Confidence, Skills, Passion, and Appreciation

Overall this class has been both an eye opening and a transformative experience. I was intrigued to take this class because I have always considered myself somewhat of an artful person. Although I cannot draw or paint on any sort of professional level, I have always loved being creative. Lately, I have found myself more caught up with the hustle and bustle of everyday life and places where I used have a creative outlet have become blocked due to my negative attitude. School used to be a place where lesson plans and bulletin boards gave me a sense of satisfaction and a place to hone my creativity. The past two years I have been feeling more and more pressure from above. I feel more of an obligation to get my students to a certain level rather than teach them in a creative and motivating way. This class has forced me to not only think twice about what and how I teach my students, but it has given me an opportunity to challenge my negative attitude that I have recently adopted.

There were two challenging parts of this class that rose above the other challenges. Firstly, I struggled with some of the creative aspects of this class. As mentioned above, I have developed a creative block and a defeatist attitude. I was convinced that I had lost every creative bone in my body. Each week was a struggle to pick the topic, picture, song, ect… I was never quite sure of myself until the final product was completed. I also consider myself a bit of a perfectionist so I needed every project to be perfect or I was not satisfied. I have to say that during the past few months, I believe that I have grown in confidence and creativity. In the beginning I was so afraid to show anyone my pictures for fear of failure and embarrassment. I have since gotten used to sharing my work with others. I even became so used to the fact that people would be looking that I allowed myself to be put on camera for the final project. I also realized that I should be confident with my initial choices because I can always adjust them later to make them work. In addition to a boost in my confidence I have also noticed that my creative side is showing through a little more. I have taken the initiative to incorporate more creativity into my lesson plans and into my classroom. I took the time to make my classroom environment more inviting and engaging. I created interactive bulletin boards, warmed up the space with pillows in the book corner, and rearranged the table groups. In terms of lessons, I have learned to take a different approach in planning. Instead of focusing solely on objectives and standards I have also taken into consideration current trends and students interests. I feel like I am still covering the standards, but I am just considering my students much more. I believe that this class has made me think more abstractly and for that I am thankful because I am climbing out of the rut I seemed to have dug myself into.

I have also openly struggled with the technology that was required in this course. I am a self confessed illiterate when it comes to any sort of computer program or technology, but I feel that I have given my best to learn new programs that will be useful in the future. I have learned to conquer many different programs that I did not even know existed before. I learned to use a camera properly, how to create a movie with effects and transitions, how to use animation, how to mix audio, and how to upload my work to multiple sites. The struggles I have had with both technology and creativity have made me push myself and do things that I never thought I could do before. I have realized how important it is to challenge myself so that I can grow and be a better person. When I was frustrated with the technology I often turned to others for help just like my students turn to me for help in the classroom and when I finished each module I felt a sense of accomplishment just like my students do when they complete something challenging. I am reminded that we all have different strengths and weaknesses and that my experiences are not that different from my students. I believe that good teachers should get to know themselves and their students to be able to teach in the best way possible. In having these experiences I have learned more about myself and can use these experiences to communicate and help future students.

