Ashley Monticello Lesson Reflection
Ashley Monticello
LaJevic
Sophomore Professional Experience
17 December 2012
B. Self Reflection
What surprised me most when creating this lesson plan was all of the art standards and non-art standards that had to be incorporated in the lesson. Before creating this lesson plan, I thought teaching an art class was a lot more simple. I realized how important the standards are and how they are essential for a teacher to reference in order for their students to learn properly and excel in their artwork and learning. Personally, one of the most challenging parts of writing the lesson was picking the right non-art standards to be incorporated into the lesson. I had to search through each standard that applied to the right grade level and could be properly incorporated into the lesson. I went with the language arts standard of oral presentation where students must show good public speaking skills and make sure to give good eye contact. I chose this as the non-art standard for my grade level because I always like to incorporate the practice of public speaking when I teach because public speaking is always an important tool to have when living in this adult world. Another challenging part of writing the lesson plan writing the step by step actions that the teacher and students did through out each class period. For me, I am the kind of person who does better doing something like teaching without planning it out in such detail first because its hard to imagine exactly how my day is going to go because there are always interruptions and unexpected situations. With creating this lesson, I really enjoyed coming up with a project to go along with teaching the class about Shepard Fairey and how he uses his artwork to convey his opinions to the world. I like to give students projects where they have more freedom and can put their own personality, perspective and aesthetic into a piece. I feel like students are more proud of their work when they can personalize it as much as they can because it’s important for artists to show who they are. I feel like when the students get to pick a social issue that they feel strongly about to convey in their work, they will be able to put their passion in their work so they come up with a possibly great portfolio piece.
Twelfth grade was full of seventeen and eighteen year old who all have extremely strong and growing opinions of the world and how we go about living in it. The one thing about young adults is they have a strong need to express themselves, their style and their opinions. I feel like Shepard Fairey is a great artist for young adults to learn about because he a young modern artist expressing himself and conveying his feelings to the public. He touches on social issues such as government, which is something a lot of young adults these days don’t even think about. For me, learning about Shepard Fairey opened my eyes to how important freedom of expression is to young adults who are the soon to be leaders of our world. We all have opinions and I feel like it is important to express them. Before hearing about Shepard Fairey, I never even took any interest in what is going on in our government and the controversial issues it brings to our world. Shepard Fairey’s voice and art has inspired me to be active in learning about the presidential debate and registering to vote, which is something I never even cared to do.
I feel like the motivation and instruction is successful because I will be giving the students enough time to learn about the artist without making them sit there and lecturing them for too long. As once being at that grade level myself, I understand how it feels to be lectured for too long and lose concentration and get frustrated. Students will eventually stop listening if they are talked at for a long period of time. A successful senior art class is one where students can take a lot of free time to be hands on and take time to work on their projects. At that age level, students essentially just want to be on their own and use their current art knowledge to create a work that they are proud of. A small lecture followed by a long time to get to work and be constructive feels like the most successful route to take when teaching high school seniors. Lastly, I think following a project with a class critique where students can practice and utilize their public speaking skills is important. It gives the students the chance to proudly show their artwork to the class and express how they were feeling or imagining when they were creating their work. The skill of expressing their feelings and ideas in an appropriate matter is important to have when being in everyday life.
I would end the lesson by making the students fill out an exit ticket where the students have to go over what they learned about Shepard Fairey and his artwork. It is always essential to have students think about what they learned through out the lesson so they may be able to apply what the learned to something in the real world. Since my student would be seniors in high school I think they will be able to successfully execute the project, making it a successful lesson where they can express themselves and learn as well.
As far as improving or expanding on the lesson goes, I think my lesson is structured in a way where it would not need to be changed. I planned out the right amount of time for lecturing, working and critiquing. I think it would be perfect for high school seniors to handle and learn from. Learning about Shepard Fairey is perfect for any artist or non-artist in the modern world. Both artists and non-artists who attend the art class would be able to get something constructive out of the lesson, whether it be helping improve their portfolio, or expressing their inner opinions about social issues put in an artistic manner.
