Last Blog!

  What types of collaborations have you engaged in as a student, member of a club or association, family or other type of grouping?

         I am currently in a Catholic Youth Group and have been so for over 2 years. We meet every Thursday night  at Saint Anthony of Padua Church, to plan different activities and upcoming events. We help the church by organizing fundraiser breakfasts and we help during mass every third Sunday of every month. Our biggest commitment is during the week of Easter when we go on a mission trip to poor communities in Mexico. While we are there, we plan activities for children, teens and adults and during Easter we help organize the masses from Holy Thursday- Easter Sunday. So far, being part of this group has changed my life because not only have I grown in my faith but have also met many friends and good people. I've attended 2 mission trips which have also changed how I view life. The people in the poor communities offer their homes and what little they've got to make our stay a good one.

      
 

 

     What can the experience of being on a team teach students? 

             Being part of a team helps students learn how to work with others, understand other peoples' opinions, make friends and learn to socialize in new environments. All of these help students as they get older when they begin college and new jobs. Working with other is sometimes difficult since every individual has different beliefs, work ethic and personality. Nevertheless, in real life, working with others will always be important and necessary.

 

      How has being part of one of the urban, suburban or rural map groups affected your learning experience? 

     By putting together the maps, I realized that all different settings are more connected than one would think. The activity made me think about the characteristics of suburban real life and how different it is from rural life. I think all three settings or living environments have good and challenging characteristics. It is important to remember that we all need each other to succeed.

 

      How could you use collaboration in the classroom to teach citizenship and deal with challenging social situations? 

     Collaboration is important not only because we can help someone else, but because we learn to respect someone else for who they are and what they believe in, this is what citizenship means. By encouraging collaboration in the classroom at a young age, we help the students feel comfortable working with others and help them see it as normal; this especially helps those students who have no siblings and are not used to sharing or interacting with other children at home. Teaching collaboration at a young age will prepare students for life since there are situations outside of work and home environments  that are out of the control of the students.

*The New Children's Museum, San Diego*

 

 

The New Children's Museum opened on May 4th, 2008.

In the museum's web page they describe the museum as: "The Museum, an environmentally sustainable building designed by architect Rob Wellington Quigley, provides a dynamic, playful public space and community center for children and families- a place to experience exciting art exhibitions, hands-on studio projects, performances, birthday parties, in-depth classes, camps and educational programs. Across the street from the new building is a beautiful park, extending the museum visit outdoors with space for running, climbing, family picnics and a view of the trains and trolley going by.  The New Children’s Museum provides an environment that encourages active minds, healthy bodies and unstructured play" (http://www.thinkplaycreate.org/about/index.html)

 Their goal is to inspire children to think, play and create by providing accessible and meaningful art experiences.

The New Children’s Museum exhibits contemporary works of art for children and families. They claim that their approach contemporary art with a playful spirit, and take children’s need for play seriously.”

The Museum experience features innovative, provocative artworks that kids can touch, climb, or move; hands-on art making opportunities; and a variety of arts-based classes and camps.

     When I first entered the museum, it definitely seemed like a modern museum for children. The museum does offer new media into art in the forms of music, video, sound effects, sculptures among others. One of the aspects that caught my attention were the light switches in the barn created for toddlers. The toddlers are able to engage in technology (electricity) and make cognitive connections at the same time.
The Rain House was also one of my favorites since it has many colors and the sound effect of rain falling inside the house. The colors along with the sounds entertain the children who enter the house.

     

When I left the museum, I wasn't sure if I would bring my children since the concepts are very abstract and I don't know if children are able to grasp the underlying learning aspects. Nevertheless, the museum's main slogan is:

So, at the same time maybe the abstract concepts is what makes children think and create. 

