Designing Tattoos

Before I started this project with the class, I was a bit hesitant as to how the class would receive this project. Rooted in the theme of social justice and accepting diversity, I decided to introduce a tattoo design unit. My interest in tattoo design stems from designing my own. I spent many months thinking about what is meaningful to me and did plenty of research to find the perfect images for it. I spent many hours drawing the tattoo and I am very proud of it. Through the experience of designing my own tattoo, I can say that I am a changed person. Before delving into this project, I’d like to share my own experience being a tattooed individual.

I got my sleeve as an adult. It was certainly not a spontaneous event. I spent many days thinking about what I want on it and I felt ready to attempt it. For many years, tattoos have always intrigued me but I was never serious about getting one. It just “wasn’t me”. I am usually told that I don’t look like a person who would have tattoos. Yes that is true. Even I agree with that because we always believe the generic stereotypes that are prevalent in today’s society. Despite them being more mainstream, tattoos are still an area of reservation for me. I don’t usually go around flaunting my work but will gladly talk about the concept when asked. I don’t do it for attention (in fact I dislike the attention. Kind of ironic considering how noticeable it is on my arms). I did it for me at time when I felt like I had to. I was compelled to and put much thought into what I would get and what it should look like. I worked for months with my tattoo artist to design the perfect sleeve. It is now a part of me and I am proud of my accomplishment. Although there are days when I just wish to hide it (because I can’t be bothered with people staring and pointing) I am still proud of the spiritual journey I took to design it myself. When the experience itself was over, I felt a sense of accomplishment. I did it. All those painful hours in the chair are finally over.

How does this relate to teaching? Well, I’ve been judged as a certain type of person: one that is quiet and conservative…and I am. However, I am also an individual with a unique personality. When I roll up my sleeves, suddenly their perceptions of me are shattered and they cannot believe I am hiding such markings that are generally reserved for the “gangsters, bikers, punks, criminals…etc”. Stereotypes can work against you or for you. In this case, as a teacher and in a position of authority, how can I do this to myself? Individuality and self expression is appreciated in my classroom. I practice the acceptance of diversity and this is exactly what I want to exhibit. I want them to understand that you cannot judge a person just by their appearance.

For this project, I made it very clear that they are NOT to get tattoos and that I am in no way promoting the use of tattooing to express individuality. I emphasized that this project is more about self expression than it is about tattoos. It does not matter to me if they don’t want to get a tattoo. The challenge comes from discovering their own interests, motivations, and symbols that would take significance in a “permanent” tattoo design. Assuming that this would be a permanent design on you, what text or imagery would you absolutely use or not use. I had some students tell me they didn’t want a tattoo but it does not excuse them from not doing my project. I had to reiterate many times that this is project about themselves and not so much the concept of tattooing.

I wish I had more time with them on this project but overall, I am pleased with the results. Here are some examples.

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Presentations & Due Dates

Today was the first due date for one of my class’ major projects. I warned them that I was going to collect the artist statements as well as their art projects (social justice comic). If they do not hand in their comics today, then they face the consequence of losing marks. They will lose 1 mark per day including today (the due date) if not handed in. They must also hand in their artist statement with the possibility of a mark deduction as well.

I started off the class by collecting their artist statements. Many seemed concerned and shocked that I would pull such a move. My SA had set up the classroom so that deadlines were

rolling and flexible. The moment I impose solid deadlines, they are in shock. I saw many “deer in the headlights” when I demanded the artist statement immediately after taking attendance. They were not used to such strictness in art class. I proceeded to take them to the multipurpose room where I had my CS student set up the chairs. There they brought their comics and everyone was encouraged to present their project regardless of whether or not they had completed it. I told them to relax and that this is not going to be hard. All they have to do is talk about their art project and to breathe.

The first set of students I went order from one end to the other end. They were told to talk about

1. Title of the comic

2. Concept of the comic

3. Brief summary of their comic

The majority of the students did a very good job in presenting their topic. Understandably, the nerves got to many of them and they slithered/ran back to their seat prematurely. The main thing was that their ideas were conveyed and how they could relate them to social justice. Students who struggled with speaking English used fellow classmates as translators. This was a fantastic tactic and was much appreciated by the class. I feel very fortunate that I can count on these students who were willing to volunteer. In the other class, I went up to help a student with translating his comic. I wanted to make sure that all students were going to participate. At the very end, I did a brief wrap up asking them what they learned from this project and how they felt seeing other people’s work. The overwhelming response to these comics was a sense of disillusionment with reality.

