This week, I was able to go over the results of my pre-instruction voice survey. It was interesting to see what students felt comfortable in and not so comfortable. 75% said they agree or strongly agree that they are comfortable expressing themselves in their artwork. 66% agree or strongly agree that they would consider themselves an artist. 45% are unsure about what they want to make art about. Only 29% of students believe they have a unique artistic voice. This surprised me since students agreed or strongly agreed for most of the questions when they were asked about the specific components of voice. The techniques they said have helped or would help were varied and no one stood out above the rest.
This week I am starting lessons on why artists make art. We are starting with religious tradition and to express spiritual ideas. I am going to have the students create a sketch note including the info from all of our mini lessons.
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I still don't feel like I have really gotten rolling on my research, but now I feel like I can after we talked about what I can start. I gave my students the pre-instruction survey on Friday, but I haven't reviewed results. Students also wrote their second process journals on Friday. Next week, I plan to review the data from the survey and the journals to plan some voice mini-lessons.
My Drawing students are the first group that has finished their skill building practice and is ready to apply those skills to a creative project. We did a whole group brainstorming activity where I gave them big concepts on post-it notes and we started adding other topics and sub topics to the list. Finally, I had them add specific personal experiences and connections underneath the sub topics. I knew at least two of my students were struggling, but after the activity I talked with one of my new students and she seemed a lot more confident. When we first conferenced about her idea, she was stuck on images of skeletons, aliens, and dreamcatchers from Google. After the activity she is focused on a mythological creature/deity that she knows about and is combining multiple reference photos to create an original image. I am pretty confident that my research falls under Grounded Theory. I am a little intimidated by how specific the analysis techniques seem, but I'm sure it will make more sense when I get there. This activity was much more difficult than the first one. It was so difficult for me to be mindful of the task and in the moment for 30 minutes, especially when I was thinking about my mile long to do list and the craziness of homecoming week coming up. I'm not sure if this will be harder or easier when I apply this to the classroom since there will be action to observe. It will important to remember that mindfulness was difficult and to focus on being present when I am observing. I found that I also struggled to focus on observing more than I was writing and not just writing things that I knew to be true, but could actually observe.
In the first 5 minutes, I started with one object, the Galileo thermometer, and began to record as much detail about it as possible. Since these were my objects, and I arranged the still life, I found it somewhat difficult to separate what I was actually observing about the objects, and what I already knew to be true about them. I tried to only write down the information that I could physically observe at the time. For the second observation, I tried to focus on how things changed from my view, and I noticed that I could see much more of the purple armadillo than I could before. I also observed how different the thermometer looked from this angle because of the refraction of the light. I was surprised with how little I was able to get down in five minutes, even when I was writing the whole time. Each time the timer went off, I was surprised that the time was up already. The second time, I was also thinking more about the application of this exercise as I was doing it. I wrote in the notes section some of the questions I was thinking about as I was working. Mostly my concern was about balance and dividing my attention. This activity required such intense focus, it made me think about how it would affect me being present as a teacher during that time. It made me start to consider how I can use field notes quickly, without them requiring my full attention, but also record detailed and useful information. I think I will need to work on some form of shorthand to be able to effectively take notes and still be able to teach and record at the same time. I also could think of a way to utilize my instructional coach to take notes and observations for me while I am teaching.
This past Tuesday, my instructional coach came in and spoke with all of my high school classes about my study and passed out the consent forms. I have a manilla envelope that students have been putting their consent forms in, and then writing their name on the front when they put their form inside. I plan to keep the forms in the envelope until after I have submitted grades for the semester.
I do have some concerns/questions on how to get the last of the forms in. I asked for them to be returned by Friday, and while i have over half returned, I am still waiting on quite a few. I'm not sure what I can start, or if there is anything I can do to encourage the last of the forms to get in. My thought was to create an assignment and offer a few extra credit points when everyone had the form turned in, but I can see how the ethics of that might be a little iffy, even if I don't see the forms. This week students turned in their first process journal over the skill builders we have been working on in class and their thought process this week. Am I able to use this first set of journals since all of my students haven't returned consent forms yet? I found a great resource for general themes that artists use to get their ideas. I plan to go over one or more each day until we get through the list, and then once a week choosing a theme and showcase how different artists have explored it. I also need to still give my pre-instruction survey. Am I able to start any of these things, or do I need to wait until all consent forms come back? I would hate to be on pause for another week, but I would hate more having to throw out things that I did too early so they would be unethical to use. |
AuthorMorgan Singleton is a secondary art educator with a Master's degree in art education. Archives
April 2017
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