Finished Sculptures

4. How did you plan and implement the components of Studio Habits of Mind and/or Teaching for Artistic Behavior in your instructional planning and teaching of these two (2) lessons? 

• Much of this lesson was focused on the studio habit of mind of engaging and persisting. Students engaged in further developing and completing their sculptures. More than half of the class needed time to revisit or finish painting their sculptures. Students worked independently to mix paint, apply it to their sculptures, revise their ideas and color palettes, and adapt their ideas to fit the time frame they had to complete their sculptures. They also had to persist through pieces of their sculptures breaking or falling off and determine how to fix their sculptures or adapt them to incorporate or work without the broken pieces.

• The end of class was dedicated to students practicing the studio habit of mind of reflect. Students engaged in a whole class discussion on what an artist statement is and what question might be answered in an artist statement. Equipped with this knowledge, they then engaged in creating an artist statement for their now-finished sculpture(s). Students analyzed their artwork and reflected on their techniques, aspects of the sculpture they liked, and what areas they would change or improve if given the chance.

• The final studio habit of mind that was planned for this lesson was develop craft. The plan was to have students further explore their chosen emotion by creating a background or “room” for their sculpture. Students would be given a template to design the background and color it in before cutting it out to display behind or next to their sculpture. However, we ran out of time, and students did not engage in this activity.

5. How did you plan and implement Social Emotional Learning (SEL) benchmarks into your two (2) lessons? 

• This lesson implemented the social-emotional learning benchmark of 1B.1a. (Identify likes, dislikes, and personal strengths). Students at this age understand how to reflect on their work and academic abilities and analyze their strengths and what they like, dislike, or want to improve. Each student was provided an artist statement template, which asked them to reflect on their sculpture. In this template, they were instructed to reflect on their techniques, determine aspects of their sculpture that they liked the most, and identify areas on their sculpture they felt could be improved or they would redesign if they made the sculpture again.

6. A. Did your students meet the learning objective(s) of the lessons?

• My students were able to meet two out of the three learning objectives in the lesson. Every student was able to develop and implement a plan to complete their sculptures during the class period so that they were ready for display in the art show. Every student was also able to learn what an artist statement is and develop their artist statement to be displayed in the exhibition. Students did not meet the objective of designing a display background for their sculpture because we did not have time in the class period to do so.

6. B. List the assessments you used to come to that conclusion.

• I assessed my students’ abilities to reflect on their artwork by observing, listening to, and conversing with them as they completed their artist statement handouts. As a class, I instructed students between each section of their handout and explained what I was looking for in the answer. I then moved around the room to engage with students as they filled in each section. I worked with students to review what hand-building techniques we learned and how to determine which ones they used in their sculptures. After class, I was also able to review their reflections on their artist statements further and see answers I may not have discussed directly with them. I assessed my students’ ability to engage and persist by observing and engaging with them during their independent work time. I observed as students worked to mix colors, use different brushes and techniques to apply the paint to their sculptures, develop solutions when parts of their sculptures broke, and work together to help their peers finish their projects if they were falling behind.

6. C. Analyze and discuss how students met or did not meet the learning objectives by citing evidence from your assessment of student learning.

• During the independent practice, I observed students mixing colors and using different paint brushes to apply paint in various manners on their sculptures. Some students were unable to exactly color match their paint in class to the paint that was already on their sculptures, so we discussed blending or painting over the areas to create a consistent color. Some students also noticed they were missing tiny pieces from their sculptures that fell off at some point. For instance, one girl made a Buffalo Bill logo out of fragile coils, resulting in it breaking into many pieces. We worked together to fit the pieces and mount them on a background. She then used markers to draw on the background to replace broken pieces. Another girl was missing the pencil for her cat; she engaged and persisted by coloring and sculpting some model magic and attaching it to her sculpture to replace the piece. Another girl painted on the details rather than resculpting them. Finally, I also had one student who was absent the last two classes, so she engaged and persisted by mixing colors with model magic and then sculpting with those colored pieces since we did not have time to wait for the kiln clay to dry and be fired and painted before the art show. She could color and sculpt her entire sculpture within the class period and still have time to make her artist statement.

