Valentine's Day Lesson

As always I feel skeptical about the lessons I have to prepare for class. Not being a core area teacher has its benefits but also its down falls. I never feel  comfortable with what I imagine would work in a "real" classroom setting, though I do enjoy stepping out of my art box and looking for ways to improve my teaching.
Looking at the setup for the new standards helps me understand what an important role art can be to the curriculum. Seeing how the spiral effect of the standards is challenging but makes so much more sense. the lessons will be deep and have a developed structure from year to year.
I enjoyed imagining a lesson that could be taught in a real classroom setting. It was exciting and I felt an sense of accomplishment when I completed my task. I now know that I will be able to produce art lessons that will fulfill the standards and my students will benefit from cross curricular lessons.
I am always fascinated with the lessons the elementary and middle school teachers develop. If I had a child in early grades I would want these people to teach my child. I am inspired and encouraged to do more. It wasn't a bad way to spend Valentine's Day.

Group Work

I enjoyed our lesson last Tuesday night. I taught me how to paraphrase and how important it is for all teachers in all grades to know the standards.  I think these standards will help immediately when implemented properly. I hope all teachers will research the new curriculum and study the new standards  to be better able to communicate with the teachers at their school. I am concerned that we will not have enough staff development and that the webinars will not be taken seriously. I hope I am wrong, but like everything new in education, there seems to be a pocket of teachers who resist change and cause wrinkles in our learning process. Hopefully with the cross section of teachers from  this class, each of the class participants will be able to light a new fire in their school.

Art in the curriculum

I found this article on education.com. I hope you can find time to read it and share it with your Art Teachers.

Before making decisions about what to include in our arts programs and how we will go about our work with the children, it is important to give some thought to why we make such decisions. Without some strong philosophical underpinnings, our visual arts programs could be simply a series of ad hoc activities or the slavish following of a formula.
Research in early childhood art education has enjoyed an increased amount of attention over the recent years (e.g., Bresler, 1994; Kindler, 1996; Matthews, 1999; Piscitelli, 1996; Thompson, 1995; Wright, 2000). A review of the literature shows multiple forces pulling in different directions, with policy statements emerging from the field of early childhood and the field of art education. Uncertainties are perpetuated in a number of common beliefs or myths about the nature of art, development, and creativity of young children (Kindler, 1996).
The complexity and diversity of influences that have shaped views on the teaching of art can be understood as a palimpsest, a term that describes the way in which the ancient parchments used for writing were written over, but new messages only partially obliterated the original message beneath. Both the new and the original messages still stand, albeit partially erased and interrupted (Davies, 1993). A reading of the numerous philosophies and practices of art education throughout our relatively recent history allows us to see familiar things in new ways. This new way of seeing enables the continuous exploration of new ideas in bids to improve practice, while recognizing that traces of previous thinking are not always completely obliterated but instead recur, shape, and interact with new developments.
At the site where a young child is learning about art, there are points where ideas about the child, art, and teaching meet, sometimes connecting, sometimes colliding, sometimes competing. We have beliefs that have shaped our ways of seeing the child, art, and teaching. Media can enhance our understanding of children and the art media themselves and how we can scaffold young children's learning within these media.

