A look back at my looking backs...

Throughout this process with my Master's work, I have done a lot of reflection. Some of those reflections have been curriculum related. Others of them have been relational. Sometimes they have been required writings. Others have been inspired by completely unrelated things. All of them have helped me move towards my current situation. As I look back over this blog, I can start to see some major themes of change start to emerge.

Themes of change:

Big Ideas

Reinforcement

Research

Big Ideas:

Throughout my teaching career, I have attempted to incorporate Big Ideas into my classroom to varying success. These Master's classes have really exposed some of my areas of weaknesses in this while supporting me in others. One of the biggest thing that has come to light through observations and reflections of my own teaching is that in the two different classes that I teach, I have two different teaching pedagogy ideas. Digital Art 1 is a class taught very traditionally and almost mimetically. Advanced Digital Art dives into Big Ideas and focuses more on my ideas of teacher as facilitator. A year ago, in my blog post on 3 Goals, I had a goal of balance. Bringing them together in a way that follows my actual ideas. My use of Big Ideas continues to evolve but I am working hard a year later to bridge that gap between the two classes.

I also feel like my use of Big Ideas has evolved and refined even in Advanced Digital Art. I thought I had a good hold on them but as we worked through observations, I continually found ways to refine and adjust. Not only are these adjustments things that helped get my curriculum functioning smoother, but it also helped me tailor it to these specific students, at this specific time, at this specific school.

Reinforcement:

Another thing that I found looking back over my reflections is a sense of reinforcement. This reinforcement happened in two different ways. One was reinforcement and strengthening of things that I was already doing. The other was an understanding that my ideas needed to be reinforced by my practice.

When I started the OSU Master's program, I was really worried that I would spend a huge part of my time completely tearing everything down and starting over again. I had just finished building up my program of Middle School Digital Art from scratch. I was worried I'd have to do it all again. Instead, the program helped me reinforce and strengthen the stuff I was already doing. It worked with, instead of against, the curriculum I was already putting into place.

The other piece that needed reinforcement were my ideas. I have a lot of ideas but being in this program helped me see that those ideas didn't always show up in my practice. Every semester I talk to my students about the wealth of artists out practicing in the world today but when was asked to reflect on my classroom, I quickly found I wasn't actually showing them that wealth. It was an idea that I believed in that needed reinforced in my classroom. I quickly added more student work and replaced great artist work with other great artist work. I am working to reinforce these ideas in my classroom, my teaching, and in my students' minds.

Research:

One of the biggest things that came out of my observations and reflections throughout the program has been my ideas in research. I am working on ideas of Layered Realities and how those realities can affect a student's learning. Before reflecting on what I was doing and how I was doing it, I don't think any of those ideas would have even shown up. I wouldn't have considered some of the things I was doing as inherently fruitful for my students. I definitely would not have considered them from a research perspective. Without the observation and reflection, my research would have probably started from and ended in something in which I was less interested and excited.