Reflection #12

In the article “Developing Criteria Rubrics in the Art Classroom,” Sandra Mccollister provides detailed descriptions of methods to create rubrics and also of their benefits for art teachers and students. In general, she explains that rubrics include detailed criteria for a finished work, which may include aspects involved in the process of making the artwork, as well as the finished product. According to Mccollister, these criteria will be evaluated as being “In Progress,” “Novice,” “Intermediate,” or “Advanced” in quality; however, these qualitative assessments can be used to show students their strengths and weaknesses, and do not necessarily translate into letter grades. Mccollister also suggests using student input for creating rubrics, but makes it clear that grading is ultimately the responsibility of the teacher. She suggests that rubrics help students to know what is expected from them, and clarify assignments that students might find complex.

Rubric for Main Lesson Books in Waldorf Education

Fairly Comprehensive Art Rubric

Throughout my elementary years, I was not evaluated with letter or number grades, but with constructive comments on my strengths and areas that were in need of improvement. I found these comments particularly helpful and motivating, and have come to appreciate them more and more as I am making my way through college, where not all of my professors have been as constructive. I’ve always found comments like “needs more detail” to be more helpful and motivating than comments like “too vague” because they frame the areas of weakness in a more constructive way. I have noticed that the assignments that I experience the most anxiety about are the ones that do not have clear requirements. If I know what is expected from me, and what my professor is looking for, I find myself feeling much more confident about my work. Rubrics are a great way to clearly lay out the requirements of an assignment so that students are able to know what is expected of them, however, they can limit the creativity of students approaches to certain projects. How can we provide clarity and still leave room for creativity? 

Reflection #11

In her article “It Was Always the Pictures…” Paula Kluth describes several different ways to use art as a part of curriculum make literacy and learning more relevant for students with disabilities in the classroom. Kluth mentions graphic organizers, picture books, fascination focused materials, graphic notes, and story kits as a few different ways to engage all students including visual learners and students with disabilities.  Graphic organizers are useful to help students find the main ideas and concepts within a text, and can be modified with movable pictures for students who struggle with fine motor skills. Picture books also help students follow and understand material, and can be used even in the higher grades as a jumping off point to more in-depth projects by students. Fascination focused material can be particularly helpful with students with autism, who often fixate on one particular topic of interest. If this topic is incorporated into the lesson, these students have the opportunity to be fully engaged in curriculum, rather than distracted by other interests. Graphic note taking can allow visual learners to have an alternative way of writing down important material, and the can create their own system of symbols to make the content relevant and recognizable. Story kits, containing various objects relating to material can be another great way to engage students who are blind or who struggle with fine motor skills. Although many of these strategies are beneficial to visual learners or students with disabilities, they are often helpful in making content relevant to all students in the classroom.

Greek Pentathlon

Farming Unit

Farming

Making Maple Syrup

Learning About Music

In elementary school, pictures and picture books were often used in the classroom, however, graphic organizers, story kits, fascination focused materials, and graphic notes were not used. One reason for some of this, I think, is that we did not take notes in my elementary school. We created artistic main lesson books which related to content being taught and composed stories to put in these mail lesson books. Sometimes we also performed skits, poems, dances, plays, or songs which related to the curriculum. I suppose some of the materials used in these performances could be considered a part of a story kit, but it was next called that explicitly. I always found these activities to be helpful in making material more relevant and interesting, and enjoyed being more actively involved in learning. How can we incorporate both artistic and active ways for students to participate in learning? Although I do think these visual strategies could be helpful, I don’t think that taking notes should be the only way for students to learn curriculum. I think they should be able to participate through a variety of different ways, including visual and artistic strategies. These strategies, to me, also seem like they might need to be taught explicitly to students. In order to make them useful in the classroom, I think the teacher would have to model to and instruct students so that they would be use visual strategies in a meaningful way. 

Reflection #10

Romare Bearden’s website at www.metmuseam.org provides information about his work The Block.  This Block is a collage of six panels that depict a block in Harlem. It is made with pieces of newspaper, photographs, colored paper, and pencil drawing to enhance details. This inspiration of this artwork was formulated from the forms and patterns in jazz music and from the realities of Harlem life. Bearden let the realities shape his own perception, and added images from his own imagination, such as religious figures and angels. How can we use things in the real world to help students imagine things that are fantasy? Looking at this artwork might help to inspire students to bring their own perspective to real-life images. The website also provides details from Bearden’s life, and how he was influenced by famous writer’s of his time. The viewer can take a closer look at The Block via an interactive tool on the website, or can be inspired to create their own collage through several activities suggested.

Historical Art: an Example from a Waldorf Main Lesson Book

Historical Art: another Example from a Waldorf Main Lesson Book

Can we use art, music, or real life situations to inspire students artwork? Bearden used writing, the Harlem lifestyle, and jazz music to inspire his work. I think it would be a great idea to let students explore different time periods or historical situations by listening to music, reading about them, and creating their own imaginative artwork. Although I haven’t had much experience with collage in my education, or the use of music as an inspiration, I was often asked to create artworks that corresponded to historical events or situations; however, my artworks were usually based upon existing photographs, and held few imaginative elements. If we let our students expand upon the existing material, they can connect and relate to it in a more meaningful way.