The majority of the comics illustrated popular or anecdotal stories. Many of these ended bleakly with the ending of the story resulting in death of the main character. On the flip side, there were also quite a few that had ended positively presenting an optimistic outlook for the characters in the future. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to ask questions and to give feedback for each student but I could tell that the majority of the students enjoyed being in a different room and sharing work with their peers. Tangential questions also surfaced as a result of the great discussions we had surrounding these comics.

I was disappointed to see that at the end of the day, I only received about half of the student’s projects. This means there will be a lot of late marks! I felt that I was being fair by extending their deadline to a week after spring break. Still, no matter how many times you hammer it into them, if they don’t want to do it, they will not do it. In addition to that, perhaps I had hoped for more ground breaking stories of social justice whereby the protagonist identifies the social issue at hand and comes to a realization that solving this issue is more important than he/she can fathom. Groundbreaking and even shocking discoveries occur in the story that will lead the protagonist to this conclusion. However, the vast majority of the comics that came from my students were ones that depict a problem that ends either positively, negatively, or ambiguously without explaining what the significance of these issues are and why they must be dealt with vigorously. I felt that the stories were more contrived to fit a happy or dismal ending just because I asked for a “resolution”. I believe that they all understood the concept of social justice very well and their work certainly reflects their knowledge and negativity surrounding social issues, particularly the inability to come up with plausible solutions. Perhaps it is difficult to write this type of a comic because solutions to these social issues are hard to come by in the real world let alone in the fictional one. Overall, I am proud of their efforts. I challenged them and they, for the most part, realize that handling social justice issues is an ongoing job that everyone must work together at.

See pictures below:

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What is Art Class Supposed to be like…?

Today I presented a brief lesson on the history of comics and manga. My FA came to observe me but I wasn’t nervous. I just did my best to ignore the fact that she was there and continued on teaching.

My two blocks today consisted of teaching the same course material. I guess you can see it as a chance to improve my delivery the second time around. The beginning was a lecture and the second half of the class consisted of group work. The lecture went a bit faster than I thought it would (mostly because it was not a question and answer discussion) but more a presentation on information. The first class was very excited about the comic examples I was showing while the second class had difficulty engaging. There were those that did engage but one particular group of friends lacked the attention and focus I needed.

Today was a sick day for my SA so the TOC came in to help with covering the photography class and the studio classes which I taught. It proved to be a pretty easy day for him. He got to observe my teaching and said I did a good job with the flow of the class.

For some reason, I felt anxious from the beginning to the start. I wasn’t nervous and shaky…just stressed. I felt stressed about the idea of continuing on with what seemed to be mundane lectures that should be saved for a social studies or guidance class. I believed in my ideas and the need for discussion, student engagement, and critical thinking. I did not want the blank look on students’ faces to make me think otherwise. Art education IS important in learning about all facets of life on top of the field of art studies itself. My experience with the process of art making has proven to be fundamental in my development as an artist and as an educator. I began to feel worried that my students weren’t going to enjoy my lessons. I worry that I will have to be too stringent when the students refuse to pay attention or stay motivated. I worry how I will mark them for participation and effort. There are many concerns because I want to be a good teacher that educates.

I feel that there are many obstacles to overcome. The beginning of each unit will be full of front-loading information. The middle to the end of the project will be their own time to explore their own ideas. I don’t want to be the mean teacher but I also want to be stern. This is something I will need to learn. As a student teacher, I feel that gaining their trust in me will be difficult. I step in as a stranger and give them assignments that they must complete and that will also affect their grade. It’s a strange situation to be in, especially with my goals for an art classroom. I don’t feel comfortable in commanding the students around because I don’t yet know them. In my mind I wish I could, but I am afraid they will think “well who’s she to tell us what to do?” Perhaps I need to let go of these fears and act as if the class IS my own. In any case, I want my students to learn about life and art. I hope that by the end of my practicum, they would come away feeling like I’ve made a positive impact in their life.

