Why Art?

Why Choose Teaching Art as a Profession

During my last in- class observation my partner and I asked our cooperating teacher Ms. K, why she chose art teaching as a profession. She said that she had gained a passion for art and could not see herself going to “work” everyday without it relating to art. This was very reassuring to me because I feel the same way about art but at times I wonder if I am going down the right path. I also asked Ms. K why she chose to work with elementary students instead of other higher education and she replied by saying that she loved working with children and seeing how they perceive art at such a young age; also how the students grow artistically over the years in the art classroom is very rewarding for her. I can understand why she would think this, from my observation in the classroom it is very rewarding and I love watching the students work on there projects and asking them why they did a particular adjustment or change to their artwork. Also when a student asks for advice and I provide him or her with feedback it gives me a very positive feeling and makes me want to help every student get to his or her final piece. Like Ms. K, I feel the same way about art; I want it to be in my life everyday. I constantly want to be helping others grow as artist through my lessons, assignment, and other teachings. Of equal importance, I also want to keep growing as an artist and expanding my knowledge about art so that I can be the best teacher for my students. I believe that all teachers need to keep learning  everyday to be able to answer any questions that student may have.

Second Day Oct. 18 th, 2011

Today, was our second day in the classroom with Ms. R. The students seemed to be more calm than the first day of my observation, this may have been because I was unsure how a classroom of kids ages 7-10  would act. I was also happy and impressed with my cooperating teacher on some of her techniques to either make the children pay attention or to do their work and not talk. One of the techniques she used was a serious of claps when the students were being loud, which was followed by the students repeating the claps and then like magic there was silence and all attention was put on Ms. R. The other technique was utilized when they were working on their art and was called the boy- girl game. This game consisted of the boys on one team and the girls on the other; and if any of the boys or girls talked they got a point. This game is similar to golf in that the person or in this case the people with the less points win. I am pleased that I got to see these techniques in action and witness them actually working.

First Day

Today (Oct. 11, 2011)was my first day at O Elementary with my cooperating teacher and student partner L G. I was not sure what to expect for the first day; but once I was able to see how ambitious the students were to do art that all changed. Of the three classes we saw all of the student were very eager to work on their projects, some of the students even completed multiple projects. After observing the students I was amazed on their approach of projects, instead of trying to get every mark perfect and in the right place they went with the flow of things and adjusted to the marks they made. I was nervous for the first day but now that it is over I am excited and eager to go again.

Pre-teaching Observation Dusty Parker

My Name is Dusty Parker, I am pre-teaching at O Elementary in Wisconsin. My cooperating teacher is Ms. R and she teaches K-5. The purpose of my blog is to document the hours I get to spend in the classroom for pre-teaching observation.