I have gained confidence and skills in this class, but above all I have a greater passion for art in education. I have always been an advocate for the arts in schools, but being such a new teacher I have never really had a reason why I believed it should be there. For the most part, I understood it to be an area that many students excelled in and it would be a shame to see those talents go to waste if art programs were lost. While I still believe this to be true, I have learned that art is much more important. As Phillip W. Jackson stated, creating art makes the artist awake and aware. Art teaches us to look and listen carefully as it takes on nuances. The artist has a heightened sense of life because they are aware of their surroundings. I have begun to implement more art inside my classroom because I am now aware of its power to make people more aware of their surroundings and themselves. As a result of my appreciation and understanding of art I have certainly become more aware of what is around me. I have become more appreciate of the arts because I now know exactly how much work is put into everything. Having explored the nature and design of movies, music, TV, architecture, interior design, and fashion, I have a better understanding of what captivates audiences and keeps them interested. I then translate this understanding to my own classroom. For teachers to captivate their students they first need to know the individuals in their classrooms…get to know everyone’s story so that they can speak to the core of the individual. Just like a photographer gets to know a camera or a musician gets to know their instrument, their art is better because they understood how their tools and subjects worked. While studying the NDCE I noticed that there was a certain level of intimacy or passion involved in each area. Teachers should also put forth that same passion and enthusiasm to make their students want to learn as well. Teachers should also consider spending more time on planning. Lessons should be organized, simple to understand, and innovative. Innovation is a similar theme I found running through the NDCE. I have read about how editors and interior designers will play around with various ideas before choosing the right one. In the same sense, teachers should try new ideas and learn to use colleagues who are wonderful resources. I have also learned that the NDCE is purposeful and thoughtful. Great art should be thought thorough carefully. The same should be done with our classrooms, students, and lessons. Finally, teaching is about overcoming obstacles. Teachers have daily obstacles to overcome. Perhaps resources went missing, or the schedule has shifted or a student is acting up…whatever the obstacle may be it is put there for a reason. I have learned thought this whole process that obstacles are put in front of our paths to challenge our beliefs and passions. When we overcome those obstacles it proves how badly we want to continue. So no matter how big or how small the obstacle may be we have to learn to face it head on.

Although this class was more demanding than I could have ever imagined, it has also been more worthwhile than I could have ever imagined. I have gained confidence and learned about believing in myself and in doing so I realized that believing in me is at the heart of teaching. We want our students to believe in themselves and try new things that they may be afraid of, but to do so we must first believe in ourselves. I have gained a passion for art in education and have also gained a greater appreciation for the world around me and the work of art that is in all things.

Go! Animate

Here is a link to the site I found for animating. It was easy to sign up for and easy to use. I found it almost addicting!!! Have fun animating :)

http://goanimate.com/

Learn to Improvise and Try New Things

This module presented a few obstacles for me and I think these past two weeks have been all about overcoming obstacles. Firstly, I had difficultly deciding how I was going to film this project. In England students and teachers have two weeks of Spring Break because schools are set in a more year round fashion. Schools typically run from September to the end of July with six weeks of holiday time spread throughout the year. For these two weeks during the fashion module I seem to be without students or a classroom. I was stuck as to how I was going to film a What Not to Teach episode without students. I thought about using friends as actors, but where would be film the episode. Then I remembered something that my Professor had mentioned, get creative and play all the parts yourself. I also thought about playing all the parts myself, even the student roles, but it did not seem realistic. Then I noticed one of the examples given to us. It was an animated short film about what not to teach in a foreign language class. I thought about tackling this idea of animation so I began a search for user friendly and affordable sights that would allow me to explore this option. Thus my second obstacle appeared. I looked through various sights, but found one that reigned above the rest. Go Animate is an exceptional sight which was free to sign up and super easy to use. This site was fairly simple and had great video tutorials to watch for help. Although I seemed to pick up some animation skills, I still found myself learning new things every time I went to create or edit. The entire process was also much more time consuming then I would have ever imagined. Every facial expression, background, movement, and prop needed to be thought about and planned precisely for the animation to be successful. I now have a new found appreciation for animation because I know that for every 5 minutes I watch, there was probably up to 20 hours of work! I think that my big lesson this week was improvisation. I learned to work around the obstacles that were put in front of me to achieve what needed to be done. In teaching, you often have to improvise or shoot from the hip. There are a number of obstacles that might throw off my plans for the day, and although I try to stay on schedule for the sake of the students and to achieve the targets for the day, sometimes I have to adjust my plans. Because teaching is so unpredictable we have to be able to think on our feet and improvise to make things work as best as they can. This reminds me of the time I had planned a lesson that involved food. The teacher in the classroom next to me got ill and there were no substitutes so the class was split up among the other year 3 classes. I was given 10 extra students with no time to prepare. Because I had planned a lesson with a set number of supplies, I had to think fast and create enough for everyone. I was teaching about the Christian ritual of communion. Ironically I had to turn bread and grape juice (representing the wine…no real wine was served in any of my lessonsJ ) into enough to feed two classes and felt a little like Jesus himself feeding the masses with bread and fish. Honestly the whole day was hectic, but it worked out because I learned to improvise. Being able to balance and improvise are skills either natural or learned that teachers need on a daily basis.

