Kurt Morrison

Art 3700

Reflection #5 

Shakespeare

What Makes A Quality Art Lesson?

The timing of this particular reflection is very apropos as I just had the wonderful experience of completing my practicum.  Together with Rick and Lori Gomez, we presented an art lesson to an all-day kindergarten class in Willard, Utah.  This was my first practicum in my elementary education major and I entered it with a desire to present a lesson that would be of value to the students as well as the teacher who so generously gave of her time.  As Rick, Lori, and I worked on the lesson plan, one question kept coming to my mind, what will make our art lesson one that will stand out and leave the children more knowledgeable about art, or in other words, what will make this a quality lesson plan?

In analyzing what makes an effective art lesson, allow me to first reference our hierarchy.  From the website www.schools.utah.gov, we learn of the four standards they desire us to incorporate when teaching art, they are:  Making, Perceiving, Expressing, and Contextualizing.  Without going into a lengthy description of each standard, I will just make mention that they are fairly straight forward as well as very worthwhile on the surface.  I say on the surface for the simple reason that there is always room for customizing the standards to your particular class and art lesson.  Some teachers could look at these standards as only barriers to their teaching methods but i believe we should respect them while also keeping in mind their pliability, which I’m sure the authors allowed for. 

Another important aspect of a quality lesson plan is making it effective for all types of learners as well as giving each student a well-rounded experience.  From the class text, Emphasis Art, this idea is expressed as they state, “Education should focus on the integration that occurs within the child - the integration of the child’s emotional, psychomotor, intellectual, perceptual, and aesthetic experiences.  We all know as educators and future educators that students learn through a variety of teaching methods and art can and should be taught with this knowledge in mind. 

My final frame of reference for this subject comes from my recently completed practicum referred to in my introduction.  Rick and Lori were very instrumental in supplying an effective lesson plan for this wonderful kindergarten class, and I was grateful for the experience of working with them.  One of the key aspects of this lesson plan that I felt very strongly about was the idea that we allow these young students to express much of their art from within and not try to instruct them on every little detail.  It is this principle, which if included in all lesson plans, could help to insure that the art students produce true expressions of themselves and not mirrored copies of examples we may show them.  While we did cover all aspects of the lesson plan as instructed, we were richly rewarded by seeing the ideas these young artists came up with on their own. 

In conclusion, I would like to stress my belief in the importance of a well prepared and effective lesson plan.   A wise man once said, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear”.  Once we feel that we have accomplished this main step in teaching we can then feel confident in our approach to the students and be able to customize any further steps as the lesson begins.