We Are Teachers of Children

In a classroom setting there are many things that children need to learn, but those are common in most classrooms.
I have idea's about what I think will help children learn better.
Some of these idea's are from sources, some are from my own imagination, but either way I believe they will work for the good of the children.

Here are some idea's:

Have a thermometer that goes up to 1,000 (or  more)
Every time a child gets an A (100%) the red line moves up.
for every 100 mark the class reaches, the class can choose a reward from the reward jar.
These rewards should be something simple and fun, but something that is not done every day such as "Extra recess."
Every 25 mark (or 50) give out a small candy or prize, such as a single starburst or one army man.
When the 1000 mark is finally reached a huge reward is in order.


I have been thinking recently about the obesity epidemic that is spreading rapidly across the country.
Part of this has to do with poor nutrition at home, which the children and I have no control over. Schools have tried to remedy this by providing three meals a day.
But another part of this is the lack of exercise.
Children and adults alike are spending less and less time keeping their bodies healthy and more time keeping their minds occupied. not every happy, just occupied.
"Enjoyment and skill development are the two key factors given by children and adolescents as reason to engage in and maintain programs of physical activity." (Children Moving, Graham, Holt/Hale, Parker. 8th edition Pg 45)
PE is a resource to be used to help children learn what sort of physical activity they want to pursue, to lay the foundation of a healthy lifestyle. But too often it is put off as some unneeded period of time where all the children do is play dodgeball, not really learning anything.
So many schools are pushing for less and less PE time, But it is physical activity that wakes the brain up from a stupor.

An idea for helping children feel comfortable with my at the beginning of the year, and for helping me to understand the living situation of my students:
Visit each student at their home during the summer before school starts.

Idea for helping students embrace the joy of running:
During gym time, before school, after school, some other time, whenever there is time take the kids out running. But I don't stand at the starting line and wait for them to meet me again, I run with them, changing my pace to meet with the fast kids and the slow kids, making sure they all know the pace they are going at is just fine.

Grid Portrait, along with other portraits

Shoes

One Minute Shoe

Two Minute Shoe

Five Minute Shoe

Educational Posters

Batik Art on a pillow case, elements

Here is my pillow case that I did the batik on. It looks a lot better than it did before I washed it!

Picasso Head

Here is the artwork of two students who participated in my Picasso head lesson. 

Here is the lesson plan

Picasso Head

Grade Level

4^th Grade

Description

Students will create a Picasso-esk portrait of a friend, using textures

Materials Needed

Per Student. # of Students ____

-       1 sheet of paper

-       2 sheets of cardstock

-       6 colored pencils (primary and secondary colors)

Teacher Resources

-       Picass’s paintings (3 examples)

-       (3) Student example -       Color wheel 

Objectives

Students will learn to use lines to create a pleasing shape using lines of different thickness (a, c)

Students will learn to draw what they see without looking (p, c, a)

Standards Addressed

Identify Experience: Contour Line

Research Create: Characteristics of lines

Vocabulary

Analogous: 3 colors touching each other on the color wheel i.e. red, red-orange, red- violet

Complimentary: colors across from each other on the color wheel

Primary colors: Red Yellow Blue

Secondary colors: Green Orange Purple

Pablo Picasso: A Spanish painter who lived from 1881- 1973

Pedagogy

-       Show some of Pablo Picasso’s paintings, especially his self portraits

-       Inform the children they will be creating a picture like Picasso’s

-       Get a partner, draw their face without looking at your paper, and without lifting your pencil

-       Draw your partner’s face again, this time try to make the picture fill the whole page. Still don’t look at the picture, and don’t pick up your pencil.

-       Get out sharpie marker and trace over the lines, make some lines thick and some thin, cover every line.

-       Set this paper aside

-       On a second sheet of paper, fold it so that there are 8 squares

-       You should put a pattern in each square using these idea’s (Left to right, top): Complimentary colors, Small texture, Primary colors, your choice. (Left to right, bottom): Analogous colors, large texture, secondary colors, your choice. (use only primary and secondary colors, mix colors if you need to)

-       Now transfer your patterns onto your head, you must use 7 of your textures.

Assessment

Observe the child’s pictures, have they created a aesthetically pleasing picture while still using all of their textures on their Picasso head?

Did the child take time to make their picture look professional?

Adaptations/Integrations/Accommodations

If coming up with designs to put in squares seems to hard for the students, try having different mason jars (8) and having them draw what they feel as their texture.

Teacher Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso

http://www.artquotes.net/masters/picasso/pablo_selfport1907.htm

 Reflection

The boys I did my practicum with were fairly receptive, but not how I had imagined.  They did what I asked, but I had to be very specific in what I wanted, or else they would find a way around it to make it easier for themselves. They did not want to try very hard

Next time I do this lesson, I will be sure to show student artwork, instead of my own. I feel as if using my own art work hindered the boys in creating their artwork, as  if they felt they had to live up to my standards.

During this experience I have realize that I need to be much more prepared when I teach art. There were so many things I had not anticipated that I now know about and will help me to be better at teaching every subject. 

African Jug Mask

this was a great assignment. I loved it!

Classical house

All sides of my house that I made. Rather impressed with myself. I would live there. I just realized my back doors are actually huge.... they look good on their own, but as they would take up both the first and second levels..... 

anyway, my house is two stories, the top story ends in a balcony after the third window, making the main level have a very tall ceiling. 

If I had enough patience, I might try this again.

a Starry Alphabet

The Lizsharkhard and the Lion...

