When I introduced the art lesson for painting during my practicum I talked to the students about the art show and informed them I would be choosing five students’ art. I knew this was going to be a hard task because of my belief that art is self-expressive and shouldn’t be judged in relation to each other.
However, I chose the art by spreading the paintings all over the classroom and using process of elimination I narrowed it down to about 20. I had to eliminate one due to the fact that the artist failed to include their name and I eliminated others for pushing the brush rather than pulling it like I had instructed. It took forever to narrow it down further to five.
One student that I chose has FAS and finds it hard to complete any work and stay focused. He did a wonderful job and followed all of the directions I provided. All of the students were coming over to look at his work saying “WOW! Check out Jimmy’s!! [fake name] I bet he’s going to win!! He had a smile ear to ear, as did I. I was so proud of how my students went around and complemented one another’s work. They were all completely engaged in the lesson and those who finished early were able to produce multiple pictures.
Telling the students that the artwork would be judged and the best selected was a great motivation for the students. They were not overly competitive and were extremely supportive of those who were selected. However, reflecting on how much time, effort and heart went into the actual selection process (myself being torn about how students would feel which was completely unfounded), I am thankful that judging students’ art against one another does not happen very often.
However, I chose the art by spreading the paintings all over the classroom and using process of elimination I narrowed it down to about 20. I had to eliminate one due to the fact that the artist failed to include their name and I eliminated others for pushing the brush rather than pulling it like I had instructed. It took forever to narrow it down further to five.
One student that I chose has FAS and finds it hard to complete any work and stay focused. He did a wonderful job and followed all of the directions I provided. All of the students were coming over to look at his work saying “WOW! Check out Jimmy’s!! [fake name] I bet he’s going to win!! He had a smile ear to ear, as did I. I was so proud of how my students went around and complemented one another’s work. They were all completely engaged in the lesson and those who finished early were able to produce multiple pictures.
Telling the students that the artwork would be judged and the best selected was a great motivation for the students. They were not overly competitive and were extremely supportive of those who were selected. However, reflecting on how much time, effort and heart went into the actual selection process (myself being torn about how students would feel which was completely unfounded), I am thankful that judging students’ art against one another does not happen very often.
1 comment:
Wow, sounds like a successful lesson. And I am so proud of that one student (Jimmy) I bet you made his day!
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