This semester we are learning about ways to engage in art making with students in or with the community. By merging art and education together, our first reading states, " our community becomes an educational space in which both the teachers and students are motivated to learn from each other through a reciprocal relationship that changes the dynamic of both teaching and learning" (Schlemmer p. 27, 2017). Consider your field experiences thus far learning to teach in the classroom? How has this supported your growth? How may it have limited it?
We will learn about ways to connect with our communities through many forms of community art, like social practice art, engaged art making through collaboration and service learning projects. Why should we connect schools and community? How does learning about your community change/alter or shape how you teach your students at school? What do you hope to learn and take with you this semester?
Blog responses are due before class on Tuesday. Please comment as anonymous and put your name at the end of the comment. That seems like the easiest way to discuss together!
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Comment here and end with your name :)
ReplyDeleteThe community is where the students spend their time outside of school. It plays a role in shaping their interests, thoughts, decisions, among many other things. By connecting the school to the community. It helps us understand not only where students are coming from, but why they do the things they do. If we show support to and in the community it shows we care about everyone not just in school, but outside of it as well. It helps us build relationships with the students, getting to know them better. This leads into the next question. By knowing students and where they come from, it helps us assess how to handle situations, teach lessons, as well as what to teach the students so they are engaged and personally connected to their work. I hope to learn more about different ways schools can connect with the community and give back to it showing they (the students) can make a difference.
ReplyDelete-Jorgan
When it comes to using an educational space to help both students and teachers to challenge each other, I find it to be a positive impact if they work for respect and understanding on both sides. This also is true when it comes to adults and children interacting in life. By bringing the classroom and community together, you can witness this firsthand.
ReplyDeleteDuring my time in classrooms throughout the past couple years, I have found myself being influenced to make an impact that is alike to some of my mentor teachers. I also have experienced situations in classrooms that I would like to do the complete opposite of.
I found it most effective when my mentor teacher from level 2 would involve parents of the students in the proper situations such as praising students or calling about troubles. One huge thing I took away from this mentor was the idea of sending kids home with art packets over break. One pack was a collage kit which could also get families to work together. The idea of bringing people together for art is something deep. In this case, parents can see what their kids are learning and also experience their imagination and creativity.
Although my level 1 experience was short and seems like forever ago, I also took new ideas away from it. In my level 1 classroom, the mentor teacher found it her responsibility to get the kids involved with community activities that needed little artists to help with. They would help make decorations for Christmas each year, which integrates the confidence of the children into community settings. These types of projects always make the kids light up and become so excited. Sharing art is an important thing. Kids want to share their art, and I have been blessed enough to have wonderful role models when it comes to integrating community into the classroom.
-Annisten Trenkamp
I believe that, as a teacher, to have an understanding for the community in which your students belong to can only help to better serve the creation of that link between themselves and their artwork. Staying informed and observing the context will ultimately make your lesson plans more engaging and more relevant when they incorporate aspects of the student's real life.
ReplyDeleteIn my Level I field experience, the school was fairly large in size and located within a developing suburb of Iowa City (a busy college town). A majority of the students loved local sports, socializing outside of school, and visiting popular locations within the area. My Level II field experience was in a much smaller school with roughly 1/5th the average class size of my previous field experience. These students had a deep appreciation for farming and harvest season. I witnessed this appearing in their artwork many times. I love living in the Iowa City area because this town has such a vocal appreciation for the arts and goes to great lengths to keep that a big part of its identity. The reading notes how community arts serve both a social and a political function, going "beyond the walls of the classroom to address the multiple insights and perspectives of the students as community members." (Schlemmer pg. 33) I thought this bit best summarized the part I am most interested in learning, and that is 'How I can better understand each and every angle of a diverse community through its students?'
- Hastings
Being associated with feeling of not belonging, and belonging, I feel that creating artwork that brings multitudes together is awing. Unfortunately, I didn't get to witness much work with in the community in Level 1 or Level 2 Field Experience.
ReplyDeleteLevel 1 Field Experience was a lot of fun, and eye-opening. It was the first time I got to actually work with diverse students, which was challenging at first but got easier by observing the students and getting to know them as individuals. My mentor teacher was kind, helpful, and enthusiastic about her work and making sure that there was students where accommodated for. A community work that I got to see from the side of the teacher was the organization process of sending in "winning" art pieces to the fire department. In Evensdale, IA, the fire department has a competition over posters that the students make for them. When I talked to my mentor teacher, I remember her sharing her bit of frustration, as she didn't think that at such young ages students should compete for the "best artwork" that didn't represent much other than many copies of a firetruck/fireman/fire department, etc. Thinking back, I think there are different ways such a project could be changed so it's more engaging/meaningful to students in the community. I think sometimes teachers just have to do what's best for their students, and push for a change.
As for my Level 2, there was no community work done that I am aware of. I did have a lot of fun teaching the middle schoolers, but I realized that the project I did with them was a little more challenging than what they were used to. Even though they had challenging work, I think they enjoyed their liberty in crafting and choice.
