Yo Daily Kos, whassup?
This is the second part of my philosophy of education essay that I must write for the Teacher of the Year finals since I won at my school. The first part can be found on my profile page, and I am carrying over the last paragraph since it was the intro to this section. Thanks to all for the comments last time, this one lays it on even thicker. Enjoy...
My classroom environment is built upon the cornerstones of equality and exchange. I always remember that I was once the same age as my students and I strive to model all the great educators that helped form my own developing mind. I feel that structure and guidance must be balanced by inquiry and expression. Students are allowed to freely explore their creativity while learning traditional artistic concepts.
Teaching is an opportunity to instill the love of learning and creativity. No matter the subject, each lesson can imprint inspiration. Art is a way to interact with the world and the self, in ways that bring beauty to our lives. Every day that I am blessed with a chance to improve the quality of my students’ inner environment is a day that I welcome.
Data analysis in the field of education is an integral part of a successful teaching strategy, and Art Education keeps track of additional levels beyond simple test scores. Student achievement and mastery is evaluated through effective expression and physical production. A class critique following a painting exercise provides a form of data that directly involves each individual student in a scoring process aimed straight for the heart. An emotional drawing that is applauded by one’s peers tends to be the most valuable grade that a pupil can ever achieve.
In my lifetime, I have seen innovation explode exponentially. We are living through the most volatile era of technology advancement that humans have ever experienced. It has been intense, incredible, and exciting to transfer the advances in information and imaging technology directly into my classroom with each passing year. I feel endlessly fortunate to be alive at this time in history.
One of the foundations for my philosophy of education has always been the emphasis on "meeting the students where they live". Today’s students live in a world of video games and constant visual stimulation. They manipulate large amounts of information directly through computers while massive multimedia corporations dedicated to cultivating commercial success manipulate them. It is of utmost importance for me as an instructor to make my students aware of their status as a consumer in this society, since Art can flip the script.
By basing lessons upon icons of consumer culture such as superheroes and cartoon characters, the inventive side of the pupil’s personality can be unleashed. It is a great realization when a young person understands that they can create the very things that they consume. An artist who starts writing and drawing rather than watching television and playing video games crosses the border and becomes a productive force in human culture.
Innovative lessons utilizing modern technology allow students to create their own movies, comic books, and websites. Media creations can be dissected and analyzed in ways that would not have been possible ten years ago. Smartboard applications bring digital manipulation directly into the classroom. Instruction can be accomplished through the same methods that the media conglomerates sell soap. Today’s student lives in a phantasmagoria of sights and sounds, and deep learning is accomplished by speaking in the language of the age.
Literacy can easily get lost in the flood of mass multimedia overload, but it also has a chance to infiltrate and thrive. Using basic reading techniques combined with cartoons and video games can drive a concept successfully home. Students understand what happened in a Spider-Man story, so it becomes a simple matter of translating that action into the terminology of the FCAT. Combining standardized test skills with superheroes and pop culture characters results in a ready-made reservoir of retention and results.
Each individual student is accepted and valued as an individual in my classroom. Effort and expression exist independently of any outside criteria, therefore every pupil can excel and achieve on the highest level. A great piece of Art stands on its own. With comforting guidance and constant encouragement my students are allowed to blossom each in their own way.
The garden of creative delights that grows in my classroom has been shared with the entire world. Starting with parents, our artwork and creative writing enriches the lives of family and friends when it goes home with the student for community critique and celebration. We participate in a multitude of Art exhibitions each year, ranging from art displays in the cafeteria to the club level at Land Shark stadium. Our school creativity extends to other countries and cultures around the globe through websites that we develop and publish on the Internet.
One of the most specific and effective interchanges between students, parents, and school community takes place each year during our United Way fundraising month in October. Each week features a creative activity that engages the student with their family. The student creates an artwork at home that uses a charitable concept as a base, then donates one dollar to have it displayed in school for students and teachers to celebrate. The whole school is filled with joy seeing their personal messages and masterpieces showcased, while contributing to a community cause that is so desperately needed in these difficult times.
The bliss that I feel being an integral part of all these educational processes is passed around each and every day when I greet my fellow teachers. Returning to the beginning of this essay, I stand firm in the belief that a smile is the most important tool in an educator’s arsenal. Throughout my career I have taken the joy I feel in my profession and shared it with every colleague possible. Each classroom teacher forms a direct partnership that is dedicated to understanding and adjusting to specific student needs. The faculty at large is my extended family, and I do everything in my power to make each meeting we must attend as entertaining as possible while assuring that all are on the same page for successful execution of whatever new requirements are in order. My workshops and professional development classes are based on the same principles of empathy and exchange that I stress in my Art room. I love teaching teachers, almost as much as the children themselves.