Week 9 Reflections

Dear Ginia -

I love the way you handled the situation with the student who talked down about herself. It was so simple and empowering. I have noticed some of my students talk themselves into meeting lower expectations, and instead of talking themselves up. You gave me an Idea - Modeling self-talk that is empowering can promote the development resilience in students who don't have it. Thank you!

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Katie - I apologize for butting in, but the correct phrase is "underachiever." Underachievers are so frustrating because you know they can do the work, and you spend so much of your time with just that student "motivating" them to do their work. There are interventions you can use. Sally M. Reis and her husband Joseph S. Renzulli have done a lot of research in this area. I am posting two links to resources, though you can find much more if you research "reversing underachievement."

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/general/faculty/reis/Self-Regulated_Learning_Reverse_Underachievement.html

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10442.aspx

Weeek 9 Reflection

1. Consider the word “teacher.” We, as does the public, have many ideas surrounding this title. Imagine dropping the title “teacher”.... What lies beyond the title? 

My associations with the word teacher in part are tied to historical social restrictions placed on teaching females - can't wear red lipstick, be seen alone in the company of an adult male, etc. I am sensitive to the social restrictions still placed on teachers, like we still have to appear as as anesthetize versions of human beings even in our out of school lives, catering to the more conservative (religious) elements of the school system. Teachers are in part keepers of the culture, but it seems to be the keeping of the dominant culture in many cases.

Tied to that is the issue of restriction is the sense control teachers are supposed to have. Over themselves, the students, and the curriculum.

I also think of the deference to teachers of the holders of some unarguable absolute Platonic standards. That grading objectives are objective and point to some absolute truth in the realm of knowledge. That knowledge and learning can be defined in finite terms. 

Beyond the title of teacher, you have people who have a variety of

• organizational strategies
• levels of knowledge
• introverted vs. extroverted personalities
• cultural exposure
• levels of "people smarts"
• ages
• religious beliefs
• political leanings
• family structures
• cultural histories
• socioeconomic backgrounds
• educational training
• levels of fitness and health concerns
• motivations for being in the classroom
• motivations for lifetime learning
• traumas
• successes
• world views

The list is not exhaustive, but with all the differences in individuals who pursue teaching, there is a consensus to work within an educational system, and to work for the betterment of others. There is an acceptance of some givens, and to operate within those givens unless change can be brought about.

2. Contemplate deeply the idea of truth speaking. Reflect on your classrooms and your relationships with your students... How and where is truth speaking present? 

• When a class is getting too rowdy, and I stop and quietly watch the class. I tell the class the behaviors I am observing. I tell them my first impulse is to yell at them, but I have decided not to, because I do not want to give into negative energy and go home in a bad mood. I ask them how they are going to fix their behavior.
• When students are having trouble with scissors, with drawing, or using paint. I share with them my struggles with scissors, not being to draw what I saw in  my head, and not being to use paint without being messy when I was younger. I explain to them the developmental reasons certain things are hard for them. I assure them it will get better as they develop.
•  When a student asks "What is the point of this assignment?"
• When I said to a fourth grade class, "I didn't bring my A game last week. Let me reintroduce this lesson in a better way."
• When I say to my students, " I want to give you a warning, I have a serious case of the Mondays," and it is a Wednesday.
• When a student says they need help, instead of just goofing off.
• By acknowledging my mistakes in the moment and sharing how they make me feel.
• When students ask to do a certain project or technique that interests them.

3. Thinking back through all the reading and reflecting to date, write a personal classroom mission statement. Something you could put up in your room. After you come up with this statement, share it on your blog and talk (truth speak) a little bit about how you arrived at this statement.

Mission Statement: Question, Wonder, Listen, Make

Question: I want the students to think more analytically and to challenge what they are being taught. One of the most important questions , for me personally, is "Am I answering the right question?" Just because somebody in a position of authority poses a question or gives a task doesn't make it worthwhile. 

I also want students to be able to question themselves before they question me. To internally moderate their progress before going to an external judge.