Ways of Seeing the Child

Commonly held images or constructions of the young child shape and inform all aspects of early childhood—policy, practice, institutions—as well as relationships between teacher and child, parent and child, and child and child (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 1999). Some possible readings of why we do what we do in our work with young children can be explained by examining different constructions of childhood (Dahlberg et al., 1999; James, Jenks, & Prout, 1998; Jenks, 1996; Stainton Rogers, 1992).
To reiterate some content discussed earlier in this book in relation to the arts in general, let us go a bit more deeply into how children have been viewed throughout time, particularly in relation to the visual arts. Early views of the child as tabula rasa or an empty vessel shape the belief that children's early artworks are fairly worthless scribbles. With this view, teaching art is seen to lead the children on a path of progress toward realism and representation. In contrast, the view of the child as natural—as inherently innocent and uncorrupted by the world—shapes the notion of precious childhood and the idea that this should be preserved at all costs. From this perspective, teaching art requires preserving child innocence and spontaneity and avoiding any form of intervention that might corrupt spontaneous creativity.
Other views are that children are capricious, with innate propensities to the wild and savage. The work of teaching is seen to be one of "civilizing" the child, and art activities are extremely teacher-directed, leaving no room for error, experimentation, or accidents. Developmental theory also frames childhood as universal stages of development, and the teaching of art is seen in relation to developmental continua, ages, and stages, and the provision of developmentally appropriate activities. In addition, the view of childhood as a supply factor in determining the future labor force causes art to become marginalized in the curriculum, so that a greater emphasis can be placed on the "basics" of literacy and numeracy. Art is validated largely on the basis of how well it can integrate with or enhance these "more important" curriculum areas.
More recent views of the child center on democratic principles, where children are seen to be freely choosing individuals. However, if freedom and fun are viewed as the essence of childhood, it is possible that teaching art will be considered useful only if it ensures that children are busy, happy, spontaneous, and free, rather than bored. The notion of children's working at skills and techniques in art may be seen as inconsistent with a philosophy of democratic freedom. Some contemporary early childhood educators advocate the view of children as competent beings, co-constructors of knowledge, and art can be taught as one of the multiple languages available to children without destroying the children's sense of freedom; in fact, such co-construction can enhance children's enjoyment of learning (Dahlberg et al., 1999; Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 1994; Malaguzzi, 1993).
When we realize that many positions have appeared, remained, or disappeared, only to reappear in a different time or place throughout our history, we come to understand that we also participate in the shaping of current and future views of art education. Evolution of ideas requires us to adapt to change—to recognize the influence of current, modern influences on children's lives and how we can incorporate some of these positively into an art program. Childhood cultures, for example, are made up of interwoven narratives and commodities that cross TV, toys, fast-food packaging, video games, T-shirts, shoes, bed linen, pencil cases, and lunch boxes (Luke, 1995). Teachers and parents can often find their own cultural and linguistic messages losing power as they compete with global narratives—the passing phases of pop culture fashions. Pokemon replaced Power Rangers, which replaced Ninja Turtles, which replaced something else. Yet popular culture and the media are a part of children's cultures, and we need to depart from the idea that cultures and languages other than those of the mainstream are deficit. To be relevant, teachers and parents need to recruit, rather than ignore or erase the different interests, intentions, commitments, and purposes that children bring to learning (Cazden, Cope, Fairclough, et al., 1996).
As discussed in this segment, how we see children will affect the way we teach. We may view children as empty vessels, natural, capricious, developing, or competent. At times, some or all of these views may exist simultaneously; at other times, one view may seem more relevant in certain circumstances or for particular reasons. Not only is our teaching affected by our views of childhood, it is also influenced by our views on art.

Ways of Seeing Art

There is a great deal of confusion currently about where art fits into society and what function it serves beyond that of a salable commodity. Teachers need to consider what it is we are referring to when we speak of art and whether our art programs are designed to produce a certain type of art (e.g., self-expressive, representational, experimental, skilled). As discussed in the previous section, the ways of seeing the child might lead us to provide children with art activities that are, for example, fun, busy, exploratory, messy, highly structured, or completely child-centered—but is it art?
Here is another opportunity for another palimpsest to assist a reflecting on the value of art in young children's lives. As with our views of childhood, some ideas about art persist, some disappear, and others reappear to find favor in a different place or a different time. There are many reasons why art should be a core of the curriculum for young children.
Art is considered by some a fundamental biological need, a need that defines our existence and the human condition (Dissanayake, 1992). Those who hold this view will encourage children to appreciate beauty and aesthetics within their surroundings. Art should be valued "for art's sake" because it is considered an important means for self-expression—spontaneity, imagination, play, experimentation, and lack of inhibition are desirable components of making artworks—and for freedom of expression. Art is also valued as an emotional mode for communicating unconscious things otherwise unsayable (Feldman, 1996) and for enhancing "healthy" personalities. Art also enhances children's cognitive processes, involving children in problem solving, thinking, and using symbol systems to record their thoughts, ideas, and feelings. In many ways, art offers a form of spiritual awareness as well, revealing itself through the heart and intuition (Barthes, 1972) and embodied or somatic ways of learning.
When we view art as a distinct discipline, with a distinct body of knowledge that must be taught and mastered, we are not frightened to teach skills and techniques, as well as appreciation and art history. We will see art as an important discourse that should not be offered only to the special or talented, but as a universal and special way of making and communicating meaning, both at a personal level and in a broader sense as well. Art is viewed by others as an expression of culture, and a means of communicating about and between cultures, through links with the community. Opportunities to read and appreciate the lives of others are possible through art. Some consider art a conduit for understanding self in relation to others, a means for recognizing our interdependence as peoples, and a way for global unity and understanding (Eckersley, 1992). One aspect of teaching art is to bring the child's view, as depicted through their art, to a wider audience.
Our view of teaching art involves applying critical lenses to our ideas of art and teaching. In many ways, the application of critical analysis is similar to coming to grips with postmodern art. Postmodern art depicts life's confusions and fragmentations and subverts our ways of seeing—it makes us look again, to make the familiar appear strange. Our work with young children is about ways of seeing as well. It requires us to recognize how many influences have shaped our views of art, such as whether we consider art to be therapy, spirituality, a form of individual self-expression, a language, a cultural artifact, a discipline to be mastered, an expression of freedom, and an essential part of being human. Like the numerous views of childhood, each view of art holds truths, and each has implications for how art is best taught. Consequently, the teaching of art should also be viewed in relation to our ways of seeing the teacher and the meaning of teaching.

