ART - Week 10 (take 2)

Week 10:
2. Pre thinking on lesson with “why questioning”
Share a roughly outlined lesson plan,
add a descriptive narrative. It might be interesting to interview yourself with why questions (record it) and transcribe it.... However you accomplish this, make sure you're reflecting deeply on the process.

Sooo...I kind of thought I did this in my last week 10 post, but then Amy asked me if I was going to post my "why questioning" so I thought I better repost a more thought out response. Here is my unique, non-classroom approach to using what we read.

Since I don't have a typical classroom environment, I had to figure out how what I've learned in ART will be used in my situations where I work with teachers (the learners in my environment) and my reflections on the topic. What I realized as I read was that these strategies dovetailed nicely with my Intro to Art curriculum writing team. We are examining the new Core Arts Standards and re-thinking and re-imagining how our curriculum will look. The challenge is that we are required to use a template for common unit based performance assessments. (This is an exciting possibility in my mind because it is a format that FINALLY embraces what we do in the art classroom. No more mandatory multiple choice tests and scan-trons! However, at the same time scary because we all have to do the same assessment. How we get kids there is up to us, but the team lays out a suggested structure.)   
Here is the non-traditional classroom agenda for later this week:
1) Discuss our reading of Teaching Meaning in Artmaking
2) Write Transfer Goals for this course.
3) Unpack the Core Arts Standards for High School Art level I & II.
4) Determine possible combinations of standards as well as opportunities to spiral in order to develop common units.
5) Identify Priority Standards (in order to help spiral the curriculum.)
I would also like to include an opportunity to practice a VTS discussion and share some more contemporary artists (two needs & goals identified by the group.)  Oh, and I wanted to discuss the shifts in art practice as defined by the CCSS. yikes!

So in thinking about the "lesson" here are some of my 'why' questions:

• Why so much??? It is our last meeting of the year (argh! need.more.time!) so we have a lot to accomplish in a little time. I wish we had more days we could meet together. We have  had a lot of mind expanding discussions and development as we prepare to make this pedagogical shift.
• Why do you think the adjustment is going to be so difficult? After being conditioned to teach to concrete, testable standards, the new NCCAS standards are liberating but could also cause confoundment. They are so wide open, I felt I needed to consider that teachers could easily fall back into old habits and ways of thinking. I also know from experience that transforming your teaching style can be overwhelming and take a bit of getting used to so I wanted to support my teachers in whatever ways I could, making the transition easier and increasing their skills to make the curriculum writing portion better. 
• Will they get what the standards are really asking them to do (think like artists)? Will they be able to translate this into a new way of teaching? (I think yes! it is totally possible! but by the time we set out to write curriculum? :/ )

Truthfully, I don't feel as confident about this as I do when I teach in the classroom. Maybe because I don't have a clear vision of where we are going yet, so I don't know what to do to lead them there. But, I keep telling myself that this is like the way I want them to approach teaching. Enable through constraints, but allow the student to direct the learning. So I am trusting my gut and relying on my knowledge to help guide us through the exploration together! 

I may modify this between now and when I "teach" it so I will be sure to update via a new post for week 11.