TRB 5A

The evidence piece I have chosen to represent my ability to satisfy the requirements of TRB 5a is a website I designed to house all the resources required for a unit I designed on Functional Art. The unit was titled Functional Art: Wabi-sabi Aesthetic in Clay. The resources found on the website include: video interviews with Japanese ceramic artists who work using the Wabi-sabi aesthetic; instructional videos demonstrating the drape and hump mould method of clay construction; my slide presentation; and a pdf of the three dimensional art project.

The evidence piece I have chosen to represent my ability to satisfy the requirements of TRB 5 is a website I created to house all the resources required for a unit I designed on Functional Art. The unit was titled Functional Art: Wabi-sabi Aesthetic in Clay. The resources found on the website include: video interviews with Japanese ceramic artists who work using the Wabi-sabi aesthetic; instructional videos demonstrating the drape and hump mould method of clay construction; my slide presentation; and a PDF of the Art Assignment, which included both a project evaluation rubric and self-reflection. 

As a visual arts educator, I feel project-based learning meets the needs of both the curriculum requirements and the students’ learning process. 

“Project-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy that involves a dynamic classroom approach in which it is believed that students acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. [1] Students learn about a subject by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to a complex question, challenge, or problem. [2] It is a style of active learning and inquiry-based learning. PBL contrasts with paper-based, rote memorization, or teacher-led instruction that presents established facts or portrays a smooth path to knowledge by instead posing questions, problems or scenarios.[3]” (Wikipedia contributors, 2019)

When I designed projects for my practicum in SD68, I gathered the resources and support materials together digitally—in a website for instance—so that I was able to both present the materials to students during class as well as make them available to students online through Google Classroom. Google Classroom is a tool that is available to students and educators in SD68 and because it is an online platform it is accessible for both in the classroom, and remotely. Making materials accessible to students allows them to share their learning experience with their friends and family, as well as extend their learning through exploring areas of interest independently. My awareness of the multiple applications of working this way indicate my efficacy as an educator in terms of implementing effective practices in classroom management and planning and assessment. 

The project itself demonstrates my awareness of the relationship between planning and how it can help us meet the diverse needs of students in our classes. One of the accommodating aspects of the project design included the broad parameters of the assignment. Students were to “Create a glazed ceramic functional artwork inspired by the Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi”, using one of the following methods of construction: the hump mould or draping method; or the organic block carving method.  This opened up several different areas for the students to make choices about how they wanted to create their three-dimensional functional artwork out of clay. They were able to choose between two different methods of clay construction—the hump mould/draping method or the organic block carving method—which allowed them to learn about both additive and subtractive sculpting techniques. Other choices students made in terms of their object included: the type of functional object they made (e.g. cups, trays, bowls, teapots, etc.); the colour of glaze; and the method of glaze application (painting using recognizable brushstrokes, dripping the glaze, using a combination of wax resist and coloured glaze, etc.). In my experience, students seem more interested in visual art projects when they have the opportunity to personalize the process through making their own aesthetic choices.

Another key feature of this project which demonstrates my ability to facilitate learning for students was the overall theme of the unit, which was the “Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi”. Wabi-sabi is defined as: a Japenese aesthetic—design sense—that is “described as one of beauty that is, “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”. Characteristics of the Wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes.” (Wikipedia contributors, 2019

Through building the project around this open flexible aesthetic, students were free to learn through taking creative risks and making mistakes without worrying about “ruining” their piece. They were able to enjoy the process and not focus on trying to achieve perfection in the final product. I firmly believe in the value of taking a process oriented approach to teaching visual art, because I feel everyone benefits from learning how to express themselves through different media and art practices. Like most disciplines, the practice part of visual art is essential to growth. If educators focus on students achieving a specific uniform final product, then art class becomes a competitive environment, where some students are the ‘art stars’ and some feel like they are unable to express themselves through visual media. Process oriented art projects are a positive, practical and effective way of meeting both, the diverse needs of students in the classroom as well as the intentions of the new BC curriculum.

