Visualization

I had a good time with art on my practicum. There is often a tendency for students to treat art like a “party time,” but for the most part it was fine. I find art is one of those subjects that really helps to build an inclusive classroom setting. I did a visualization activity on Halloween, where students segmented their papers into four and drew at set intervals throughout a star story. It was warming to see the intense level of concentration and detail that went into these drawings; Importantly, it was one of the few lessons that didn’t require modifications to adjust for the lower learning levels. I think students get sick of writing, and forced to produce written work on and on in LA, and I think visualization provides an “outlet” to a different form of expression through art. Not all of what recall and remember is going to come out in a “word friendly” form, so I really love exercises that use/illustrate a different form of thinking. It is interesting to see the same stories expressed in 27 different ways. What I noticed at my inner city practicum placement was that art was something many children enjoyed because it was one of the few subjects that many felt they were good at, or didn’t require constant teacher nags to succeed. Art is something many of these students did quietly under their desk, or when they were suppose to be silent reading.