In the Making 27A

The photo "Alpha Phi Alpha Basketball Team," by James Van Der Zee glamorizes the Harlem Renaissance by photographing a fraternity basketball team. He captures the pride and strength of the team by using a direct perspective and straight lines. He uses the team to represent the greater brotherhood of the community. In contrast Dorthea Lange's, "Migrant Mother" is an example of lamenting a time period. In the simplicity of her image she captures the disparity of the depression. We see a the pain and despair in the mothers face and her children's sorrow. The clarity of the image is a stark image of life, for what the title tells us is a migrant family.

Art Advocacy

I will advocate for arts in my school district by being an active and present member of the staff. I think that it is easy for the arts to be segregated from the rest of the core classes. As an instructor I want to build relationships with these other departments, so they will know what is going on in the art classroom. That way when it comes time to advocate for my program, I will have support from other departments and staff members. I think that pushing students to create great art is a form of art advocacy. When other students and staff see the visual evidence of what the program is accomplishing they will be able to better understand the value of the program. Helping the students in the arts succeed shows that advantages that the arts have of reaching students who may not excel in the traditional classroom. Students are also the most effective at promoting art classes. If they enjoy what they are taking they are more likely to encourage their peers to be involved as well.
The risk in advocating for the arts may be that it alienates other teachers, because they may feel that you think your program is more important theirs. However, I don't think that advocating for the arts would do more harm than good. If the statistics are any proof, art education is a valuable resource for developing successful students in all classes and should be advocated for!

Disabilities

It is hard for me to think of a particular experience with a person with a disability. During my elementary education students with the greater physical and mental disabilities were not integrated into the regular classroom, like they are today. I remember realizing when some peers of mine were not as smart as the rest of the students in class and required extra help. This never made me treat them any differently in the classroom though and I often enjoyed helping them with something that I had already mastered. I will expect the same tolerance from the students in my classroom. I don't want any child to discriminated against because they may have a physical or mental disability. I think that the art room can be a wonderful place for those with disabilities because everyone has different artistic strengths. I think art classes can also be accommodating for students by allowing them the ability to use different tools and techniques.

After reading others blogs I remembered that I have family friend who's son as aspergers. He could be very challenging at times, but had amazing insight into all kinds of topics. I know that he got teased a lot in middle school and high school because students thought he was strange. His parents were also reluctant to admit that there may be something that was holding him back socially. I haven't seen him in a while but I know he was able to graduate from high school and I hope that in the future he can do great things...even though they may not be what his parents had planned for him when he was young!

Alter Ego

My alter ego won't necessarily be made up things that I am not, but rather things I would aspire to be. My alter ego will be courageous, assertive, compulsive and enlightened. The time period in which my alter ego lives will be in the late 1800's early 1900's in northern Minnesota. I'm still developing the course of my alter ego's life, but look forward to learning about the time period surrounding her life.