Student Teaching Documentation #2 - CHOICE

This documentation will serve to compare and contrast how a choice-based art curriculum operates within an elementary and secondary contexts.

The following bullet points are ways in which choice uniquely serves students at the primary and secondary levels. These points are accompanied by artifacts that illustrate these ways/reasons.

In a K-5 setting, providing students with choice serves them as artists in a multitude of ways:

• Students choose the content of their work. This is often something that interests them and their passions. When students get to choose what they work on, they are much more likely to be invested in the process and complete their projects.

For example, the image below showcases the project of four 4th grade girls who created a set and puppets for a production that they ended up performing for their class. The students worked on this project for over two months and even made characters that resembled their own complexions and identities.

• When students are working on their individual and unique projects, it allows for the teacher to manage behavioral concerns on a more personal level.

One time, while subbing for Ms. Noel at Beattie Elementary, I encountered a situation in which four kindergarteners had decided that they would rather run around the classroom and throw supplies than create art with their peers. Because all of the other students were independently working on their projects, I was able to talk to all of these students both individually and as a group about their behavior. I was so thankful that a choice-based approach had occupied the rest of the class so that I could meet the needs of my students who were struggling to participate that day. The image below commemorates this experience as it is a "sorry note" that one of the students gave me after their behaviors were resolved. It is a picture of me talking to the students while disciplining them.

In a 6-12 setting, providing students with choice also has several benefits:

• From a mental health standpoint, students have the freedom to release their feelings into their artwork, which traditional teacher-centered pedagogy often does not account for.

For example, last week at Wellington Middle High-School, students were experiencing lots of distress and anxiety for reasons related to the district, the school, and their personal lives. Keeping this in mind, I gave the Drawing I students a collage assignment where they could create absolutely anything they wanted. There was quite a variety of images that resulted from this and I got to learn so much about the students through their artwork in this process. Here are some of the collages:

• With more rigorous grading practices in secondary art education, providing students with choices to determine their understanding of the standards is both equitable and fluid.

One of the most difficult yet interesting transitions when going from primary to secondary education is grading. Yet, I have found that choice allows for students to meet certain standards within their projects and assignments. For example, I recall my mentor teacher saying to our 8th grade class, "This ideation packet is a summative assessment because you have standards that relate to planning and envisioning." When you do standards-based grading students are motivated to complete assignments because it's not only what their teachers expect of them, it's also what the state expects as well. So even if a student does a mediocre job planning their project, they will still get points for demonstrating a patronal understanding of the standard.