Reflection

Throughout each lesson, the students did an excellent job creating and reflecting
on their work. They were always more than excited to participate and discuss their
artistic decisions. When students are engaged in their art and talking about their art, they
make personal connections to their artwork. The students were always engaged in each
individual lesson, and many times they liked the lesson more than we imagined. Due to
the student interest and engagement in the lessons, I did not have to focus on classroom
management. The students would enjoy their lessons, which facilitated them to stay on
task and execute art projects.
I learned that the importance of planning could make or break a lesson. I learned
that when it comes to planning it is always best to over plan. Having the sketchbooks
was an excellent way for students to create art if they finished the assigned art-making
task early. I learned to have a large number of sketchbook activities for the students to
choose from. By allowing the students choice, they would once again become engaged
in the art making activity. In addition, I have learned that some students work faster than
others, and to ensure students are all creating to their fullest potential you need to allow
enough time from slower working students in addition to providing extra additional
activities for students who work quickly. I also learned if the majority of the students are
not finished with their project, it is probably best to insert a catch up day to allow
additional time for students to finish their art projects.
I also learned that there is a lot of impromptu differentiation that happens every
single day in the classroom. All students learn differently, and by getting to know each
individual learning style of every student, differentiation became natural and the
alteration of activities was sometimes more creative than the original plan. It was great to

see students step outside of the box and complete the projects in ways us teachers did
not imagine.
The curricular relevance of each of our lessons was exceptional; each lesson
continued to the next and so on. Every week, the students would use prior knowledge to
learn deeper and continue their previous artworks. The students were able to connect all
of their lessons together to create identifiable objects. The students created characters,
inhabitant environments, and also a communal class city with all of their combined art
projects.

Most importantly, these lessons at Polaris Expeditionary Learning School

reassured me how getting to know each individual student is truly the most important
aspect of their learning and growth. Students all learn and work differently, by getting to
know each students learning style, it enabled me to tailor my lessons individually to
meet the needs of all styles of learners. My style in front of students has developed to be
more confident than it was prior to coming to Polaris. I used to be more passive when it
came to teaching younger grades but the students tend to speak the truth and I learned
to establish my presence as a teacher.
In order to make sure I reached all styles of learning, visual demonstrations,
presentations, and also research techniques were addressed. Since students are made
up of multiple learning styles, all of them learn, create, and understand differently. In
order to make sure each student is creating and learning to their fullest potential, some
students need differentiated instruction so they can work and complete their tasks
without falling behind. In my future teaching, I would like to become an expert at
demonstrations. I feel confident in my demonstration skills right now but the more
practice the better. I know if I keep relating the demonstrations to personal connections

with the students, they will continue to learn more efficiently and effectively. In the future
I would also like to make sure I have everything and more ready to go. Sometimes the
students would use all of the materials we had gathered, even when we thought we had
brought extra. This has a lot to do with not being able to store things at Polaris, but we
still could have planned for the unexpected each situation. If I were to execute these
lessons differently, I would make sure to gather everything needed to be prepared and
not expect or rely my teaching partners to do so.
For assessment in art I have learned that one of the best ways to assess student
art is to provide a pre-assessment with grading criteria first as a pre-test. By doing this, it
directly shows progress and lets me know whether the students have reached the
present learning objectives and goals or not. If the students did not reach the learning
target, it informed me that I needed to reteach or allow extra time.
Over time my classroom management policies have evolved to having to do with
inquiry and motivation now. I believe students who do not participate or who are
disrupting the class either have something bigger going on in their life where they are
distracted, or the students are just simply not interested. By getting to know each
student, their interests, and learning styles, I can slightly adjust my lessons for increased
individual instruction. When students are engaged and involved in the art making
process, classroom management flows effectively. I can spend my time on helping
students create art instead of controlling the classroom, ultimately teaching instruction
and knowledge more efficiently.
Overall I am continuing my personal teaching philosophy of getting to know each
individual student and their learning abilities. One of my goals includes telling students
something very positive, inspirational, and motivational every class. I want to show
students no matter what is going on in life, us teachers are here to support them and

facilitate for them to grow and move forward. By getting to know and understand each
individual student, I can and will ensure students are engaged, interested, and involved.
By engaging students and facilitating personal connections, students will ultimately
retain and learn information at their fullest potential. In the future, I will continue exploring
my teaching philosophy of building relationships with students and helping them learn to
their fullest ability. I believe each student has the potential and opportunity to become
something great whether that is the next scientist, mathematician, or artist. By allowing
and facilitating students to what works best for them, students will learn to their fullest
potential.