Chen Kirshenbaum

ARED 3360
Dr. Bustle
February 17, 2016
Secondary Education Written Reflections
1/11/16 Reading: Patterson, Chapters 1-3
Word Count: 362
One of the most interesting terms I have heard in a while was the term BraveART.
BraveART is work made by people who are willing to embrace mistakes as part of the meaningmaking process. This is so important to understand because being an artist under this term is so
beneficial to your progress as an artist. Also, understanding this term can improve the art
classroom so much. As a teacher, it should be our jobs to push our students to become brave
artists. To do this, we have to encourage and allow our students to trust us. As explained in the
reading, trust is so important in the learning process because if the students dont trust us then the
learning will not go as smoothly.
As a perfect example of this, I will reflect on one of my own experiences. In middle
school I had a terrible art teacher who did not allow us to get to know her and treated us like we
were incompetent at most everything. Once I got to high school I felt that most art teachers
would be the same way, that is, until I met my favorite art teacher to this day. She allowed me to
open up to her and feel super comfortable each day in her classroom. By doing this, I felt safe to
try new things within my works and share them with her and other classmates.
I hope to one day be like her, and be classified as a brave teacher, as explained in the
reading. What I found important was that the teacher has to trust in the art. This way, the trust

begins in the teacher and eventually filters into the students. I want my classroom to be a
trustworthy place and allow students to trust in not only me, but themselves. Finally, brave art is
not just about making art objects, it is about finding life-meaning via reflecting upon the artmaking process. So, not only must the students trust enough to expand on their own work, but
they should be able to look back at their own process and learn from what went right and wrong.
1/13/16 Reading: Patterson, Chapters 4, 6, 7
Word Count: 371
In chapter four of this reading, what I found most true was that art exists in a pattern of
change. Understanding this is key to a great classroom and lesson plan. While certain art
projects and artists might relate one year, the next they may be irrelevant and not as necessary to
the progress of the students. This is not something I would have necessarily thought of. When I
think of a lesson plan that turns out to be well planned and amazing I would love to stick to it
and use it year after year. However, I realize now that this might not be a possibility as modern
art changes and progresses. It is so important to introduce the new rising art/artists to ensure that
the students are kept up to date on modern art as well as the older art from past generations.
Out of the three chapters, what I found most important was learning and understanding
the creative process. The creative process has a beginning, middle, and an end; it is an actual
process that needs to be accomplished and understood. In this process, one of the first elements is
preparation which is a discovery of the subject and can be done so through research. In the art
classroom, this is a key step that can not be skipped. A student can come up with ideas and
expand on them by doing research on the topic. This helps by allowing the students to see other
examples and push them even further in their exploration. This flows into the next step in the
creative process which is incubation. Preparation allows for incubation because it allows the

gestation and maturation of the ideas. Next, the illumination step where the students idea
explodes when they least expect it. This is finished by the verification step, where the brain
focuses on the idea and works on the final conclusion.
Reading about this process was super helpful because I feel like it helped me understand
the creating process way more than before. This process is definitely important to understand
because it allows me, as the future teacher, to break down the process and ensure that each
student is feeling comfortable along the way.
1/20/16 Reading: Stewart and Walker, Chapters 2 and 3
Word Count: 326
This is the first reading I found points I disagreed with. Up until now, the readings have
all matched up with my views of teaching and have taught me key points to remember when
planning my lessons and organizing my classroom. When reading these two chapters, I found a
few things I did not necessarily agree with. One of the first quotes was on page 11 of this chapter,
In school districts throughout the country, arts teachers are asked to ensure that the curricula
they develop align with local, state, and national standards. While standards are important
because they set the stage for schools, they are the reason we have to reinforce the need for
assessment. In order to ensure that the standards are met properly, the students must be tested.
These tests are not accurate or a fair assessment for the teachers or the students. Every student
learns differently and every teacher teaches differently, so one test could not possibly show that
the main ideas were met by both.
Next by placing these standards, the teachers become so restricted. Teachers are forced to
teach what is needed, by a certain time and most do so in order for the tests to be passed. This
hinders both the teacher and the student because at this point, the information being taught might

not be as helpful and or culturally relevant. Finally, these standards place harsh restrictions on
schools. When certain test scores are not met, schools can lose funding or validation. This is
incredibly unfair because one test can only prove so much. These tests, in my opinion, are
useless for proving if standards are met. I believe that teachers should be able to work on the
strengths and weaknesses of the students and work on their own schedule, rather then the state or
county standards. Basically, the standards are limiting the teacher flexibility in the classroom
and, in return, hurting the students and the learning process.
1/25/16 Reading: Stewart and Walker, Chapter 4
Word Count: 379
One of the most helpful things that an educator should keep in mind is the big picture.
We often forget about the larger issues or ideas when teaching lessons, or at least forget to
address them by the final project. When introducing a project, we often refer to large art
movements or artists, but what we forget is: why is this important? This chapter started by
explaining the importance of addressing the big picture; when closing out a lesson or project, it is
easy to give a student the grade and move on. However, whats more important is addressing
what they should have learned and understood so that they leave the class with more knowledge
than just making a pretty picture. Speaking of the pretty picture, this chapter also mentioned that
we as teachers should learn to avoid just making something pretty. In the end, it is important
that something is learned versus just the grade at the end.
One quote to better understand this read, Art making is primarily taught to further
technical skill, design knowledge, and personal expression. We believe that art making is also a
means for exploring the world, self, and others. So, while the art making itself is beneficial

