TEACHER QUALITY STANDARD I
​Teachers demonstrate mastery of and pedagogical expertise in the content they teach.
The elementary teacher is an expert in literacy and mathematics and is knowledgeable in all other content that he or she teachers (e.g., science, social studies, arts, physical education, or world languages).
​The secondary teacher has knowledge of literacy and mathematics and is an expert in his or her content endorsement area(s).
STANDARD I REFLECTION: As a teacher, I have demonstrated pedagogical expertise in the field of visual art by applying a wide array of media and techniques to my curriculum. I have differentiated these techniques and media explorations by providing scaffolded choices for students. I believe that in order to fully grasp and engage with visual media, students must practice artistic behaviors such as exploration, perseverance, and reflection. I also maintain that the visual arts are just one part of an interconnected whole among the humanities and sciences. Therefore, I actively engage literacy and mathematics in my curriculum so that students can explore transdisciplinary themes such as change, place, identity, and community. I feel that I will never master truly pedagogical expertise because I perceive this standard as an ongoing challenge to consistently engage myself un the nuances and strategies in the field of art education and contemporary art throughout my teaching career.
ELEMENT A: Teachers provide instruction that is aligned with the Colorado Academic Standards, their District’s organized plan of instruction, and the individual needs of their students.​
Texture Lesson Objectives/Standards - While student-teaching at Beattie Elementary School, I provided students with instruction that was aligned with the Colorado State Standards. One of the lessons I taught, Exploring Textures, connected to all four Colorado standards for the visual arts. Poudre School District also encourages visual arts teachers to emphasize their curriculum on the Studio Habits of Mind. These studio habits are also connected to standards in the lesson format. In this lesson, students' individual needs were met through the multiple choices that students had during the presentation, studio time, and reflection to achieve an understanding of the standards.
ELEMENT B: Teachers develop and implement lessons that connect to a variety of content areas/disciplines and emphasize literacy and mathematical practices.​
Love Hands Lesson Plan - While student-teaching at Cache La Poudre Elementary, I developed a lesson for students to explore the uniqueness of their handprints and fingerprints through a clay project. During the lesson, students learned about the science of forensics and how this contributed to the uniqueness of their fingerprints. The students also identified which types of fingerprints they had. Since this lesson was also an introduction to clay, the students learned lots of vocabulary words that aided their processes such as SLAB, KILN, and UNIQUE.
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Surreal Landscapes Scaling - While student-teaching at Wellington Middle-High School, I taught a lesson that used a grid method to make a collaged image twice as large with drawing materials. Students were tasked with using rulers and measurement tools to create 1 and 2-inch grids on different surfaces. The photograph below captures this process.
This is a photo of a student creating a grid on their collage with a ruler.
ELEMENT C: Teachers demonstrate knowledge of the content, central concepts, inquiry, appropriate evidence-based instructional practices, and specialized characteristics of the disciplines being taught.
Choice-based documentation - At both of my placements in elementary and secondary schools, I have implemented a choice-based pedagogy and curriculum that allows me to fully demonstrate my knowledge of visual arts and art education. These practices originate from a research-based philosophy called Teaching for Artistic Behavior. The documentation/blog post that I have selected to evidence this element provides my findings as to how choice-based approaches differentiate across the elementary and secondary levels.