Praxis Folio

Question 1: Why is teaching my content important to what I believe about teaching? How do I see these beliefs aligning with my teaching practices?

I truly believe in providing students with a well-rounded education.  Offering students core subjects as well as specialized subject areas is important for their growth throughout their school years.  Teaching art is a passion of mine; I feel that it is important for all students to have the opportunity to explore the world of art because it opens up opportunities for self-expression, provides students with opportunities to develop independence as well as collaboration skills, develops higher order thinking skills (critical and creative thinking) and provides a means for every student to learn and achieve.  I feel that I directly align my teaching practices with my beliefs; I provide my students with the opportunity to be creative in their own personal way while developing higher order thinking skills.  I have recently incorporated more collaboration among students within my classroom and will be doing so more in the future with other school staff and school administrators.  

Question 2: How is my understanding of content concepts guiding me in making needed changes in my teaching practices in the area of my content?

Although I teach the same units each quarter, sometimes in the same day, they are never the same for each group of students.  I am constantly assessing my students to see how they are doing, to see if I can move ahead or if there is need for reteaching.  Everyone works at a different pace, especially when creating art.  I encourage my students to take their time and in turn I need to make changes in my teaching to accommodate for their individual needs.  Encouraging students is another passion of mine, as it is difficult to hear students say that they “can’t” complete a task that I have introduced to them.  My goal is to make it very clear to my students that I do not accept “I can’t” in my classroom.  I work with them one-on-one every chance I can get to help them along and work through their struggles with the concept at hand.  Although I provide my students will project outline I think it is also important to encourage students to experiment with materials and technique in the art room; I want them to feel comfortable to think creatively and try new things.  I have learned so many great ideas from my students and I know this would not have happened if I would not have allowed them the opportunity to be creative.

Question 3: How am I coming to connect the depth of understanding and application needed in the learning process of each student? How am I changing my  content delivery to account for the cognitive processes of my students, engaging them in solving real life problems for building knowledge?

One main technique that I use in my classroom to account for all cognitive processes of my students is to work with them one-on-one.  This is not always an easy task, however, it is something I try to do with each student on a daily basis.  I get a new group of students each quarter; once I get to know each student my goal is to provide them with any information they may need.  Some of my students do better with information in writing at the board, while some need a copy of the information in their hands.  I currently have 6 sections of student for art each day, so my daily/weekly goal is to be organized for my students.  With so many kids coming into my room each day, I know how important it is to be organized so that they know exactly what their job is in class each day.  

I do think it is very important for students to engage in real-world problems.  I have begun working on creating projects for my students that prepare them for the real-world interactions that they will (or have already) encountered.  Collaboration is one of the ways that I encourage real-world situations in my classroom.  Students will work work collaboratively with people all their lives, and I feel that it is an important aspect for them to learn.

Question 4: How can the gifts, backgrounds, and interests of each person in the classroom community be used to help one another learn and make my content understandable and meaningful in their lives now?

I love learning about my students on an individual level.  Each student brings different experiences to my classroom and I enjoy giving them the opportunity to share their personal experiences with their peers and myself.  I aim to connect the material that I teach to student’s everyday lives.  Allowing students to work collaboratively opens up the lines of communication between students.  I love to see students work with one another to solve a problem and it takes various experiences to do so in the classroom setting.