaching, I also plan to incorporate journaling into my classroom. I wish for my students to write about their art that they are making to dig deeper into meaning and for reflections. Journaling is another creative way that students can express themselves besides creating a material based artwork. I believe that journaling can be a great tool for my art students to plan designs, sort out thoughts, and put actual words on paper before creating a work of art. This could potentially help them find a concept within their work which can also help them with creating a title and artist statement.
    Realizing that today’s students are faced with more literacies then students were exposed to a decade ago makes me, as a future art teacher, want to learn how in incorporate more of these into my art classroom. I want to stay current with what my students are being exposed to so I can better teach them. I am excited to teach art in the twenty-first century because of all the endless resources that my students will have access to for their creative minds to use. Now my job is to help my students know how to use those resources to become successful individuals.

A Teacher's Impact

    Teachers impact their students and the environment of the classroom. While growing up, my teachers have all had an impact on my learning whether it was positive or negative. I can remember back in middle school and high school which teachers and subjects were my favorites and least favorites. I mostly remember my negative experiences, sadly enough, because they effected my view on the subject that was taught or that teacher made me feel a certain way that was not positive.
    Starting with a positive, my favorite subject in high school was art. I loved every bit of that class and my teacher made it even better. I absolutely loved the subject that was being taught and all of our art projects throughout the years. I remember how encouraging my teacher was towards me academically and also personally. I remember how she would take time to help her students individually when they needed her assistance. She was always on the move in the classroom and was constantly engaged with her students. I also remember her being very personable and approachable to all of her students which is one of the main reasons why I enjoyed her as a teacher as much as I did. She was even organized with her lessons and very knowledgeable in her subject of teaching which was shown to me through her passion for art and her students.
    World History was unfortunately one of my least favorite subjects in high school and it was not because of the subject. I sadly did not enjoy most of my history classes in high school because of the way the subjects were taught by the teachers. Specifically, I can remember my World History teacher making us type vocabulary words almost every week. I remember her also having us answer the questions from the textbook in the back of each chapter while she would sit in the back of the room at her desk staring us down to make sure we would not talk.
This teacher did not seem to know her content well which then led into poor teaching techniques. She also did not create assessments that truly tested our knowledge of the class, but instead created tests that were strictly from older TAKS tests to help us prepare more for our end of year test as she thought.
    Reflecting back to when I was in grade school, I know what it feels like to feel left out from the rest of the class, and I also know what it feels like to feel included and important in a classroom. I struggled with learning in certain subjects because I had mild dyslexia which effected the way I learned and comprehended information. I want to create a warm and welcoming classroom where my students feel encouraged but also challenged. I want to use words of encouragement to talk to my students and create high standards in my classroom for my students to be successful in my course. I would like to incorporate many things that I have seen in my own teachers, but also change a few things. I am so thankful for all of the amazing individuals I have been blessed to have as my teacher over the years because I can learn from their positives and negatives of teaching to bring into my own classroom.