Tiger Artists Lesson Plan/ Presentation Reflection

Melissa Gerhart
Tiger Team 2
Riding Into a New World
Part 1: (before)

Our lessons big idea was exploring fantasy in an underwater world. The project our tiger
artists created was a collaborative mural of an underwater theme park. During the lesson,
students were to think critically about the unknown and explore a world of fantasy, much
like some of the photos in Flotsam.

One goal of our lesson was for students to understand that fantasy and imagination are
definitely evident in the art world. We also expected that after our lesson, students would
have a greater understanding of working collaboratively to create a cohesive piece of art.

Children already knew that imagination and exploration are common themes in art. They
also already knew how to use basic watercolor techniques.

During planning, we definitely referenced the book Flotsam and used this as inspiration
for our project and lesson. We also referenced animated movies to reference fantasy in an
underwater world such as Sharktales, Finding Nemo, and Spongebob. Another source we
used for reference was real life photos of under water for students and us to compare and
think critically about how we could combine the two to create a new world.

Part II: (during)

While students were with us, I believe there was a lot of evidence that students were
learning new things.
o Students learned new techniques of using watercolor. They learned how saran
wrap and bubble wrap affects the appearance of watercolor.
This was evident in their sample pieces they worked on and also their final
piece.
I would assess this formatively to see that students are trying out different
techniques.
o During our lesson, students learned how to use bleeding tissue paper, which was
new to every student.
This was evident again in the samples and also the final mural. Students
really enjoyed exploring and playing with this new media and they were
discovering even more ways to use this technique, which was so exciting
to see.
I would assess this again by formative assessment and seeing that students
are playing and learning from playing.
o Students also learned how to work collaboratively with others to fill space.

There is evidence of this when students were helping each other and
working together. I noticed students grouped together and made smaller
teams and worked with the same aesthetic in mind.
I would assess students in this area by overseeing that students are
working on the big picture and being respectful of other students work
while working together.
o Students also learned how to image a new world that is unknown to them.
This is was evident when students were creating new rides that would fit
in an underwater sea park. Some students thought deeply about the names
of their objects, such as Algae Dogs. Also, some students create their own
new creatures of the sea, which showed a lot of deep thinking.
I believe it could be difficult to assess this area. I think I would assess
students for this by talking with them about their work and what it means
to them and why they made the artistic choices that they made.

There was a few times we had students struggling to participate during our lesson, but I
believe we handled the situations well and got the student involved.
o One student was not with us the first week. She had a hard time working
collaboratively on the mural and wanted to play in the torn tissue paper. Once we
noticed this, one of my team members talked with her and they decided to make
their own sea creatures to layer in the mural. I think this work really well for the
student as she got really into making her own individual creatures that would
them be a part of the big picture.
o The same student seemed shy and very interested in her sisters work and not her
own. Once we started talking to her about what she wanted to make as her 3-D
portion of the mural, she really got into it and lost interest in only watching her
sister.

Overall, I dont feel like students asked very many questions.

o I believe students shared many good ideas with students. They shared new
techniques they were discovering such as ways to apply the watercolor with the
large brushes to get several colors on at once. They also shared techniques such as
what happened if the tissue paper was lifted off as well as splatter painting.
o The VTS was a good part of our lesson where students were sharing ideas that
stretched their peers thinking. Students were finding areas of the image to talk
about that I never would have thought about, such as the students who said the
image looked like a modern day tourist attraction. Students also challenged each
other here as one student thought the seahorses were really big and the aliens were
normal, and one student felt the aliens were tiny and the seahorses were normal.
The students had different ideas, but they did not put each other down for having
a different idea, which is really important in creating a safe space.
o Again, the VTS was where students were definitely displaying higher-level
thinking. They also showed higher-level thinking when they were working on
constructing the 3-D objects. Students were problem solving to reform the pieces
into something new.

o I believe that in our lesson, we allowed students to run with their own ideas, and I
feel we did not stop them or restrict them from using their own ideas. One student
offered her advice on the cardboard, which was to turn the boxes inside out and
use the brown side instead of the image side, and I definitely praised her for
thinking about that. If students had ideas that would benefit the class, I feel our
team tried to announce the idea.
o I believe in art we definitely need to be nonjudgmental when answering questions
from our students. We need to have a safe space where there is respect. I found
myself questioning why a student was putting so much water on the paper and she
told me she was making seaweed. After hearing her response I realized what she
was doing was really working and I felt like I had been judgmental of what she
was doing before, but what she actually was doing was brilliant. I think this was a
really important lesson for me and opened my eyes to how I need to address my
questions.

During the beginning of the class, we had good management skills. Students were all on
floor for the VTS, brainstorming, and demonstration. This worked well as we kept them
all in one place and they werent moving all over the class. Students were asked to raise
hands during the VTS. While brainstorming, I had students shout out what they were
thinking to speed up the process. I noticed that when we had students moving back and
forth, the class management skills slipped a little as students were getting distracted. I
think Heather handled this well with her hands up approach to get students back on track
and listening to her.

Part III (After the lesson)

I believe that our goals were appropriate for our lesson. I think we met the needs of our
students by keeping them interested. When students seemed to become uninterested, we
tried to find something for them to work on, which worked well for us.

