Art Ed Blog

http://www.theartofed.com/

This website is an art education blog. It has give aways, contests, lesson plan ideas, advice for art teachers and much more! I found this website to be really interesting. There are so many resources for new and experienced art teachers. I found power points on artists, organization tips, and ready made posters for the classroom. I'm definitely bookmarking this website!

Are You Interested in Teaching Out of State?

Click this link! http://education.uky.edu/AcadServ/content/50-states-certification-requirements

It has a link to every state and the certification that you would need to be able to teach! I don't know about you but I'm a little nervous about finding a job on Long Island so I started looking at other states to possibly teach in/move to.

New York Art Advocator

http://www.nysaae.org/advocresource.htm

I was goggling and trying to find New York art education advocators and I did! The New York State Alliance for Arts Education (NYSAAE) serves a broad constituency of arts advocates, including educators, artists, administrators of arts organizations, parents and interested citizens across the state.  NYSAAE disseminates information about model programs, funding and standards of excellence, develops training models for constituent organizations, and advocates for arts education at the local, state and national levels.Founded in 1973, NYSAAE is located in the Cultural Education Center in Albany, NY.  NYSAAE is supported by The New York State Council on the Arts, The New York State Education Department, and its membership.  It has received grants recently to initiate innovative professional development programs from The Dana Foundation, and the New York Times Company Foundation School Arts Rescue Initiative (SARI), and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. NYSAAE is part of a network of state alliances affiliated with the Kennedy Center.) 

Also on the website is a bunch of links to other art education forums. This website is very helpful. Looking around it, i found a "toolkit for teachers" which explains questions that new and experienced teachers may have. There is also a page about evaluation and assessment and teaching pedagogy. They have a form that you can fill out a 'teaching template' that can help you gain an understanding of the type of teacher you want to be.

Art Ed 2.0

http://arted20.ning.com/

This website could be helpful to art educators connect with other art educators globally. You need to sign up and it's free (which is nice) and you can join groups and post photos and lesson plans and receive lesson plans and ideas. I encourage everyone to take a look at this!

Advocating the Arts

http://www.psarts.org/

P.S. ARTS is a non-profit organization that recruits, hires, underwrites and trains professional artists to develop curriculum and teach classes during the regular school day.  The organization also works to educate and empower classroom teachers through arts-related workshops that demonstrate how to integrate creative expression and the arts into core academic subjects. 

P.S. ARTS customizes the instructional model to meet the specific needs of individual schools and school districts.  Current methods include a conservatory model offering one-to-two traditional arts disciplines per school (Theater, Music, Dance, and/or Visual Arts).  Each discipline is taught by a salaried Teaching Artist (a professional artist with classroom experience) for the full school year - upwards of 30 weeks.  P.S. ARTS also provides an innovative Integrated Arts Model (I AM), which furnishes every classroom in a school with three Teaching Artists, each specializing in a different artistic discipline, who rotate during the course of the school year.  Finally, P.S. ARTS offers a professional development partner program between classroom teachers and Teaching Artists to support skills development and strategies for integrating the arts across school curriculum. 

All of P.S. ARTS’ instruction models are built upon the California Department of Education’s Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Standards and draw heavily upon the organization’s 19 years’ experience.  The goals of P.S. ARTS’ programs are to engage young minds, develop creative skills, improve observational powers, increase receptivity and develop problem solving abilities – all skills that serve children in their academic and personal development. In addition, P.S. ARTS programs help students develop grade-level appropriate concepts and skills in the arts, and help them identify connections between the arts and core subjects like language arts, social studies, math and science.

Event hough this is a Californian origination, I find it very interesting and happy that this is going on. I was watching tv today and I saw and event about this so I decided to google it and check it out. In California P.S. ARTS held an event where a whole bunch of celebrities, teachers and artists went to advocate for the arts in school. On their website you can donate money or find ways to help out, such as volunteering. I wonder if they have an organization like this for New York or any other state??

New York Foundation for the Arts

http://www.nyfa.org/default_mac.asp

I heard about this website from the NAEA meeting last night. This is my last semester in New Paltz and being here I noticed that there are so many art opportunities and art teaching and volunteering opportunities. So I was questioning the girls last night if they knew about any art opportunities on Long Island. We had a hard time at first thinking of something but then one girl suggested this website. It is like craigslist for artists and art educators. There are all different opportunities here, job opportunities, open studio spaces, opportunities for artists to show work, event listings, and there is a place for an artist to post a job for there artists to answer. I find this website extremely useful for myself because it will definitely help me in finding a job and giving me working/artists/exhibition chances. I encourage everyone to take a look at this!

My Fieldwork Experience

I had the most amazing time at my fieldwork. I was assigned to Cynthia McCusker, a seventh grade art teacher at Wappingers Junior High School. This fieldwork experience was unlike any other I've had before.  My mentor teacher was so unbelievable warm and welcoming when I first arrived (and throughout). She taught me so many different strategies and techniques to teaching. For example, keeping track of participation. She would have a seating chart with the students names and where they sit and keep track of who participates by putting a symbol next to them. This is also a good technique to learning the students names. Ms. McCusker was so generous in all of the advice she had to offer and all of the worksheets and packets she provided for me. It was definitely the best learning experience I could have had. I have pages upon pages of notes that I took during the time I spent there and I already know I will be looking back at those notes in the future. I actually already have done that when Danielle and I taught our theme based lesson to the class.
I also was able to experience a snow day, which is just like having a snow day as a student. One of the best learning experience I saw was watching substitutes. I was able to see two different subs at work. They were definitely two very different experiences. The first sub I was with was a very nice woman. She showed me everything a sub needs to do. From getting the teachers materials together to filling out reports after each period and even what her approach to classroom management was. She was definitely more in control of the classes. She was stern but friendly. The second sub was the complete opposite of the first. She didn't really explain anything to me at all. Even though I saw it once before, she did not know that and it would have been nice to see her approach. But, I was in shock how the class was acting. This sub didn't really have any control over the classes and didn't seem to have any approach to classroom management. I felt like my ears were going to explode. I was very grateful that that day was the   snow day and we only had a half day. This was a very good experience for me because I was able to see two different subbing situations and see what works and what doesn't and what I would like to do when I am in that situation.
Overall I couldn't have asked for a better mentor or experience. I will never forget all of the advice and wisdom that I was given. I am still in contact with Ms. McCusker and I am going to be helping her out for the festival of the arts that the junior high conducts! I think I have made not only an excellent resource in Ms. McCusker but also a great friend.