Growing up I was not exposed to a lot of "artsy" things. I was immediately immersed into sports and am still an avid sports player and watcher. However, 2 years ago when I met my husband I was suddenly exposed to many different arts. We went to concerts, operas, musical theater, etc. I was beginning to have an understanding of what "art" really is.
In school I never had a specific art teacher, but many of my teachers incorporated art into our classroom. I remember many times when my teacher would be explaining something having to do with math and she would show us the explanation using art. It helped me to better understand how math equations worked. My sixth grade class had the most art incorporated in class than any of my other classes. One example of my teacher using art is the time when she taught my class how to write in caligraphy. Caligraphy was something my teacher was passionate about and really wanted our whole class to have a chance at learning it. Learning caligraphy helped the students in my class to write better and helped the students love to write.
After reviewing the first 2 chapters in the text, a few things stuck out to me. First is that it is SO important to incorporate art into every class regardless of what the subject matter is. The second thing is that having an artistic environment is a positive thing for young children, and will help them have a more positive experience while being in class. The last thing that stood out to me is that every student has different needs and through art there is no wrong answer. When students are able to be creative they are more likely to enjoy what they're doing.
As a future teacher I hope to include art in my class every day, even if it's something small. I truly do believe that kids learn better through visual learning, and I hope I can take what I will learn this coming semester and future semesters and apply it to my future classrooms.