TRB 5 includes the requirement that “Educators employ a variety of instructional and assessment strategies.” Both the website and the project I designed supports this expectation through providing students with a variety of supportive resources for various aspects of the project, as well as a self-reflection component of the assessment process. One of the reasons I choose to provide online support to students via a website for instance, is to help direct them to quality online content and resources. Part of my planning process involves researching excellent content for student use to both, model the value of finding credible and quality resources and in order to help them manage their time effectively. Students aren’t limited to these resources or required to use them but they are available if they need to review methods, if they are absent for classroom demos, or if they are interested in extending their learning.

In terms of assessment methods, I followed the example of my experienced sponsor teacher and adopted their method of including a detailed project evaluation rubric with the project itself. The assessment process included students independently completing a self-evaluation directly on the rubric sheet, once they were finished their work. Once the self-evaluation section of the rubric was complete the rubric was then handed in with the student’s project for assessment by the teacher. In addition to the teacher evaluating the work on their own, this system used by my sponsor teacher, also allowed for students to be part of a conference approach to evaluation. During this type of evaluation, the instructor and student discuss their respective evaluations and the reasoning behind them. This approach is not always possible due to time constraints but it is a method I would like to integrate into my teaching practice. The project rubric approach to evaluation is a clearly defined and transparent process, which in my opinion, is beneficial for both students and teachers. The well defined parameters of both the assignment and the assessment process also help facilitate reporting when the time comes. There is a clear representation of what content was covered, how it relates to the curriculum and through including the overall rating and comment section, teachers will be able to provide concrete and meaningful information to parents/caregivers when adding comments during the reporting process. 

When I needed support around creating effective assessment strategies during my practicum, I consulted with my sponsor teacher who shared both her ideas, and the techniques she found most effective. My positive experience in this respect will allow me to continue to fulfill the expectation of seeking out additional support for my teaching practice as described in TRB 5. Overall, I feel this project and the various resource material included in the website fully demonstrates my ability as an educator to “implement effective practices in the areas of classroom management, planning, instruction, assessment, evaluation and reporting” as detailed in TRB 5.

Works Cited

Wikipedia contributors. (2019, September 6). Project-based learning. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:52, September 29, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project-based_learning&oldid=914348769

Wikipedia contributors. (2019, September 8). Wabi-sabi. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:50, September 29, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wabi-sabi&oldid=914584035

TRB 5B

The evidence piece I have chosen to support my ability to meet the requirements of TRB 5b, is a Google slide presentation that I created to house the various resources required to teach a lesson on Visual Hierarchy during my Spring 2019 practicum. The project based lesson was designed for my PHOTO 10–12 class at Dover Bay Secondary School, and is a good example of my ability to use technology to help me effectively organize and plan my lessons, as well as support my assessment and evaluation processes. Teaching with technology required me to exercise specific classroom management practices in order to safeguard expensive equipment as well as facilitate student learning with respect to: skills acquisition, digital literacy and design concepts. Using the online Google classroom platform, also allowed me to integrate my practicum work into the course outline created by the sponsor teacher without disrupting the systems that students were accustomed to working with, for submitting projects and accessing feedback. I also made use of the Google Classroom tools to mark and provide feedback to students. The advantage of completing evaluations using the Google Classroom format was that it allowed the sponsor teacher to both: view the marks and feedback; and have easy access to the assessment/comments, when it came time to creating reports after my practicum was completed. Aligning my process with the sponsor teacher’s existing systems, allowed me to learn from the experience without overly disrupting the class, or creating extra work for my generous mentor.  

