The instructor is familiar with and employs a range of instructional techniques to enable students to gain a thorough understanding of subject areas and their relations, as well as to build skills in applying information in practical ways.
This standard is vital because good instructional strategies make up the backbone of effective education. Teachers must be diligent and purposeful with their instructional planning, and include a range of strategies to keep students engaged, check for understanding, and show students the relevance of the curriculum.
Focus Activities
In order to best utilize my class time, I need to have students thinking about art as soon as the bell rings. Not only do focus activities get students engaged in the material, they also provide me with a baseline of student understanding each class. One of my favorite ways to introduce new vocabulary terms is through focus activities. The specific artifact I selected is from a unit I did with 7th grade, where we explored reductive art through etching. On the first day, I had students create a word map of the word: reductive. If students are unfamiliar with the specific term, this type of warm up pushes them to connect the word to prior knowledge and other content areas and figure out its meaning. That way, when we go over the term during lecture, students can dispel their own misconceptions, as well as have a better grasp of similar concepts that fit together with the term. For focus activities, I like to have students collaborate, brainstorm, and learn from each other.
Drawing from Observation Scavenger Hunt
Another way I vary my instruction is by using a think-pair-share activity during a drawing from observation unit. Students are learning to draw everyday objects, so this lesson shows how to first break down complex forms into simple shapes. Students partner up with the person next to them, and go on a scavenger hunt through the classroom to find at least 10 objects in the room that can be broken down into simple shapes. The students make a list of their findings, then come back and share with the class. I write students’ findings on the whiteboard categorized by shape, and then we come together as a class to discuss what the most common shape was found around the classroom. This activity spans across several of Gardner’s multiple intelligences, and allows students to practice without having to actually draw the figures.
Translating Art Forms
This activity connects to the Visual Arts SOL K.11, where students learn to make connections between different art forms, and respond to other art forms in their work. It also reaches students in the art classroom that have a heightened musical intelligence, as it involves students listening to musical samples and drawing what they hear. Translating art forms is an exercise used to demonstrate how one artist can be inspired by the work of another artist, even though the art form is completely different. The exercise can also be used with secondary art classes to facilitate a discussion of inspiration versus imitation, or how our environments influence the art we create. The use of audio technology also demonstrates ISTE standard 2.5b, wherein the educator uses digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning that aligns with content standards.