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!