The instructor uses knowledge of subject areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the cultural background, to prepare instruction that supports every student in achieving rigorous learning goals.
Proper instruction planning can impact the classroom. If teachers are not held to a standard in regards to lesson planning, the result would be an outdated, ill-fitting curriculum. It is critical to implement this standard, as the goal of a teacher is to create an engaging curriculum that is worked and reworked each year to fit the needs of her students.
In the art classroom, planning for instruction is particularly significant due to the nature of art projects. Tedious preparation goes into organizing the classroom and supplies, accounting for common misconceptions, and curating assessments.
Elements of Art Foldable
To reflect my understanding of Standard 7, I want to showcase an art project
that students complete at the very beginning of the school year. The elements of art and principles of design are the foundations for all creative compositions. I know this, as an aspiring art educator, but most students that enter the classroom will not. Even if students are familiar with individual terms such as line, color, and shape, they typically need guidance on what those terms mean to an artist. The objective of this project is to give students hands-on experience highlighting each of the seven elements, and results in a pamphlet to be kept for reference throughout the year. Because these terms are the basis for talking about, critiquing, analyzing, and creating art, it would be impossible to address the other SOLs without first teaching this concept.
Hand-building Ceramics “Cheat Sheet”
Art teachers are constantly rearranging their classroom space and preparing for several ongoing projects. This is a part of planning for instruction that often gets overlooked, but is undoubtedly crucial with a subject area that is so hands-on in nature. This is especially apparent when working with clay. When a class section (Art1, for example) is creating 3D art using clay, no other sections can be working with 3D media. This is because all of the counter space has to be open in order to let the very fragile clay projects dry. Other sections must create only 2D work during that time, so that it can be stored in a folder or on a drying rack. Additionally, because of the mess and cleanup associated with ceramics, students should not have an overwhelming amount of notes to reference. For that reason, a half-sheet graphic organizer is given to each student at the beginning of the unit to fill out, so that they can still access the relevant information while minimizing table clutter.
Modeling Technical Problems and Solutions
In this artifact, I am showcasing both my understanding of InTASC Standard 7 and ISTE standard 2.5b by using technological resources to maximize student learning. Using the document camera, I model for the students the next steps of the project. This tool displays my demonstration to the whole class without students leaving their seats and having to regroup. It also makes the demo more visible to all students. While I model the steps for students, I also talk through my thought process, and address common problems that can arise when using this medium. The document camera also allows me to walk around and ask questions while still projecting my example to the students. I demonstrate my knowledge and application of this InTASC standard by working through misconceptions as part of my direct teaching. I use my knowledge of my students to pinpoint areas of potential difficulty, and ensure that they are equipped with the tools to overcome problems that arise.