Ways of Seeing the Teacher

What we decide to say to a child about his or her art, or what we choose to provide in the environment, will be contingent to some extent on a view of teaching and learning—a view of the role of the teacher in the education of children in and through art. What is considered "proper" art teaching is contingent on a number of factors, including our experience, our training, and the discourse of education (McArdle, 2001).
Current discourses of art education have been influenced by progressivism and democratic ideals, which include notions of child-centered and hands-on learning and freedom for the individual (Dewey, 1902, 1916; Tyler, 1993). Creativity and problem-solving skills are currently favored in the education discourse in many countries (Eckersley, 1992; Fowler, 1996). Active discovery has become closely linked with play, and one of the enduring mantras in early childhood literature is that children learn through play (Berk, 1997; Katz, 1996; Perry & Irwin, 2000). Multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983) have become an accepted conceptual framework for teachers' work, and many believe art should hold a privileged position within the curriculum. Current notions of a master/apprentice model of teaching position the teacher as protagonist, working alongside children who are pursuing self-determined projects (Malaguzzi, 1993).
Currently, art is seen as a language, a symbol system, a literacy (Gardner, 1983). The Reggio Emilia schools, where children's symbolic representations are read as "visible thinking," have become world renowned as a model for early childhood education (Edwards et al., 1994). In addition, influences of discipline-based art education (Eisner, 1988) outline a curriculum approach made up of four components: art history, art criticism, aesthetics, and art production. This takes art education beyond an ad hoc approach to the learning of a discrete discipline. The push for national standardization in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia has placed art within one of the key learning areas, and syllabus documents for art provide a framework for planning and enacting the art program. Within such frameworks, teaching and learning are seen to occur not only in schools, but also in galleries, museums, and other informal places of learning as sites for assisting young children's developing artistry. Here, learning occurs through interactions between children and objects, children and their teachers, and children and other children.
In spite of all of these influencing factors on our beliefs about art teaching, it is interesting that the issue of "freedom above discipline" remains a dominant discourse of art when compared to other curriculum areas such as literacy or numeracy. How is it that freedom of the individual is equated with noninterventive practices in art, but not in learning areas such as literacy or numeracy? For example, teachers place great importance on the child's acquisition of reading and mathematics skills, but are frightened to offer learning activities that enhance children's competencies in artistic areas (Spodek & Saracho, 1992). While most early childhood educators believe it is the right of every child to be taught literacy and numeracy skills, they may not be as concerned about the right of every child to be visually literate. Can a child have fun while learning the skills and techniques necessary to developing artistry? Can children be free to express their own thoughts and feelings through drawing, painting, or modeling with clay, if they have no artistic skills to enable them to articulate this?
Faced with such inconsistencies and contradictions in the field of art education, teachers can be excused for throwing their arms in the air and sticking to the "tried and true" practices they have come to know and with which they feel a degree of certainty (Kindler, 1996). Yet in our work with young children, we have a responsibility to consider, reflect, and live with the multiplicities of planning a visual arts program. It is part of our work to be informed about current thinking and make informed decisions about quality art programs. A recent study of exemplary art teachers showed that these teachers find ways to combine seemingly opposing messages about "proper" teaching—they blur the boundaries between natural unfolding and guided learning and between creativity and the training of skills and techniques (McArdle, 2001).
The following section describes how individual children can be viewed as competent beings who know lots of things already and are wondering about lots of other new things. Through art, children invite us into their thoughts by communicating through words, drawing, painting, clay, and a number of related "languages" to express these (Edwards et al., 1994). It is our role to provide children with rich experiences, good-quality materials, and skills that will help them be lifelong learners and lifelong thinkers. Such art experiences are not about: "Follow the directions, stick this on here and that on there, now color it in, and now doesn't that look pretty?" Children should be encouraged to be thinkers and theorists, not merely learn to follow directions. Based on the children's ideas, we can prepare a structured art program that allows for the sharing of the power and responsibility and positions the children as artists and all that this view of children, art, and art teaching entails.

