Teaching Philosophy
The goal for my classroom is to allow students the space and freedom to experiment and play with different materials and process, while staying within the guidelines for the curriculum. When I teach a lesson to my students, it’s not my hope that the student will replicate my exact technique every time they work with a material; I’d like my lesson to simply act as an introduction into the procedure or the medium. My real hope is that the students will then take what they have witnessed or learned and try and discover their own way of working with the material that they enjoy and thinks works best for them specifically.
Through my own experience, I’ve found it most successful to give students options; options to do an activity different from others in the class, or work in a different space or with a different material. Forcing students to stick to one way of completing a project will make it difficult for them to broaden their knowledge in the arts. I want my students to view art as a time for exploration and play, rather than a time filled with deadlines and strict rules.
From my observation and experience, I’ve witnessed learning in a multitude of ways. One of the most popular instances I’ve witnessed of learning occurring is through children’s pedagogy. There’s always going to be a teacher in the classroom, but it’s important for me and for other educators to remind ourselves that the students are teachers for each other. I understand that sometimes I cannot explain a process or technique to a student as well as one of their classmates might be able to, and so giving the students that independence to work with those around them and explain processes to one another. You may even find that sometimes, the student knows more than you.
When I’m looking for learning in my classroom, I know that it’s occurring when I see students trying something new. If I’m conducting a lesson on painting, but I’m not allowing the students to use paint brushes, I’m looking for students to be thinking, playing, and experimenting with different objects and techniques. If I see a student that has built a painting machine out of pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks, I know that that student is thinking deeply about how they are going to apply paint to their paper; they’re not picking up a popsicle stick, dipping it into the paint, and dragging it across the page. Student learning is evident to me when my students are practicing an art-making exercise that they haven’t done or seen before. And in most of these cases, I’ve probably not seen this technique either.
In terms of classroom inclusion, the last thing I’d want in my classroom is for a student to feel left out. In order to avoid this happening, keeping students in groups promotes group discussion and interaction, and sometimes even children’s pedagogy. By doing so, students learn from each other and talk about their artwork with one another. Discussions about the lessons are important so that students can get the chance to speak for themselves about their own personal experiences. By having them take control of the conversation, they’re getting the chance to talk about perhaps what they liked and didn’t like about the lesson. This shows me what I need to do to enhance and challenge their learning, while making sure that the classroom is a safe and comfortable place for them where they feel they can talk about their own involvement.
Through my own experience, I’ve found it most successful to give students options; options to do an activity different from others in the class, or work in a different space or with a different material. Forcing students to stick to one way of completing a project will make it difficult for them to broaden their knowledge in the arts. I want my students to view art as a time for exploration and play, rather than a time filled with deadlines and strict rules.
From my observation and experience, I’ve witnessed learning in a multitude of ways. One of the most popular instances I’ve witnessed of learning occurring is through children’s pedagogy. There’s always going to be a teacher in the classroom, but it’s important for me and for other educators to remind ourselves that the students are teachers for each other. I understand that sometimes I cannot explain a process or technique to a student as well as one of their classmates might be able to, and so giving the students that independence to work with those around them and explain processes to one another. You may even find that sometimes, the student knows more than you.
When I’m looking for learning in my classroom, I know that it’s occurring when I see students trying something new. If I’m conducting a lesson on painting, but I’m not allowing the students to use paint brushes, I’m looking for students to be thinking, playing, and experimenting with different objects and techniques. If I see a student that has built a painting machine out of pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks, I know that that student is thinking deeply about how they are going to apply paint to their paper; they’re not picking up a popsicle stick, dipping it into the paint, and dragging it across the page. Student learning is evident to me when my students are practicing an art-making exercise that they haven’t done or seen before. And in most of these cases, I’ve probably not seen this technique either.
In terms of classroom inclusion, the last thing I’d want in my classroom is for a student to feel left out. In order to avoid this happening, keeping students in groups promotes group discussion and interaction, and sometimes even children’s pedagogy. By doing so, students learn from each other and talk about their artwork with one another. Discussions about the lessons are important so that students can get the chance to speak for themselves about their own personal experiences. By having them take control of the conversation, they’re getting the chance to talk about perhaps what they liked and didn’t like about the lesson. This shows me what I need to do to enhance and challenge their learning, while making sure that the classroom is a safe and comfortable place for them where they feel they can talk about their own involvement.
Artist Statement
I display different aspects of my personality and life through my work, typically avoiding one single theme. This is not on purpose, but rather because I have a difficult time organizing the ideas in my mind. I primarily work in acrylic and oil, portraying my own characteristics, as well as features from my family, friends, environment and hobbies. Friends have described my group of artworks as clear depictions of who I am and what I like.
Ranging from portraits of people and animals, to landscapes, and even all the way to still-life pieces, my paintings hold a variety of images and ideas; there’s not one focus in terms of a style or concept. Visual brushstrokes are visible in some of my artwork, letting the viewer read the process of the painting. For other projects, I blend colors as smoothly as I can. Maintaining variety in my projects and processes keeps the overall procedure interesting and ever-changing. I believe experimentation with ideas in my own artwork is of equal importance to the experimentation of materials and ideas of students in the classroom.
It is my hope as an art educator to help my students express themselves through their artwork, while still teaching them different techniques and styles to find their strong suit.
Ranging from portraits of people and animals, to landscapes, and even all the way to still-life pieces, my paintings hold a variety of images and ideas; there’s not one focus in terms of a style or concept. Visual brushstrokes are visible in some of my artwork, letting the viewer read the process of the painting. For other projects, I blend colors as smoothly as I can. Maintaining variety in my projects and processes keeps the overall procedure interesting and ever-changing. I believe experimentation with ideas in my own artwork is of equal importance to the experimentation of materials and ideas of students in the classroom.
It is my hope as an art educator to help my students express themselves through their artwork, while still teaching them different techniques and styles to find their strong suit.