• At the end of class, I observed and engaged with students as they developed their artist statements. I explained the sections of the template one at a time and waited for students to finish before moving on to the next one. As I moved around the room while students wrote, I worked with them to review hand-building techniques and decide what things they liked and disliked about their sculptures. I talked with students about how well they slipped and scored, keeping all their pieces attached. I also spoke with some students about how they liked the details they could paint on or felt their sculpture represented their initial sketch well. Finally, I also discussed with a few students how it was okay if they didn’t feel they needed improvement in their sculpture. Sometimes, things turn out exactly as we want them, or they may decide there’s something they want to change in the future.

• Students did not meet the last objective because we needed more time in class to introduce and work on it.

6. D. Based upon this analysis and discussion of student learning, what will you do next with your students (i.e., reteaching needs, next steps, how to move forward, etc.)?

• The next lesson is focused on the art exhibition, so the main goal will be getting students to engage with their artwork and their peers and students in other classes/grades. However, based on my analysis, the next time I teach this lesson, I want to redevelop my strategy for actively engaging students in learning what an artist statement is. I ran shy of having students fully engaged and grasping what we were discussing. To redevelop this, I want to revise my laminated handout for students so it is less word-heavy and contains more visuals, so it is less daunting and provides a visual and written way to understand what we are discussing.

7. A. In what ways did you provide feedback, both planned and in-the-moment, that supported students’ learning and encouraged active participation? Provide specific examples. 

• As students worked, I made sure to comment on the techniques they were using. I commented on the different colors they were mixing and how they taught others how to make them. I commented on students using the “swirl, wipe, blot” technique to clean their brushes and how this would prevent any unwanted color mixing or streaks of unwanted colors in their paint. I told them this would also keep their colors bright for their sculptures. I also gave feedback on how they were laying colors over the dried paint from the previous class. Students also came up with the idea of using model magic to replace pieces of their sculptures that broke as a quick and easy way to fix their sculptures and enhance their ideas.

7. B. How did you ensure that this feedback was helpful, constructive, and meaningful to students?

• To ensure feedback was meaningful to students, I elaborated on why I gave them or their peers that feedback. This gave students a deeper understanding of what they were doing and reminded their neighbors how they could be working. I commented on how using a smaller brush was more helpful for creating precise details, whereas the larger brush was good for covering large areas quickly. I even worked with a student who used a pencil as a dotting tool to create even smaller, more precise dots and lines. I also commented on the colors students were using. I explained how they created contrast in some areas by using complementary colors, making their sculptures more visually interesting and engaging for the viewer. 

8. How did you address the following principles of culturally responsive and sustaining education in your planning and instruction [see also: your lesson plans in Section 2: Designing Two (2) Consecutive Lessons]:

Welcoming and Affirming Environment:

• To create a welcoming and affirming environment, I focused on providing an opportunity for students to join conversations by asking questions and practicing active listening skills. The students at work time allowed the class to interact with one another and create conversations around color mixing, using color to portray their ideas, and ways to apply paint in a low-pressure, informal setting. This allowed for more natural learning and interactions among peers. As students developed their artist statements, they were able to discuss their thoughts on their artwork and the artwork of their peers respectfully to help them determine what parts of their sculptures they liked, what they wanted to improve, and whether others agreed with these opinions or not.

Inclusive Curriculum and Assessment:

• Students were given multiple means of demonstrating their knowledge to me and their peers during class. The trickle-in activity allowed students to express their knowledge in a written or drawn manner. Independent practice also allowed students to show their knowledge in a low-pressure, hands-on manner or by taking on a peer mentor role to assist their friends who were further behind in their projects.

High Expectations and Rigorous Instruction:

• High expectations and rigorous instruction were shown as students “identified their different learning styles” with various instructional strategies that were responsive to those styles. The trickle-in activity prompted a written or drawn response, followed by a considerable amount of independent work time where students could engage with peers, work hands-on, and ask questions or provide critiques for their peers. It also offered a chance for peer mentors to demonstrate and reinforce their knowledge by helping their peers. Finally, we ended with a visual closure of thumbs up/down to answer questions.