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Today is my first-born, Fallon’s birthday. I miss her with all that I am, and I credit who I am to her; Someone who can show kindness and empathize with the best, and also someone who will burn bridges to the ground when needed. Life is too short to do otherwise. This will be the final sharing of some of my answers from the 2018-2019 Georgia Teacher of the Year Candidate Application. Fallon was the cornerstone of my teaching style, as you’ll see below. Although I’m no longer in the public school classroom, I enjoy continued learning in the field of education, specifically that of Visual Arts and how I can apply methods in my personal studio lessons. I also believe that the ideas presented in this post are applicable beyond classroom walls. Describe a project that defines you as a teacher. On a hot summer day in July right before my first full year of teaching, I went in for my 8 month pregnancy check-up and learned that my baby’s heart had stopped beating, and she would be stillborn. My world turned upside down. As can be expected, it was a struggle to come back to work in August and be the example of strength that my students needed. However, as days went by, I found my desk full of encouraging letters and inspirational paintings that told of students' struggle and how they overcame these challenges. I began looking at the process of making art through new eyes. I realized that these students go through battles at home that I could never fathom, yet they collect the strength to show kindness to others. This is when I knew my calling was not only to teach art, but help students feel art, and how it can help us navigate horrible things we may be going through. In conjunction with community mental health personnel, I facilitate classroom and school-wide art therapy sessions throughout the year. I named this initiative QuARTz. In physical form, quartz crystal is unique in that when light is shown through it, the entire color spectrum becomes visible. I liken this to the human experience. Sometimes we may go through trials that bring us down, but with a bit of light shown into our lives, our colors become visible again. In QuARTz, activities promote personal reflection, artistic expression, and a plan of action. My role is to plan and facilitate artistic activities that are therapeutic in nature, and organize a time and place for meetings. One project done in the past is a body mapping activity. This opportunity is available during every lunch block for an entire week. During this activity, I teach students about the elements and principles of design and color theory, explaining how certain colors, types of line, shapes, etc. can evoke or represent various emotions of the human experience. Students then trace an outline of their bodies onto large butcher paper and use symbolic colors to represent the types of emotions they are experiencing and where in the body these emotions are causing tension or relaxation. Students also use other elements and principles of art, such as zig-zag lines to represent anxiety, or organic shapes to represent a state of calm. In my experience with this project, the two areas of the body that hold the most anxious color are the head and heart. Again, I believe that when a student’s heart and head are simultaneously in the right place, they are able to learn more effectively. At student discretion, a school counselor is present during body mapping to help students with any emotions that are difficult to navigate. Upon completion of this project, students complete a survey revealing their experience as “a creative outlet for expressing feelings without words.” This project is currently ongoing, and provides student opportunities throughout the school year. 
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Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some of my answers from the 2018-2019 Georgia Teacher of the Year Candidate Application (I didn’t win Georgia, but I enjoyed representing my county as the district-wide winner!). Although I’m no longer in the public school classroom, I enjoy continued learning in the field of education, specifically that of Visual Arts and how I can apply methods in my personal studio lessons. I also believe that the ideas presented in this post are applicable beyond classroom walls. Describe a content lesson or unit that defines you as a teacher. How did you engage students of all backgrounds and abilities in the learning? How did that learning influence your students? How are your beliefs about teaching demonstrated in this lesson or unit? I think that emotional well-being is a prerequisite for effective student engagement within the classroom. It becomes difficult for a student to learn when their mind is preoccupied with troubling thoughts and anxiety. When students are experiencing any number of circumstances at home, the last thing they feel prepared to do is complete an assessment to their full potential. I believe that equipping these pupils with an individualized and creative outlet should be a top priority, and in turn, can potentially bolster their ability to learn and retain information. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs serves as evidence for how full potential or feelings of accomplishment cannot be met if basic physiological and safety needs are not being met first. For these reasons, the lesson that defines me as a teacher is entitled My Life in Color. Upon arrival on the first day of the lesson, students are asked to answer the following question for an activating strategy: “If today was a color, what color would it be and why?” This encourages students to think of a seemingly concrete idea such as color in a more abstract and emotional context. I then teach students about artistic masters in the areas of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field technique. We analyze and critique works ranging from Jackson Pollock to Mark Rothko. For critiques, the Feldman’s Model of Art Criticism is used and students are asked to identify motifs, themes, and meaning of various pieces of art that contain no realistic imagery, but rather are comprised of abstract shapes of color. Finally, students are asked to self-reflect on various aspects of their lives by answering the following questions: “What color describes your family?” “What color describes your culture as a whole?” “What color describes your best memory?” “What color describes a difficult situation that you have been involved in?” “What color describes how you are feeling at this moment?” Once students have answered these questions, they create a symbolic self-portrait using their chosen colors to represent their lives. Finally, with the exception of the question concerning a difficult situation they have been in, students are asked to complete an in-depth written statement explaining how and why