Samantha Hughston

Art 135 Reflection 1, The Journey

February 27, 2017

The studio investigation in secondary school Art Education was to create a book using

classroom materials provided or material I could choose from on my own to tell my story on how

I decided to pursue an art education degree. A PowerPoint was shown with examples along with

some handouts which gave examples of other ideas to possibly use. An assortment of the

materials to make our books was presented toward the end of one of our classes. In the classroom

there were various cardboard cereal box front and backs, card stock in a wide choice of colors,

glue, googly eyes, scissors both regular and those which would create decorative edges, ribbons,

markers, pencils, and a wide selection of other materials. Because there was not enough time to

complete the task in a single class session it was spread out over three class periods. Also, with

the short time given the first day to start the project it allowed me to think how I wanted my book

to look.

I decided to use pictures which I printed out at home to tell the majority of my journey to

pursuing an art education degree. Each photograph was a walk down memory lane for me. I did

select a cereal box front and back that I identified with and then picked out cardstock and cut it

to fit inside my book I was creating. Then, I hand cut each photo and once again romanced over

how I came to select each photograph. When I completed cutting out the pictures and selected

the order in which I wanted them in my book, I began gluing down the photographs on the

cardstock I had picked out. With each photograph I thought about its placement and what few

words I would include on its page. Once all the photographs were glued down I thought about

how I wanted the text to look.

 I decided to use the leftover cardstock I had cut from the pages and put the text on it. I

took the decorative scissors and trimmed the cardstock into a variety of shapes and decided to

hand write the text on each bubble I had created. Another decision I made was to use a silver

permanent marker to write the text. When I had all the text bubbles glued down on the cardstock

pages and examined my book, at the time I thought I was done. So, I began to think of how I was

going to bind the pages together. When I started the book I had already made the decision to

punch three holes in each a page including the front and back of the book to look like a three ring

binder, but had no idea how I was going to bind them all together.

At home where the majority of my book was created, I began experimenting with

different bindings such as three different types of wire, key rings, and finally decided to use yarn.

After taking a break with friends I decided to work on my book again. This time I added

embellishments to the pages that I thought needed a little more reflection of me. I added feathers

to some because of my love of breeding exotic birds which has been a large part of my life and I

also, cut up more of the leftover cardstock into strips to add to some of the pages and put some

pieces of crepe paper on some as well. Now I feel my book is complete.

The front of the book has a small cardstock bubble in the upper right corner identifying

the title and my name. I choose not to cover up the front of my book because I chose a Life

cereal box cover and since the book is about my life I wanted it to remain seen. Not all the pages

have embellishments on them other than the pictures and text bubbles because I did not feel they

needed anything else.

I would definitely use this book making strategy in one of my own classroom curriculum.

I will be writing this with the idea of having a 6th grade class creating their own book. Mainly,

because I hope to teach 6-8th grade at the job I am applying to today. Here are some of the
reasons why I would implement the book making project. First, I like the idea that there is no

right or wrong way to create a book. I believe the students will gain confidence in themselves

when I have them make a book about who their hero/mentor is and how their hero relates to

them. By choosing this subject matter it will be relatable to them and should put them in a

comfortable zone to complete the project. Fear is eliminated in the project because in reality it is

only how they feel about their hero/mentor and it is indeed their story and no one elses story. As

part of the creative process, the students will be engaging their critical thinking skills in order to

tell their stories. I might begin the class project by first showing the class a PowerPoint

presentation similar to the one you showed us in class. I will explain to the class that it can be

strictly pictures and/or they can add text. I like the idea of using cereal boxes for the fronts and

backs of the books (mostly because kids can identify with them) and cardstock or maybe

construction paper to make the pages with. I think crayons, color markers, magazines and

possibly some watercolor paint would also be affordable with my nonexistent budget. Pipe

cleaners, googly eyes, glue, plain and decorative scissors, yarn, feathers, beads, dry macaroni,

stickers, ribbon, paper hole puncher and anything else I can add to make it a fun project for them

to create. Because stories are a universal cultural activity all students can participate without

feeling any negativity in the classroom. I could initiate a formative assessment to explore how I

am doing at teaching the class this project and determine if I need to make any changes in my

approach.

National Core Arts Standards, Anchor Standards:

VISUAL ARTS Creating

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
Enduring Understanding: Creativity and innovative thinking are essential life skills that can be

developed.

