Group Differences Forum Reflection

The discussion overall went great! Everyone participated and voiced their opinions. Everyone was encouraging to one another and took turns speaking. No one talked over each other and everyone respected each others points of view. It was interesting and beneficial. There was a general consensus on the importance of discussing religion in the classroom and teaching the students about the various religions there are instead of taking them out of the classroom all together. It was interesting listening to people's answers to my questions. I'm glad I got to hear what people thought about voicing their own religious beliefs when asked. Their opinions echoed my own thoughts about that. I think when asked there is a way to answer them honestly while still making everyone feel valid and not talking negatively about any particular religion. I was surprised that the discussion took a turn to talking about the good and the bad in religion. Abby brought up some good points about how most religions in history are only discussed about the negative things associated with it. I think it is important to talk about the benefits of religion too. Group differences affect my classroom practice because it makes me very aware of the variety this country has, making me sensitive to hurtful comments and ways I can treat everyone equal; as well as the importance of treating everyone equally.

Mastery of a Lesson Based on Behaviorism and Social Cognitive Learning Theories

     From a Behaviorist standpoint, I would base the students' mastery of learning off of what I've observed while they completed the tasks. I would not be able to focus on their minds and how they might have inwardly grown creatively and intellectually. So I would focus on their behaviors and how they performed the task at hand. For instance, I might make a rubric on a project that had the following categories, how well the student planned for the art piece (their sketchbook drawings), their use of the techniques demonstrated in class, efficiency of in class time and if they finished it by the due date, how well they cleaned up and took care of the art supplies, and their written reflection at the end. I would grade them based on their behaviors in these areas to determine if they mastered the lesson.
     Personally in the art world, I prefer the Social Cognitive Theory of Learning. From this standpoint, I would model the different techniques we were learning in class and give good demonstrations on new mediums they haven't used before. Social Cognitive Theory relies heavily on students observing other people to learn. When planning for their assignment and coming up with ideas, I would have them do a group discussion where they can bounce ideas off of each other and respond to each others concepts with their own thoughts and opinions. One of the main factors of SCT of learning is self efficacy. With this theory of learning I might not grade their mastery of the lesson on how well I believe they did or how "good'' i think their art is. Instead, I will determine if they feel they did a good job, they feel comfortable using the new techniques and tools demonstrated, if they liked their idea, developed it with their peers, and then acted on it, and if all together they communicated something to the outside world through their art. Art is very relative and subjective. I think its more important for the students to be proud of themselves than perfection. If they liked their art, felt good about it, and enjoyed doing it, then they mastered the lesson.

Learning Enviornment

     For me, a conductive learning environment also needs to be a conductive creative environment. Therefore, I have many things I would do in my classroom to generate both a good learning and creative setting. First, I would prefer larger tables for the students' work space. Desks are good when students are individually working on a math assignment or copying notes for history class, but for art they need a lot of room to work. Also art is not just a solitary thing. It is important to interact with fellow artists, get inspired, get feedback, and work off each other. So in an ideal world, I would have tables large enough for them to have room for their own work but also large enough to fit multiple people to a table. I'll probably connect the tables together. I work with a lot of materials and will hopefully have a good stock of supplies for the students to access. So around the room and in a supply closet I will keep all the supplies organized and sorted so the students know exactly what is offered to them and where it all goes. To help with creativity, I will line the walls of my classroom with famous artwork from different eras as well as local art that is happening now. I also think it is important to have posters to remind them of the basis, like a color wheel chart, a list of the principles of design, and a list of the elements of art. 
    I will be getting a degree to teach art to from Kindergarten through 12th grade, and frankly when I graduate I will take any job I can get. However, as of now my preferred age would be high school.  My case study is as follows:

     You have started to dread your fifth period history class. It is made up entirely of seniors who are counting the days until graduation and seem to care very little about learning. Most of the students are obviously members of one clique or another. Whenever they think your back is turned, they start passing notes and text messaging. Worse, three boys have started disrupting those engaged in learning. No matter what you say, they laugh at the students who present their group projects to the class.
     Yesterday, Tony, Jeff, and Morris started roughhousing; then all three of them refused to sit down and follow the class procedures that the classroom community agreed upon at the beginning of the year.  Although you have been using a set approach to handling infractions of rules, you decide it is time to change these procedures. 