In short, I think my Level 1 Experience was great and offered me a lot of help with approaching students and creating a welcoming space/dynamic, which I used for Level 2. Level 2 was iffy with the mentor at times, but a great experience actually teaching and dipping my toes in the water. As for both Level 1 and Level 2, I think that both could have had more choice options rather than "crafting."
And as for my thoughts about community work, I think it sounds fun and something that I foresee happening in my classroom in multiple ways. In the reading we got, something that caught my eye was, "part of my responsibility as a teacher is to
provide spaces in which students might learn how their
perspectives position them in the larger world," (Schlemmer pg. 32). So for me, I think it's clear that community work is a lot more than the self, but how the self is apart of something larger. And for me, that's the key. I think that being a little Mexican girl in a 95% white school made me feel like I didn't really belong, but it was at times that I could provide perspective, give back, and engage with the community then did I feel like I belonged to something greater. However, because there can be many perspectives, ways to engage, and give back to the community, I think that I can be challenging be part of something bigger when there are so many opinions. That being said, one thing that interest me is, "How can we engage, give back, and share a piece of us/our perspective to our community while trying to avoid offending mass groups."
I do understand though, for the most part offending topics can be avoided, or brought up safely but I'm just curious to learn more. Or, maybe we just got to go, offend, put a sock in out mouths, say sorry for the mayhem and go on?
Sorry, this was me: Sarai Cortes. (Also sorry for writing a lot!!)
DeleteI truly believe that merging multiple forms of education into the art classroom can build lots of interdisciplinary skills that will allow our students to grow as humans but also as artists in one go. On the side of hinderance, I can see how the fuss about really trying to include these practices is that sometimes it hinders how we make and include art projects in our curriculum. We take alot of focus into the interdisciplinary things that many times we are not focusing on the main principles of art and that is frustrating.
ReplyDeleteAs far as learnign about community- I think it is VITAL. Having a sense of community can really bring together a big group of people and make a space feel safe. There are many students who are coming into a new school, or maybe even some students are sheltered- or maybe even they just dont know. But my point is that these kids do not have a main concept of the world around them, but knowing that there is a smaller form of their world with people who support them and make them feel safe is paramount.
This semester I hope I can figure out how to really imporve my sense of art when it comes to community and be able to give that sense to my future classroom.
-Kat Torgerson
Communities, in my opinion, are the center of it all. A lot of my personal work focuses on ideas of community and recognizing your impact on the spaces you exist in. I also play a lot with ideas of connectivity and the intersectionality between the various communities in which you exist. I think community is such a beautiful thing and such an impactful variable in anyone's life, that it would be naive to think there's a separation between community and school. Meaning, it is vital for educators to make an effort to understand what different communities exist within their schools as well as outside their schools. Students, like anyone, care more deeply about topics and lessons they can resonate with. To be able to truly connect with your students and make an impact within your classroom, you need to understand what is impacting them outside of your four walls. Being aware and intentional about learning of and from your local community completely changes the ways in which you approach teaching. It allows for better insight into what your students are experiencing. It shows you care and are aware of the hardships and successes your students go through and how that might impact their behaviors, relationships, and interests within your classroom.
ReplyDeleteI thought my level I teacher, Audrey, did a truly amazing job at recognizing and connecting to students and their various communities outside of school. She was intentional in the ways she approached subjects, based on her knowledge of the larger community. She adapted lessons, differentiating so students felt seen and represented. And was not only professionally responsive but proactive in responding to local events that might have impacted her students, large and small.
My level experiences thus far have been great and I've learned so much from both my mentor teachers! I've grown in the way I'm able to think more quickly on my feet and come up with creative solutions. I've been challenged a lot and have loved pushing myself to adapt lessons and create projects that resonate with students. I've also been able to observe and learn firsthand ways in which I don't want to handle certain aspects of my classroom. With each of these experiences, I've taken away so much knowledge and have really enjoyed the trial and error that is learning to teach.
I'm extremely excited for this semester and can't wait to explore the connections between art, community, and social justice more!
- Tatiana
I think that my field experience has been wonderful, and I did get to experience a little bit of community art as well. In my level 1's my mentor teacher had a local graffiti artist come in, and they all did a mural together. Majority of the kids were so excited about this because the artist was a prominent figure in their community. Just for those kids to have that connection made them extra excited about the project.
ReplyDeleteMy experience, and from the reading, makes me believe that communities and schools should be connected because it can benefit the students' learning. It provides a new space for learning, adds interdisciplinary lessons, and embraces their own experiences. Adding in community can also make kids excited about learning. It can also help teachers. Getting involved in the community can give insight on your students' lives. It is also a great tool for creating an inclusive environment. Not only does it help the learning, but it also benefits the community. One of my favorite lines was "These kids are old enough to know what is happening in their neighborhoods, but they are also young enough to dream that they can really change things" (Schlemmer 32). I think that if students are encouraged to start thinking about their communities and what they can do to help, they will be able to change things, not just dream about it. That change can start in the schools.
After reading this article, it made me more excited about this class. I hope to take away new ideas about how to get my school/curriculum more involved in the community. How I can better my school's community through art. I am glad that we are actually going to be taking part in a community art project that will hopefully inspire my own ideas for the future. - Taylor