Essential Question(s): What conditions, attitudes, and behaviors support creativity and

innovative thinking? What factors prevent or encourage people to take creative risks? How does

collaboration expand the creative process?

VA: Cr1.1.6a
Combine concepts collaboratively to generate innovative ideas for creating art.
Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers shape artistic investigations, following or

breaking with traditions in pursuit of creative art making goals.

Essential Question(s): How does knowing the contexts histories, and traditions of art forms help

us create works of art and design? Why do artists follow or break from established traditions?

How do artists determine what resources and criteria are needed to formulate artistic

investigations?

VA:Cr1.2.6a
Formulate an artistic investigation of personally relevant content for creating art.
Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers experiment with forms, structures, materials,

concepts, media, and art-making approaches.

Essential Question(s): How do artists work? How do artists and designers determine whether a

particular direction in their work is effective? How do artists and designers learn from trial and

error?

VA:Cr2.1.6a
Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works

of art and design.

Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers balance experimentation and safety, freedom and

responsibility while developing and creating artworks.

Essential Question(s): How do artists and designers care for and maintain materials, tools, and

equipment? Why is it important for safety and health to understand and follow correct

procedures in handling materials, tools, and equipment? What responsibilities come with the

freedom to create?

VA:Cr2.2.6a

Explain environmental implications of conservation, care, and clean-up of art materials, tools,

and equipment.

Enduring Understanding: People create and interact with objects, places, and design that define,

shape, enhance, and empower their lives.

Essential Question(s): How do objects, places, and design shape lives and communities? How do

artists and designers determine goals for designing or redesigning objects, places, or systems?

How do artists and designers create works of art or design that effectively communicate?

VA:Cr2.3.6a

Design or redesign objects, places, or systems that meet the identified needs of diverse users.

Anchor Standard 3: Refine and complete artistic work.

Enduring Understanding: Artist and designers develop excellence through practice and

constructive critique, reflecting on, revising, and refining work over time.

Essential Question(s): What role does persistence play in revising, refining, and developing

work? How do artists grow and become accomplished in art forms? How does collaboratively

reflecting on a work help us experience it more completely?

VA:Cr3.1.6a

Reflect on whether personal artwork conveys the intended meaning and revise accordingly.

VISUAL ARTS Presenting

Anchor Standard 4: Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.

Enduring Understanding: Artists and other presenters consider various techniques, methods,

venues, and criteria when analyzing, selecting, and curating objects artifacts, and artworks for

preservation and presentation.

Essential Question(s): How are artworks cared for and by whom? What criteria, methods, and

processes are used to select work for preservation or presentation? Why do people value objects,

artifacts, and artworks, and select them for presentation?

VA:Pr4.1.6a

Analyze similarities and differences associated with preserving and presenting two dimensional,

three- dimensional and digital artwork.

Anchor Standard 5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
Enduring Understanding: Artists, curators and others consider a variety of factors and methods

including evolving technologies when preparing and refining artwork for display and or when

deciding if and how to preserve and protect it.

Essential Question(s): What methods and processes are considered when preparing artwork for

presentation or preservation? How does refining artwork affect its meaning to the viewer? What

criteria are considered when selecting work for presentation, a portfolio, or a collection?

VA:Pr5.1.6a

Individually or collaboratively, develop a visual plan for displaying works of art, analyzing

exhibit space, the needs of the viewer, and the layout of the exhibit.

Anchor Standard 6: Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.

Enduring Understanding: Objects, artifacts, and artworks collected, preserved, or presented

either by artists, museums, or other venues communicate meaning and a record of social,

cultural, and political experiences resulting in the cultivating of appreciation and understanding.

Essential Question(s): What is an art museum? How does the presenting and sharing of objects,

artifacts, and artworks influence and shape ideas, beliefs, and experiences? How do objects,

artifacts, and artworks collected, preserved, or presented, cultivate appreciation and

understanding?

VA:Pr6.1.6a

Assess, explain, and provide evidence of how museums or other venues reflect history and

values of a community.

VISUAL ARTS Responding

 Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.

Enduring Understanding: Individual aesthetic and empathetic awareness developed through

engagement with art can lead to understanding and appreciation of self, others, the natural world,

and constructed environments.

Essential Question(s): How do life experiences influence the way you relate to art? How does

learning about art impact how we perceive the world? What can we learn from our responses to

art?

VA:Re.7.1.6a

Identify and interpret works of art or design that reveal how people live around the world and

what they value.

