First Assignment

I began graduate school at Columbia College Chicago about 5 weeks ago. I am pursuing my Master's in Art Education. I'm really excited about the program and getting to make some great connections. Our first assignment, before classes started, was to create a painting that expressed an element of our artistic style. I went for a naturalistic minimalism and paintedClouds Over The Lake, pictured below:

Clouds Over the Lake  
#art #sun #lake #painting #beautiful #graduate #school #fine art art sun lake michigan beautiful painting 

Field Experience

I have completed two field experiences as a teacher candidate so far. Last week I observed in Kayla Gale's art classroom at Skinner North. Yesterday I observed in Sarah Young's classroom at Hayt Elementary. I used to work at Hayt as a recess coach when I was working with Right at School, an after and in-school enrichment organization. It was so great to see the kids from last year. Some of the first-graders I observed had been in my kindergarten class the year before, and remembered me. It made me so happy that they were excited to see me as well. I could tell that  few students were making excellent progress. For example, I worked with a set of twins from China. They came to kindergarten not speaking any English and were very disengaged. When I saw them yesterday they were using full sentences and seemed happy and well-adjusted.
I also ran into a group of girls who had been in my third grade class. We talked about school and what classes they were taking. One girl said that when she found out she wasn't going to have art class this year, she grabbed her pillow and screamed into it she was so upset (The art teacher informed me that due to scheduling, fourth and fifth graders would not have art class even once this school year). I can relate with the need for art, and felt so sad for them. I suggested that they work on art at home but they said that they liked having specific projects assigned to them to work on. I said that if they stopped by the art room and asked, that I bet the teacher had some projects she could assign them. Still, I wish there was some way to allow them to get involved with art in school.... I'll have to think about this. Possible solutions I have come up with are to create an after school art club run by teacher candidates (the art teacher already volunteers with their after-school roots and shoots program), creating a space by the cafeteria for art projects during recess, or even just creating an online presence where students can pick art projects to complete and share their work. Does anyone else have any ideas how the arts might be incorporated in school for these students?
Please comment!

The Beginning

I recently began a Master's program at Columbia College Chicago to obtain my Art Education degree. I have always loved art and knew that it would be a part of my life. I didn't know that I wanted to teach art until a few years ago. It took me a while to figure out what the right path was for me. In college I minored in art and majored in philosophy. I was an art major initially, but my parents wanted me to get a degree in something more applicable to the job market. But after my first philosophy course, I was hooked. Luckily my father was a philosophy major so even though it was probably less viable job-wise, my parents supported this decision.
The bubble didn't burst until I was getting close to graduation. My advisor and head of the Elmhurst College philosophy department, Dr. Hirstein, and I were discussing what I could do after graduation. I pictured myself working for the Humane Society of the United States, or writing about environmental ethics for an organization. I didn't quite realize that those positions typically require more advanced degrees. He asked me if I had ever considered teaching, and said he thought I would be a great teacher. I professed I had not, and that I was unsure of my patience in that capacity. I never forgot what he said though, and as I matured my patience developed. I worked in animal hospitals when I got out of school for lack of finding anything better, and my love of animals. After two years in the field, however, I knew I was burnt out and needed to find a way to get back to art.
That's when I found Right at School, an after-school and in-school reccess enrichment program. They hired me as an after school educator at Courtenay Fine Arts school in Ravenswood. I also began working as an assistant preschool teacher at that time. Then I was placed to Waters Elementary in Lincoln Square. I was promoted my second year working with Right at School and became a Site Director at Kingsley Elementary in Evanston. I also worked as a recess coach at Hayt School in Edgewater. The two years I worked for Right at School gave me invaluable experience educating children. We taught daily lesson plans and themed enrichment classes, including art classes. I gained so much experience working with children and found I was an effective educator and that others were noticing. I realized that teaching art would be the perfect career for me, applied to Columbia's MAT program, and was accepted! Although I still have a lot of work to do, classes to take and tests to pass, I am determined to succeed.