Blog 8 and Cool Things in Art

Overall, I found this class to be a great first step into art education. Being a pre-service teacher, this class opened me up with opportunity to teach at Double Helix STEAM School. Working with those students was an incredible experience and excites me to continue to work in schools in the coming semesters. I learned how to be patient and began to understand just how much work goes into writing strong, exciting lessons for students.

I also enjoyed the readings assigned during class because we discussed topics like racism in schooling and different methods to educate children. I also found myself considering how art can be the medium to which we can discuss our environment. I learned that children are highly sensitive to what their environment looks and feels like and that American classrooms are often filled will bright colors and loud posters, that can over stimulate and take away from creativity. For my classroom, I will be extremely aware as to how I furnish and decorate my classroom, as to not overly influence my students, keeping the focus on art. Also, I am now aware as to how skewed the representation of white, European male artists have been when teaching students about art and artists. I will be mindful of doing all I can to share with my students a wide variety of artists that they can relate to, especially artists that are female and of color.

Linked below is my presentation on artist, Kara Walker.

https://prezi.com/view/kSUTagVQ5GPm5ZfFIXbv/