 This small lizsharkard lives in the high desert of the Casarianin sea. amid the dry, salty water he bathes in the glow of the sunlight, hiding from larger animals such as the bikrillrd, it's main predator.
The lizsharkard eats crocelephanteodile, a small mammal that basks on the edges of the moist inverted mountains.
The lizsharkard lives for about 300 years before splitting itself into two. The two halves battle one another until one wins. Only one lizsharkard is allowed to live.

 A Wire Lion, made from wire.

Age Appropriate Lesson Plan

Van Gogh and the Sunflowers

3^rd Grade

Description of Lesson Plan

Students will create their own sunflower picture using small pieces of  paper

MATERIALS NEEDED (for each student)

-          White paper

-          Pencil

-          Red paper

-          Yellow  paper

-          Orange paper

-          Green paper

-          Blue paper

-          Indigo paper

-          Violet paper

      -          Glue stick

Teacher Resources

Van Gogh and the Sunflowers

Pictures of at least 3 of Van Gogh’s works. (The Scream, Starry Night, The Sunflowers)

Objectives

Students will:

-          Learn to create art using colors without crayons, pencils, markers or paint

-          Demonstrate an ability to create their own picture from an already existing object

-          Create art when using a still life for reference

Standards Addressed

-          Texture -  Make an actual texture that looks implied from a distance

-          Unity – Blending and repeating the art elements.

Pedagogy

-          Read Van Gogh and the Sunflowers

-          Show pieces of Van Gogh’s work

-          Talk about why people like his work

-          Have a vase of sunflowers in the center of every table, instruct the children to draw the sunflowers in pencil.

-          Give every child an assortment of paper and show them how to rip it into to small pieces and glue it to their page. They are to recreate the picture they drew, putting colors into it with ripped paper

-          Let them know we are making a ‘garden’ so they  must do their best work.

Assessment

-          Are the children integrating color into their pictures? If they are using the paper pieces then they are.

-          Are the children using their imagination? If their picture does not look like anyone else’s then they are.

Third graders have a much longer attention span than that of younger grades. If this lesson plan were proposed to be done with 1st or 2nd graders, it would never get completed. Gluing tiny pieces of paper onto another paper is not something small children have the patience for. Third Graders also have more ability to use the small muscles in their hands, making it easier to put detail into their art work. (emphasis Art, pg 208-209 bullets 2 and 9)

A Quality Lesson Plan

What makes a quality Art lesson plan?
In Emphasis Art chapter 3, there are 8 techniques the author suggests for teaching art, and when these are applied to a lesson plan, they can contribute to the quality of that lesson plan.
The techniques are:
Begin the lesson: get their attention
Keep the motivation brief
Get the design off to a good start
Teach nonverbally
Prevent bad starts
Nurture creativity and imagination
foster perseverance, stimulate extra effort
Clean up and evaluate
(Emphasis Art, pgs 30 - 33)
But most of these techniques are not in a lesson plan. Though they will help teach the students the desired goal, they don't have much to do with the actual paper lesson plan.
To create a quality lesson plan, it is probably best to start out with a template that will remind of what needs to be put into the lesson but still allows freedom to create a unique lesson.

Objectives:
Here site the tings you want the students to learn. "You must note that these objectives should not be activities that will be used in the lesson plan. Rather, they should be the learning outcomes of those activities." (Locke, p. 3)


Standards:
When creating an art lesson plan be sure that you are focusing on at least one of the state standards, put that here and explain how it is integrated into your lesson.

Vocabulary:
When integrating with other subjects (which is always a good idea) place words that correspond to the other subject as well as with your lesson here. Also put new words you are introducing to your students here.

Materials:
This is an important part of any lesson plan, Art or otherwise. Place everything needed to complete this lesson plan in this category.
This is essential for planning purposes, and also if another person wants to teach your lesson plan they will not have to guess what you used.

Anticipatory Set:
Something to lead into the main lesson, a small game or something like it that gets the children thinking about what they will be doing and how they will do it.

Pedagogy:
Here write down step by step instructions telling how to carry out the lesson plan. "These don't have to involve every little thing that the teacher will say and do, but they should list the relevant actions that the teacher needs in order to perform them." (Locke, p. 6)


Closure:
Bring your lesson to a close, either for the day or for the topic you studied that day.  


Assessment:
What you want to assess and how you will assess it.

"10. It's a really good idea for you to include a “Connections” section, which really shows how the lesson plan could be integrated with other subjects. An example of this would be to have students paint 2 oranges, then 3 more oranges below them, etc. so that they can learn how to integrate Art into the lesson plan." (Locke, p. 12)


Using each of these things in a lesson plan will help make it look good on paper, but only a great teacher can make it look good in practice.

Locke, Linda. "10 Steps to Developing a Quality Lesson Plan." Homeschooling Secrets. N.p., n.d. google. Web. 4 Apr. 2011. <http://www.learnatlast.com/10steps-to-developing-a-quality-lesson-plan.html>.

Shakespear, Maele. "Lesson Plan Template." Blackboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.

Wilson, Roylane. “Lesson Plan Template.” PEP 3500

Color Wheel of Emotions

If you want to decide what each of these are.. Don't read this.

Top (left to right): Undecided, Depressed, Hectic
Bottom(left to right): Angry, Calm, Mesmerized

My color wheel. The entire thing is laminated, everything is detachable and interactive

Clay Pots and Stamps