*The Role of Media in the Classroom*

The role of new media in art today and examples:
      According to our textbook, the invention of photography in the 19th century made a huge impact on the visual arts. From the beginning days of photography, the technologies have evolved to cinema, video, and computer- generated images. Each of these technologies has become an artistic medium, and as with photography, new modes of making art have come into being. (p.168) The entire movie industry has resulted, and many films are considered works of fine art collected and screened in museums of art. Digital camcorders are becoming common in many households around the world, often to make the equivalent of home movies that were common during the previous generation.
    Perhaps as important as new technologies are the new ideas artists continually develop. During the second half of the twentieth century, we witnessed the initiation of conceptual art, environmental art, and performance art.

Examples that intrigued me:

• Robert Smithson created a spiral of rock and dirt that extended into the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Called the "Spiral Jetty" remained in place over several months and years, the colors of the water changed around the spiral as communication with the lake, water depths, and temperatures differed, allowing various types of marine life and chemicals to accrue (p.170)

• Andy Goldsworthy is a Scottish artist who works exclu-sively with materials from the natural environment: stone, wood, dirt, sand, leaves, flowers, feathers, ice, snow, and other objects in nature. He usually uses no tools, glues, or human- made materials. All his works are temporary, and nearly all are left in nature to disintegrate and change with the season and the weather (p.172).

Examples of how one could use photography and video as an educational and/or communication tool in the classroom:

     On page 170, the author explains that: "Films, videos, computer- generated images in television ads, and for many, music videos are commonly seen. In numerous ways children are more “ media literate” than their parents and teachers. We will suggest ways children can participate in art activities based on some of the newer media and ideas".
Therefore, when we include photographs and videos as a tool to enhance our lessons, the children are very likely to be familiar with the technologies and enjoy the lesson even more.
Every innovation in technology makes an impact in the art area as artists appropriate new media to create images previously not feasible. In other words, technology has allowed to display and promote art in a way that it wasn't possible in the past.
Teachers are now able to use videos, cameras, projections, storyboards, computer technologies in their classrooms.

#8 (page 180) Search for living artists who have nontraditional ways of using art materials or who use nontraditional mate-rials for their art. How can their new ideas be trans-formed for use in the art classroom?

-Il Lee, (born in 1952) is a Korean-born New York based artist and is best known for his historically grounded dynamic work using ballpoint pen. His career began in the last three decades in New York City. His exhibitions include important large-scale ballpoint pen works on canvas and a selection of Lee's signature works on paper. His work ideas  could be used in the classroom as a warm up for students to relax. The teacher can allow the students to use either ball point pens, crayons, pencils to create designs similar to these. The teacher can even incorporate music to add movement to the student's hand while drawing.
    

-Kara Walker (born in 1969) is best known for her room-size tableaux of black cut-paper silhouettes that examine the underbelly of America's racial and gender tensions. Her works often address such highly charged themes as power, repression, history, race and sexuality.  Kara Walker’s work is layered with images that reference history, literature, culture, and the darker aspects of human behavior.
It may not be a good idea to touch these topics at an elementary level, but the idea to cut our silhouettes is a great one especially if the students are asked to create a silhouette of themselves.

    

Luz Chung’s presentation on social justice and its connection to education.

 Since I had already read Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, I was able to relate to what Luz was talking about.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed touches  very sensitive topics of education and those who are oppressed in society. Freire thinks that people who are oppressed could actually be scared of freedom.

"Banking” in education means that students are being treated as empty bank accounts that open to the deposits of the teacher.  Freire was against this approach because it could lead to dehumanization of students and teachers and encourages opression in society.  Freire instead suggested that there should be mutual approach in learning that recognizes the fact that people, both students and teachers, are incomplete. Freire suggests that both teachers and students can learn from each other.

 How do you think you could use the arts in the classroom to create common ground among students from various backgrounds or to create a curriculum that is inclusive of all students?
     Art allows students to express their individuality; in other words since every student is unique and interpret art differently, each piece of art is valuable in that it represents the student's background and culture. 

