Elementary Classrooms
Within the elementary classroom I have witnessed very little art going on, but one thing that I did witness was when the students constructed a water cycle diagram using construction paper, glue and markers. But the student’s creativity with this particular project was very restricted; so there was very little in the way of visual forms being investigated, learned, discussed, or being produced. One big idea that I saw within this project was that you can use art to showcase other subjects in school. So with this project in particular the students used art to map out the water cycle. Students were working with visual thinking they were taking what they had been learning in class and they were turning that into something physical, something that they could touch and interact with. One suggestion that I have for this particular unit would be to allow the students to go in any direction they wanted to as long as they were showcasing the water cycle. This would make the learning more meaningful because they would be able to own it and make it their own. Since they are able to do with it whatever they wanted to. This would also show the students that there is infinite ways to depict the water cycle and it is not just a circular pattern.
Art Classroom
When I observed the art class there was a substitute present so I do not know how different the class would have been if the regular teacher had been there. But when I observed the teacher ask the class to draw any kind of planet that they wanted to (it could be real or made up). The resources that were used were pieces of paper, circular objects to help create a circle for the planet, and colored pencils. The objectives were to use creativity to create the planet of their choosing and if they did create an actual planet that it was similar to characteristics of that planet. In terms of the teacher she was very laid back with very little structure to the students, her teaching strategies were to allow the students to express themselves and to see what they could find out about the students from what they drew on their planets. The students were engaged in the lesson because they were free to do whatever they wanted as long as they were drawing planets, the classroom atmosphere was relaxed with music being played in the background. But the students were pretty rowdy due to the fact that there was a substitute, and her behavior management was a little lacking, she did not take actions for the students who were acting inappropriately.