Reviewing The Teaching Palette [Art Ed Blog]

The Teaching Palette

The Teaching Palette is a thoroughly informative site for art educators. Divided into the following sections: Cool*creative, Classroom Management, reviews resources, and art lesson plans, the site is organized and full of helpful ideas. The layout of the site is designed for the viewer to scroll down, allowing them to see latest posts first. A few of the most recent posts describe how to make one's own iPad stand, tips on classroom management, thoughts on STEAM education, and links to many other helpful art education blogs.

One thing that The Teaching Palette especially achieves is an unbiased viewpoint, evidenced by the number of outside sources and other blogs they have linked to their site. Art Teachers from around the world are given notoriety for their outstanding art blogs, under the resources tab. This gives the viewer many different perspectives and sources while obtaining ideas and inspiration for the foundation and projects in his or her own classroom.

 Two Point Perspective Tree House

   

Portrait examples by Chuck Close, using unusual materials 

This site also gives many ideas on art lesson plans, categorized by K-5 grade level and 6-12. Many of these lesson plans seem original, innovative, and challenging for students, like a 2-point Perspective Tree House, Holton Rower Tall Paintings (Pour Paintings), Response Self-Portraits, and more. They each provide a downloadable PDF including the standards, procedures, materials, suggested grading scale, etc. as well as helpful links explaining more on ideas behind the lesson plan. Once again, the organization proves to be quite thorough, easy to navigate, and makes for an overall effective site.

My review of Teaching Palette concludes with a high score! I'm sure I will be using it as a resource and a link to endless other resources as a teacher.

http://theteachingpalette.com/ 

Talking About Wikis!

From what I know thus far, wikis are a useful and efficient resource for communication and networking. Not only do they allow you to post and publish anything you need whenever you need to, but it offers an interactive element allowing others to comment, reciprocate ideas, and put forth new ones as well. The navigation of the wiki set-up is simple and effective, conducive to clear communication and a free flow of thoughts. As a teacher, it will be quite convenient to have a tool that lets me communicate with my students even outside of class to let them know of any changes of schedule, new materials or resources that might be available to them, or simply to post something like an article on painting or a documentary on an artist we’re studying that might be interesting to my students outside of class curriculum. I will definitely encourage my students to hop on board the wiki routine, assuring them that it is an easy and beneficial resource.

About the Teacher

I am a 2-D artist hoping to pass along what valuable insight and experience I have to young aspiring artists who come through my classroom. Whether a student is passionate about the visual arts, apprehensive about taking art class, or simply indifferent, I firmly believe anyone can grow and learn about themselves and their part in a bigger story in some way through practicing the arts.

My instructional philosophy is closely inspired by constructivist values of knowledge built on past experiences. Therefore, I will welcome all students in, regardless of their background or previous experience, to be a part of our dynamic and diverse classroom. I understand and cherish that the topics and methods we cover in my class will be filtering through each [personal, experiential, physical) lens of each individual student and thus will need to be approached from various angles and perspectives. I aim to highlight unique differences in my students regarding their thoughts and ideas, background, beliefs, and interests, in hopes of creating an environment conducive to a free flowing-exchange of ideas and thoughts.

It is a firm value of mine that every student feels both free and safe in my classroom environment -free to express themselves in ideas, creativity, and exploration of art media, and safe with regards to acceptance and privacy. I will ask students to put themselves out there and try new creative possibilities, within a safe boundary that is comfortable and acceptable with the student and his or her parents. I aim for my classroom to create a space for thinking, creating, exploring, and getting to know one another in the process.
  
While organization and clean-up are vital parts of a healthy creative system, we will be making messes and getting our hands dirty in my art class. I believe the best way to learn how to use materials effectively is to dive in and immerse oneself in the material first, and then go in for practice and refinement. Students should not wear their best clothes and shoes in my art class, as we will be working with paint, charcoal, clay, glue, and many other materials, however smocks will be provided.

We will have fun in my class. Keeping an open mind and a willing attitude will best equip students to engage in the fun! I look forward to meeting you all, students and parents, and for a wonderful year!

-Georganna Greene