Most of the time in our lesson, I thought that directions were very clear. We tried to give
clear explanations on how to use the watercolor and the different techniques. While we
were working on the pop-ups, I thought there was one time when directions were not
clear for the students. After they learned how to create the pop ups, I think we were not
clear on what we wanted them to make as some of the students just sat and looked
around. But after reminding them that they were making a ride or something for the
theme park, they started to work. A teacher there helping brought it to my attention that
she thought the directions were unclear as students were just looking around, and after
she said this to me I definitely understood. This was a good teaching moment for me.

One thing that I thought worked well was the students sitting in a group at the front of the
room. I felt like it focused the students on what we were doing with the VTS and
brainstorming. I feel like that also worked for when Jessica demonstrated because she
was on their level and not talking at them, but to them. I also think this worked because
it took the students away from many things that could be distracting to them.

One main concern of mine was the 3-D part of the project. Students had great ideas, but
time was a huge issue. I feel like this part definitely needed more planning and more time
for students to communicate their ideas better.

Another thing that I thought did not work well was our reflection time. I feel like students
were not all thinking about what they had just done and they were not thinking about the
discussion. I think we should have lead this part of the lesson better. I think it could have
been more successful if we gathered them, had them all sit down around the work, and
then talked with them. I think towards the end we got rushed and nervous.

As mentioned earlier, I would now change timing. I think we took on more than we
could handle given the amount of time. Also, I think students were really distracted after
we finished water coloring. I think we needed to transition to the pop-ups better as
students were still interested in the background. One reason for this might be because we
were blow-drying the piece, which might have been distracting for them.

I think our team modeled effective communication with the students. I know I tried to get
engaged with the students and ask them what they were thinking about and why. I think
this modeled to students that as artists we are always thinking about what we are doing.

Part IV: Reflection

Over all, I believe our lesson went pretty good. It was so exciting to see all of our hard
work come together so well. Even though it felt like we planned forever, it went by so quickly.
This really put perspective on the saying time flies when you are having fun, which I feel is a
good thing.
As a teacher, I think making on the fly decisions is something that we will always
encounter. If we see something is not working, we need to make quick decisions as to how we
are going to fix this so students are learning. During our lesson we had to make a couple on-thefly decisions. As I mentioned earlier, we had a student who was not interested in participating in
the watercolor. The decision we made was for the student to create sea creatures that would be
placed in the mural. This decision benefitted the student and her participation to the group
project.
Another on-the-fly decision that we had to make was how to attach the students work.
We had to make a decision because the paper was still entirely too wet to glue anything to, even
after we used the hair dryer on it. The decision we made was for students to place their objects
where they wanted them to be attached. We took a picture of this and then our team is going to
attach them when the mural is dry enough. This decision benefited the students because they
were able to make artistic decisions on where their objects should go. We did not want to take
away decisions from the students, but there was no way they would have been able to attach
them that day. We had thought about this issue before hand, but never really reached a definite
decision until the last minute.
There was also another instance that we had to make an on the fly decision that I was not
even aware of until after the lesson. We had a slideshow of images of the ocean, theme parks,
and sea creatures playing on the big screens while students were working. We wanted this to

give the students inspiration. Although I did not notice it being a distraction, one of my
teammates did and I think she ended up turning it off to focus the students.
This teaching experience was a huge learning experience for me. One thing that I
definitely learned was that time is an issue, and will always probably be an issue in the art room.
There is just so much creativity happening and you dont want to have to stop it, but sometimes
time does not allow. Although timing was an expected issue, it was still a learning point for me.
At the end of our lesson for the day, a couple students asked for homework or what they
were going to get to do during the week. Because we sent them home with an activity the week
before, they expected that they would get another one. This was so unexpected and unanticipated
because prior, I thought students hated homework, but they were actually asking for it. This was
so exciting for me because I knew the students were enjoying what we were doing. I learned that
there can be homework in the art class and that students might actually enjoy it!
Through this teaching experience, I believe I had many epiphanies. One of the biggest
realizations that I had in this process is how much planning goes into each activity. I did not
realize how much thought and effort goes into every single project. I knew that teaching was not
this joke that everyone makes it out to be, but I did not realize exactly how much planning it
takes to create a successful art lesson.
Another epiphany that I had was how creative students can be even at such a young age.
These students had amazing ideas that really showed through in their creatures they made at
home and their objects for the theme park. I realized that students, even at a young age, are
thinking conceptually as they are making decisions. Some of these students blew me away by
how much thought they put into their work.
Again, I could not be more thankful for this experience. I learned so much about my
students and myself. I am definitely the type of person that gets nervous right before doing
anything. This made me realize that even though I am nervous, things will work out and go much
more smooth than I could imagine.
Since starting my journey to becoming an art educator, I have always pictured myself
being an elementary teacher. I think this experience has definitely reassured that feeling. The
students were awesome and had so much creativity. Because of Tiger Artists, I can definitely see
myself working with younger students.
As I mentioned earlier, I learned that children are great and have so much potential. They
can create some awesome work, which is so exciting for me as the teacher. I definitely learned to
NEVER underestimate my students! I also learned that students need and want to play. They
loved the experimenting before the large mural and I believe it really helped them to see how the
materials worked. This is something I definitely will take and use in my future and I am very
glad that it is being incorporated into the new visual arts curriculum.