Enduring Understanding: Visual imagery influences understanding of and responses to the

world.

Essential Question(s): What is an image? Where and how do we encounter images in our world?

How do images influence our views of the world?

VA:Re.7.2.6a

Analyze ways that visual components and cultural associations suggested by images influence

ideas, emotions, and actions.

Anchor Standard 8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.

Enduring Understanding: People gain insights into meanings of artworks by engaging in the

process of art criticism.

Essential Question(s): What is the value of engaging in the process of art criticism? How can the

viewer "read" a work of art as text? How does knowing and using visual art vocabularies help us

understand and interpret works of art?

VA:Re8.1.6a

Interpret art by distinguishing between relevant and non-relevant contextual information and

analyzing subject matter, characteristics of form and structure, and use of media to identify ideas

and mood conveyed.

Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.

Enduring Understanding: People evaluate art based on various criteria.

Essential Question(s): How does one determine criteria to evaluate a work of art? How and why

might criteria vary? How is a personal preference different from an evaluation?

VA:Re9.1.6a

Develop and apply relevant criteria to evaluate a work of art.

VISUAL ARTS Connecting

Anchor Standard 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make

art.

Enduring Understanding: Through art-making, people make meaning by investigating and

developing awareness of perceptions, knowledge, and experiences.

Essential Question(s): How does engaging in creating art enrich people's lives? How does

making art attune people to their surroundings? How do people contribute to awareness and

understanding of their lives and the lives of their communities through art-making?

VA:Cn10.1.6a

Generate a collection of ideas reflecting current interests and concerns that could be investigated

in art making.

Anchor Standard 11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical

context to deepen understanding.

Enduring Understanding: People develop ideas and understandings of society, culture, and

history through their interactions with and analysis of art.

Essential Question(s): How does art help us understand the lives of people of different times,

places, and cultures? How is art used to impact the views of a society? How does art preserve

aspects of life?

VA:Cn11.1.6a

Analyze how art reflects changing times, traditions, resources, and cultural uses.

California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Teacher Performance Expectations (TPES,

PP: 24-32)

TPE 1: Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning

Elements Beginning teachers:

1. Apply knowledge of students, including their prior experiences, interests, and social-emotional

learning needs, as well as their funds of knowledge and cultural, language, and socioeconomic

backgrounds, to engage them in learning.

5. Promote students' critical and creative thinking and analysis through activities that provide

opportunities for inquiry, problem solving, responding to and framing meaningful questions, and

reflection.

TPE 2: Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning

5. Maintain high expectations for learning with appropriate support for the full range of students

in the classroom.

6. Establish and maintain clear expectations for positive classroom behavior and for student-to

student and student-to-teacher interactions by communicating classroom routines, procedures,

and norms to students and families.

TPE 3: Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter for Student Learning

1. Demonstrate knowledge of subject matter, including the adopted California State Standards

and curriculum frameworks.

2. Use knowledge about students and learning goals to organize the curriculum to facilitate

student understanding of subject matter, and make accommodations and/or modifications as

needed to promote student access to the curriculum.

4. Individually and through consultation and collaboration with other educators and members of

the larger school community, plan for effective subject matter instruction and use multiple means

of representing, expressing, and engaging students to demonstrate their knowledge.

TPE 4: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for All Students

1.Locate and apply information about students' current academic status, content- and standards-

related learning needs and goals, assessment data, language proficiency status, and cultural

background for both short-term and long-term instructional planning purposes.

7. Plan instruction that promotes a range of communication strategies and activity modes

between teacher and student and among students that encourage student participation in learning.

TPE 5: Assessing Student Learning

Elements Beginning teachers:

1. Apply knowledge of the purposes, characteristics, and appropriate uses of different types of

assessments (e.g., diagnostic, informal, formal, progress-monitoring, formative, summative, and

performance) to design and administer classroom assessments, including use of scoring rubrics.

2. Collect and analyze assessment data from multiple measures and sources to plan and modify

instruction and document students' learning over time.

3. Involve all students in self-assessment and reflection on their learning goals and progress and

provide students with opportunities to revise or reframe their work based on assessment

feedback.

Here are some final thoughts about this project. Does a teacher when teaching multiple grade

levels at once have to use all the National Core Standards for each project? Also, when it comes

to the information on the Teacher Performance Expectations, is that something which is learned

along the way or memorized and expected to know when beginning to teach?