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Getting to Know the School

Today was a prep day for me so I had the luxury of running around to do the things I needed. The morning began with a visit to the photo lab where I found the projector I needed for tomorrow’s lesson. It was an adventure to get into the photo lab. I had the keys for the photolab and subsequently thought I also had the keys for the outside door into the photolab. Nope, I was wrong. No one except the engineers and principal had access to the school. Silly me. I had braced the cold only to run back and forth to find the photolab inside. It was like a maze but I did find it.

I picked up the projector and brought it back to the art room to test it out. I took out my laptop and realized that it only supports an HDMI cable which was incompatible with what the projector needed. So I told my SA and she said that there was a laptop back in the photolab I could use that does work with the projector. I made my way to the photolab again and brought back the laptop. I hooked it up the projector and it worked! I was excited. I am not tech savvy so hooking it all up on my own was very self-reassuring. I hooked up my USB to the port and played the Powerpoint. Everything was set.

I took the next block to prep for my social justice comic. I decided to do a rough draft of my story on racism. It was going to be called “Apples & Oranges”. The story takes place in a grocery store whereby the grocery clerk brings a box of oranges to refill the orange pile and one of the oranges escapes. This lone orange falls into the apple pile below. A few of the apples give this orange a difficult time but an older wise apple reminds the other apples that he is just a fruit like the rest of us. A story like this is simple but poignant. I wanted to give the students an example of a social justice narrative they could create but without telling them exactly how to do it. This is one fear I have: of using examples. I don’t want them to work towards an example because they think this is what the teacher expects. Instead, I think my comic will be done well, but it will be average, not stupendous. I hope my students can surpass what I create.

After lunch, I went with a fellow teacher candidate to meet with one of the counselors but ended up talking to another one because she wasn’t there. It was fine because we got to speak to two of the school’s counselors who were extremely knowledgeable, experienced, and engaging. I was entertained by their enthusiasm and passion for helping the students.

My last block was spent working in the Special Needs classroom. I wanted to learn more about how to develop lesson plans for them and how I would go about assessing them. Because my inquiry is based on assessment, I am especially concerned with the reliability, validity, and fairness of the assessment. After showing my lesson plans to the Special Needs teachers, they gave me helpful pointers as to how I should assess their work. The emphasis with these students is on the participation, completion, and sense of accomplishment they should feel when doing any assignment. It became more clear and I was given the task of drafting up a checklist of qualities that I would like to see my Special Needs learners accomplish. I worked with one student for the duration of the class and learned how challenging school can be for them. I also learned how patient one needs to be to work with them.

My day wasn’t over yet. At the ring of dismissal bell, I went to the homework club. It is a club that is overseen by one of the school counselors for students who require extra homework help. I ended up socializing more than actually tutoring, but it was all good. I got to chat with some young students who are considering the profession of teaching! They have a few years to go but it’s nice to hear them voice their aspirations. I plan on coming to the homework club once a week and to the Special Needs class once a week. There is also a badminton club which I am interested in volunteering for.

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First Day Jitters

When September started, I knew that I had a challenging road ahead of me. Plenty of coursework to prepare us for this big performance. Nothing can ever really prepare you to perform as a teacher though. Despite the tremendous amount of readings and assignments, nothing could prepare me for the mental toughness I needed to go teach. Resilience and patience is what I had to get through the busy semester before and I needed it here.

I met some of my fellow teacher candidates and we shared stories about our fears, lesson plans, and extra curriculars we wanted to participate in. I was happy we were there to support each other.

The first block I went to see my SA. She was teaching the students how to make pinatas. They were beautiful and I was very impressed. I would soon be taking over this class and working with these wonderful children. There were many familiar faces. I got a chance to speak to my SA about my lessons and received positive feedback. I was going to try inquiry in the classroom and will attempt this by giving them concept worksheets. I’m a bit weary as to how they will react to the idea of “researching” for their ideas, but I believe this is a smart group. I am hopeful that my lessons will be a success. I am especially excited about the social justice comic that I will be introducing to one of the classes. Promoting social justice has always been a passion of mine.

I was lucky enough to be given a demo on how to use the photocopier and booking library sessions. I booked my class in for a research day in the library to explore their social justice topic further. I also had the chance to visit the Special Needs teacher. I expressed my interest in helping out with this group of students and she was very receptive.

Despite my fears of starting practicum, it started off on the right track. I had plenty of support from my SA, student teachers, and I hope, the students.

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