Reflection #9

In her article “Graphic Novels in the Classroom,” which is written in a graphic novel format, Gene Yang describes the benefits of using graphic novels as a tool to teach students. He says that graphic novels can “bridge the gap” between image and text, and permanent images allow students to move along the page as quickly or slowly as necessary, repeat any content they cannot understand. The combination of images and text on the page also makes graphic novels easier for struggling readers to understand, and supports visual learners. At the end of the article, Gene Yang provides resources and graphic novel recommendations that teachers can use to incorporate graphic novels into their curriculum. His blog also provides information about contests and lectures, advice to artists, and examples of his work as a graphic novelist. 

Just a little graphic I found about using graphic novels in the classroom...

I think that graphic novels would be a great way to engage students and get their attention, especially in a society that is constantly bombarding children with images and information, where it is hard for many students to focus. I also like the idea of permanent images that allow students to go back over material, and read at their own pace. Although graphic novels were never used in my elementary or high school education, I always found that visual representations of a lesson were extremely helpful. Graphic novels could definitely benefit struggling and visual learners, but I think they would be very difficult and time consuming for teachers to create. How can teachers use graphic novels without expending unnecessary amounts of time and energy creating them? I think one option would be to use books that have already been created, such as the ones recommended by Gene Yang. Another option, perhaps, would be to use graphic novels in the classroom less frequently, perhaps once a week as a break from other methods of teaching. I think that using graphic novels in the classroom, even on an infrequent basis, would be successful in teaching and engaging students. 

Reflection #8

The Article “Islamic Art and Design: Activities for Learning” created by The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides instructions for teachers wishing to teach their students about Islamic Art. The article gives tips to teachers about how to engage students in creating their own versions of Islamic art, and describes the first basic property of Islamic art as being “made up of a small number of repeated geometric elements” where are based off of the circle, the square, and the straight line. The second property is that Islamic art is “two dimensional” and has a “background and a foreground pattern.” The background and foreground can be highly contrasted or very difficult to distinguish, but they do not attempt to create depth, but rather are appreciated for their flat, two-dimensional qualities. Islamic art is “not designed to fit within a frame,” according to the third element described but The Metropolitan Museum of Art, but instead Islamic art has the freedom to be “indefinitely expandable.” Many of the methods described in this article for teaching Islamic art suggest that students learn by tracing and replicating patterns that have already been created. Is this technical approach to art still allowing students to express their own creativity? If we were to provide students with the basic tools for geometric shapes, and then focus more of the lesson on allowing student to create their own design, they might find a deeper, more personal connection to Islamic art.  As an elementary student, I was often asked to replicate drawings and patterns. I was fascinated by many of the pictures I was given, but wanted to replicate them exactly, rather than use my own creative talents to change the artworks and make them my own. I never learned about Islamic art specifically, but I did learn about creating and illustrating with geometric patterns in an artistic way as part of the Waldorf School curriculum.

Variation of a Six Pointed Star From a 6th Grade Main Lesson Book

Variation of a Five Pointed Star From a 6th Grade Main Lesson Book

Variation of a Square From a 6th Grade Main Lesson Book

Variation of a Twelve Pointed Star From a 6th Grade Main Lesson Book

Variation of a Six Pointed Star From a 6th Grade Main Lesson Book

Variation of a Six Pointed Star From a 6th Grade Main Lesson Book

The curriculum at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School where I went for grades 2-8 also included some teaching of Islam. We learned about Mohammed and about the Qur’an, however, we did not learn about many of the artistic and geometric aspects of the book itself as is was discussed in Fayeq S. Oweis’s article “Islamic Art as an Educational Tool About the Teaching of Islam” Oweis described the complex ways that Arabic calligraphy is incorporated into the artwork. The lettering is created with carefully constructed geometric proportions that enhance the Islamic artwork. The article described six common forms of Arabic calligraphy the “Kufic,” the “Thuluth,” the “Nasakh”, the “Ta’liq,” the “Deewani,” and the “Riq’a.” All forms of writing were though to have been taught to human beings by God, and this made them sacred to the Islamic people. The Qur’an itself, according to Oweis is beautifully decorated with geometric and floral patterns that inspire Islamic art. When students were asked to complete activities where they created their own versions of Islamic art, they became interested with the culture of Islam, and were willing to learn more, despite many of the stereotypes and stigmatisms many Americans place on Islamic culture after the tragedy of Nine Eleven. Can art help to eliminate cultural prejudice? Because students were able to move past the cultural barriers created by the society in which they live and become interested in a foreign culture, I think art has potential to help students realize the beauty and importance of other cultures such as that of Islam.

Variation of a Twenty-Four Pointed Star From a 6th Grade Main Lesson Book

Variation of a Six Pointed Star From a 6th Grade Main Lesson Book