     There are a lot of issues in this case study that need addressing and there is no one simple thing a teacher can do to rectify all of these problems at once. So I'm going to address each problem separately and respond with what I would do as the teacher in this situation.
     First of all, the type of senior described is exactly the kind of student I want to reach out to the most; the kind of student that motivates me the most. I believe art is such a great way to engage students again. Even the ones who do not have an appreciation for art and are just taking the class because they have to, I want them to start viewing it in relation to themselves and connect in new ways. I want the students to be pleasantly surprised by how they can apply it to their own lives. Because my classroom will be interactive and collaborative, the students will be forced to be engaged and offer up their thoughts and opinions on things. There will be very few times where my back will be turned, teaching in an expository way. If there are only the three seniors that are checking out and not wanting to join in discussions about art, I will call on them so they have to join and offer up what they think. If the entire class is not interested, I will come up with topics that are interesting to them at this time in their life, whether it be something in pop culture that is happening in the media, or the pressures of choosing the right college and fears of moving out (or maybe the excitement of moving out). Any of these things they can turn into an art piece. They can express what they feel about the topic that does spike their interest in techniques that they learn in class. This way, when they truly care about their topic or what they are saying in their piece, no one will laugh at the others when presenting because they themselves will have a project that is personal to them too. This is the type of environment I want to create in my classroom; one that is safe and honest where everyone, despite what clique they are in, can truly be themselves. If they start roughhousing and not using their work time wisely, I will threaten to push up the deadline saying, "well, you obviously don't need the time, so we can turn these in early right?" I will remind them that even though it is an art class, this grade still counts towards their GPA and they need to pass the class to graduate. If this still doesn't work, I might threaten them with busy work to fill their time that they seem to have.
      

Motivation!!!

     When I was in high school, I knew students who absolutely hated being students. They never wanted to come to school, thought they hated learning, and felt like they were terrible at all the subjects so why even come to school. They said things like, "When will I ever need to know this?" and "I don't want to go to college anyways so why am I here getting 'prepared for college'". But then I watched as those students take an art class. Something changed. Our art teachers inspired and motivated them to actually try. They made them feel like they were capable of something great and that their voice mattered. All of a sudden these students loved coming to school. They looked forward to coming to class and did their work on time. They started looking at colleges with good art programs and look forward to their future. 
     I want to be a teacher like that. I want to give my students a new way to express themselves. Art is such a great subject in that I can create assignments based on whatever I want. I have an opportunity to teach them about other things, like math, science, history, language, or current events through new ways that might reach them differently, and provide a forum in which they can voice their views on each subject. I want to inspire intrinsic motivation in my students. Create intrinsic motivation in students who might have never felt that in schools. To do that, I'll build their self esteem and make them realize that they are all capable of producing art. Kids have a need for competence. A lot of the time schools and tests can beat that out of a student who might think about things in a different way. I don't want to just protect their self-worth, but remind them of it. A good way to help with this is minimizing competitions in the students' artwork. I am going to stress that everyone has their own voice therefore everyone has their own style. Its impossible to compare people's work. 
     If I succeed in creating in them a sense of self-worth and self-efficacy, I would then want to inspire self-determination. I'll give them an assignment and basic instruction, but then they will need to come up with an idea for their projects themselves; a way to make it their own. Since they have created their task themselves and its uniquely catered to themselves, hopefully they will be determined to follow through and carry it out. 



Cognitive theories: cognitive and emotional factors affect perceptions of self; control & choice (self-determination) 

"So that was mind blowing..."

