Pink: Play
I was so happy to read this book because I immediately recognized the name of Dr. Madan Kataria. As a practitioner of yoga for around three years, I am fairly familiar with the work he does with laughter yoga in India. It's been something that interests me, but that I have yet to try, and reading more about it just makes me want to do it all the more. Play, which includes humor and gaming and happiness, is something that I try to embody in my day-to-day life, as well as something that likely occurs in all of our art classrooms. Play is important to the art room because it encourages creativity and imagination and experimentation, which can sometimes be limited by assignments. I found this book to be a refreshing change of pace and I am super excited to see what is in store for us tomorrow.
Eisner Chapter 6
This Eisner reading focused on curriculum in the arts and how standards can impact the efficiency of teaching. In one area of the text I really liked, Eisner discussed assessment and the downfalls that it can have within art education. He states, "Like teaching, evaluation is often treated as a separate or independent process, something on does after one teaches a curriculum. The fact of the matter is that evaluative activity goes on concurrently with both curriculum planning and teaching (150)." I liked this idea because assessment was something I struggled with during my first year of teaching. I found myself giving my students arbitrary rubrics that were mostly based on technique and their mastery of that technique rather than conceptual ideas. As the year progresses, I began having my students write mini-artist statements at the end of projects to discuss their ideas and media instead of basing their grades on technical skill. I found that this had great effects on how interested the students were in their artwork because they knew that their ideas were important and not an offhand remark. I also liked that Eisner mentioned that standards should be something that teachers discuss and consider, but should not be something that is used to create cookie-cutter lessons in order to create assignments. I think that sometimes teachers can get caught up in meeting each and every standard required of them, and eventually lose sight of what is truly important in artmaking.
Freedman Chapter 6
This chapter was essentially a summation of this entire course. It centers around the issues of current art curriculum and how a positive change can be facilitated within our field. It seems unnecessary to go into depth here, as it is a review of the purpose of this class.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Reading Reflection and Reaction 4
Eisner Chapter 5
Today's Eisner reading felt mostly like review. It detailed how children learn in the arts, and what processes they must go through in order to be able to better their skills. One of my favorite parts of the chapter was when Eisner mentioned that teacher's should not skip around from medium to medium, for example, clay one week, drawing the next week, and painting the next. Eisner stated that this doesn't provide a deep enough immersion in the material and provides inadequate learning opportunities for students. I couldn't agree more, and I really think that this is the reason that college courses are so helpful in developing skills. I know that there are many schools that separate their art classes, and those teachers should feel lucky. Though it is important to teach many materials, I do believe that spending a great deal of time with a specific media provides greater learning experiences. In another passage from the Eisner text, I found a quote that I both liked and disliked simultaneously. It reads: "When there is no challenge, when everything is satisfactory, there may be little motivation to stretch one's thinking, to try something new, to experiment, to revise, to appraise, and to start again. Creativity profits from constraints (96)." I absolutely love the first sentence of the quote. Challenging students to think critically about what they are making and why always produces a better product. However, I keep getting stuck on that last part of the quote--"Creativity profits from constraints." While I do agree that students do need guidelines and problems to solve, constraining projects too much inhibits creativity, so I disagree with Eisner there. I think that creating great assignments is all about finding a balance between a well-designed problem that will help to guide students in their thinking and a problem that narrows their thinking too much. Creating assignments is really an art within itself.
Freedman Chapter 5
The Freedman chapter for today was all about how to teach your students to interpret visual culture. Visual culture, I think, is one of my favorite and most pertinent things I have had the opportunity to learn about in the past several months. Teaching visual literacy and visual culture is not only important for students to develop a critical eye, but it is necessary for them in the world that we live in. Teaching these sorts of skills helps to foster a critical and analytic mind that students can continue to use throughout their lives. It helps them to examine and think about the world that they live in, the products that they buy, and the things that the see on a day-to-day basis. To this end, Freedman says, "The impact of imagery has a wide range of sociopolitical and economic issues which, in turn, influence students' identities, notions of citizenship, beliefs about democracy, and so on (97)." In other words, teaching students how to decode their environments helps to inform them if their personal and cultural identities, while allowing them to look more deeply at the world around them.