In addition to improvisation, I also realized this week that there are many numerous ways of doing any one particular thing. Just like there are numerous fashion styles or even many different types of white T-shirts, there are plenty of ways of doing the same project or teaching the same topic. As I was learning the animation this week I thought about the hundreds even thousands of ways each module could be done. Just like everyone has their own fashion sense, they have their own creative sense that translates to work or even their career. In my case I was reminded that different teachers have different teaching styles, but there is not necessarily a right way. As long as either technique has the same outcome of reaching students.

Also I was reminded of how trying new things can be beneficial, educational, and fun. Just like we try on new clothes, we also need to try new things and not be afraid of change. Change is how we progress and learn. This week I dared to try something I would have never done before; animating and I realized how much fun it could be. You could almost say that I was addicted. I thought of how much my students would enjoy a lesson with themselves as a cartoon. I could even take it as far as teaching them how to use a simple animation sight to create their own stories. Trying new techniques or ways of teaching is how teachers are to grow and stay current. I was reminded of how nervous and scary it can be trying something new, but what wonderful things can happen when you try.

Teacher as Both Designer and Tailor

In looking ahead in the syllabus I saw fashion as one of our discussion topics. I have been looking forward to this topic ever since. I am one of the millions of people who have already subconsciously decided that fashion is compelling. I love to watch all the fashion shows on television and spend considerable amounts of time and money on different aspects of fashion. It was not until this week that I began to see that fashion is a real vehicle for learning. Not only is fashion a deeply engaging experience like Wong and Henriksen suggest in If Ideas were Fashion, it is also an extremely thought provoking subject. Wong and Henriksen mention various connections to teaching and learning through fashion. They mention how fashion is compelling because of it is “characterized by intense imagination, motivation, emotion, and thought”. Just as I am compelled to think about my personal fashion choices and styles, I was compelled to think more about fashion roles inside the classroom. I began to think more in terms of my role in the classroom and began to see teaching like designing or tailoring. Teaching is also all about designing. Just as a designer thinks of a new way to express an idea through fashion, teachers have to create lessons that show students information in new ways. Teacher design lessons in a variety of ways. They have to decide what material to cover. Even when standards are in place they may be vague and it is up to the teacher to choose how to interpret the standards. For example students in Michigan that are in third grade all have to be able to explain what a decade is as a part of the history curriculum. I decided to have students match items and pictures of clothing to their decade then discussed the meaning. Other teachers in my building used various buttons through the years to show the difference between past and present. The teacher also has to design their classroom as discussed in my blog on second chances and classroom environment. Teachers also design the layout of each day and when each subject or lesson should be taught. Designers choose fabrics, colors, shapes, and styles and they take careful consideration of each when designing an outfit. Teachers also think carefully about the design of their day as to best suit the needs of their students. A takes just as much time to plan out each day of their students as a designer would with each one of a kind piece. Ultimately teachers also design each lesson so that students achieve and grow. Each lesson is therefore tailored to suit the needs of the teacher, the students, the school, and the state.
I began to see the teacher also like a tailor. A teacher’s main job is to see that all students are growing; academically, mentally, physically, and socially. To do this teachers have to get a feeling for their students as individuals and how they function as a community of learners. Then they design custom fit lessons to suit the needs of all learners, much like a tailor fits the garment to suit each individual body type. We are all different and although clothes are made in generic sizes we often have to have them tailored to fit our own bodies or at least we could to make our clothes fit as good as they can. Teachers take the same concept of one size fits all with most lessons catering them to the needs of most students or what the majority of learners need; then they adjust the lessons to fit individuals. They may also need to do some adjusting more than once. Often time’s tailors have to see a suit on a man many times before creating a custom fit. Well teachers do the same thing…they may teach a lesson once and have to re-teach that same lesson again with slight variations to insure that all students have understood the main focus. Teachers must really design, tailor, and adjust lessons so that all students are successful.

