Life experience is HUGE when it comes to the makeup of a person. People are shaped by where they live, who they hang out with, their family’s values and traditions, and so much more. It’s interesting to see the use of Adelson’s Illusion here in this course as this is something I also share with my students when discussing shading and the importance of observing what you see. During this lesson, I start with the same image on the whiteboard and ask if the two boxes are the same shades of gray. Interestingly, there are always some who have seen this illusion and know that they are in fact the same. Other students scoff and then look more closely… why would anyone say they are the same? Students’ previous experience of learning about this illusion enabled them to see it for what it was, a trick our brain was playing on us. I had never considered how this illusion could act as an illustration for learner variability.
In my art classes, my students have a wide range of understanding of art worlds. I have students who have never been to an art museum or really ever looked at art compared to students who have parents who are professional artists or have been to many museums, art events, or gallery openings around the world. It can be challenging to prepare lessons when you don’t know what experiences students are bringing to the table. This brings to mind the study on Western vs. Eastern cultures and how, in my opinion, we often aren’t cognizant of cultural differences like that. We have so many implicit biases that we need to interrogate in order to best serve our students. If we are to implement UDL and plan for all students, we must spend time reflecting not only on our students, but on ourselves. How can we remove barriers when we don’t even know they exist? One quote from the text that stood out to me was, “It's important to remember that learners may seem ‘off task’ but actually be pursuing the task in a novel way.” (Meyer, Rose, Gordon, 2005) In the book, Troublemakers, by Carla Shalaby, she talks about how important it is that we celebrate the uniqueness of each child in our care. She also posits that we must consider how our students of color may not fit the mold of a traditional approach to education. How many of the rules and procedures in schools are founded on white principles that don’t honor the varying cultural differences found in our students? As I read this book over the summer, I was encouraged by the way that UDL opens the door to look at learner variability and hopefully create a safe learning environment for all students. Today, I had a student who was mixing her colors in a different way than I had demonstrated. Instead of mixing the paint on the palette then using a brush to paint it on the paper, she was using her palette knife to apply and mix the paint directly on the paper. For a second, I thought about correcting her then I realized that she was still meeting the lesson objective which was to match the colors in her reference photo. She was just approaching it in her own way. This student is one who often times seems disengaged so I jumped at the chance to notice what she was doing and encourage her to continue experimenting in this way and maybe even make a whole painting using only the palette knife. It is important for educators to highlight those moments and to be flexible enough to allow for variation in approach. Part of what I love about what I do is when the students are able to share their experiences with each other and with me. It is important to harness that experience and let it inform our curriculum and classroom community. I pay attention to the strengths, weaknesses, and interests of students. As an art teacher, I have a lot of freedom with regards to curriculum, so if I see students are interested in using text in their work, I can do a workshop for students to learn and grow in their ability to use text in new and exciting ways. I also use Remind or Google Classroom to share resources that I have found that I know will benefit them. Recently, I had a student who was interested in using the new looms we got this year for weaving. I told him that I had limited knowledge of weaving and that he would need to do some research to figure it out. When I found a video that I thought would help him in his quest, I sent it to him through Remind and then posted it in the Student Resource section of my webpage. Many of the links on my webpage are the result of researching ways to help students with their ideas. I have always believed that every person is their own, unique being with their own sets of troubles and successes, but I haven’t always done a good job at remembering this when planning lessons. I think that most people would probably agree that everyone is different, but maybe we don’t fully comprehend how different we all are. Honestly, I was a little overwhelmed with all of the technical talk about the brain and science and data. I am still trying to make sense of all of the scientific information and how I can adapt my planning based on pattern recognition. Learning about technical things like that are challenging for me. As we go through this course, I find myself reflecting a lot on myself as not only a teacher, but also a learner. If I were to have a PET scan, what areas of my brain would light up? What are my strengths? Where do I struggle more? What can I do to overcome those challenges? Then on the other side of the same coin, I wonder a lot about how I can plan for so much variability. If every person is so unique, where do I even begin?
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AuthorMrs. Taborda is the studio art teacher at Oxford High School in Oxford, MA. This blog will document her journey as an educator and share the happenings of the OHS art room. Archives
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