Wonder: Once the students have a grasp on a material, technique, or concept, I want them to play with it and see how they can run with what they have been taught. I want them to bring up a variety of perspectives that I or the other students haven't vocalized. I also want them to get lost on working with a concept or in a conversation. I want them to ask 'Why?' so they have a better understanding about how things work. I want them to play with a fanciful idea they may know isn't reality, like arguing that mermaids exist.  

Listen: I want the students to know that listening is a two way street between teachers and students. They need to listen to me, and I want to listen to them. They also have to get quiet and listen to themselves. Sometimes problems are easier to solve if we pause and listen to our thoughts. They could also "solve" visual works of art on their own if they listen to their internal dialogue about what they look at. I also want them to listen to each other. A lot of interpersonal conflicts could be mediated by the students themselves if they could learn to calm themselves and look through another person's eyes.

Make: Sometimes it is the process, sometimes the product, and often together, when you make something you can see what you are capable of.  Making isn't passive. Making requires visualization and thinking. Good making is engaging.  Making something you are proud of is validating.

4. Reflect on some ways your consciousness about teaching has expanded since the start of this course and how does this relate to your goals? Do your goals need tweaking at this point? Restate them here (as they were or as they now are).

 Previously stated, my goals were:

1. Organization and Structure in the Classroom

• identify my currents patterns of organization and structure
• evaluate the reasons for these patterns and structure
• distinguish positive effects of my current system  from negative ones 
• evaluate the effects of my organization on the students, my classroom, and my efficacy
• create modifications to the organization and structure of my classroom
• evaluate the modifications to the organization and structure.

2. Fostering the habit of reflective thinking in students in grades 3-5 by addressing my weaknesses self-identified in the Maranzo Teacher's Scale

• Routinely providing students with rubrics
• Having students track their own progress
• Letting my classroom rules and procedures go lax mid-year
• Student review of new information in small groups
• Students verbally summarizing new learning
• Reviewing content consistently
• Explicitly using groups to support learning
• Asking students to verbalize their insight into how they revise knowledge
• Have the same expectations for low students as I do for the high ones

Revised Goals:

1. Organization and Structure in the Classroom

• identify student needs and teacher needs, physical and social
• identify my patterns of organization and structure
• evaluate the effects of organization and structure in meeting student and teacher needs
• create modifications to meet student and teacher needs.

 2. Fostering the habit of reflective thinking about creative processes in grades 3-5

• incorporate artist/bibliography studies about artists  - to study their creative processes and/or their thinking about their creative processes
• have students journal about their thought processes and decision making
• have students develop their own mission statements for learning in art class
• group students by similar mission statements 
• Have students verbalize their insights within the support of student groups. 
• Have students model positive self-talk  

Week 9 Reading Summary

Summary:
Prologue Teaching as if Life Matters
In the prologue, Christopher Uhl outlines using systems thinking to affect a better educational outcome for students touched by compulsory schooling. It is the author's position that we encourage intellectual development at the expense of affective development, creating wounds that prevent students from becoming self-actualized. Since teachers interact with such a large part of the population, teachers can transform how students think and help develop a society that is more reflective and smart about relationships big and small.

Chapter 5 Teaching as if Life Matters
In Chapter 5, Christopher Uhl posits that a lot of teacher/student conflicts center around fear and views of "otherness." He suggests instead that the teacher operate from the viewpoint that every human is interconnected. 

In the first part of the chapter the author outlines four concepts that we have been socially conditioned to accept as truth. The first is that reality is composed of opposites. The second is that the labels we give things limit our perceptions of them. The third is that in blaming and complaining we cause separation and give up personal responsibility for difficult situations. The fourth is that the social grouping subculture present in most schools reinforces the concepts of otherness and fear. To counter act the four mindsets listed above the author suggests that teachers shift to a mindset that accepts interconnectedness between all humans, re-evaluates labels and judgements, see the goodness in others, and create spaces where teachers and students can speak candidly and build relationships.

The second part of the chapter centers around changing language spoken in schools to change the culture to one based an relationships instead of fear. The author highlights another social conditioned truth that most Americans accept - that everyone is basically bad and selfish. Our language used because of our acceptance of this viewpoint creates separation. Chistopher Uhl outlines a model of speaking that helps build relationships. By using the Nonviolent Communication model, the speaker recognizes the needs of all parties involved and avoids using demands and negative language in order to get  personal needs met.