Practice Makes Perfect and Stay Vulnerable

This week was very personal for me as I went on a discovery of music and looked back on some very special moments in my life. I came to many realizations and made several connections from music to teaching. I started the week thinking about our discussion topic of how music is compelling from start to finish. While discussing my group members and I discovered that many songs end the same way they started. When a song comes full circle it is comforting and gives the listener a sense of completion. I began to think about this idea of coming full circle in terms of teaching. As a teacher I essentially compose a lesson that is designed around a focus and that focus is discussed at the beginning and end of every lesson. Basic lesson plan structure implies that students will; recall previous information, be introduced to new information, have the new modeled to them, have independent practice, and will be assessed and reminded of the new information. For example, I typically start science lessons by posing a question like; why do puddles form on some surfaces and not others? Then I will share with them that different surfaces have different absorbencies. From there I will model the steps for the experiment they will be doing then the students experiment themselves. Finally we review what was first introduced at the beginning of the lesson and see what the students have learned. In so many ways teachers start and end in the same way. I try to plan my units in a similar way. I start with basic understandings that I want my students to learn and keep going back to them so I stay on track. This type of backwards planning is very useful in having an idea of the big picture and the key ideas of each unit.
After thinking about my lessons as songs coming full circle, I began to think about the actual discussions themselves. For weeks even months now we have been discussing the nature and design of many different art forms. Then we are asked to use new skills and new understandings from our discussions to create a project that displays our understanding of the nature and design of that particular art form. It dawned on me this week that our discussions are practices for our module narration. Just like teachers give daily practice and reviews before a test. In our case the discussions are our independent practice and the modules are our tests. It was a little more obvious to me that our discussions are used as practice this week because we talked about exactly what made songs compelling from start to finish. I also believe it is because in all the other modules I had some sort of prior knowledge about the subject, but this week although I listen to music I had no clue about the terminology or what made me like certain songs. Like I mentioned earlier it was really a self discovery week for me. I learned that I am attracted to songs with upbeat tempos and songs that have a certain consistent quality to them.
For this module the hardest part for me was choosing which song I was going to analyze. There are millions of songs to choose from and I considered many of them before choosing You’re So Cool by Hans Zimmer. I eventually picked this song because of its absence of lyrics. I also began to do some research on the song and was very interested in the composer Hans Zimmer. I found out that he has won several Oscars for his movie scores. One movie in particular The Lion King, he won the individual Oscar for best original score. He has teamed with other composers for other popular movie scores. Most people have probably heard his work and like me did not even know his name. After completing the research on Hans Zimmer I was reminded of how important it is to research topics that I teach. I not only want to give my students accurate information, but when I learn new things I get excited to teach them and I believe that enthusiasm is contagious.
I fell in love with this song as soon as I heard it and this project gave me the opportunity to understand why this song was so compelling to me. What I discovered is that the song reminds me of the simple and happy moments in life. After creating the narration for my project I was stuck as to what visual images I should use to go with the song. Since there are no lyrics, any appropriate images would work. I tried mountain scenes, but they did not match the overall feel of the song. I also tried using free images of other people’s meaningful moments, but since the song was so personal to me I choose to use photos of myself at important or significant times in my life over the past three years. I choose to be vulnerable and include pictures from my life to make my movie more compelling. I believe the pictures show meaningful moments in my life which is what the song reminds me of. My hope is that I do not seem conceded, but vulnerable and open. I believe the same is true of teaching. Sometimes teachers need to be vulnerable. They need to open up to their students in order to build a rapport and show them they are human too. Teachers also need to be vulnerable and ask for help when it is needed. Vulnerability is a quality that I am continuing to work on and develop my skills to connect with my students.