     Hearing that you have to attend a presentation during your only lunch break on an already lengthy day of classes doesn't inspire much excitement. At least not within me. I sluggishly walked into the room, not knowing what to expect and feeling a little irritated at my grumbly stomach, so starved for attention. Pleasantly surprised, I spotted a good friend of mine from another class and slipped into the seat next to him. However, that was not the only surprise awaiting me.
We were all given packets of text split up into sections. My friend was handed a microphone and told that he was going to be our first reader--I was the second. And I'm not going to lie, even though I'm an extremely extroverted person, this was toeing the line of my comfort zone. But the woman passing out the papers, whom I later found out was nicknamed SS (Barb's Smiling Shrink) went back up to the front with Barb Retenbach, our main speaker. We all waited patiently, silently, slowly as Barb typed out a message to us, one letter at a time. In the time it took her to tell us to "B u, b enough, b light, with u, B" I kept thinking how difficult it must be to have to communicate so slowly. That her brain must be moving a lot quicker than her typing. For how much I yap and run my mouth a mile a minute, I can not begin to fathom trying to get my points across that slowly. It shames me to say but I was feeling sorry for her in those moments waiting for SS to repeat what Barb was typing. But boy did my thinking change through out that much too short hour. My thinking changed when she talked about the change in her thinking. I had never heard the term "neurodiversity" before. But that really is the best way to describe it. All of our brains work in different ways. Some people think in words and words alone. My very pale freckly sister thinks and dreams in Spanish fifty percent of the time. Our teacher said she has a friend who sees colors when she listens to music. I, on the other hand, listen to music and immediately imagine and feel ways that I can move to it. There is truly such a variation in thought processes, more than we probably know. Barb telling us about how she learned to type was truly eye opening. She said that her brain doesn't really "do" language. She doesn't think in words or sentences. Explaining it differently, she compared it to listening to someone speak German. You can try and mimic the sounds, but they don't really have a meaning attached to them. Hence talking, speaking, and the ways we normally communicate, are not how her brain works. But through an object, through learning how to type out words, she is able to converse. Now she calls herself a collector of words which is extremely appropriate seeing as how her vocabulary is 3 times the size of mine. I can not even begin to express how inspired I was by the things she wanted to communicate to us. "B u, b enough," she said. I've struggled with this my whole life. It's something we hear all the time--through our parents, through teachers, through sappy movies and songs. Be yourself. Don't try to be anyone other than yourself. Be the best "you" you can be. Just do you. But a lot of the time those phrases and cliches just come across hollow. A hollow reminder thrown out there to make it seem okay that society is constantly bombarding us with a prototype of what we should actually be wanting to be. But Barb's encouragement to be ourselves had more depth than any previous reminder I've ever had. She told us to choose to be enough. That "none of us are enough until we say we are." No one else can determine our value for us. No one can decide our worth. We choose to be enough. We choose to be someone we want to be. It's inspiring that she doesn't view her autism as a crutch, as a factor that devalues her life or her being. She is a child of God, created in God's image just like the rest of us. She is enough because she chooses to be. (In my mind she's more than enough.) She also encouraged us and inspired us to be the kind of teachers to instill this in our students, to not be the teachers that offer this message out as a hollow suggestion. She commanded us to be that one teacher for someone. After all, "it just takes one." Imagine how many lives teachers can change if they took her advice to "teach to the heart, from the heart, like God is watching." I'm going to write this quote down on every single lesson plan I ever write. This quote itself will be my motivation for teaching. The only thing more inspiring than her desire to communicate was the method that she chose to communicate with. Goodness gracious is Barb Redenbach witty. This moves us to her command to "b light." She strides through life with such a humor that is so refreshing. She joked about her autism and autism in general. I already shared with numerous friends her versions of hallmark cards for autistic people. Humor is her niche. She decided she can be the brunt of jokes and she can make some herself, too, so that is what she does. Because of this she brings so much joy into life. Be light. The hour listening to Barb and SS came to a close much too quickly. As I gathered my things, I could not mentally process how much I learned, how much I realized I didn't know before. I could not gather how much my thought process changed throughout the course of one single hour. As we were walking out, I turned to my friend, both of us silent and at a loss for words. We were all the way down the hallway when I finally could speak. "So...that was mind blowing" I said. And that was an understatement.

