using the body as a tool to learn and constantly having an eye on the class.

So yesterday Justin and Victoria did a lesson on the body using it as an example of symmetry. When we walked into the classroom the first thing you noticed was the dishevelment of the classroom. Tables were located all around the walls of class, leaving the center floor open and empty. Once their lesson began, we were instructed to count off my two, and then to stand in two lines (ones on the left, twos on the right). We then looked at the person standing across from us and claimed them as our partner. The ones were then instructed to strike a pose any pose, of course the students did silly ones, then the twos had to mirror this pose. We were then instructed to all face the teacher in these poses, and were informed that were making symmetry. It was such a great way to display this vocabulary word, as well as get our blood pumping and our brains moving. The only thing was I felt that it could have been focused more on, because right after that definition we were informed to sit at our tables, I felt this could have been a great opportunity to talk more about the body being symmetrical, and asymmetry. Though I really love this idea of intensely involving the students in their learning process, by using them physically as a tool of learning.

They based their lesson on the fantastic artists Judith Braun (the artist above) and had us practice her techniques on a smaller scale. It was a lot fun working in this technique, we got dirty, had freedom of figural or abstract imagery, and really got to explore something that may not be explore enough, our body and how it works while making art. After the lesson we discussed how this relates to our brains and the way we process making art. This is another aspect of teaching art that I find really interesting and would like to keep in the back of my mind when I'm creating my lessons.

Something that came up from this lesson was the idea of having an eye on yoru class as a whole, because middle school and high school students will constantly be trying to pull the wool over your eyes and escape the classroom. Something I thought about doing to assure your classroom stay with you, is doing the attendance at the end of the class. Another thing we discussed is putting attractive sounding bells on your door and always closing your door for class. We also talked about positioning your body when speaking to individual students so that you can see the whole classroom constantly. It's sometimes overwhelming thinking about all the aspects of being a teacher and the dynamic of everything you have to do to create a safe environment and a productive class.