Use Your Resources and Feel the Music

If I have learned one thing this week it is to use your resources and be thankful for them. I had to rely on a few people in order to get some of the projects done this week. Firstly, I looked to my neighbor who is an expert on computers. I needed a better microphone to start my module four project so I asked to borrow one of the many he owns. He suggested one that he thought would work best for my project and checked that it worked. Then I had the privilege of interviewing one of my mother’s friends who is helping me with my final project on storytelling. She is a master storyteller and I have always wanted to get her thoughts on reading aloud and storytelling. One of the most interesting things she shared with me was that present day story grammar derives from the telling of folktales and legends. So when we teach the beginning, middle, and end or study character development it is because storytellers from centuries ago decided that these were elements that captivated audiences. She had so many insights that I am currently working on for the narration of my storytelling movie. Lastly, I asked for my sister’s expertise in music for this week’s discussion. My sister is a music major currently in her senior year at Oakland University. I had the opportunity to sit down with her and just get her opinion on some of the songs discussed this week. She was able to add an extra layer of insight that I was not able to see at first and I feel that I gained a greater perspective on music. I looked to these individuals for their expertise this week and found myself looking at them as resources. I am usually not one to ask for help because I like doing things for myself but this week I learned that by using the people I have around me as resources then I can learn more and better myself as an individual and as a teacher. In the teaching world I need to learn to lean on my fellow colleagues for help especially because I am a fairly new teacher. I am reminded that many of these teachers have been doing their jobs for years and have tips and techniques that may be helpful for my students. I am also reminded of a lesson that I teach at the beginning of every school year. I have my students create a star filled with images of what they are experts on. For example, some students may be experts on soccer, karate, math, cooking, drawing, ect… I have all students pick something that they feel confident and proud of and the stars are displayed all year long so that students are reminded how hard they have worked to be an expert at that particular subject. I know that it is vital to encourage children and make them feel accomplished, but I forget sometimes that adults are experts too. I am reminded that I should look to colleagues for their thoughts on students and lessons. I think that as a school or perhaps even as a society our schools should move forward with this idea that individual teachers all have something that they may be particularly good at and would benefit the whole of the school. I am aware of some schools in my area that are making strides to set up programs that allow teachers to teach in teams. I think that this idea could really benefit schools and revolutionize the future of our education system.

This week I also had the opportunity to really analyze music through interviews with Robert Kapilow and readings by Gary Burns. As I was discussing the nature and design of some popular songs I realized that all the songs evoked strong emotions. Some were melancholy, some were hopeful, and some just made me want to dance, but none the less they all made me feel something. While Kapilow is describing the famous song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” , he mentions that a song makes you feel a thought. He then goes on to say that art begins where communication breaks down. Both were profound statements. Kapilow is primarily speaking of music, but I believe the same is true for all art. I began to think back to some of our other modules and remembered that the same intentions were true of the other types of artistry we have encountered. Photographers want their audiences to see something about life in each photo, movie makers want their audiences to see things in a deeper or different way, and interior designers want their customers to feel comfortable. In all the modules the artists intend to inspire and make their audiences feel something about their work. Art is so extremely important in our schools and in life. It makes us feel things and think things that may not be translated into words or communicated in any other way. Art needs to stay and be a part of our curriculum in the future.

