As a child, and even now as an adult, I loved learning. I try to take the things that I cherished from my favorite teachers and use them in my class. Not their exact lessons, but they manner in which they taught. For instance my 5th grade teacher was a professional cartoonist and would always make visuals for our understanding. She had a series of drawings that depicted scenes to define adjectives and adverbs. We would look at her work and use the language skills to describe what was happening, like "the purple hippo is running quickly."
At the end of the year, she had us do that involved solving problems with clues from all different subject matter. We had to answer the clue to move to the next station (and they were both indoor and outdoor) but we needed to use our knowledge from past lessons to do so. If my memory is correct, I believe we worked in teams of 3 and she even got the other 5th grade class involved! It was so engaging and fun that I will never forget it. We didn't even realize we were doing work!
The unit I last posted is as close to this interactive learning style that I can achieve at this time. It involves different subject matter, there are a sequence of projects, and the students use a variety of methods and materials. The only thing I do not have is the clue solving and working in groups. However I can say that:
- The projects are all student centered and I am the guidance to coach them along
- The projects all relate to real-world ideas
- Creation of the various works are their end goal
- The projects show different ways symmetry and pattern can be explored
As the art teachers continue on in our professional development, I hope to become more like my favorite 5th grade homeroom teacher, but with every lesson that I do!
Ciao for now :)