Today's Eisner reading felt mostly like review. It detailed how children learn in the arts, and what processes they must go through in order to be able to better their skills. One of my favorite parts of the chapter was when Eisner mentioned that teacher's should not skip around from medium to medium, for example, clay one week, drawing the next week, and painting the next. Eisner stated that this doesn't provide a deep enough immersion in the material and provides inadequate learning opportunities for students. I couldn't agree more, and I really think that this is the reason that college courses are so helpful in developing skills. I know that there are many schools that separate their art classes, and those teachers should feel lucky. Though it is important to teach many materials, I do believe that spending a great deal of time with a specific media provides greater learning experiences. In another passage from the Eisner text, I found a quote that I both liked and disliked simultaneously. It reads: "When there is no challenge, when everything is satisfactory, there may be little motivation to stretch one's thinking, to try something new, to experiment, to revise, to appraise, and to start again. Creativity profits from constraints (96)." I absolutely love the first sentence of the quote. Challenging students to think critically about what they are making and why always produces a better product. However, I keep getting stuck on that last part of the quote--"Creativity profits from constraints." While I do agree that students do need guidelines and problems to solve, constraining projects too much inhibits creativity, so I disagree with Eisner there. I think that creating great assignments is all about finding a balance between a well-designed problem that will help to guide students in their thinking and a problem that narrows their thinking too much. Creating assignments is really an art within itself.
Freedman Chapter 5
The Freedman chapter for today was all about how to teach your students to interpret visual culture. Visual culture, I think, is one of my favorite and most pertinent things I have had the opportunity to learn about in the past several months. Teaching visual literacy and visual culture is not only important for students to develop a critical eye, but it is necessary for them in the world that we live in. Teaching these sorts of skills helps to foster a critical and analytic mind that students can continue to use throughout their lives. It helps them to examine and think about the world that they live in, the products that they buy, and the things that the see on a day-to-day basis. To this end, Freedman says, "The impact of imagery has a wide range of sociopolitical and economic issues which, in turn, influence students' identities, notions of citizenship, beliefs about democracy, and so on (97)." In other words, teaching students how to decode their environments helps to inform them if their personal and cultural identities, while allowing them to look more deeply at the world around them.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Some/One
I decided to take photographs for this projects. I just moved this past weekend and still don't have everything unpacked, so this is one of the few things I could find that I had multiples of.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Reading Reaction and Response 3
Freedman Chapters 3&4
I found chapter three of the Freedman text to be the most difficult of the book so far. It focused a lot on the role of art history in the teaching of art. I found myself gravitating to a small section beginning on page 49 about the viewing contexts of art (where and how artworks are seen). The text sums this up best in a quote from Arnheim by stating, 'Every visual experience is embedded in a context of space and time. Just as the appearance of objects is influenced by that of neighboring objects in space, so also it is influenced by sights that preceded it in time (50).' In other words, every image that you see and decode cannot be seen subjectively. That objects location and all of the viewer's past experiences all come into play when viewing art (see my post day 1). I got really interested in the notion that time and space effects art a bit earlier this year, and it caused me to write a paper on the semiotics of the museum space. At the time, I was fascinated that things like labels in museums, wall color, and proximity to other artworks could all affect the way that work was seen. I keep contemplating how much this has altered my personal perceptions of artwork in the past without my conscious knowledge. Freedman says, "Contexts provide the conceptual connections that make images and objects worthy of study and is as much a part of a work of art as its form, function, or symbolic meaning (51)."
Chapter four of the Freedman text focuses on the ways which humans process visual imagery as well as stages of development for that specific skill set. What stood out to me the most were the passages on the importance of visual culture. Freedman says, "When viewers do not have a critical understanding of visual culture, looking at, for example, rock videos or minimalist paintings (both of which can be interpreted as having great meaning) can seem a waste of time because they may not be connected to the viewer's previous, complex knowledge of it (65)." After reading this, my thoughts keep bouncing back to the iKid, whose skills in decoding complex images are much more advanced than in the past. I am curious if children and adolescents who are more accustomed to deriving meaning from everyday images will be more advanced in their analyses of art. Let me know what you think.
A few other quotes that stood out to me were:
"Great works of art are often considered great because they go beyond expectations (65)."
"Art that challenges them to consider their own relationship to it, and promotes a response of intellectual surprise, creates new expectations, illustrating the connection between emotion and cognition (65)."
I found chapter three of the Freedman text to be the most difficult of the book so far. It focused a lot on the role of art history in the teaching of art. I found myself gravitating to a small section beginning on page 49 about the viewing contexts of art (where and how artworks are seen). The text sums this up best in a quote from Arnheim by stating, 'Every visual experience is embedded in a context of space and time. Just as the appearance of objects is influenced by that of neighboring objects in space, so also it is influenced by sights that preceded it in time (50).' In other words, every image that you see and decode cannot be seen subjectively. That objects location and all of the viewer's past experiences all come into play when viewing art (see my post day 1). I got really interested in the notion that time and space effects art a bit earlier this year, and it caused me to write a paper on the semiotics of the museum space. At the time, I was fascinated that things like labels in museums, wall color, and proximity to other artworks could all affect the way that work was seen. I keep contemplating how much this has altered my personal perceptions of artwork in the past without my conscious knowledge. Freedman says, "Contexts provide the conceptual connections that make images and objects worthy of study and is as much a part of a work of art as its form, function, or symbolic meaning (51)."
