If I were an art teacher...

Shelby Williams

English 101 – Paper #3

Sonia Begert

 

A classroom devoid of all control. A teacher who cannot maintain the children. A learning environment where there is no learning. Imagine now that you were the teacher in said classroom. How would you gain control? How would you create a fun, interesting learning environment that motivates students to learn, and gives them the confidence to try new things? In my classroom, I would use a combination of art supplies to promote creativity, spontaneous lesson plans to keep my students on their feet, and a curriculum that the students help create to spark interest in learning. If I were a teacher, I would be a high school art teacher, because as Georgia O'Keeffe said, “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for.” Art gives people -particularly confused and angst-filled teenagers- an outlet to let out their feelings.

When I walk into my class I will see chaos. That’s all these students know. They know teachers who let themselves be pushed around, and who don’t maintain control. What will cure this? Shock. I plan to start out my first day with the element of shock. I will walk into my classroom, not making a sound, not talking to any of the students. The art class will already have plastic on the floors for protection, and plastic covering the desks and chairs. I will put cans of paint on my desk and open them one by one, watching the students. Once I am sure they aren’t paying attention, I will grab a handful of paint, and smack my hand against a wall. Now that I have their attention, I will say “Alright. It’s time to decorate our classroom. Everyone will get a small space to put your ‘mark’. Your own personal painting or drawing on the wall, along with your signature. Once you’re done, please have a seat.” This tactic will shock the students, to the point where they’ll listen to what I have to say. It will spark their interest in what I’m telling them to do. It’s out of the ordinary, and very new.

Lesson plans are supposed to give teachers an outline on what they’re teaching that day. To help them plan the day, and plan the learning. But I believe you can’t plan the learning. You have to slip it in there somewhere the students will not even realize, like children and their vegetables. In order to learn about an art style, we would first examine the artist in question’s work. Figure out what they meant behind the piece, then what styles they used to convey that message. All of my lessons would be, to the students, spontaneous! Not boring and dependable. As Paolo Freire states in his essay Educational Banking, “Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor.”  They should be fun and informative, not memorizing and regurgitating information on a test.

After that first day of classroom decorating, I plan put all the desks against the walls, and arrange the chairs in a large circle. I will have a notebook and a pen. When everyone is seated and quiet, I will begin, “In this classroom, you will decide what we learn. Tell me what YOU want to learn, and I will make it work with our school’s curriculum.” This will get the students thinking. What DO they want to learn from me? Instead of pushing some school board-created agenda, I will let the students choose, and help them alter it to fit the requirements for the class. This will insure that whatever I’m teaching, the students will be interested and will be paying attention.

My classroom would be different. I would run it differently from any other teacher. There would no longer be chaos and bored students. Instead, there would be busy students immersed in their work, and intrigued by what they are doing. My students would be interested in learning, just as interested as Audre Lorde. In her piece Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Audre’s first words were “I want to read.” My students would excel, simply because of their DESIRE to do well, and to learn what I teach them. Each of my students would be important to me, and making sure they reach their goals would be a goal of mine. I would make sure to have connections with students, to be devoted to them, and have them devoted to me. A good example of this is the scene of the end of Dead Poet’s Society. As Mr. Keating is leaving the school for the final time, the students stand on their desk and say to him, “O Captain, My Captain.” This kind of devotion is the dream of all great teachers. In Dan Brown’s essay What Makes a Great Teacher, he states, “Many people posses the dispositions needed to be a great teacher. However, actually becoming one means an embrace of one’s craft, tremendous dedication to the job and continuous improvement, and participation in a healthy system that provides high-quality preparation, robust support, and environments that facilitate powerful student learning.” This is the teacher I would be.

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited Page

 

Lorde, Audre. Zami, a New Spelling of My Name. Trumansburg, NY: Crossing, 1982. Print.

The quote "I want to read."

 

 

Freire, Paolo. Educational Banking. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

The quote, “Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor.”

 

Dead Poet's Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Robin Williams. N.d. DVD. Web.

The last scene, the quote, "O Captain, My Captain."

 

"Great Art Quotes." Great Art Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2012.

Georgia O'Keeffe said, “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for.”

 

Brown, Dan. What Makes a Great Teacher. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

The quote, “Many people posses the dispositions needed to be a great teacher. However, actually becoming one means an embrace of one’s craft, tremendous dedication to the job and continuous improvement, and participation in a healthy system that provides high-quality preparation, robust support, and environments that facilitate powerful student learning.”