My experiences at Beattie have allowed me to better understand the ways in which students think. It not only has allowed for me to ask them questions so I can better understand their thought process, it has allowed for me to get an understanding of their artistic thinking, and why they are making the decisions they are. Last class, the sketchbook prompt at the beginning of class was asking students to think about what they wanted to do when they grow up. This is something that is really important to students at this age level, because they are beginning to develop their interests, they are becoming aware of what they enjoy doing, and what they have a passion for. After they drew in their sketchbook I talked to a student who wanted to become an animator when she grew up. She was telling me about how she likes art, but wants to do something different with it. After we introduced the sketchbook project, where they were going to be decorating the cover of their sketchbook, I talked to the same student again. She was working on sketching out her ideas for her cover, and I asked her what she was thinking for the cover of her sketchbook. She immediately said animation stuff, and then got back to work, not wanting to answer more questions. After a little while, I came back to her table and was talking with the whole table about their ideas. At this point, she had come up with an idea she was really excited about. She immediately started telling me about how she was going to put an animation style tiger on her sketchbook cover. She told me that her spirit animal was a tiger. I asked her more about this, why that is her spirit animal, how did she find that out. She continued to tell me about how she felt as though she was connected with tigers, she is powerful. This was an event that really stuck with me because it made me more aware of the importance of meaningful connections in art for students. I saw this specific student go from the sketchbook page prompt, to really creating a piece of art that was significant and meaningful to her. When I went over to her table and she said she was drawing animation stuff, she was excited, but I didn't see the sparkle in her eyes like I did when she took that idea and ran with it, coming up with something that had a concept that she felt connected to. This event was important in my growth as an art education student, because it put into context the reason why it is so important to develop concepts with students. For this piece, I painted tiger stripes on a piece of fabric, this is in connection with the importance of allowing for children to create meaningful artwork, that they are personally connected with. 

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Throughout much of my learning in art education, we have discussed the importance of creating assignments and activities that allow for students to develop meaning in their art that students are passionate about, something that is personal, and pertinent. This is something that we have discussed throughout my time here at CSU, and is something that I find relates to this experience. Allowing for this to happen in the classroom is something that can be difficult, because we can't force personal meanings into a students artwork, that is something that has to come from them, from their experiences, and their understandings of the world. However, this experience instilled in me the true significance of this in the classroom. She was much more invested in her work once it was something that was meaningful to her, she was better at talking about her work, and she was more excited about what she was making after she had a meaning. This is something I had understood before, but I hadn't ever seen it in this way, and that had an impact on me. We also have discussed a lot involving choice in the classroom. I think this is particularly important when talking about meaning. If we give students specific assignments, it is much more difficult for them to develop a meaningful concept, because they are following strict guidelines. However, if we give students assignments that are open ended, they can develop meaning in a way that they feel personally connected to. This experience again, allowed for me to see this in a way I hadn't ever before seen. 

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To me personally, this experience allowed for a lot of growth in understanding, and affects the way I will think about teaching in the future. As I brought up earlier, we have discussions in art education classes that I understand and see the importance of in the classroom, however, until I see it for real, it doesn't click in the same way. Seeing something spark interest in a student is something that can't be replaced by discussion. So for me personally, this experience allowed for me to take an abstract idea that I've been thinking about, and turn it into a concrete idea through actual experience. This allowed for me to grow my understandings, and allowed for a continuation of development of my thoughts around ways of working with students in a classroom. This evolved around the ideas of providing choice which can help allow for personal meanings to develop, as well as encouraging students to work towards developing concepts that are personally meaningful to them. This continues to affect and change the way I think about teaching in the future. Everyday in the classroom, I gain insight and understandings that allow for me to develop my understandings of art education, and the way in which I want to teach. I want to teach in a way that allows for development of ideas and concepts. I want to teach in a way that allows for students to make art that is personal and meaningful, and they can connect with their lives outside of the art classroom.