Chapter four of the Freedman text focuses on the ways which humans process visual imagery as well as stages of development for that specific skill set. What stood out to me the most were the passages on the importance of visual culture. Freedman says, "When viewers do not have a critical understanding of visual culture, looking at, for example, rock videos or minimalist paintings (both of which can be interpreted as having great meaning) can seem a waste of time because they may not be connected to the viewer's previous, complex knowledge of it (65)." After reading this, my thoughts keep bouncing back to the iKid, whose skills in decoding complex images are much more advanced than in the past. I am curious if children and adolescents who are more accustomed to deriving meaning from everyday images will be more advanced in their analyses of art. Let me know what you think.
A few other quotes that stood out to me were:
"Great works of art are often considered great because they go beyond expectations (65)."
"Art that challenges them to consider their own relationship to it, and promotes a response of intellectual surprise, creates new expectations, illustrating the connection between emotion and cognition (65)."
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Reading Reflection and Reaction 2
Eisner Chapters 3&4
Today's Eisner readings focused a lot on the qualities of good teachers and the skills that those art teachers transfer to their students. As a first year teacher, this past school year, as lovely as it was, was challenging for me in regard to these ideas. Eisner says that, "Two of the most important factors affecting students' experiences in the classroom are the quality of teaching they encounter and the quality of the curriculum provided (46)." While I do not doubt my ability to create fabulous and juicy lesson plans, I know that I have struggled this year with being an effective teacher as far as classroom management issues go. I think that this is natural as a first year teacher, and I am sure that I will continue to improve my skills with time. Reading these chapters verified, once again, how important it really is to be creating projects that are relevant and full of ideas to explore for students. To this end, Eisner says, "The teacher is someone who designs situations that build upon what students value or know. 'Situations' are qualitatively related conditions that students experience and within which they act (47)." I was also really drawn to the passages on the importance of improv in the classroom, which I think is something that is often overlooked and undervalued. The ability to react, in certain situations, quickly and efficiently is something to be revered. My favorite quotes from Eisner on this were: "When working with students, surprise is always present to some degree. Therefore, the need for improvisation by the teacher is always necessary (48)." As one of my absolute favorite fortune cookies once said, "the only certainty is that nothing is certain."
Freedman Chapter 2
This chapter was much less dense and easier to read than yesterday's. In the chapter, Freedman talks about the role of aesthetics in art education and then spends the majority of the chapter discussing meaning and why it is important for students to be able to connect with the art that they create. In one quote that I really liked, Freedman relates back to the Eisner chapters for today when he states that, "As educators, we should continually hope for surprising crossings of aesthetic levels in the creation of knowledge, and for the unexpected outcome that surpasses planned objectives (25)." I am really enjoying the notion that art can be improvisational, that sometimes happy accidents can enhance the meaning of a piece, and that is something I am constantly trying to convey to my students. I also liked that Freedman makes note of the audience's perception of artworks and how that, as a collective, is important to the meaning of a work. He says, "Contemporary art, media, and literacy theory tends to focus more on the suggestiveness of signs and the ways in which meaning is constructed by audiences than on only formal qualities per se or artist personal self-expression (35)." Yeah, that's right...the meaning that you take away from a piece is JUST, if not MORE, important than the aesthetic appeal or artist's intent. I just love that idea.
Today's Eisner readings focused a lot on the qualities of good teachers and the skills that those art teachers transfer to their students. As a first year teacher, this past school year, as lovely as it was, was challenging for me in regard to these ideas. Eisner says that, "Two of the most important factors affecting students' experiences in the classroom are the quality of teaching they encounter and the quality of the curriculum provided (46)." While I do not doubt my ability to create fabulous and juicy lesson plans, I know that I have struggled this year with being an effective teacher as far as classroom management issues go. I think that this is natural as a first year teacher, and I am sure that I will continue to improve my skills with time. Reading these chapters verified, once again, how important it really is to be creating projects that are relevant and full of ideas to explore for students. To this end, Eisner says, "The teacher is someone who designs situations that build upon what students value or know. 'Situations' are qualitatively related conditions that students experience and within which they act (47)." I was also really drawn to the passages on the importance of improv in the classroom, which I think is something that is often overlooked and undervalued. The ability to react, in certain situations, quickly and efficiently is something to be revered. My favorite quotes from Eisner on this were: "When working with students, surprise is always present to some degree. Therefore, the need for improvisation by the teacher is always necessary (48)." As one of my absolute favorite fortune cookies once said, "the only certainty is that nothing is certain."
