Independent Component 1

•   LITERAL
(a) I, Catherine Renee Clauss, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(b) Heidi Clauss (will send contact info via email)
(c) This is the link to my Independent Component log https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlJQ5qIWkJRzdDBiNTJQMmdKS0NaRk9DeUhCdk54Q0E#gid=0

•   (d) For my Independent Component 1 I created multiple art integrated activities for the four main core subjects with my mentor along with a rubric and examples of what each assignment should look like.

•   INTERPRETIVE

My whole senior project is based on trying to find the best way to integrate art into the everyday core curriculum. Because I worked to create multiple example of art integrated activities for all four of the major core subjects I really had to work and think of the best ways to make these activities work in a way that was fun and educational. I also discovered how hard  it is to create a rubric for an assignment. (P.S. it’s really hard.)(I will provide evidence of my work at 8:00 a.m.  in class in a neat little folder because I have no means of transferring my photos to the blog.)

•   APPLIED
My essential question is “What is the best way to use art as a teaching tool in middle school?” So by looking at so many different activities (with and without art) I was able to really think and get an  idea of what I needed to answer my essential question. 

Here is the work I did
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1QanbpshJ60YHxjcw8xruHvN1fZoOxdXNLCzUicUnDr6qI7j3KOlBj62M1F_6/edit?usp=sharing 

Blog 13: Rough Draft of 30 minute presentation

30 Min Lesson Plan Name: Catherine R. Clauss Date: 1/15/2013 House: West Essential Question: What is the best way to use art as teaching tool in middle school? Objectives: For the class to understand what I learned durring my mentorship hours and research that lead me to my first answer. Category Guide Introduction Hello my name is Catherine Clauss and I am doing my senior Project on Art Integration. Today I will be teaching you about what I learned during my mentorship hours how what I learned lead to my first answer to my essential question. To start off my essential question is "What is the best way to use art as teaching tool in middle school?" Best- getting the most out of art that will help the students learn the concepts and understand them. Art as a teaching tool- also known as art integration is the process of mixing art and lessons (usually core subjects) to help student get the art they crave, learn what they need to know, and understand what they are learning. Middle school- I mean student's usually in 6th to 8th grade. Verfication Beginning: I will ask questions to the audience like "Does anyone remember a teacher who used art in their lesson to keep the class' interest? What did they do? Do you still remember even a bit what they taught you? What do you think art integration is?"  End: After the activity I will ask a view people to explain what they did for it and ask them question which they should explain. Body Literal: What I learned: Art Integration: an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form where students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both. Good Lesson: Give children the chance to learn and comprehend what you are trying to teach them in what ever way works best. This may mean different things for different classes or even students because everyone is different. When using art integration you can accomplish a lot as long as you have an equal balance of art/ fun and learning/ comprehension. Interpretive: This helped me make connections to my life because not only did I see my own teachers try to accommodate for their many different student's in my class but I also have seen my mother throughout my whole life work to make her lessons fun by using the creative process. by doing this she has as a teacher help many students and she has also help both my sister and I throughout the years by making homework time a little more interesting. Applied: My end goal for this project is to find new innovative ways to help teach a multitude of subjects that not only bring out a student's creative side but also shows them what they are capable of doing and learning when given the chance. I pick this because in the future I wish to open my own camp for teens in middle school and high school that have no idea of what they want to do. I plan to do this by taking the things they like be it art or building things, and applying it to real world things so that they can do what they love and make a living. First EQ Answer: "The best way to use art as a teaching tool in middle school is to tailor each lesson to your class by adding art activities that will help improve the student's learning and comprehension of the topic you are teaching them, while also allowing them to experience a fun, creative, and hands on learning experience." Visuals I plan to have art pieces from school projects that the students will recognize from work they have done so they can better understand what I am tring to explain to them. Things like my 9th grade summer math project calender. I will also show pictures of different students working on projects. Activity In this activity students will be creating their own art integrated activity based off  of the information I have given them. With their partner on a separate sheet of paper (that I will provide) they will have to create their activities' title, brief summary, directions (to make the product) and an illustration (of their activity). Materials- they will need pencil's paper and an example sheet of what they need to do. EX: They are given multiple examples of good art integrated activities/projects and given a basic break down of what a good activity should have(Good first instruction, Something hands on, Attention grabbing, Available connection making, Adds to the lesson, Balance of art, and Content) So they create an activity based on that. It could be something for English where they draw a picture for major events that happen in a book. Three Important Sources 1. Susan Hodapp- She helped me create my first answer by answering any and all questions I had and allowing me to observe her classroom setting. She showed me what a teacher had to do behind the scenes. 2. Heidi Clauss- Has let me sit in and participate in her classes. This helped me see how much a teacher actually had to do while teaching. 3. Buddies: Reading, Writing, and Math Lessons.- This book gave not only gave me the lesson activity I used today but also gave me a better understanding of what lesson activities should look like and Ideas of how to make a lesson fun for the students and teachers. Conclusion After asking a few final questions (stated above) to check for understanding I will restate my first answer to my EQ and briefly explain the reasoning behind it.

Blog 12 Third Interview Questions

1. What is your answer to my Essential Question “What is the best way to use art as teaching tool in middle school?” Why? Please be as detailed as possible.
2. What is your definition of Art Integration? Why? Please have detail.
3. How important do you think art is to a middle school student? Why?
4. What are some ways you think that using art as a teaching tool can help a student learn? Please explain your answer?
5. Do you have any first hand experience from when you were a student where your teacher used art to help you understand a core subject. Please describe what happened and why or why not it helped you learn.
6. Have you yourself as a teacher ever helped one of your students understand something your teaching through art integration? Please explain the situation and its importance.
7. One of the answers to my essential question that I came up with is that the best way to use art as a teaching tool in middle school is to create creative art projects and (or) activities for a core lesson. What do you think of this answer? Why?
8. What are some ways I can improve my answer? Why do you think this will help?
9. Part of my first answer talks about art projects and activities. What are some integrated projects and activities you would suggest to help teach some of the core subjects? Why? Please explain how some of those ideas would work in a classroom setting.
10. Do you think that having students work in groups, partners, or having them work alone would effect the way art integration helps the learning process? Why? Can you give any examples?

Blog 11 Mentorship 10 hours check

1. So far I have been doing my mentorship with my mother and Susan Hodapp. who are both teachers at Los Palmas Middle School. But I will soon be starting a different mentorship at Lone Hill Middle school with a Mr. Jacobs.

2. My contact is my mother Heidi Clauss and Susan Hodapp. Contact me Via email for their cell phone numbers or emails.

3. I have done a total of around 11 hours helping my mom and Mrs. Hodapp. (not including summer mentorship.)

4. During the time I mentored I helped grade papers, organize their classroom, and ran simple errands like delivering papers, picking up things for the teacher and observing what an educator needs to do to run a successful classroom. I learned that they need to keep up with the classwork they assign like we have to keep up with our research, so we don't fall behind, but if a teacher does this they would have to worry about doing it all at once to get grades in. I also learned that they should be forever violent because many small and barley noticeable things can happen in a class and to create a safe and stable environment you need to look out for any problems so they can be resolved as soon as possible without causing to much problems for the student.