For our first time at Beattie, it was a way of introducing students to what we will be teaching all semester. We are going to be creating lessons that allow for students to work as teams, which was what the class was all about. At the beginning of class though they had time to sketch. Their prompt was to look at two artworks on the board, and choose one that inspires a feeling, emotion, or memory. After students had the opportunity to sketch, I went around and asked students about what they had drawn. It was interesting to see the ways in which students explore the idea surrounding a feeling, emotion, or memory. Some students drew about one very specific event, some it was more of an overall feeling because of a memory. Through this I saw a desire to explore what this means to them as making art. Students were excited about their memories and they were excited to share and learn about each others as well. For my piece, I encapsulated that desire to explore as well as a memory, as a way of reflecting on the class period. The students got me thinking about a time in my life where I wanted to explore my creativity. One of the main times I remember this happening was when I was in Fibers I here at CSU. All our projects were very exploratory, and that made me want to try everything I could, I didn't want to follow any specific way of making, I simply wanted to explore different ways of making. This memory was one of the times I remember the feeling of wanting to explore the same way I saw the students want to explore. So in order to represent that in my piece, I made an exploratory piece out of fabric. I was interested in the ways in which I could fold and dye the fabric in order to get expressive marks, so I explored that in this piece. I was also interested in relating this back to the students so I worked to create marks and lines that represent their path of thinking, how it goes all over the place, and allows for them to try a variety of different ideas. This goes back to the idea of exploration. 

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Many of the readings and discussions I've had surrounding art education have been about the importance of play in the art classroom. Last semester, we talked about praxis, and how it allows for students to develop their own understandings of how creation works. I think that this idea of giving a very broad sketchbook prompt can allow for praxis to occur. Students get the opportunity to explore this aspect in their own unique way. This was a way of seeing this in person in a way I hadn't before. Since taking that class, I hadn't been in an elementary school classroom, so this allowed for me to better understand the ideas that we talked about last semester. I also think the idea of showing students art, and then having them make something based on their connection to what they see is developing visual literacy, as we were reading and discussing last week. I think this is one of the best ways to develop visual literacy because it is a way of connecting to a work of art, which requires students to look at and begin to understand that work of art. If we see something and can understand what it means, that is the first step to visual literacy, however, when we can see something and understand it so well that we can relate to it, and make our own work related to similar concepts, that is in my opinion a deeper and more meaningful level of visual literacy. 

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For me personally, this experience allowed for me to get ideas of ways in which students can explore art in their own way. I think it would be interesting if students got the opportunity to "sketch" in whatever form they wanted to, they could fold paper to make a "sketch." I am curious to see how that would work. However, they only have a short amount of time at the beginning of class to sketch, which might make it difficult for students to explore other ways of making sketches. But I think it could be interesting to try. I see this as a way to help me continue to grow on my journey to becoming an art teacher, because I can take these experiences, understand them, and see how they may fit in to my future classroom. Anytime I get the opportunity to be in a classroom, it allows for me to continue to grow on this path, and I find that to be helpful. 

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This makes me think differently about teaching in the future specifically because of the idea of visual literacy. I was having a difficult time thinking of ways that I could teach visual literacy, but I think that developing skills by looking and then making would be a meaningful way to teach visual literacy. This also makes me think more about ways in which I can have students develop concepts in their art making practice. Giving a very broad topic such as ideas, feelings, emotions, or memories allows for students to take it in a variety of different ways. This gives them choice, as well as makes it so they are hopefully making something that is truly meaningful to them. In the art classroom I believe that it is very important to work with students on developing concepts, but this helped me realize I can give students a very wide open option, and then they will be able to take it in their own direction. This also allows for students to make art they connect with on a deeper level, which is so important as they continue growing artisitically.  

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