Journal Two
September 9, 2019
#Clarity
Something I picked up on while observing at Beattie Elementary was the subtle yet important integration of choice. It is not a fully fledged choice classroom, but choice still played an important role in allowing students to be creative in ways best suited for them. The first example of choice I observed was an "either or option" for third graders. They were asked to draw either something they’re doing this weekend, or something pretend they would like to do over the weekend. There was a good balance of students who picked either subject to draw. The kindergarten class had no instruction at all on a topic to choose, only a simple demo on how to use paint and a paintbrush properly. Then they were allowed to go to their seats and paint anything they wanted with no limitation.
This semester I have questioned the choice method of teaching quite often. It’s hard for me to imagine a fully fledged choice based classroom. It was refreshing to be in a classroom that integrates traditional teaching methods with choice. I think for this age group, it is beneficial to provide some guidelines and demonstration while offering a little bit of a choice. It allowed for the students to know where to start, but gave them the freedom to play, discover the medium and the marks they were making. I observed a kindergartner discovering how to mix colors like pink and teal. "I made pink!" I heard the student exclaim, I then asked him, "do you remember how you mixed pink?" And they recalled painting white over the red already marked on their paper. This "ah-ha" moment is what was granted to them through choice. If this student wasn’t free to make marks, this discovery may have never happened. This puts into perspective for me the benefits of choice infused into the art classroom from my perspective. It makes me see the fine balance between giving choice and giving instruction.
This semester I have questioned the choice method of teaching quite often. It’s hard for me to imagine a fully fledged choice based classroom. It was refreshing to be in a classroom that integrates traditional teaching methods with choice. I think for this age group, it is beneficial to provide some guidelines and demonstration while offering a little bit of a choice. It allowed for the students to know where to start, but gave them the freedom to play, discover the medium and the marks they were making. I observed a kindergartner discovering how to mix colors like pink and teal. "I made pink!" I heard the student exclaim, I then asked him, "do you remember how you mixed pink?" And they recalled painting white over the red already marked on their paper. This "ah-ha" moment is what was granted to them through choice. If this student wasn’t free to make marks, this discovery may have never happened. This puts into perspective for me the benefits of choice infused into the art classroom from my perspective. It makes me see the fine balance between giving choice and giving instruction.