Connections

I made this image this morning to visually illustrate the connections of the different professional development programs and how I categorize their implications to my teaching practice. It is nice to be able to view these connections in this way. It provides another perspective of which to understand how these professional developments are connected and which characteristics they share.

An interesting observation that I had in looking at this image was how the learning strategies seemed to have more key components making more connections than the teaching methods. I think this is because the characteristics I listed were generally aimed at student learning. The images I created for these professional developments were very illustrative in nature as I intended them to be images I could use with my students as visual aids. The teaching methods were professional developments that presented information that was aimed improving my lessons and practices. The images created for these professional development concepts were more personally relevant images that might not communicate specific meaning to anyone other than myself. It is amazing that to me that these approaches were generated unconsciously. Yet, in reflection, they make perfect sense for what I wanted to communicate. 

Thinking Maps Final

As I stated in the previous post, working with the information from this professional development with arts-based research provided a fun, creative opportunity for me to work with my understanding of thinking maps to plan how I can continue to utilize this learning strategy in my classroom. Planning out a way to further apply thinking maps and allow my students to become more familiar with them provided and interesting challenge that could be investigated through arts-based research. I developed a series of images that could be used to generate a better connection between the learning strategy and my students. Continued interaction with the professional development allowed me to continue to reflect on the application possibilities and further ingrain this learning tool into my practice.

Each drawing in the image is representative of one of the eight different thinking maps. As I used thinking maps throughout the year, my students and I would refer to different maps with nick names. The circle map became the doughnut because that was the basic structure in the map. I think it will be fun to use these images in relation with the different maps next year.

Thinking Maps

Thinking Maps are visual patterns based on different thought processes. They are a clear example of arts-based research. Through thinking maps, students can visually and creatively express knowledge through the use of differently designed presentations. A great characteristic of using thinking maps is their ability to be used across subjects.  From art to science, the same learning benefits apply. By applying the maps across the curriculum, integrated thinking is encouraged through the use of similar thinking strategies.

The thinking maps professional development was one that was administered in multiple meetings. Three meetings were required to complete the training. Each map and its unique learning attributes were discussed giving a thorough explanation of the benefits of using the maps in our lessons. Along with the training was an extensive follow up requirement. The teachers were required to immediately show evidence of implementing the maps in the classroom with an example of each map and the lesson it was taught with.

I really embraced the thinking maps and used them almost every class period as a activating strategy as the students entered the room, or as a summarization activity. Due to my confident command of thinking maps and the importance they had to my lesson plans, I wanted to create an image that was more reflective of the familiarity that my students had for these maps. In this frame of thinking, I wanted to create an icon for each map that I could use in my lessons as another way of connecting my students to these maps. So if we are working through a power point, the students would see an image and know that I want them to create a bubble map or a brace map based on the icon. I think this will prove to be a fun, creative way to connect the students with the maps. 

Webb's Depth of Knowledge Final

As I mentioned in my previous post, I changed the direction of what I wanted to create in this image in response to Webb's Depth of Knowledge model. As reaching a level of higher order thinking (HOT) is the goal that we should be guiding our students to achieve, I wanted to create an image that not only reflects this intensified cognitive ability but showing it as a physical response of activating that ability.

I started with a straight self portrait and then altered that image to illustrate what I think utilizing higher order thinking looks like. I wanted to create an oracle/soothsayer type of appearance that shows an individual in a higher state of being. According to Webb's model, the fourth level is an extended application of higher order thinking. As teachers attempt to provide this type of learning experience to their students, I think we are in fact creating and nourishing an advanced conscious ability within these individuals. 

The use of arts-based research on this particular topic was relevant for this professional development because the use of artistic practices, when used to research a specific topic, activates and utilizes extended thinking. Ironically, I have worked on this cycle of arts-based research longer than any other due to my reinterpretation of how I wanted to represent my understanding and the influenced I received from reading an article on the importance of continued questioning through artistic practice. I think this continued reflection showed me the true value of this style of research as it challenged me to reevaluate and focus my understanding several times throughout the process. 

Change of Plans

I decided to change the direction of the image I wanted to create for my reflection on Webb's depth of knowledge model. I was inspired by reading an article by UCF associate professor Carla Poindexter. Carla was my painting professor while I attended UCF and is a very influential person in my identity as an artist and an art educator. 