each color is representative of each aspect of their lives. For the exceptional question, students can share as much or as little as they wish within their comfort zone. To know that one matters and can make a difference is of utmost importance. Providing student choice and multicultural connections within this lesson celebrates students of all backgrounds and abilities, and lets them know that they are loved and important. A challenging phenomenon of the human experience is overcoming the tendency to compare our lives to everyone else’s seemingly perfect existences. I imagine this phenomenon is amplified for our youth since they are able to carry a ubiquitous snapshot of people’s lives around in their pockets by way of social media on cell phones. This project provides whole-class opportunity in that every student is asked to pair colors with certain aspects of their lives, but what they come to realize once each person begins applying color to their individual canvases is this: We all struggle. We all experience happy moments. We all have a culture and heritage. But what matters is how we use these truths about ourselves to improve personally and collaboratively. I want my students to be able to celebrate their heritage, families, and all the things that make them so wonderfully unique! Furthermore, I strive to provide them with the understanding that each facet that makes them so individualized can have an incredible impact within our diverse world. Following this lesson, I observe a greater appreciation for artwork that we analyze during class and I also notice that students are enthusiastic about being emotionally connected to their own artwork. In addition, students show evidence of an understanding of what makes art so powerful to the human experience. Connecting with and expressing our personal emotions and understanding how others do the same is a step towards more sound minds for our youth.  Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some of my answers from the 2018-2019 Georgia Teacher of the Year Candidate Application (I didn’t win Georgia, but I enjoyed representing my county as the district-wide winner!). Although I’m no longer in the public school classroom, I enjoy continued learning in the field of education, specifically that of Visual Arts and how I can apply methods in my personal studio lessons. I also believe that the ideas presented in this post are applicable beyond classroom walls. Question: As a 2018 Georgia Teacher of the Year Candidate, you serve as a spokesperson and representative for teachers and students. What is your message? What will you communicate to your profession and to the public? My message to educators in general would be this: teach for minds AND souls. Make your class the reason students get out of bed and come to school. Reflect on the hardest day of your own life as a student, and be the teacher you needed on that day. Maybe you had just lost a parent. Or perhaps you tore a ligament and had to be benched for the basketball season. The world did not stop turning simply because you were experiencing a difficult situation. You were still expected to come to school, complete homework, and perform well on tests that would most likely determine some of your future. It’s no different for our students. I’m not suggesting that it is acceptable for students to use their situations as habitual excuses to not apply themselves. What I am talking about is showing grace and offering enjoyable, restorative lessons that nourish students intellectually, emotionally, and socially. In addition, do not be afraid to show honest emotion around your students. When I was little, I remember thinking that my teachers slept on cots in their classrooms at night, had no families, and existed simply to be examples of the model citizen. My perceptions changed the day I saw a tear roll down my teacher's cheek while she read a story that reminded her of a loved one who had passed away. At that moment, I realized educators are human. They have families, hobbies, and emotions. My level of responsiveness and respect for teachers soared that day. So, in your own classroom, demonstrate healthy coping skills when you are going through your own trials. Model how determination, participation, and passion can heal and encourage people to thrive in the midst of tribulation, instead of just survive. We don’t always know what situations students are experiencing and the emotional turbulence they are going through, but showing sympathy and empathy in these circumstances may be the reason a student chooses to keep going. Again, I think that an intellectual mind paired with a troubled soul is a setup for compromised potential. Within your classroom, facilitate not only an environment conducive to academics, but also one that supports the emotional well-being of your students. A warm, nurturing environment that integrates student-led activities and expression is not exclusive to art class, and can be employed with any subject matter and across various curriculum. Why not use origami to teach abstract geometrical concepts that some students may not grasp easily? Get out of the classroom and onto a stage when studying Shakespearean literature. Immerse your students into the culture of the Incan Empire with a Google Earth tour. Become aware of how enjoyable and impactful your lesson, regardless of what subject you teach, could be for that student who may have stayed up all night taking care of her siblings, or for a child who did not have any dinner the night before. For art educators specifically, you have an innate gift, and an obligation to share that gift. Yes, teach art history, teach about the great masters, color theory and the elements and principles of art, but don’t forget one of the main aspects that makes a piece of art so powerful, and that is emotional connection. Give your students time to connect with their feelings and mental status. Facilitate opportunities for them to use colors, shapes, and images to express themselves where words cannot. Be warm, kind and supportive. Be an advocate for art therapy, mental health, and the counseling resources available to your students. In addition, offer your professional expertise and the talents of your students to people outside of your classroom. Share the joy of art on a larger scale by hosting school-wide artistic activities and initiatives. Celebrate student success with community exhibitions, social media presence, cross-curricular projects. To the public and community members, you all are an affirmation that hard work pays off. You are examples of successful artists, engineers, musicians, mathematicians, and historians who make a living using your passions. Your support means the world to students, and for that I thank you.  |
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September 2024
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