The third part of the chapter deals with cultivating relationships in the classroom. The author first urges the reader to evaluate how the physical layout of the classroom affects relationships. He then suggests enhancing the social culture of the classroom by creating a safe atmosphere for teachers and students to speak and listen from the heart. The third condition for cultivating relationships in the classroom is suspending personal judgement when dialogue is occurring. The fourth condition is not to be afraid of personal touch in the classroom, since touch can build relationships. The fifth condition is to co-create a set of shared commitments with students, in order to build an environment of shared responsibility to meeting a cultural mission.

Week 8 Responses

To David-

This sculpture reminds me so much of Red Groom's work. The sculpture has a serious expression that contrasts with the humorous and exaggerated rendering. I would want to see an installation based on this piece. Is fishing time your protected thinking time in the outdoors? My interpretation of you from this piece is that you are a person of patience. You enjoy the process as much as the product. You are self-sufficient and can find value in basic living activities. You can find your way into nature and are comfortable in such non-fabricated environments. You are hands on and like to do the work yourself. You see yourself with a dose of humor.


To Katie-

I love the light humor, sense of movement, and playful overtones of your self-portrait. I also connect with how you have applied brushstrokes to your arms and legs in the painting. It appears that you are a process oriented person? It brings up personal connections that I have with art making and teaching. I love the process and often wear the supplies. It also noticed that you have intentionally let the "hand of the artist" be evident and become the building blocks of your self-portrait.

Creative Process - Visual

2 pieces poster board cut 12"x18" each, pencil, Sharpie

Olivia Gude's article talks about creative processes in regards to external (teacher generated) stimuli. The student is asked to accept the task and make it his/her own. I have completed the self-portrait assignment in response to this view of creative process.

For me, external stimuli can be teacher generated assignments and work projects for school committees. This process I use to get these works done is more linear and predictable. To complete this project,  I engaged in my usual hem-hawing and feet dragging. I reflected informally for about a week to slowly build the project up in my mind. I beat myself up for not sitting down and starting a week early. I cleaned the house. I set my nest to make it comfortable for working. I remained indecisive about what media to choose. I finally started work on a day my husband was out of town and my daughter was busy with homework.

I chose to mimic Rube Goldberg and his simple machines for this assignment - since I tend to take a simple problem and go the long way about solving it. The comic reads right to left, but the conclusion is on the left, where the viewer may start.  I often  feel that I have to knock myself on my head to get work done. The creative product comes as a result of kicking myself into gear.

The story for the illustration is as follows. I have distracted myself by cleaning until every surface shines. The rising sun glares of the surfaces into my husbands eyes and causes him to slip on notes I have organized on the kitchen floor. The papers go air born, and my (favorite) cat reaches for one, knocking over my stacked (mental) blocks. A toppling mental block lands in a basket attached to a pulley that closes the door to my work space. The door slamming causes my dog to bark - he doesn't like closed doors. My daughter's rather heavy cat is startled and jumps. The scale she was resting on lowers and the prop hand turns on my coffee pot. The vapor that escapes from the top of the coffee pot causes a toy hot air balloon to rise. The balloon is attached to a boot by a belt on a wheel and axle. As the balloon rises, the boot kicks my head. The kick would cause the pail of paint to spill onto the large pad of drawing paper, creating a spontaneous artwork.

The coffee pot, the robe I am wearing, the first cat, and the solitude are my comforts when I am working. 

My aha moment came when I was journaling in my notebook last week. I was thinking about the differences between projects that I am intrinsically motivated to do, verses ones that get completed due to external motivation. I realized I have two distinct creative processes. The idea isn't entirely novel. When I do creativity training with my students, we brain dump and do forced connections to get the creative juices flowing. Sometimes it is hard to be creative on the spot - I can't expect my students to walk into my room and spontaneously be creative in a forced setting with 27 other students present. But I never considered how environments and motivations can affect the creative process behaviors in one person.

The process above is not the one I engage in to do my classroom teaching. I still have the freedom to teach what I personally find of value. And I know very well that if I don't appear intrinsically motivated that my students will not get motivated or see value in the project. I do in depth lessons most of the time, and I ask a commitment of my students. The creative process I use for my teaching craft more closely mimics the own for my personal creative problem solving.