because it allows the students to improve on their abilities, the exploration is just as important
because it leaves a longer impact on their lives.
Finally, understanding the importance of a great critique in the classroom is crucial. A
well rounded critique allows the students to interpret the meanings of the artworks and and
evaluate the qualities. Besides the obvious social interaction within a critique, the knowledge that
a student could gain by the analysis of another students work (and even their own) is helpful to
other aspects in life, besides art. Critique allows a student to see the bigger picture, discuss, and
sometimes even defend their work. On a more personal note, when defending art to other people,
the opposing opinion is that art is easy and doesnt involve thinking too much. When defending
myself, I always critique as a prime example of how art allows us think out loud and learn so
much more from other people. The art classroom as a whole is such a great place for exploration
when done properly.
1/27/16 Reading: Anderson and Milbrant, Art Criticism
Word Count: 364
Art Criticism can be defined as talking or writing about art, and we do it because we
want to know the meaning and significance of artworks. Much of the art we create reflects on
our own personal lives, and through critique, we can explore the thoughts we might have not
even known we had. If this technique is used properly in the classroom, it can be one of the most
helpful tools an art teacher could use. The key to a great critique is time-management. One of the
biggest mistakes I have learned from my teachers and in class discussion is that when a critique
takes too long, the students lose focus completely. For example, in a painting class here, we had
a critique that lasted three hours, giving about 20 minutes of discussion for each work of art.
While this might sound helpful, it was actually more harmful because there is only so much that

can be said about a work of art. At a certain point, the comments become repetitive and not
helpful. This is another key element to a great critique which is the quality of the comments,
rather than the quantity. While it might be important that every student says something, if the
comments are discussing how pretty something is, that can only go so far. The point of the
critique is to learn what mistakes may have been made and how to improve on them in the
future.
My goal, as a future art educator, is to incorporate critique in the best way possible. I
hope to incorporate in progress critiques rather than just final ones. This allows the students to
ask me and other classmates what they think and receive opinions that may be different than their
own. This is helpful because not only are they receiving great feedback, but it breaks their
pattern of work. Instead of doing the same thing day in and day out, the students are allowed a
break to discuss amongst their peers and get their energy up again. The questions the students ask
are so important to knowledge and learning that it is key to allow them the time to do so.
2/03/16 Reading: Taylor, Chapter 6
Word Count: 381
This was absolutely my favorite reading because I loved learning about the artist James
Luna. While the chapter was not entirely about James Luna, it helped me better understand the
main ideas behind diversity. Diversity is in every part of our lives, its in how we teach, what we
teach, who we teach, who we are, the communities we live in, our past, our present, and so much
more. The goal for educators is to find a way for students to envision themselves as people who
value their own lives, embrace integrity, and are advocates for justice. The way to accomplish
this is to incorporate an integrated curriculum that is connected to the cultural lives of students as

well as academically demanding. Instead of focusing on the color and composition of a piece of
art, call to attention the narratives they might tell or what they might represent.
An amazing work of art that tells a narrative is the work by James Luna. Luna plays off
the idea that he is different than everyone else and brings it to everyones thoughts immediately.
He created a performance piece that allowed the locals to take a picture with him dressed in
Native American clothing. First, a performance piece in and of itself makes more of an impact
because there is a live human speaking to you, directly in front of you. Second, it brought to
question whether or not he was the visitor or the people taking the picture with him were. The
locals coming to take the picture are now being confronted and taking home a memory, like they
would on a vacation. Finally, because they get to take this picture home with them, it is
something they cannot forget. They will always remember the man that took the picture with
them and the questions and feeling they had.
I thought this work was so inspirational and made me wonder how I could incorporate
this into the classroom. My concerns stem from the questions the students might ask. How do I
properly bring up diversity without bringing attention to the different cultures in the classroom?
Although I assume when I become a teacher Ill have to face these problems daily, my fear
would always be what if I offend someone?
2/10/16 Reading: Beattie, Chapters 1 and 2
Word Count: 411
Assessment is a means for gathering information in the classroom. As discussed in
previous readings, assessment occurs at many different levels and, more often than not, the
outcomes of these assessments can have a major effect on the student, the program, the school,
and obviously the teacher. I still stand firmly grounded that most assessments do more harm then

good and should not be used. However, like this reading explained, there are effective
assessment techniques that can actually improve classroom instruction and might even empower
students and heighten their motivation. One example is using the assessments to diagnose the
students strengths and weaknesses early on and monitor the progress to assist in improving the
issues discovered by the assessment. So while I do agree that some assessments are not in any
way helpful, some can actually be very valuable and allow further assistance in the classroom.
Another form of helpful assessment is actually the process of critiquing. Critiquing, when
done properly, can be very beneficial because it allows the students to stay on track and learn
from their works. One helpful critique form is an in-process critique. This is very beneficial
because it breaks up the student time in the classroom and allow them to ask the questions they
might not be able to ask otherwise. Also, if the students fall into a routine and get bored, the inprocess critique is an excellent way to get movement and offer a new setting for teaching. One
example, as mentioned by Allison, was the tennis courts. The teacher took them out and laid out
their work for a new setting of discussion. This is an excellent way to wake the students up and
get them energized.
Finally, another helpful tip was the use of sketchbooks in the classroom. Sketchbooks
offer so many helpful guidelines for the students. Obviously, their book can be used a means to
sketch out ideas for the upcoming projects and even for them to just reflect on their lives or
thoughts. Also, the sketchbooks serve as portfolios for the students. The teacher can hold weekly
or bi weekly checks on the sketchbooks to see student ideas and ensure that they stay on track.
As a final comment, I have to say that these readings were much more helpful than
originally anticipated. I learned so many ideas that I had never thought to use in the classroom
and other tips for ensuring that I make my classroom an efficient one.