Theme Based Lesson Reflection

Overall, I felt the lesson went pretty well. It was difficult to see it at first, considering the class had pretty low energy and was almost strangely obedient. I was prepared to deal with behavioral issues but none really came. The class did as they were instructed and produced some great results. I talked with a few of my peers afterward and got some great input. They said that it was very well structured and there was so much to do that there wasn't even time to get off task. Also the fact that it was the first lesson of the day at 9am might also have contributed to that low energy feeling.

Reflecting on the lesson I am very proud of a few things. The thought and organization into the scaffolding of the plan...first a class brainstorm, then teacher examples, then group work, then individual drawings, then discussion...created a formula for successful strategizing that worked really well. The strict adherence to the time schedule we planned out assured that we got everything done, and even though we had a lot to do that day, we set realistic goals. I also want to comment on the importance of incorporating big ideas like human rights issues into the art room, which I believe we did successfully as well. In follow up to this lesson plan, I interviewed my younger sister, an eighth grader, about how her experiences in school. She told me that there is rarely any discussion of contemporary issues in any of her subjects, which is disappointing because she wants to learn about them. This reinforced my feelings about using art to give students access to the issues they want to explore and I've been working on my unit plan with great enthusiasm.

As far as areas of improvement are concerned, it was noted and I agree that we could have made better use of the bulletin board. Incorporating some real life examples...artist's work, adbusters, etc...would have made it much stronger. I also got the feedback that it looked as though I was standing around with nothing to do at times. While I disagree that listening to a group discussion counts as not doing anything, I will be more aware of engaging students when necessary.