Creative process V. 1

How do you create? What does that process look like? How does the creative process we follow in our own lives, echo within our teaching styles? How are these processes the same? What can we learn about our teaching from this?

I have two creative processes. One creative process is spontaneous (internal).  The internal creative process has a genesis in an idea that comes to me. It is a sudden idea that feels right. Sometimes it is just a humorous idea that floats in my head for a while, evolving over time. In fact, the ideas are overarching themes I can play with for years. Idea development for me takes a long time and isn't often a linear path.  My elaborations take on the format of a story or a myth. Most of the work happens in my head, and I have no problem visualizing a products. I love the feeling of elation I have when I get a new idea. I love the process of creating concepts. The source material for my personal ideas comes from my own developmental experiences. The are expressed in my two favorite mediums, drawing or photography. Anxiety during this process comes from the itchy feeling of not getting the work done.

The second creative process is forced (response to external problems or projects gifted from others). When solving external problems, I have a more drawn out, anxiety filled, feet dragging ritual. If the resolution isn't readily visualized, I push the problem to the back of my mind and think about it from time to time. Ideas cycle through and bubble up. I feel guilty because I haven't sat down to work on the project. This feeds into the anxiety and I often engage is distractions, like cleaning until the deadline is upon me. It is only when it is about to be too late that I accept the project and get to work. I have ritualistic preparations, such as cleaning, brewing coffee, and setting up pillows in my work space. When I finally sit down to formally problem solve, I start with notes and other graphic organizational tools. I experience frustration and anxiety, and let my ideas glide on auto pilot for a day or two more. When I come up with a resolution, I experience relief, but I still mentally go wish-washy as I begin the project. I choose my medium after an academic consideration of materials. As work completes and I can visualize the final product, my confidence grows. I cannot leave these types of projects unfinished. When the work is done and I have shown it off, the work is often put in a closet.

My preferred teaching style most closely resembles the internal creative process. I love working with ideas that I am excited about sharing with the kids.  When I asked to teach something (like math) just because a math specialist said, "do this in art," I do not exude passionate involvement with the subject matter. The students can sense a rat. I suppose this is even more true for students, whose most creative problems have been handed to them. If they don't see the value in it, or see a resolution to the problem, they might turn their brains off to disengage from the frustration and anxiety.

Week 7 Responses

To Karen:

I wonder how many students give up on art simply because the classroom/studio environment just isn't comfortabl
\e or conducive to their best work?

I really like your last question. I would like to add to it.

How many students give up on art because their home environment isn't conducive to their best work?

We are lucky because we have at least one "safe" spot. I know some students of mine take what they learn in class and work with the ideas at home and bring it back to show off. Conversely, I also have had a few students who just don't try. Or if they do try, throw away their work as soon as it is time to take it home. Last year, I talked to a classroom teacher about one such fifth grade boy. He had done such good work, but then chucked it into the trash bin on the last day. The grade level teacher said that the parents would throw away the work at home. She observed the same behavior from him in her class.
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To Adair:

Hey Adair -

I love your Charlie and the Chocolate Factory sculptures! I am just tying up a literature unit about the book with a group of kids. How did you make your sculptures?

One place to start looking to help you with the resistant boys is literature about the 'creativity slump in adolescent boys.'

Also, have you tried validating their thoughts about art? They might just be looking for a cultural power struggle. For example, when the one eighth grader says something like "That guy has too much time on his hands," you could just calmly repeat his statement, then calmly ask him what he sees to make him say that. The student may get a few laughs from his peers, but over time, if you give him the same impartial answer and a chance to explain himself, it may neutralize him.

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To Sheryl-

I totally identify with your statement!

" For many years I have joked that I prefer the acquisition of art making supplies to the actual process of making art. That being said, I would like to say that time inhibits my creative development, in all actuality, I think it’s more a matter of discipline. I have no problem being creative, and dream-up, at least in my mind, wonderful ideas. Seeing the ideas become reality requires focus and commitment. "

What do your kitchen cabinets look like? Half of my cabinets are filled with art supplies! In my bedroom I have two big bookshelves overflowing with books and kits. I affectionately call it my "When I break my leg" collection. When do you work best, day or night? I am an early morning or late night person, but late night work affects me the next day. I can work to 3 or 4 am without caffeine if I am in the zone.