Freedman Chapter 2
This chapter was much less dense and easier to read than yesterday's. In the chapter, Freedman talks about the role of aesthetics in art education and then spends the majority of the chapter discussing meaning and why it is important for students to be able to connect with the art that they create. In one quote that I really liked, Freedman relates back to the Eisner chapters for today when he states that, "As educators, we should continually hope for surprising crossings of aesthetic levels in the creation of knowledge, and for the unexpected outcome that surpasses planned objectives (25)." I am really enjoying the notion that art can be improvisational, that sometimes happy accidents can enhance the meaning of a piece, and that is something I am constantly trying to convey to my students. I also liked that Freedman makes note of the audience's perception of artworks and how that, as a collective, is important to the meaning of a work. He says, "Contemporary art, media, and literacy theory tends to focus more on the suggestiveness of signs and the ways in which meaning is constructed by audiences than on only formal qualities per se or artist personal self-expression (35)." Yeah, that's right...the meaning that you take away from a piece is JUST, if not MORE, important than the aesthetic appeal or artist's intent. I just love that idea.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Reading Reflection and Reaction 1
Imagination Spark
The Imagination Spark I have chosen is 12.5, Finishing the Story. When I first read the description of this particular spark, I couldn't help but connect it to the series finale of The Sopranos, which is infamous for leaving its viewers in the midst of a tense scene and no answer to what happens to any of the characters. I think that the suspense and edge-of-your-seat feeling that those sorts of scenes spark has to much potential for many great ideas and pieces of artwork. I can see this being utilized in my own classroom in a few ways. The first of which would be to change an ending to an existing story that the students may not have enjoyed or thought should be altered. The second way would be for students to create some sort of narrative within a piece of artwork, and then when they are about 3/4 done, the entire class could trade artworks and create the ending to the story of the artwork. This would promote collaboration, and I think that my students would be so excited to decide the fate of the story and what direction it might take.
Eisner Chapters 1 & 2
In The Arts and the Creation of Mind, Elliot Eisner spends a lot of time at the beginning of the book discussing why imagination is important and how the arts relate to cognitive functioning in humans. He also spends a great deal of time on the topic of theory in art education as far as teaching styles goes. However, it was a small section of the book that I found to be incredibly interesting. I am fascinated with the idea that experience guides our perceptions, whether that be in life, art, or ideas. Eisner talks a lot about how our experiences as humans affects our ideas and innovations. On page four, he says, "Imagination, fed by the sensory features of experience, is expressed in the arts through the image." I think what Eisner means is that a person's background dictates what that person creates and what they see in the creations of others'. This notion reminds me a lot of a few things we learned in Nick Kremer's Visual Literacy and Visual Culture this past spring semester. We read a book titled Semiotics and Visual Culture: Sights, Signs, and Significance by Deborah L. Smith-Shank in which this idea was also explored. In her text, she wrote that, "We always bring our own experiences to any understanding of any sign, however hard we attempt to keep our own biases out of the formulation of meaning. That means that our informed responses to visual input are every bit as important as what they artist was initially trying to convey (2)." As I am connecting the Eisner reading to something I have previously read, I keep finding myself contemplating the role of my own experiences in my perceptions and beliefs about art and education, and I can't help but be fascinated the relationships between them.
Freedman Chapter 1
Teaching Visual Culture, by Kerry Freedman, is definitely a bit harder to read than the other texts for this class, but it still had a lot of important information to be found within in, nonetheless. Freedman spends the majority of the chapter discussing what visual culture is and why it is relevant and critical for students to learn. He also provides a bit of a timeline for how the teaching of visual culture has changed within art education throughout time. What struck me the most in this chapter was the role of identity in visual culture education. Freedman says, "Education is a process of identity formation because we change as we learn; our learning changes our subjective selves...Individuals appropriate characteristics of visual representations, adopting these representations as a description of himself/herself (2)." When thinking about the role of identity in visual culture, I am reminded most of objects. Objects are the things that make up the bulk of visual culture (other than advertisements) and I think that there is something to be said for them. As I am looking around my home (newly moved into this past weekend, I might add!) I am surrounded by objects--some that I have collected, some that have been given to me, and some that have mysteriously been left and forgotten here by others. All of these objects that I surround myself must be important to me, otherwise, why would I surround myself with them? When I am asking myself these questions, I can see how this can create an inspiring lesson for my kids by looking at the objects in their room and in their lives. I think it could have some very powerful results for them to investigate what it is about the objects they collect that represents them, and how their identities are shown through those items.
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