*San Diego Museum of Art*

                                                              
      I enjoyed the visit to the SDMA. It was my first time at the museum and it surpassed my expectations. Our guide was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, which made the tour very enjoyable. I liked how the museum was divided into distinct themes and eras. When it comes to education, the museum makes it very easy for teachers to take their students. Our tour guide explained that we can incorporate subjects like math, science and history with art. It is a great idea to explain math terms with art since the majority of students struggle with math at all age levels. So, my introducing an art piece and asking about shapes and organic shapes we can implement simple math concepts. It is also helpful for teachers that the museum organizes tours designed for students, so that the students can get more out of the experience. As a teacher, I think I'll use the SDMA as a resource for my students since I believe students are more motivated and excited to learn when they are outside the classroom, away from the routine.

Sculpural Head Pieces

*My Sculptural Headdress*

     I researched Hindu sculptural head pieces and I was attracted to the jewelry they use to create their elegant head pieces. Therefore, when designing a head piece for Cinderella, I decided to use the Hindu headdress as inspiration. I bought fake jewels and sequence as material. During class, I cut a long strip of construction paper, long enough to wear. Then, I used the silver jewels to create a circular design and surrounded it with red sequence. Then, I cut smaller and thinner strips of construction paper and added sequence to them to simulate that the head piece had hanging jewels. I also added a few jewels throughout to make it more sparkly.

    I would use this project as a way for students to think outside the box. If it was a second grade class, I would read out loud two stories of Cinderella like we did in class and then ask them to create an original, cultural headpiece.In other words, instead of showing them a model of a cultural headpiece, I would ask them to create one for a Cinderella from a different country. I think it would be interesting to observe their thought process and see how they depict different cultures. 

The California Content Standards used for this project:

Reading Standards for Literature K–5
Grade Two:

5. Describe the overall structure of a story, including
describing how the beginning introduces the story
and the ending concludes the action.

6.Acknowledge differences in the points of view of
characters, including by speaking in a different
voice for each character when reading dialogue
aloud.

7. Use information gained from the illustrations and
words in a print or digital text to demonstrate
understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Compare and contrast two or more versions of
the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by
different authors or from different cultures.

*Visual Thinking Strategies*

   The value of facilitating a discussion about works of art is that it encourages students to express their thought process and ideas. The teacher makes them feel important since there is no right or wrong and students are more likely to participate in the discussion. I think it is fascinating to see a child's thought process and how they genuinely engage in the questions their teacher asks them. As can see below, the young men that I used to analyze a painting didn't really take it seriously.
It is important to teach students to examine works of art since it is an opportunity for self-expression and creativity. When the students study math for example, there is usually one correct answer, but when it comes to art and VTS it is up to the students to lead the discussion. It is also an opportunity for students to engage with their classmates and feed off from what other students say.


         I chose "Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh since it is a very popular painting and can be interpreted in different ways. I asked student male college students  and one male high school student.

        The first question that I asked was: What do you see in the painting.  The first response came from the high school student and he said that it the painting looked like it was outer space. Then one college student said that it looked more like a setting in a Harry Potter movie, like it looked magical. When I asked the reason for the magic then the other students agreed that it was a magical piece since there are starts, several suns and the strokes of the paint. One college student said that the black figure looked like a castle, like the one in Beauty and the Beast. Then they started joking that it also looked like a scene in Aladdin when Jasmine and Aladdin are flying on the magic carpet.
I then asked them what they thought about the artist's purpose in painting the piece. They answered by saying that he was probably bored or drunk. I re-directed the conversation to something more serious. I asked them why they thought that the main figure in the painting was black. They first said it was a castle, but then one student said it looked more like fire and it depicted the dark side of the world. And I asked why fire, and they said that maybe it was a painting a depiction of the end of the world. I asked them how they came with that conclusion; they said it looked like the end of the world because it seemed like a storm was coming and that it seemed that a wave was coming from the right side of the painting. Then one student said that the round figures in the sky were the planets and that they were aligning since the world was ending.
Only one student knew who the artist was.
The conversation lasted about 15 minutes since they weren't sure what the purpose of my questions were and lost interest.

