I think that being a practicing artist would help me in the classroom because it will keep me in the same creative mindset as my students. I also think it will help me appreciate the creative and unique projects that will be produced by the students. I reallt agreed with Vieth when he said said that your students will respect you more too. As artists we gain confidence, self awareness, and pleasure from making art which effects your everyday mood which in turn will affect your teaching in a positive way. I also think it is important to make art as art educators because it will continue to inspire you which will put a fire in you to pass this insipration on to your students.
I also think that it is important for the teacher to have a small collection of their work displayed in their classroom to gain a new reapect from their student. It will also show your students your interests in life and your media and subject preferences. The teacher that I did my practicum with had a small gallarey of his work up in his classroom and the students often admired it and would ask him why he choose to do things certain ways. It would also be an interesting way to introduce yourself in the beginning of the year.
I know that I will continue to work on oil painting, watercolor illustrations, and cartooning while I al teaching because those are the things that I find to present the most challenges and are continual sources of theropy and reward. I have also always wanted to work on illustrating a children's book with my sister, so I would love to continue to work on that.
Vieth uses many of the same reasons to support the idea of teacher as artist. He also strongly suggests working on the same project as your students so that they can see you in the creative process and in both the artist and mentor role. I like this idea but at the same time wonder if it would limit the creativity of the students because they would be looking to produce a piece that would get a good grade, and might copy your work for hints on how to acheive that. To help students balance skill and personal expression I think it is a good idea to give demos and practice assignments to learn the technical skills and then follow with the reflective projects. Students will not be able to express themselves fully if the techniqual skill level is not at a desired level.
I agree with the statement about continuing to create art brings confidence and respect from our students. I like the way you said, "I also think it is important to make art as art educators because it will continue to inspire you which will put a fire in you to pass this insipration on to your students." Thats a very good way to put it, it really emphasises how important it is to inspire them. I also agree with your idea of displaying a small collection of our artwork in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree when you were talking about how your students will respect you for doing the work with the students. I think your students are able to experience you as more than just a teacher put more as a part of the classroom environment. I also think like you said how you hope your inspiration will pass through you and light a fire in your students. I think this is possible but you have to show your students a side of you. I think that showing your work to the students is a can be a positive thing and how your practicum teacher did it I think is a really good way to introduce yourself and lets students want to engage you helping to break the ice.
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