Senior Project Update

(1) What are you currently doing in your independent component? 

I am currently looking at different types of art project ideas and looking to see which ones I could use for my lesson plan.

(2) What is a recent piece of research (article, interview, or audio-visual) that have you reviewed you would say was significant in helping you understand where to go next in your senior project? The piece of research should be something you reviewed in November. Please explain what you learned and where are you going next because of this piece of research.

I recently read an online article called Without the arts, education's grade is Incomplete By Jeffrey T. Schnapp. In this article Mr. Schnapp talks about how you can find art in many of the core subjects in school, yet we are getting rid of arts in general. He also states that too little art could diminish a child's learning, and by controlling it much could create terrible outcomes. This helps me get an idea of what could happen if art continues to be taken out of school. I learned that I need to watch out for how I teach art. I also learned that I may want to look for alternative ways to pay for art programs and more look up different ways to incorporate art into a core lesson plan for my independent component. (Stated above)

(3) Provide evidence from your independent component or the piece of research as something you recently did.  For example, a photo of something you working on for your independent component or your notes from the video you watched. 

http://www.kinderart.com/drawing/numbers.shtml

http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_uploads/lesson_plans/74/Making%20Connections %20Art%20and%20Music%20History.pdf

Science Fair Proposal

1. My topic is using art as a teaching tool to improve a child’s learning experience.

2.One major problem with my topic is that many teachers don't understand how to incorporate art in their curriculum causing them to feel like they will be unable to teach everything they need to cover. So they do not use it
-“They were concerned that they wouldn't be able to cover their content. However, after they understand that they are still able to teach the same content, just in a a different way they were quick to embrace this approach.” By Mark Coates, Howard County schools coordinator of fine arts. -Coates, Mark. "Arts Integrated into Other Subjects in Howard County Schools." Baltimore Sun. N.p., 08 Jan. 2011. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. <http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-01- 08/news/bs-ho-arts-integration-20110106_1_arts-integration-language-arts-social- studies>.

3. If a teacher uses art as a teaching tool in school, then then the student's grade point average will increase.

4.For this experiment I will be taking a survey of different classrooms and asking a series of questions to the teachers.
-What Subject do you teach?

-How much art do you use in your classroom?

• Not much
• Maybe one Project a month
• Maybe two or three projects a month
• All the time
  How many children do you have in each class?

How many of those children have a grade of......
• A
• B
• C
• D
• F

I will survey multiple teachers in multiple schools and ask them these questions and possibly more as I develop my project more. After collecting my data I will compile it into a data chart and analyze it all to see whether my hypothesis is correct.

5. Behavioral/Social Science

Blog 9: Working EQ and Possible Answers

(1) What is the best way to use art as a teaching tool in middle school?

(2) What is the best way to use art as a teaching tool in a classroom to help students learn?
(3) -The best way to use art as a teaching tool in a classroom to help to students learn would be to create a fun lesson plan that sparks the children's interest.
-The best way to use art as a teaching tool in a classroom to help to students learn would be to create hands on lessons that use art to help the children express what they are learning in their own way.
-The best way to use art as a teaching tool in a classroom to help to students learn would be to look at the a child's individual streangths and weaknesses and use art to hone their abilities to learn.

Rough Draft of Presentation 1

Prepared By: Cat Clauss #33

West House

Working EQ: What is the best way to use art as a teaching tool in middle school?

Objectives (Specify skills/information that will be learned.): People will learn about the many problems a middle school student has.

	Guide	Time	Important Source
Introduction	Hello my name is Cat Clauss and I am doing my Senior project on using art as a tool to teach in schools to middle schoolers. So I will be talking about one of the base components of my project Middle Schooler's mostly 6th graders, how they learn and does does it need to be improved.	1min	1: Susan Hodapp (a teacher at Los Palmas Middle school, and the person from my first interview) -and my own personal experience Visuals Middle school Pic
Verification	-What was your favorite and least favorite memory about middle school?why? -What were some things that made learning hard for you? (example, drama, or certain teaching techniques.) Middle school can be stressful because during that time students are transitioning from the elementary school way of learning to the high school.	2min(s)

Body

L- Less time to learn, More drama (because of puberty) to distract a student from the lesson I- The most important source for this was from my first interview with miss Susan Hodapp, She helped explain the difficulties a middle school experiences A- Because Middle school students have so much going on around them and changing I makes it harder for them to understand what they need to learn.