LaJevic
Sophomore Professional Experience
17 December 2012
B. Self Reflection
What surprised me most when creating this lesson plan was all of the art standards and non-art standards that had to be incorporated in the lesson. Before creating this lesson plan, I thought teaching an art class was a lot more simple. I realized how important the standards are and how they are essential for a teacher to reference in order for their students to learn properly and excel in their artwork and learning. Personally, one of the most challenging parts of writing the lesson was picking the right non-art standards to be incorporated into the lesson. I had to search through each standard that applied to the right grade level and could be properly incorporated into the lesson. I went with the language arts standard of oral presentation where students must show good public speaking skills and make sure to give good eye contact. I chose this as the non-art standard for my grade level because I always like to incorporate the practice of public speaking when I teach because public speaking is always an important tool to have when living in this adult world. Another challenging part of writing the lesson plan writing the step by step actions that the teacher and students did through out each class period. For me, I am the kind of person who does better doing something like teaching without planning it out in such detail first because its hard to imagine exactly how my day is going to go because there are always interruptions and unexpected situations. With creating this lesson, I really enjoyed coming up with a project to go along with teaching the class about Shepard Fairey and how he uses his artwork to convey his opinions to the world. I like to give students projects where they have more freedom and can put their own personality, perspective and aesthetic into a piece. I feel like students are more proud of their work when they can personalize it as much as they can because it’s important for artists to show who they are. I feel like when the students get to pick a social issue that they feel strongly about to convey in their work, they will be able to put their passion in their work so they come up with a possibly great portfolio piece.
Twelfth grade was full of seventeen and eighteen year old who all have extremely strong and growing opinions of the world and how we go about living in it. The one thing about young adults is they have a strong need to express themselves, their style and their opinions. I feel like Shepard Fairey is a great artist for young adults to learn about because he a young modern artist expressing himself and conveying his feelings to the public. He touches on social issues such as government, which is something a lot of young adults these days don’t even think about. For me, learning about Shepard Fairey opened my eyes to how important freedom of expression is to young adults who are the soon to be leaders of our world. We all have opinions and I feel like it is important to express them. Before hearing about Shepard Fairey, I never even took any interest in what is going on in our government and the controversial issues it brings to our world. Shepard Fairey’s voice and art has inspired me to be active in learning about the presidential debate and registering to vote, which is something I never even cared to do.
I feel like the motivation and instruction is successful because I will be giving the students enough time to learn about the artist without making them sit there and lecturing them for too long. As once being at that grade level myself, I understand how it feels to be lectured for too long and lose concentration and get frustrated. Students will eventually stop listening if they are talked at for a long period of time. A successful senior art class is one where students can take a lot of free time to be hands on and take time to work on their projects. At that age level, students essentially just want to be on their own and use their current art knowledge to create a work that they are proud of. A small lecture followed by a long time to get to work and be constructive feels like the most successful route to take when teaching high school seniors. Lastly, I think following a project with a class critique where students can practice and utilize their public speaking skills is important. It gives the students the chance to proudly show their artwork to the class and express how they were feeling or imagining when they were creating their work. The skill of expressing their feelings and ideas in an appropriate matter is important to have when being in everyday life.
I would end the lesson by making the students fill out an exit ticket where the students have to go over what they learned about Shepard Fairey and his artwork. It is always essential to have students think about what they learned through out the lesson so they may be able to apply what the learned to something in the real world. Since my student would be seniors in high school I think they will be able to successfully execute the project, making it a successful lesson where they can express themselves and learn as well.
As far as improving or expanding on the lesson goes, I think my lesson is structured in a way where it would not need to be changed. I planned out the right amount of time for lecturing, working and critiquing. I think it would be perfect for high school seniors to handle and learn from. Learning about Shepard Fairey is perfect for any artist or non-artist in the modern world. Both artists and non-artists who attend the art class would be able to get something constructive out of the lesson, whether it be helping improve their portfolio, or expressing their inner opinions about social issues put in an artistic manner.