Second Chances and Classroom Environment

This week I had the opportunity to review my Module 3 submission for the architecture and interior design study. I realized that the sound quality was not great. I was able to hear it fine on my program. The sound was faint but I thought it would translate to the facebook site alright. I realized that the sound was not loud enough for people to actually hear so I decided to play around with it. I was determined to use music with narration because I tried just the narration and I liked the combination with the music much better. I tried the narration on Windows Movie Maker but with the microphone on my computer it just was not a great quality. I also learned that with this program I could only use narration or music not both. So I had two challenges this week to improve the sound quality and find a way to include narration and music in my movie. I began with the sound quality by borrowing two different microphones from friends. I figured out which one worked best with the program and practiced using it so there was as little feedback as possible. Then I began to search for a program that would allow me to mix both music and words in one program. I discovered a program called Mixed Pad Audio Mixer. This program let me upload songs and record my voice so that they were in one track. I then practiced my narration and picked the best track for the final product. The process forced me to also review my narration in terms of word choice. I really thought about the terms nature and design in terms of a compelling experience. I realized that most of the previous narration was associated more with the design elements and not so much with my actual experience in the two stores. I kept most of the original words and added more of my feelings and experience to them. I tried to consider other senses as well because I was relying mainly on visual examples. I added a bit about smells and touch and overall feel for the store. I believe that this second chance allowed me to look more objectively at my work. I had originally submitted my movie thinking that I had done my best work, but upon review I found many things that could be improved upon. This whole process reminded me about some very important aspects of teaching. Firstly, I was reminded that teachers also have the opportunity to improve on their own teaching. This is especially true of teachers who are in the same grade for more than one year because they can learn from what they had done in the previous year. I have stated it before but I want to reiterate my belief in self assessment in terms of teaching. Teachers should be aware of what strengths they have and what weakness they still need to work on. The more we improve ourselves, the more we help our students to achieve. This is also why professional development is so important for educators. Secondly, as I found myself frustrated with the technology and my voice in the narration, I knew exactly how it feels for students to get frustrated. I can explain to my students with experience and knowledge behind me that giving up is never a good idea because you can always learn something from every experience. I could also say to them how proud they would also feel when they accomplish what they set out to do in the first place. These are both excellent life lessons that I learned and can pass on to my students. I am always looking for real life examples so that I can share with students in hopes that they will understand the lesson. Lastly, I learned that second chances are possible and eye opening. I was thankful that I was able to review my work because I was able to continue developing my idea of the nature and design of a compelling experience. I should remember that students and lessons also deserve a second chance. Every day brings new beginnings and fresh starts so if a student had a bad day or a lesson went badly I now that I can begin again the next day.

In reviewing my module 3 project, I was also reminded of the obvious connection between architecture and interior design and teaching which is classroom environment. I neglected to think about classroom environment in examining interior design last week. Sarah Susanka explains how a house is turned into a home with certain techniques such as framing, ceiling heights, accent colors, and open spaces. Just like the interior of a home can be thought of in terms of space, light, and order so can a classroom. In a classroom there are many things that can be done to make it more inviting. For example when the classroom is designed in such a way that is open yet has very organized and specific areas, it feels more comfortable and can be more functional. Students learn routines in well organized areas. Labeling is also a great way for students to acclimate to a new learning environment while also learning new vocabulary at the same time. Book corners, carpet areas, and mailboxes might just be some of the designated areas in a classroom. Another way to make the classroom more exciting and inviting is to use the idea of height and space by hanging student work from the ceilings. By doing this the room feels more proportional and students are proud to see their work on display. Classrooms can also be enhanced by adding simple touches from home to make them feel more like a family atmosphere. Things like lamps bring in a soft artificial light where in many classrooms extra light is needed. Other trinkets like flowers, bean bag chairs, or stuffed animals might make the space feel more comfortable as well. Students could bring items to class to make them feel more at ease because it is important that students feel comfortable to make risks. I cannot emphasize how important the classroom environment is and I continue to think about it especially after having studied interior design. I now have many ideas and ways to explain why these ideas work because of the same concepts applied to interior design like light, order, and space; although I feel that in a classroom order is most important to keep the structure and flow of the day in place.