Our nation’s schools are one of the most significant structures in our society not only for education, but for connection and establishing meaningful relationships. Especially in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, building and maintaining a positive social emotional learning environment in schools and individual classrooms is vital for student achievement.
Creating art allows students to express reactions to their own life experiences and identity in relation to the world. Art is a great way to contribute to society and participate in cultural exchange in physical or virtual spaces. In the Bloom’s Taxonomy pyramid diagram, “Creating” is at the top of the pyramid, since it requires students to evaluate existing artwork, analyze background context, apply knowledge, understand lessons, and remember information.
I will incorporate technology in the classroom whenever it can foster connection between classmates and spark genuine engagement with the art making process.Some examples of using technology in the art classroom include: finding reference photos for drawing studies, watching tutorial videos for specific art techniques, or uploading artwork to a class blog.
Differentiation is important now more than ever as student learning was at a loss during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Chunked Instruction is very important as is providing information in ways that students with different learning styles can better understand. Teachers can give as many access points to information as possible as in Kinesthetic or hands on experiences, Auditory class discussions or Visual demonstrations and diagrams. During my lessons, I make sure to provide entry points for all learning styles whenever possible with hands-on kinesthetic art activities, visual diagrams and images of a diverse array of artwork in presentations.
Objectives for learning that are clear and measurable are significant in making sure that students are making progress in the art classroom. I use both consistent formative and final summative feedback to measure what students need and how to best serve them as a teacher going forward.
In my classroom, art and ELA will be intertwined. Whether it is reading aloud a relevant storybook for a lesson’s anticipatory set or having students read, write and discuss their work there are always opportunities to practice vital language and communication skills. As an artist who creates books with visual art and poetry, I find this particular area to be of the utmost significance as artwork can be contextualized and given deeper meaning with written descriptions. 
I see schools as one of the most universally significant structures for not only education, but for connection in the world. My vision is to contribute to this environment by sharing my knowledge and providing experiences that allow for self expression and a deeper connection with others.
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