One of the advantages of teaching this digital photography class during my practicum, was that all of the students had access to a desktop computer and the necessary applications—e.g. Adobe CC—required for photo editing and basic graphic design skills. This access allowed me to create this Visual Hierarchy project which was available to students through Google Classroom. The slide presentation that housed the project content included: poster design depicting the key aspects of visual hierarchy, the lesson content in bullet form, links to examples of visual hierarchy, the project sample, a tutorial video on the specific photoshop technique covered through the project, a copy of the assignment instructions/requirements, and the self-reflection questions students were required to submit along with their final image. I found having materials organized this way was convenient for both presenting the content and having it available to the students for review (self-reflection) and extension purposes. Project based learning suits digital media education well and is aligned with my belief in the efficacy of taking an active student-centred approach to learning.

“Thomas Markham (2011) describes project-based learning (PBL) thus: "PBL integrates knowing and doing. Students learn knowledge and elements of the core curriculum, but also apply what they know to solve authentic problems and produce results that matter. PBL students take advantage of digital tools to produce high quality, collaborative products. PBL refocuses education on the student, not the curriculum—a shift mandated by the global world, which rewards intangible assets such as drive, passion, creativity, empathy, and resiliency. These cannot be taught out of a textbook, but must be activated through experience."[4]” (Wikipedia, 2019)

Some of the challenges of teaching in a computer lab include developing and reinforcing classroom management strategies that ensure safe and responsible use of expensive equipment while at the same time supporting the independent skills development and experimentation required for student centred project based learning and digital literacy. I was fortunate to be placed in a class with a well established organized system for: signing out equipment; students signing in and out of class for on-site photography during class time; and controlling access to the monitors when required. For instance, there was a main switch installed in the class to turn off student monitors without students having to shut down their computers. This was an efficient way for the teacher to prevent student distractions due to “surfing the net” during demonstrations and presentations, by turning off their monitors, without the downside of wasting a great deal of time getting their computers powered up again once the presentation was over. This was a great example of an efficient and useful classroom management strategy that supported the needs of both the teacher and the students.

Other classroom strategies I practiced over the course of the practicum were: conducting initial check ins with students to make sure the entire class was on track after the demonstration, before spending more time on more lengthly requests for assistance; listing the daily goals on the white board; adding the return time to the student sign-out chart on the board; visually scanning the class frequently during presentations and demos to make sure the students were following along as well as noticing any ‘hands up’ for questions; and getting up and moving around the classroom to visually monitor student progress on their screens to support students that might have been reluctant to ask for help for various reasons such as shyness, language barriers etc. My progress in terms of acquiring responsive classroom management practices demonstrates my ability to implement effective practices, in areas of classroom management and assessment as detailed in the requirements for TRB 5b.

I believe part of implementing effective practices, in areas of classroom management, planning, instruction, assessment, evaluation and reporting as detailed in TRB 5b, lies in recognizing when your practice isn’t actually effective. Carol Dweck’s quote “Teaching is a wonderful way to learn.” addresses this aspect of teaching succinctly. Through adopting an approach to teaching which includes self-reflection, and an openness to honest feedback and input from colleagues, we will be able to evolve as educators and truly embrace the learning phase of the teaching cycle. Through accepting the fact that we will never teach the perfect lesson we will be able to approach each day with freshness, while at the same time modelling perseverance, and active learning, for our students. This active learning approach also supports students’ development outside of the classroom as they hopefully apply their project based learning to their own personal creative projects.

This slide presentation demonstrates my commitment to utilizing all of the tools I have in my teaching toolbox when creating lessons for students. It demonstrates how I am able to make use of the technology at hand to provide resources for students both during class and on their own time. Likewise, through demonstrating my skills in digital media to the class I potentially gain credibility while at the same time keeping my skills up to date and sharp. I do believe that we need to remain open to learning from our experiences as teachers throughout the process of planning, instruction, assessment, evaluation and reporting, in order to understand and capitalize on their interrelatedness. This self-reflective practice, will help us to critically evaluate our instructional and assessment strategies in order to ensure we are always utilizing the best methods for our students.

Works Cited

Wikipedia contributors. (2019, September 6). Project-based learning. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:49, September 29, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project-based_learning&oldid=914348769