Teaching Diverse Students

A key skill developed in my figure drawing unit is the use of references: students learn to draw from life (looking at their own hands and faces) and from reference images, like the images shown on the left. I value providing choice in assignments---even practice exercises like drawing parts of the face or the hands---and direct students to choose reference images from the handouts to draw. These choices always include diverse models,, as an important part of drawing is learning to render a diverse people and diverse features. Critical to this unit is an expectation that I establish right from the beginning: our reference images are for learning, not for criticizing, and comments on the appearance of the people pictured are not appropriate. 

These artifacts demonstrate performance indicator 1K, which states that the competent teacher "facilitates a learning community in which individual differences are respected." It is imperative that students see their own racial identities reflected and represented positively in classroom materials, and that those individual differences are celebrated. Diversifying who we see in our art communicates that everyone deserves to be seen in the art canon, and that people from all identities deserve to be the subject of our work. These artifacts also demonstrate performance indicator 1J, which states that the competent teacher "differentiates strategies, materials, pace, levels of complexity, and language to introduce

concepts and principles so that they are meaningful to students at varying levels of

development and to students with diverse learning needs." Providing a range in difficulty and complexity of reference images (forward facing vs. 3/4 view; symmetrical vs. asymmetrical; simple vs. complex poses and expressions) allows students build on their existing skills and knowledge from the beginner to advanced level. 

This 8th grade project was very student-driven: the topic, media, mentor artist, and final product were all decided by students. Students explored a media library (linked below) that included the work of 5 mentor artists and videos and articles about the artists as well as a variety of final products---zines, books, posters, documentaries, etc. The mentor artists---Ai Weiwei, Favianna Rodriguez, Faith Ringgold, Frank Warren, and Kemba Earle---were contemporary activist-artists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, covering a wide range of themes and contemproary issues. After looking at these mentor texts, students discussed and voted on an issue to tackle (one class chose church attendance, and the other chose sexism) which the artwork we produced would seek to make a positive change in. In small groups, students then used a proposal template to write a project proposal outlining what we would make, including the media, timeline, and mentor artist whose work would in some way guide or inspire our own. These proposals were presented and voted on in class; linked below are the winning projects for each class. 

These artifacts demonstrate performance indicator 1L, which states that the competent teacher "uses information about students’ individual experiences, families, cultures, and communities to create meaningful learning opportunities and enrich instruction for all students." Knowing that the majority of my students were Black and Latino, I made sure to highlight contemporary Black and Latino artists in the media library, including well-known and established artists like Faith Ringgold, and young up-and-coming artists like Favianna Rodriguez. In giving students the power to choose an issue that was important to them, I encouraged them to honor their own experiences and community values; one class included a large number of Nigerian Catholic students whose families highly valued participation in faith life and the church community, which was reflected in their chosen issue (raising church attendance), while the other mostly female class chose to tackle sexism, but still balanced the interests of male students by choosing a male mentor artist. In empowering student autonomy and student voice, this project also demonstrates knowledge indicator 1A, which states that the competent teacher understands the spectrum of student diversity (e.g., race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, special education, gifted, English language learners (ELL), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity) and the assets that each student brings to learning across the curriculum."

Successful classrooms are supportive of all students of all ability levels, and successful teachers draw on evidence-based practices and strategies to adapt instruction and assessment to serve students' needs. To develop these skills, I developed two systems/strategies for teaching students with intellectual disabilities in the classroom based on current research---a presentation of these strategies given for an Intro to Special Education class is linked below. The strategies (a feedback library and draft system for assignments) are tailored to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities, allowing students to take on an appropriate level of responsibility for their work and break down instruction at an appropriate pace. 

This demonstrates performance indicator 1H, which states that the competent teacher, "analyzes and uses student information to design instruction that meets the diverse needs of students and leads to ongoing growth and achievement." The feedback library, based on research that clear and immediate feedback is critical for supporting learning in students with intellectual disabilities, is designed to provide clear and concrete feedback in the student's preferred mode (oral or written). Using a feedback notebook, binder, Google Drive folder, USB drive, etc. I will be able to leave feedback side-by-side with student work in a consistent place and format, so that students can see feedback as soon as the work is returned, and compare assignments and monitor progress easily. 

This also demonstrates performance indicator 1J, which states that the competent teacher, "differentiates strategies, materials, pace, levels of complexity, and language to introduce concepts and principles so that they are meaningful to students at varying levels of development and to students with diverse learning needs." The drafting system meets the needs of learners with intellectual disabilities by making room for pacing accommodations and extra time, breaking down complex processes into more manageable, concrete steps, and providing opportunities for feedback, re-teach, and revision.