*Art & the Classroom* 

The role of art in the classroom

        According to out textbook Children and their Art, Art is an useful tool from which students may benefit while inside the classroom. Some of these ways are listed below:

• Through drawing, children participate in the exploration of media, the creation of symbols, the development of narrative themes, and the solving of visual problems.
• Children produce drawings and paintings that say something about their reactions to experience and heighten their abilities to observe. Drawing activities is also help the development of writing skills.
•  The chief purposes in encouraging preschool children to draw and paint are to allow them to become familiar with the materials associated with picture making and to help them develop their own ideas more readily.
• Drawing activities can fulfill classroom goals such as: developing skills of concentration, exercising memory. They can also offer an opportunity to study drawing through works of outstanding professional artists from many cultures. In addition, drawing may  provide children with skills that may be employed in other art activities and other subjects, such as science and language.

       In our textbook Handbook for K – 8 Arts Integration, the authors claim that art can provide important new settings, contexts and expressive avenues for students to bridge the gap between what they already know and what they need to know. The students can also transfer knowledge using visual aids such as the K-W-L Chart in which they separate what they know, what want to know and what they've learnt. When I've used the K-W-L chart in the past, I often find it useful to create a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast concepts or ideas. This is also a visual tool that can be personalized by the student who is trying to organize their ideas.

*My Experience with Art*

     When I was in elementary school, I lived in Mexico City and  Art was a mandatory subject. I remember taking Art class twice a week for two hours each approximately. I remember drawing different objects with pencil, using acrylic paint for different projects. At the end of the year, the teacher created an Art exhibition and invited the parents. I remember that I won an award for effort in Art class and some of my work was placed in the exhibition.

    When I was younger, my mom took me and my sister to an art class outside of school. It was twice a week and we would create different pieces. I remember enjoying the class and saw it as my hobby. 

   I've always enjoying drawing, I probably began drawing when I was around 6 or 7 years old. I've always drawn things for my family and friends; usually when I write letters to someone close to me, I also include a small drawing. I usually draw cartoon-like figures such as the one shown below. 

 *The relationship between art and learning*

        During the Manipulative Stage (Grades 1 and 2), we need to  keep in mind the  children’s working methods and their natural inclination to work quickly and spontaneously. This means that at a young age, children tend to use art in a very simple way, in other words, they do not think of a purpose when creating an art craft or when asked to draw.  During the Symbol-making Stage ( Grades 1– 4) drawings and paintings represent subject matter derived directly from the child’s experiences in life, as well as imaginative subjects and illustrations for stories, with priority given to the child’s interests. It is not for the purpose of producing  realistic work but rather for helping the children concentrate on an item of experience so their statements concerning it may grow more complete.

      It is during the Preadolescent Stage (Grades 4-6) that the children are ready for instruction that deals with basic problems of perspective. Two examples of perception are: overlapping and diminishing size. I think that it is during this stage when children begin to decide whenther they enjoy art work or if they prefer to use other means to express themselves. As we learnt in class, many people began enjoying art during 8th grade and continued to do so. 

*Cultural Head Pieces*

     

        The people of India have expended limitless energy and creativity in the invention of ornaments that celebrate the human body. Adorning the visible, material body, they feel, satisfies a universal longing for the embellishment of its intangible counterpart, namely the human spirit.

Indeed rarely is a traditional Indian ornament simply decorative and devoid of inherent meaning or symbolic value. Symbols found in Indian jewelry act as a metaphorical language communicated from the wearer to the viewer. Such a jewelry is created from an infinite reserve of symbolically significant forms and images, some obvious, some subtle, and some whose meaning is forgotten. 

(Reference: http://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/jewelry/)

This kind of jewelry made me think of Disney fairytale princess: Jasmine. Even though she is from Arabian descent, I found that her head piece is similar to the ones worn by the women above.

   If I were to create a head piece similar to this  one, I would use:

-paper strip for the head band, decorated with fake jewels.

- create bigger jewels using giltter, smaller jewels

-sequence to decorate head band.