DESCRIPTION OF THE EDUCATIONAL SETTING
This unit will be taught to Art Elementary students in the Third Grade. Based off of the notes taken during my time spent observing the Art Classroom at Olive Stephens Elementary School in Denton, Texas, this semester, the sociocultural context will play a large role in the educational setting that I have imagined for this unit. The overall “mood” or “feel” of the community that surrounds the school will be positive, and influential. Like Olive Stephens’, the school is set in a suburban area, meaning that the possibility for community interaction within this unit over ‘Identity’ is very likely. The demographic characteristics of the community that surrounds the school will vary. Some of my young artists will come from affluent families, while others will come from families with a low socioeconomic background. Fortunately, the community as a whole (regardless of background or status), cares about the young people’s education. This is evident through the communities’ ability to provide for the students, the tools that they need to succeed, in and out of the Art Classroom.
The community surrounding the school seems to be more settled, allowing for more opportunities for the Art students to exhibit their work, and even make some money doing it. In conjunction with the elementary school, the community consciously sets up yearly fundraisers and local competitions for their students and teachers. At the end of the school year, my elementary school hosts a huge exhibition for the entire community to participate in by turning the school into an art gallery. Thousands of projects made by the Elementary Art students are hung all over the walls and throughout the gym, the community definitely holds a respect and appreciation for the visual arts program. There are no art museums within close proximity to my school, although an art museum trip to Dallas, or Fort Worth, Texas is a possibility, and there are local parks that could be utilized near the school.
The “tone” and “mood” of the school is warm and inviting, a place where students can focus on learning and creating. The staff works together to achieve this feeling by supporting one another in their different teachings to the five hundred and thirteen students that attend the school. This staff relationship provides opportunities for collaboration between curriculums: the Math teacher is teaching about circumference and diameter, while I’m designing an art project based off of symmetry, utilizing the terms introduced by the Math teacher- it’s perfect. The size of my Art Classroom is large enough for a total of thirty students, arranged appropriately for teaching Art to grades K-5th, though my Third Grade Art Class will consist of about fifteen to twenty students. Being in the Third Grade, these students will have some background on the different materials that we will be utilizing over the course of the unit, but I am going to be setting time aside before our project-making to refresh and teach some new skill sets. My Art Classroom is amazing, there is tons of supplies at our fingertips, there are tons of books present in my classroom over art themes and concepts, and there is color and life that does not overwhelm.
The budget given to me as the art educator is never enough it seems; I am able to raise thousands through the community fundraisers though. We unfortunately do not have personal computers or I-pads for our students (yet), but I am lucky enough to have four computer stations within my Art Classroom. I use an overhead projector within my instructional lessons sometimes, and there is also a projector on the ceiling that allows me to show power points and videos to the students from my computer. I am content for the time being with the technology available to us in our Art Classroom, I feel that as time passes they will be given more and more opportunities to experiment with technology.
Overall, the educational setting of the Art Classroom must be innovative. We as educators must work with our surroundings, and what is available. It is our job to facilitate a successful learning environment, and this can be done if we care about our students’ learning and continue to educate ourselves.