Assesments

Traditional Assessment vs. Authentic Assessment:

• I think it is important for Art teachers to use authentic assessments with their students to show them how much art there is in the world in general. It is not just paintings in a museum. There are real life careers available to them if their passion is creating. Examples of assignments I might use for an authentic assessment are having the students create a logo for a company. I would make up different kinds of companies and give each student an overview of that corporation. For instance one student might have a restaurant chain that needs a logo design for their signs, menus, website etc. That student would have to take into consideration what kind of restaurant they want it to be, fast food, sit down, fancy, family oriented, etc. And then design something that fits its demographic. This kind of assignment can also be done by having them design a cd cover for different types of bands, or a movie poster, or even a soup can label. The options go on and on.

Paper-pencil Assessment vs. Performance Assessment:

• There is not too much systematic data to gather for art students. They need to learn the principles and elements of design as well as the color wheel and different color schemes typically used, but I would probably use more performance based assessment than paper-pencil assessment for those things. Especially for the color wheel. When teaching my students about complementary colors and analogous colors or what it means if a piece is monochromatic, instead of having them take a written out quiz or test with multiple choice, I would assign an art project that deals with them having to use each type of color scheme discussed. One idea for an example for this would be having them draw out an organic design across a longer sheet of paper, then have them split the paper into four sections. Each student would then have to paint or color each section in a different scheme we've discussed in class.

Informal Assessment vs. Formal Assessment:

• One of the major things I would want to teach my students is how to tap into their creativity. I want to teach them how to use both sides of their brain and figure out how to express themselves through visual art. I want them to learn that there is no such thing as good art or bad art and that every single one of them is capable to produce something outside of themselves that is worthy to show others. I want them to feel proud and gain a sense of confidence. This kind of thing can not be graded or preplanned. I can not judge this by a test or any kind of planned out assessment. This kind of thing I will judge as the class goes on, observing unsystematically. I will ask them questions about their work as they are having in class time to work and create to see where they are in this process.

Standardized Test vs. Teacher-developed Assessment:

• From what I have stated in my earlier examples, I feel it is obvious that no standardized test developed by experts will accurately reveal to me if the students are growing and learning what I want them to learn. Every student is completely unique and different. Every class in every school has a different dynamic and will learn art and react to teaching in completely dissimilar ways. So why would I critique them using a test designed for a blanket of classes and a blanket of schools? Instead I will develop my own kind of assessments for each classroom based off of what will be most beneficial to them and their development. 

Criterion-referenced Assessment vs. Norm-referenced Assessment:

• Again, I can not emphasize enough how uniquely individual students are in terms of art. I would never use a norm-referenced assessment or compare their performance to each other in any way at all. In fact I would stress that different styles are vital. I would use criterion referenced assessment to indicate what they have soaked in and what they haven't. One way of doing this is after they turn in an assignment or artwork, I would have the students look at the rubric of the assignment (that they will have received before they start their piece so they know what I am looking for) and write out what they feel they accomplished best and what they might have done differently the next time. They only need to be thinking about how they can improve themselves and how they can grow as individual artists, not in terms of how they did in comparison with others. 

Introduction

     I am looking forward to Ed Psych for so many reasons. I love classes that are interactive where you learn just as much from each other as you do from your teacher and book. I feel like there are so many interesting intelligent people in our class that are all unique and will bring their own ideas and opinions. Teaching dance for the past two years, I have learned so much about what it means to be a teacher. I'm excited to learn more and back it up with research and knowledge from educators that have come before me. One thing that stood out to me from our first class is that everyone in our class has a passion for education. I'm excited to learn more facts and research based lessons on education. Because between that and our eagerness and fervor, this class will produce excellent teachers!