By looking at your blog posts and work, you seem to be self-actualized in your work as an artist. I have let myself go over the past 5 years, and enroll in online classes to give myself the external motivation to get stuff done.

What is one of your ideas that you haven't followed through on yet? Mine is a high end collection of house robes. I kid you not, I even have a very cheeky photography campaign to accompany my robes.

If you want to start a middle aged art renegade movement.....

Week 7: R&R

Summary: In a nutshell, Olivia Gude is suggesting the way we teach  may not inherently foster creative development. External forces upon students such as rubrics, critiques, peer pressure, and societal influences can combine to dampen creative expression. What we as educators need to do is encourage creative behaviors in our students. We can do this by encouraging acceptance of anxiety and discomfort during ideation, providing a psychologically safe environment free from external evaluational, and being empathetic by meeting students where they are at. Characteristics of creative people (C.R. Rogers) such as the ability to play, openness to experience, and having an inner locus of evaluation can be enhanced in safe classrooms that emphasize the importance of creative exploration over the structured standards and assessments. 

1. Where /when do you notice “discomfort” when you are teaching? Please illustrate with a teaching example. What do you think accounts for the discomfort?

Right now my third, fourth, and fifth graders are finishing up open ended projects that celebrate our school's 25th anniversary. I started the year explicitly teaching creativity training.  I did not want to look at 250 compositions using our school's mascot - the dolphin. In fact, I forbade use of the dolphin. Most students were eager to begin the culminating project. However, I have about a dozen students with whom I really had to hold their hand to chose a final project and start working.  With the grade level I teach, I noticed that these students share some common qualities: low self-efficacy, inability to trust their own choices, learned helplessness (pointing to underachievement), and a lack of a close relationship with the art teacher. Most students I can play around and joke with. These students I seem to maintain a distant relationship with.

2. What (if anything) inhibits your creative development?

 For me, personally, I have to have solitude. Before I hurt my back, I went for weekend hikes so I could have time to think. So, having anyone around when I am warming the egg is a deal breaker. 

 I also don't like to feel judged. At almost 40, I am still touchy feely when my ideas are in the incubation phase.  If I am at home, I snarl and lock my door to keep others away.

Conversely, not having an audience of peers at the end can be a downer.

Too much freedom also prevents me from creative production. If I don't have my own problem to solve, I will look for structured environments (such as graduate classes) to keep the brain juices flowing.

Week 6 Response: Sheryl

Can you spin on how celebration builds community, and talk a little bit what community is? Also, to give the wigglers some release, can you begin the class with a celebratory dance of some sort?

Are these students fifth graders, perchance :) ?

Week 6 Response: Gina

Do you have time to add another step, one that helps with the visualization? You have spoken before about using visual strategies in their journals. The students will respond more to something they have an emotional connection to. Could you ask them to describe a scene or character they saw in their head and compare contrast how the scene or character was portrayed in the movie? Then maybe have them write to the director using the analysis to make a persuasive writing about what was done well or what they considered a down fall.

Video Assignment #1

For this assignment I filmed a kindergarten lesson. We are exploring the difference between 2D and 3D, using a common subject matter, the caterpillar. The students were finishing their 3-D caterpillars, and beginning their 2D caterpillars. It was a Friday afternoon with my most active kindergarten class. The class is 50 minutes long.

 (Really cool life cycle video)

 Pre/Post Viewing  #1 Reflection:

Before viewing the video,  I knew the lesson wasn't a disaster. The students got their work done and cleaned up reasonably well. I handled the distractions with patience today.  But the noise level was high and I was being pulled in a lot of directions. I could have pre-organized more of the supplies to cut down on the loss of time due to so many transitions. In a nutshell this video was going to show a class with a lot of transitions, and illustrate how I and the students handled them.