Here is a link to her article:  http://today.ucf.edu/ucf-forum-art-is-always-a-series-of-questions-to-contemplate-not-solve/

Prof. Poindexter's article was a commentary on her experience of working on a project where students from UCF's school of science and school of visual arts collaborated to produce a science related art assignment. She described how the aims of the project quickly evolved from a students understanding a basic concept, to one with much greater significance due to the type of meaning that was being generated by the collaboration. Her description of the students going beyond illustrating concepts to producing works that were "developed by the hearts and minds of the individual artists".

Reading the article made me want to work differently on this image as I have already produced work in this project that was more illustrative in presentation. While I think these images and the knowledge I gained from creating them achieved the effective professional learning that is at the heart of this project, I wold like to experiment more with other types of design and creative process as I did in the Summary cycle. 

I did a few new sketches to based on this new direction I wanted to take. I wanted to create an image that more directly shows how I think of higher order thinking, as if it is a different state of being. While I think it could be described as such on a conscious level, I wanted to depict it as a physical state as well. 

I decided to work with my own image so as to make this a self portrait because my understanding of high order thinking is precisely what I am attempting to create through this capstone project.

The next professional development I chose to work with in my capstone project focused on Webb’s depth of knowledge process. The professional development program took place in my school’s media center. The duration of the professional development was about an hour in length and required a lesson plan showing evidence of applied higher order thinking methods to be turned in as a follow up exercise.

Notes on Depth of Knowledge

The professional development explained that curricular elements may be categorized based on the cognitive demands required to achieve the correct response. Webb’s model is composed of four levels of increasing cognitive ability. Recalling and reproducing information is the first level in the model. Level two is working with skills and concepts such as comparison and classifying. Level three is short term strategic thinking such as charting or analyzing data and predicting outcomes. The last level is extended thinking which employs such processes as reflection and synthesis.

During the presentation of the material, my notes were focused on capturing the main concepts of the model and providing a good explanation of each level of the Webb model. My imagery was influenced on the idea of creating depth and showing that each level reaches to a further level from the first requiring more effort to be reached. The metaphor of the ocean seemed to be an appropriate comparison to include in my notes.

In thinking of the final image I wanted to create, I went through several ideas before I was able to settle one that I felt was the most accurate representation of my understanding of Webb’s model. I started by considering the different levels as similar to the evolution process in that a more complex mind is needed to utilize the deeper levels. I made some sketches of monkeys that I thought might work for the imagery, but I did not feel that this was the best metaphor to use in the image. I changed my mind to use the ages of man to represent the different levels of cognitive ability. As I was reading about the different levels, the different abilities reminded me of education. As you grow and learn, more difficult tasks are provided to continue to challenge your intellect. I made a few sketches of this idea and settled on a composition that I felt would lend itself most accurately to the concept. 

Summary

I decided to create an artist’s book that summarized my life journey metaphorically by depicting my life from my hometown to the town I currently live in. The book was made with pen, tape, color pencil, and marker. I used the theme of water to represent the process of making choices and following paths that have eventually lead me to my current state. Water has specific meaning along with the image of a water pump as they relate to my hometown. I depicted the different choices and obstacles that are faced in life as the different barriers and obstructions that alter the path of the water. However, the water still finds a place to accumulate. I believe this is to be an appropriate summary of the way I visualize my life’s journey. It shows understanding and provided me with an opportunity to creatively reflect on the voyage.

I enjoyed working with the information more conceptually in this application of arts-based research. While the process was similar, it provided a experience that was based more on the comprehension of the material than on the material itself. While I think the application of ABR was appropriate and meaningful in the previous applications in creating a more developed understanding of the specific practice I was working with, this form of  application created a more personal experience as it produced a more intuitive reflection of the meaning of summarizing and how it can be accomplished. 

Understanding the importance of summary is a key component to teaching. Using art to create a personal representation of what summarizing is, even in a metaphorical variety, provided me with a deeper conceptual meaning and appreciation of this element on student learning. It provided a physical artifact that I can connect with and continue to reflect upon. It is a constant reminder of the importance of this element to my teaching practice. As suggested by the PD itself, this could be used in my room as a constant reminder for the need to stop and summarize and allow the students to reflect on what we have discussed.