L- 1 min(s) I- 1 min(s) A- 1 min(s)

Visuals Confused Pic Shocked Pic Middle child pic

Conclusion

Ask People “What have you learned from my presentation? The audience has learned that the average middle schooler has many obsticals to over come durring middle school, like drama (with friends, themselves and bullies.) along with different ways of learning.

2 min(s) Visual Survival Guide Pic

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10tCXaFJmEnx1OauDrw3AFZ8eoH2mkY-N4jvt1r_87b4/edit

Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

CONTENT:

1. Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.
   For my Independent Study Component I will be putting together a web site, or blog for teachers to look at that has Ideas on how to use Art Integration (or Art in Education) in their classrooms.

2. Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work requirement.
   I think that creating this web site, or blog will meet the 30 hours work requirement because it would be something that I must maintain in order to help other teachers. It also gives me a chance to review what my mentor has taught me and share it with others. I might also be able to get comments and advise from other teachers in different areas.

3. How does your independent study component relate to your working EQ?
   My working EQ at the moment is “What is the best way to use art as a teaching tool in middle schools?” So my Independent Study component relates to my working EQ because the web site or blog will be taking what I learn about using art as a teaching tool and sharing it with others.

Second Interview Questions

1. How and why did you get into teaching? So did you always want to be a teacher or did you have someone introduce you to the idea?
2. What college did you go to, in order to get your teaching credentials? Do you think everything you learned there is still accurate?
3. When you were studying to become a teacher did you learn about the multiple intelligence theory? If so how did you feel about the different intelligences? (Have a brief overview of the topic and each of the suggested intelligences to discuss.)
4. Where did you learn about the Idea of Art in Education, or Art Integration? Was it taught to you in college? How do you feel about using in schools.
5. How do you feel about the difference of how you learned in lets say middle school differs greatly to that of middle school students today? Or do you think that it differs little? Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?

Problem Statement

 Blog: #5

Content:

1. My Senior Project is on Art Integration, the processes of using art as a tool in schools to help teach other subjects like math, science, etc....
2. One problem my topic has, is the fact that most teachers fear that they will be unable to get through and teach all the needed material. In most cases they can easily get through the material. Once the problem is solved, I will do my best to help the teachers, at the school I am volunteering at, to teach the students.
3. Another problem with my topic is that many teachers don't understand how to incorporate art in their curriculum. Once we are able to solve this I not only will I be able to help the school I am working at but also other schools in the district. I could even help schools in other districts.

Working EQ

1. The Pentagon:
   Well during my summer mentorship, while I was helping to set up a teacher's class room I was able to understand and see how a classroom is put together. Seeing this helps me because by seeing how the classroom is put together I can have a better understanding of how it will work. Like if the classroom has a lot of art on the walls I can tell the class may have art, while if it has some art on the walls but the rest is blank, I can tell the teacher is one to teach there students using art and to also hang it up to show the world.
2. EQ Content:
   I learned from my interview that art, or any form of expression, is an important tool, not just to free oneself from becoming bored but also to help a student learn something in a way thats fun for them. Because everyone is different. They have their very own likes and dislikes. These things give the student their own understanding of the world and the thoughts and ideas in it. So if a person, mainly a teacher, uses what that person likes as a sort of roseta stone to teach that student about a core subject they will find that the student is smarter than even thay think of themselves.
3. What has work for me so far in my senior project experience would have to be the amout of book research that I am able to find and use. There are tons of books out there about teaching and using art as a tool to teach. A lot more than I thought there was going to be.
4. The only thing I can think of that hasn't worked well so far would have to be the amount of research online. I mean there are plenty of blurbs, but there are not a lot of good articles about this subject out there on the internet.
5. Finding Value:

• What is the best art form to use in schools?
  How can we as the nation of the United States start getting test scores up by using art integration?
  How can best help younger and maybe even older students learn and express themselves at the same time, there for creating more interest in going to public school and higher education?
• I hope to have a better understanding of what gets students interested in schools again, and then use those techniques in my future career camp.
• I would like to talk to an artist like Ms. Hodapp said (in my first interview) and get their take on the subject. I would also like to ask for their personal stories and information on what its like to be an artistic soul, and how to put that artistic need to create into other subjects.

