Salem State University, January 2013- December 2017
Masters In Art Education - Secondary [Grades 5-12]
The New England Institute Of Art, September 2008- December 2011
Bachelor Of Science Degree - Graphic Design
Middlesex Community College, September 2006- June 2008
Associate of Arts - Graphic Design
Primary Art Education [Grades PreK-8], Initial Licence
Secondary Art Education [Grades 5-12], Initial Licence
Sheltered English-Lanuage Immersion, June 2016
CERTIFICATION
EDUCATION
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
WHO AM I AS AN ARTIST & ART EDUCATOR
As educators it is our duty to foster a love of learning within all children and have them take lessons they have learned in the classroom into the real world. Each child is unique and needs a caring and safe environment in order to grow socially, emotionally, and intellectually. Providing students with that atmosphere allows them to reach their fullest potential. Hurwitz supports this by stating “Understanding the art cannot be taught successfully unless it is presented in an atmosphere designed to encourage individual, and at times non conformist, expression. It is the emphasis that art education places on personal decision making that often separates art classes from those of other subjects.” (Day and Hurwitz, 2011, Pg 12) There are many artists, techniques, materials, and skills to learn but the most meaningful part is the process; the brainstorming, experimenting, and problem solving needed to think about before finishing your final project.
HOW DO I DEFINE MYSELF AS AN ART EDUCATOR
Growing up I struggled academically. I was easily discouraged and often felt inadequate compared to my peers. Art was the only place I felt I could succeed and truly be myself. I learned most during critiques, class discussions, and from displaying my work. This allowed me to gain new perspective from my peers, learn new ideas about how I wanted to portray what I was thinking, and provided the confidence to speak about my art and emotions. Hurwitz defends that “Art can provide a means for children to develop their inherent creative abilities and, in the process, to integrate their emotional, social, and aesthetic selves. Children’s art is often seen as instrumental in fostering and perceiving each individual's identity, uniqueness, self esteem, and personal accomplishment.”(Day and Hurwitz, 2011, Pg 57) My goal is to create an atmosphere where students can be themselves, express their feelings, and most importantly give them the tools to become inspired to change the world.
MY VISION OF ART EDUCATION
Creativity is the most important tool you can offer any student. Inspiration can be found anywhere and everywhere. It is easy to lose sight of what makes your heart happy, your brain to think, and what causes your emotions to feel. Art is one of the most unique classes a student can experience. Unlike any others, Art has the capability of incorporating ideas and topics from core subjects. When students use shapes and lines to create a composition they are connecting skills learned in Geometry class. Connections aren’t just made through subject materials or skills, but often thought processes are cross curricular. There is no difference in the thought process of a student beginning a science lab versus an art student staring at a blank canvas. To further this point, Hurwitz claims that “As soon as child is capable of using a measured line, mathematics begins to enter into his artwork. Such activities as building model houses, making costumes for puppets, or creating a ‘blow up’ using a grid lend themselves to this correlation.” (Day and Hurwitz, 2011, Pg 354)
SUMMARY
Art has a way of helping people express who they are. Often we get lost in requirements and forget to stop and look around. We are constantly given opportunities to learn from ourselves and those around us. In order to create, we must open our eyes to all the possibilities and during this process we learn to use our imagination, build, and reflect.
CODE OF ETHICS
As an art educator, my code of ethics is to create an environment where each student has the opportunity to grow as an individual and as an intricate part of our ever changing society. Exercising my professional judgment, it is important to me to form relationships with each individual where they feel safe, confident about themselves, and free to develop their own ideas.
I am passionate about promoting a climate where the students learn about their peers as much as they do themselves. I want to promote inclusive practices, cultural competency, social emotional learning while building a sense of community.
It is important for me to provide opportunities for students to use visual communication as a way to express themselves and to communicate with their peers and those beyond the art room.I believe we learn from ourselves and those around us. In order to create we learn to use our imagination, build, and reflect upon what is personally important.
STUDENT ARTISTIC MOTIVATION & ACHIEVEMENT
As educators it is up to us to spark our students interest and provide them with the motivation to start the creativity process. What we need to observe and identify are levels of interests, task completion, persistence in order to expand student abilities.
When identifying levels of interest it is crucial that we start off the school year building relationships with our students. By doing this, we learn their likes and dislikes, and most importantly, what interests them. By finding their interests, we can create art projects that spark their creativity because they already have a base knowledge of the subject. If a student appreciates a subject, they often know the ins and outs of how it works or what it may look like. Building relationships also creates an environment for students where they feel confident and comfortable to express themselves and participate freely in the art room.
To motivate students to complete tasks it is imperative that the teacher lays out each expectation for students to follow. With this, students are aware what is being asked of them in order to create a well rounded project. If a safe environment is created early on, students will be able to work to their full potential.
Persistence and expanding abilities can be created through positive reinforcement. There will be many times when a lesson does not go as planned or directions are not followed. Keeping a positive attitude and culture in the classroom will help students problem solve and critique what step they must take next in order to succeed and expand their abilities.
There are many challenging teaching goals and every student will always respond differently to the lessons that may be offered. Setting expectations, building relationships to find student interests and having positive reinforcement in the classroom are some of the obvious but crucial ways we can help our students succeed. As educators it is our goal to help create successful students who have motivation to want to learn which will later ensure their internal drive so they are active members in our ever changing society.