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Albert Bierstadt |
Visual Arts Lesson
Teacher Reflections by Maryjane Johnston
Reflection 1
The focus of teaching art should be the process and not the product. The question should be “What did you learn along the way?” not “ Do you have the most aesthetically pleasing work of art?” The more formative assessment that we can offer, the more successful the student will feel. I think that this project allowed me to see the value of assessment and how formative assessment benefits the student and creates students who are more responsible and accountable for their own learning. It also showed me the importance of using assessment as a tool to guide and inform teaching. There were many challenges, but these challenges provided insights and learning moments.
Reflection 2
The body sculpture activity adds a new perspective for looking at art as well as a “fun factor” for the students. It incorporates multiple intelligences by capturing the attention of the kinesthetic learners. The peer review was used in a non-threatening manner and the process showed students how they can be instructional resources for each other. A similar activity could be developed using music as the learning tool.
Reflection 3
The sticky notes attached to the poster with descriptive words and art vocabulary helped students to understand the concepts and to clearly communicate their observations. Students became more perceptive and their visual acuity increased because the discussion was more interactive. Stressing the significance of the elements and principles of the painting helped students break down the image into individual visual components and assisted them in understanding the composition. It also added a certain element of fun that helped to retain student interest in the discussion. This is also an effective formative assessment tool because I could see which concepts the students understood and which ones needed more explanation.
Reflection 4
The value of assessment of progress during instruction provides feedback to the student about how well he or she is learning. Students seemed much more comfortable when this feedback comes from a teacher, and less comfortable when it comes from peers. One of my students was particularly disturbed by the peer assessment even though the criteria were clearly written out so that the students would not judge on aesthetics. It is important to note that the peer review was not one of the assessments used to determine the final grade; the intention was to give students feedback about changes or improvements that could be made based on the learning criteria. I felt that the comments on the peer review accurately reflected the student’s work, but the student felt uncomfortable with the feedback from his peer. Perhaps this is because this was the first time we had tried peer review.
Reflection 5
In the future I think that I will begin the formative assessments, particularly the peer review, earlier in the process of the lesson, so that students have more of an opportunity to correct their work. Part of the problem with this one student may have been that the peer review came at a time when he could no longer make the changes in his work in order to meet the criteria. I was able to use the peer review formative assessment to adjust my teaching and to use other assessments to gain an accurate picture of what the students had learned.