Interview Preparation

Content:
1. Who do you plan to interview? Why? 

• I plan to interview Ms. Hodapp from Las Palmas Middle School because she is a teacher who enjoys using art integration in her class room to help teach other subjects like Math, Science, etc.... every day.

2. You have to ask 5 questions. What additional questions do you plan to ask?

 In addition to the 5 questions, given to me by the senior team, to ask during my first interview I plan to ask ......

• How do you feel about extra curricular programs, like art, being cut from schools? Why?
• Do you feel that using art as a teaching tool will help students understand other subjects such as Science, Math, History, and English? Why?
• What types of art forms do you feel will have the best impact on the student body? Why? (Example illustration, sculpting, etc...)
• In what subject do you think that the use of art will have the greatest effect on a students ability to learn? Why?
• Do you believe the age of a student will change the effect art has on that student? (Will a younger student lets say, in 6^th grade learn more from a subject using art than a student in 11^th grade.) Why?

Topic Choice

Content

a. What is your topic and why?

• My Topic is Art and its effects on how children and teens learn certain subjects like Math, History, etc..... The reason I chose this topic is because it involved two things I truly love to do, Art and Teaching.

b. And what do you hope to accomplish this year with this topic (connecting your answer to each of the 4 ESLRs)

• iPoly Citizen: I plan to use the presentation and the communication skills I have learned from I Poly to not only improve them but to perfect them. By doing this during my volunteers hours I hope that my final presentation will be one of my best.
• Effective Communicator: During my senior year I plan to write down every thing critical that my mentors says and recording my interviews with my mentors so I can review what they say and make sure I understand what they say and if there is something I do not understand I will be able to look back at the notes I have taken and ask them to clarify at any time they are available to answer my extra questions. This will make me more effective as a learner because I will not just let all the information go in one year and out the other, I will be physically writing things down and reviewing it along with creating extra questions to make sure I understand what my mentor says.
• Effective Learner: I plan to write down and brain storm any questions I come up with at any available time so I will have plenty of questions for my interviews. I will also write down any important tips my teacher gives me so that I can look back on them later in the year. This will make me a more effective learner because I will not only be listening to what the person says but I can also look back on them and retain any information given I will need, and there is sure to be plenty for me to review.
• Effective User of Technology: I plan to use my laptop not just for a power point but to also show how to draw certain things to students. I will plug my laptop in to a projector and I will use one of the many art programs to help explain certain things. This will make me a more effective user of technology because I will not be using technology at the end during my presentation, I will be using it all through out the hole senior project.

Blog 1: Summer Mentorship Component

Assignment

    Literal (Know)

·Wednesday August 15, 2012 Started 9:30a.m. to 1:00p.m. Total of 3 and a half hours

Thursday August 16, 2012 Started 9:30a.m. to 1:00p.m. Total of 3 and a half hours

Friday August 17, 2012 Started 9:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. Total of 3 hours

• All three days of my summer mentoring were spent helping a teacher at Las Palmas Middle school set up their classroom for the new school year. I did things like organizing cabinets, and putting together desk buckets, to be used by students for pencils pens and other need school supplies. I also sorted through papers, folders, drawers looking for unwanted worksheets and paper to make room for new ones. I also asked the teachers I saw, certain questions on how they like to teach their students and if they felt art was a great teaching tool. 

·       Heidi Clauss Htcme1@gmail.com (Please email does not want phone # online)

    Literal (Need to know)   

• What kind of things or tools do you use to teach your students?
• What is your take on using art in the classroom to help teach a subject?
• How do you feel about after school programs like art and music getting cut back or completely pulled from schools?
• Do you know of any other teachers who use art to teach their students, and if so do you know how they feel about it?

   Interpretive

     The most important thing I gained from this experience is that art is a great way to help people and children learn curtain things and subjects. Like in science art can help a student learn about Photosynthesis having them draw a flower and label important parts and what makes them important so they can get an idea of what the processes looks like. Or in history it would help to not only write an essay on what happened during a great battle but to also draw a picture of what they think the battle may have looked like.

   Applied

     This summer mentorship helped me pick a good topic by showing me how art, something I truly love and care about, can help others learn in a fun way .