Student Teaching:
Virtual Instruction
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic In-Person learning was shifted to an online platform as of March 2020. Teachers were left on their own to develop strategies and ways to effectively deliver instruction from their homes. This changed the traditional education was seen as well as shifting the means to which education could be derived.
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I was lucky enough to be a junior at Pratt Institute during the time the Pandemic hit in the middle of an in-person placement at a middle school in Brooklyn NY. I was then sent home and forced to develop new ways of understating how to shift my pedagogy to an online platform.
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As a college student studying to become an educator I was effected by this pandemic through two points of view, both the teacher and the student. Living in this pandemic though two perspectives offered me a unique and full-filling perspective on how to deliver successful instruction from a far.
Virtual Teaching Strategies
Teaching Art through a virtual platform poses unique challenges. This requires the teacher to be able to develop unique and creative ways to overcome these hurdles.
Some of these unique challenges include seeing students artwork as they work. I ask all my students to point their cameras down at their hards so I can assess their progress as they work. I have come up with a two camera system where I can have students see my hand working when I give demos of art-making alongside of still seeing my face. This really helps visual learners because art is such a hands on action and learning experience. The accessibility of materials is also another hurdle that one must overcome when teaching. We are at home so not everyone has access to the same materials so I allow students to find innovative ways of using materials. I often try and base my virtual lessons around materials and common objects that are in homes like cardboard, newspapers, and found materials.
Figuring out how to teach an effective lesson virtual learning can be difficult but it is not impossible when you approach it with a creative mind and outlook.
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2 Camera Setup
Having two cameras set up when teaching art virtually is essential. Making art is such a visual and tactile process students need the ability to see art-making demonstration as if they were actually in the classroom. This at home set up allows for that to happen.
Student Hands Working
To assess students learning I find it important to students to always have camera on. I prefer if they have their cameras pointed down at their working surface so that it not-only respects their privacy at home but also allows me to access their skills while their are woking.
Group Share
Group share is a part of the lesson where I tell students to stop what they are doing and hold up to the camera what they have made so far. This allows students to take a second and see all of their peers work like they would in a real classroom. Students have the option to also talk about their work our another students work at this time.
Student Work
Virtual Lesson: Whats in my pantry?
These students were ages 10-12 and were taught online through the platform of Zoom. The focus of this lesson was to create an observational drawing of a pantry item using oil pastels. They were challenged to use oil pastel in news ways by exploring the material and eventually transform the actual texture of the object into visual texture using oil pastel.
Oil Pastel on Paper
Oil Pastel on Paper
Oil Pastel on Paper
Oil Pastel on Paper
Oil Pastel on Paper
Oil Pastel on Paper
Student Work
Virtual Lesson: Cityscape Pencil Drawing
The students are ages 8-10 and are learning art through an online platform of Zoom. In this lesson the students were exploring the concepts of space in their drawing. They were called to create a cityscape drawing that clearly depicts foreground from background using pencil in inventive ways.
Student Work
Virtual Mini-Lesson: Kandinsky Inspired Concentric Circles
In this lesson students were 8-9. During the end of the lesson students were asked to invite their parents to the online Zoom session for an art making activity. Everyone had the responsibility of creating their own hand painted concentric circles using watercolors. They were asked to think about color theory, warm and cool colors, mixing primary colors to make secondary colors when they were painting the circles. After everyone was finished I assembled each concentric circle together to create one big collaborative piece.
Student Artist Statements
I use artist statements in my lesson plans because it allows for students to articulate their ideas as well as explain their work. This also helps me assess what the students have learned by the vocabulary they use in their writing. Artist statements are also important because allows students to experience how an artist would get ready to exhibit their work in a museum or gallery.
Virtual Teaching Screenshots
Ages 11-14
11-14
Ages 8-9
Ages 11-14
11-14
Ages 11-14