How We Can Assist Children's Learning in and through Art

It is quite appropriate to assist children's learning in and through art and to ensure that children are equipped with the skills and techniques to enable them to express their own ideas better than they might do on their own. When we have a sound theoretical background and philosophical foundation for art education, we will be continually reflecting and revising what we do with young children. We will bring expertise to our work, provide plentiful and good quality resources, and plan the learning environment so that children will be enabled to learn within it. While syllabus documents can provide guidelines for content, skills, knowledge, techniques, and outcomes, we must ensure that the children remain at the center of the curriculum and that exploration, discovery, and play remain central to the child's experience.
Symbol making and symbol understanding are central to the program. Product-centered craft activities that use adult-designed templates will not allow children to develop and use symbolic representations. Likewise, art activities that change daily or weekly do not provide opportunities for children to consistently use core art media and processes for the purposes of symbolic development and meaning making. Hence, drawing, painting, and working with clay should be the core areas of our art programs and be offered daily, so that children come to understand and use these media for cognitive and expressive purposes. Other art media or forms of expression, such as collage, construction, printmaking, constructing, and textiles, also can enrich the program, but painting, drawing and claywork should be offered daily.
Learning in and through the visual arts involves participating with and understanding basic elements and principles of art. These provide a vocabulary for teachers and children and a way of helping both to talk about their own processes, products, and the works of other artists. Children's engagement with the forms of learning in art—drawing, painting, printing, constructing, modeling, and sculpting—all involve the use and understanding of the following elements and principles within the visual-spatial domain of artistic learning.

The Elements and Principles of the Visual Arts
Line: Thick, thin, wavy, straight, soft, hard, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, radiating, jagged, parallel, angry, calm, happy, sad
Shape: Geometric, organic, rectangle, square, circle, round, angular, curvy, fluid, symmetrical, spiral
Color: Primary, secondary, complementary, warm, cool, light, dark, bright
Texture: Rough, smooth, bumpy, fuzzy, prickly, slippery
Space: Two-dimensional, three-dimensional, real illusions, foreground, middle ground, background, overlap. Space is related to compositional aspects within two-dimensional work, and form within three-dimensional work
Structural Principles: Unity, rhythm, proportion, design, balance, harmony, contrast, repetition

content reading

Content Reading is reading that deals with a particular subject.
Domain Reading is the actual process of reading.
The difference is- Content reading is reading in math science, social studies and technology while domain reading is concerned with actually reading.

Content Knowledge- is the principle of a particular discipline.
Domain Knowledge- is the knowledge of a certain area--knowing what you know.
The difference is- Content knowledge is concerned with how to teach students in order for them to understand while domain knowledge is knowing about something in order to benefit from it.

The Brain

After viewing the different areas of the brain in class last week, I remembered my Curriculum Professor at JSU when I got my masters. She was very unorthodox in her teaching methods and unfortunately one of the only valuable lessons I remember was her discussion and lesson on Right Brain- Left Brain learners. I have a brain test for everyone and a short description of the differences between the two. It came from Scholastic. I have found this article to be very helpful. I hope everyone enjoys finding out if they are in their right mind.

DIAGNOSIS;the missing ingredient

"Of course, diagnosis will not make any difference if it does not lead to action."
Questions fo\r my high school:
How will RTI help high school students?
How will we discern which students need the help?
How will funding and staff be provided?
Is it too late for high school students to benefit from such programs?
What a simple but powerful statement. All too often in education we are faced with discerning what a problem is and all too often we do nothing about the problem. After reading the article by Lipson and Chompsky-Higgins, I feel that the majority of our early educational leaders are doing a great job at diagnosing the problems we are facing. Not being in a core class nor ever given a bench mark or reading assessment, it is hard for me to say what we are and are not doing well.However, examples given from Vermont we uplifting, not in that they are burning my soul to try these methods, but we in our county are using these methods of assessment and planning for the individual student.
We as educators know all too well that on program does not fit all, especially in the area of reading and comprehension. I am not sure, as I stated before, the intricacies of teaching a student how to read and comprehend, but I am smart enough to know that we all have to get on board and face the challenge ahead of us through testing, planning and doing what is necessary for the good of our students.
With testing unfortunately comes time and money, things no county seems to have enough of. Research may be pointing to tailored interventions, but how will we be able to fund these interventions that will help prevent reading disabilities and or improve students' abilities during later years?

