How to Journal Art
Observations
Journal Format: What to Look For, and How to
Respond
Creatively
©
Marvin Bartel,
instructor,
2000
This
is an Assignment Page for Art 311: Secondary School Art
Secondary School Art students are to submit journals once every two
weeks
or sooner.
Send them electronically if you can. Begin with date,
location, grade
level, art subject, and a short summary of the observation. Attach a
Word.doc
to an e-mail to me. If you use a different word processor, send me a
small
sample file to be sure it works.
If you include your initials and a
number in the file name, my computer folders are easier to organize.
Name
the Word files mb1.doc, mb2.doc, mb3.doc, (using your initials - not
mine).
If you want to send images, use the .jpg file format to save them.
Please
include the word "journal" in the Subject line of your e-mail (for my
filters
to sort them).
Write narratives of observations
including direct quotes
related
to an observation.
If possible, collect copies of any handouts.
Journals are to be
C
reative
R
eflective
Responses
Art
teaching is a creative activity. In every journal entry,
think of and
journal alternative methods one might use in a similar situation.
Creative
teaching is a constant search for the most effective practices. Even if
something works well, another idea might work even better.
Many
teachers are quite quick to make suggestions when students ask
for suggestions.
In
your journal, document instances of this and
propose alternative approaches. Write some appropriate questions
you could ask the student instead of making a suggestions.
When you look at the
categories below, it is natural that some of the
categories are emphasized more and others get overlooked. The purpose
of
our journal is not only to learn the current practice. The purpose of a
good journal is also to dream and imagine what could be. Therefore, use
the categories listed here to help you imagine things that could
be.
REQUIREMENT:
Your journals
must include alternative
proposals and ideas that you imagine. Your ideas do not have to
be
proven.
No journal entry can earn an A without
this requirement being included.
What to Look
For in an Artroom
I. CREATIVITY
How is creativity rewarded or encouraged? What is the attitude about
copy
work? Describe processes used to encourage preliminary development of
ideas.
To what extent is the work influenced by the expertise of the teacher?
To what extent is the teacher able to draw out the students' ideas,
subjects,
and compositions? What unconventional and/or particularly enlightened
work,
comments, or behavior is observed?
II. COGNITIVE LEARNING
How are art concepts, vocabulary, and historical facts presented and
learned?
Site examples of analysis and interpretation.
III. SKILLS
How are skills, abilities, techniques and so on learned? How are new
skills
presented? How were old skills improved? Observation drawing is a
skill.
Crafts have many skills. Skills are things that are improved with
practice.
IV. MOTIVATION
Why do the students produce? Why do they choose to learn? Do the
students grasp the purposes of art? Does the teacher help them
appreciate the purposes of art? What is most
interesting to the students? What is unique about students who are self
motivated? Does the teacher have any specific methods or personal
qualities
that elicit positive work habits on the part of students? What is
done to get students to be on task and to focus on their work?
V. CRITICAL AWARENESS
What is done to make students aware of quality? What makes them want to
achieve quality? What types of art are most valued by students? What
aspects
of art are they learning to respect? Are they becoming more aware of
their
surroundings and their environments?
VI. AESTHETICS
How are the meanings, feelings, values and purposes of art being
learned?
How is art being defined (literally or by implication) in this
classroom?
How are students developing compositional criteria for beauty, for
their
work, and observations in their lives?
VII. BEHAVIOR
What are the most unusual positive and negative student behaviors
observed?
Describe the teacher's levels of control from non-verbal to overt
punishment,
from positive conditioning to negative behavior management, and
describe
how they are communicated to the students. What is positive and
negative
about group interaction and peer influence in the classroom? What
do students do that is helpful to others, and what do they do that is
not
helpful?
VIII. LESSON DIFFICULTY
What aspects of the lesson or the presentation are frustrating to one
or
more students? What aspect is too easy or boring for one or more
students?
Is enough content being covered? What could be added or deleted? How
might
the presentation be modified to make it easier or more
challenging?
IX. LESSON SEQUENCE
Can the order of events be improved? If examples are used to explain
possible
solutions, what alternative ways might there be to define and clarify
the
assignment without showing answers to the problems? How is the
curriculum sequenced? What is the logic of the order of projects
and lessons? What alternative organizing principles could be used and
how would the lessons be sequenced differently using the alternative
organizing principles?
X. TEAM EFFORTS AND COLLABORATIVE WORK
Describe and reflect on the group learning. What are the pros and
cons of groups assignments you oberserve? If there are none,
which
of the assignments might lend themselves to student
collaboration?
How might it be managed for better learning than when it is done by
individuals?
XI. OTHER
back to
Syllabus
for Secondary School Art
©
Marvin
Bartel, Goshen College, 1999, OBSERV.html
updated 12-03
|