The video did confirm my initial impressions about the structure of the class. There were a lot of transitions. If I had laid out the caterpillar sculptures before class, sorted the crayons before class, and double checked the paint sponges I had put on the paint trays, we would have had more time for clean up at the end of class. The noise level would have gone down, too.  I was very surprised that I kept an even tone in my voice even when I felt flustered. I also saw that I was good at pre-teaching to the mistakes and troubles I thought the kids might encounter. I was also good at demonstrating with a conservation of words, and the students were able to get to work without me having to re-explain everything. Yay me!

Viewing #2 Reflection:

I focused on my first goal for this video, Improving Organization and Structure. When viewing the video for the second time, I was asking myself these questions:

• What are my patterns?
• What are the positive ones?
• What are the negative ones?
• What are the effects of the patterns of my behavior?
• What needs to be modified?
• Create modifications to fix the problem areas.

I color coded my notes, looking for the skeleton of the instruction, transitions, positive habits, negative habits, and uncontrollable distractions. The good organizational habits that I have developed for my kindergarteners on a high transition, potentially messy day are

• I meet the students at the door and tell them to put their painting shirts on.
• After students put on shirts, they spread out newspaper to keep the tables clean.
• They know not to go hog wild with the paint.
• They know to throw away newspapers, put away supplies, and wash hands at the end of class. 
• They can stand up and work with out running around the room.
• I have a non-verbal quiet signal
• I have a bell that I use to grab their attention when it gets too noisy.

Things that occurred that got in the way of flow and let in too much down time was my own lack of prep. I know that to keep students that young engaged for almost an hour, and I have to prep more than I would  for older students. It is enough that the class stopped working to notice the rain and ask questions about it - I can handle that - and that I had to get on the walkie talkie to find a para to take a student into the main building to use the rest room while in the middle of a demo.

Even though I have handed more of the painting prep off to my kinders this year, I could probably give them jobs at the end of class - like a policeman for the sinks. They want to clean up and it would help with end of the class chaos.

I also have an internal conflict with the level of noise in my room. I can handle it and think it is par for the course for kindergartners who are excited. I also think back to the Ken Robinson TED talk where he describes an aesthetic experience as one in which all the senses are engaged.  A fully engaged kinesthetic kindergartener is not still or silent. But then I flop to the Susan Cain talk and the definition of introvert/extrovert as related to response to stimulation. I also have a responsibility to the students who need a low key environment. I watched the video the second time and watched the behaviors of different students in the room. Quite a few students were where they were supposed to be at the appropriate times no matter what. The two students who are always up and around stayed true to the course. But I noticed a handful of students were my little indicators. Their actions and behaviors fluctuated in response to the noise and structure in the classroom.

Viewing #3 Student Point of View

I chose one of the more active students to narrate. He talks in an ever excited voice. I think the young kids focus on themselves and what they do, unless I go on the either side of the emotional spectrum. 

HEY MOM! I GOT TO PAINT IN ART CLASS! I KNEW WE WERE GOING TO PAINT BECAUSE MY TEACHER WAS WEARING HER DIRTY PAINTING JACKET! I ASKED HER IF SHE GOT IT DIRTY ALL BY HERSELF, AND SHE SAID IT TOOK HER FIVE YEARS TO GET THAT DIRTY!

THERE WAS A FUNNY CATERPILLAR FACE ON THE BOARD AND IT MADE ME LAUGH! BUT THEN I HAD TO GET MY PAINTING SHIRT BEFORE THE COLOR I WANTED WAS GONE. WE GOT TO USE STICKERS FOR EYES! AND WE GOT TO USE SHARPIES! I LOVE THE SMELL OF SHARPIES! 

DO YOU KNOW THAT THE ART TEACHER HAS COLORED PENCILS AND TWISTABLES? I HAVE TWISTABLES, TOO! WE COULDN'T USE THEM IN ART TODAY. SHE SAID NO!

WE ARE MAKING CATERPILLARS. WE WATCHED A MOVIE ABOUT A CATERPILLAR COMING OUT OF AN EGG! THEN IT GOT FAT! WE SAW IT COME OUT OF IT'S CHRYS...COCOON!

CAN I BRING MY SWIM TRUNKS TO SCHOOL? MY TEACHER SAYS IF IT RAINS TOO MUCH WE WILL HAVE TO SWIM BACK TO OUR CLASSROOMS FROM THE ART ROOM!