reading between the lines

Reading Between the Lines, What the ACT reveals about college readiness in reading

"We and others have documented that improving college and workplace readiness is critical to developing a diverse and talented labor force that will ensure our nation's economic competitiveness in a growing global economy." Callen and Finney 2003; Cohen 2002; Somerville and Yi 2002

Based on a 2005 ACT standardized test of high school graduates, approximately 51% tested are ready for college level reading. Only 51% met the benchmark. Keep in mind the benchmark represents the level of achievement required for students to have a 75% chance of earning a C or better or a 50% chance of earning a B or better. W also need to keep in mind that certain groups of students are not ready for college reading or work force. Male students, African American students, Hispanic American students Native American students and those students who come from families with a household income less than 30 thousand dollars per year. These students are more than likely not ready for college level reading.

More frightening to me is the information gathered from the EPAS(explore, plan,act system). The data showed that in2005 62% of 8th graders tested were college ready for reading. Same cohort of students tested again in  the 10th grade had slightly increased readiness, however by the time the same cohorts tested in the 12th grade a smaller percentage (of the same group) were ready for college reading.

WHAT HAPPENED???
State standards were reviewed. The findings were that state standards in reading were insufficient or non existant. Meaning specific rigor for reading in high school could be the problem. ACT research also found that 28 of 49 states with standardsin reading fully defined grade level reading THROUGH the 8th grade. and 60 %(29) states do not have grade specific reading achievement standards. This is frightening.

Low teacher expectations and\or lack of teachers teaching reading skliis may be another reason for low motivation to read on grade level. Low teacher expectation can prevent some students form being taught necessary reading skills for college and work.

ACT research has found a strong impact of taking more rigiorous courses while in high school.-particularily  those courses in English, math and science. Additional courses in social studies alone did not have as great of an impact on the readiness of ACT tested students. The research also noted it was not the number of additional rigorous courses taken but the questions being asked. Bottom line being able to read is what matters.

The ability to understand complex textual elements in a text and understanding both implicit and explicit material was the clearest difference between those ready for college and those who were not . The article defined complex text with these six aspects: RSVP
relationship, richness, structure, style, vocabulary, and purpose.
State standards do not address these six aspects.

Not only are there Six million of our nation's secondary students below reading level and more than three thousand high school drop out, colleges are not much better off. 11% of students entering post secondary schools are enrolled in remedial reading courses. An alarming 70% of those students who took one or more remedial courses did not earn a degree of certificate within eight years. Greene(2000) found the shortage of literacy skills costs the United States, businesses and unprepaired students 16 million dollars due to decreased productivity and remedial costs.

What to do?
We need to strengthen our instruction in all courses by incorporating complex reading material. Students will have to make an effort in and out of school to generate comprehension of complex text. however school will have to play the primary role in providing materials and experiences needed for collge or work place reading skills. Teachers will have to give more opportunities to develop skills necessary for college and work by offering challenging material across the curriculum-not just in English classes.

Teachers will need guidance and support to strenghten reading instruction and to incorporate complex texts and strenghten assessment in all content areas. This means professional development which is costly.

The nation Governors Association recommended comprehensive literacy plans be developed in each state(2005), incorporation of reading expectations into state standards across the curriculum grade by grade and increasing complexity.
They Association also suggested encouraging local efforts to support schools and increased funding for school programs that improve middle and high school reading achievement. Remember this was in 2005.


we as educators need to be able to diagnose reading deficiencies and intervene earlier(before high school)
we as educators need to pursuade students to read challenging texts
we as educators need to be able to systematically assess college readiness in reading and evaluate progress
we as educators need to incorporate complex reading materials into all high school courses-Not just English

It seems we as educators have a tremendous task set before us if we want not only our students to be successful but for our nation to be successful.It is frightening to think that we literally and figuratively hold the future in our hands.