Final Reflective Practice Portfolio (Synthesis)

Synthesis

The Master’s program is coming to a close and I am beginning to reflect on what it has meant to me and my teaching. While there are lots of changes and I have learned a lot, one of the biggest things that surprised me through all of this were the things that remained the same. While I expected the learning and the changes, I was afraid they would completely disrupt everything I was doing and had learned up until now. One of the best parts of this Master’s path that I have been on is that all of this learning has come to support and gird the things that I have already built. This Master’s experience was not a new build but a remodel.

Through my remodel, there have been lots of interesting revelations and changes. Three major aspects of change have been themes throughout my experience have been Big Ideas, Reinforcement, and 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 things 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. In one of my first assignments for my Master’s on 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 continuing to work 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.

As I stated, when I started the 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.

Through my research in Layered Realities, I have come to better understand my students and some of the ways that I can truly affect their learning experience. Some of the things I had been working on before researching them but through research I have redefined them. The research allowed me the opportunity to academically and thoughtfully consider what I was doing and how I was doing it.

So as I end my remodel in my teaching career, I am encouraged with how my pedagogy has started to shape up but I also know that it is an ongoing, never-ending project. So, grab a hammer and help.