Part 1: Brainstorm with ColleaguesI was able to meet with all of the other elementary Art educators within my district. Although they are already fully aware of my problem of practice because they have the same position I do, I did make them aware of the situation before going into the meeting. I started by asking the question: What can we do to make swapping materials easier with the five minute time period between classes? My colleagues and I talked about it and wrote our answers down on post-it notes. Each idea has its pros and cons and I already implement some of the ideas into practice. You can see our ideas below. Some may be hard to read so here is a list of what each says: - Arrive early and get out supplies for the whole day - Play a video (one already on YouTube or online) at the beginning of class that gives you time to set up - Start with a 5 minute drawing warm-up or priming activity - Make table captains - Dedicate instructional time to teaching correct clean up procedures - Keep materials organized and specific projects in bins - Storage bins or containers next to every table for easy and quick access - Make a video to demonstrate what the kids are learning while you set up - Choose volunteers to help at convenient times - Have a trustworthy student stay behind to help set up before the next class - Declutter tables and counters at least once a week - Keep certain projects in specific cabinets - Return items immediately after use - Choose a student to read a book at the beginning of class Part 2: Incubation JournalOver the course of a couple of days, I continued to brainstorm on my problem of practice. I used my cell phone 'Notes' application as a journal to keep track of any more ideas that struck me. This was extremely easy for me to do because I always have my phone with me and I already use the application for a couple of other reasons. Part 3: ReflectionOver the course of this unit, I have done a lot of reflecting and brainstorming on my problem of practice. Interestingly, this unit has actually helped me narrow down my thoughts significantly so that I was able to find the root of the problem. I figured that would have happened in the define unit. I have learned that the incubation process is something I was doing naturally before this course but never really had practiced mindful control over it like I did within the past two weeks.
It was difficult for me to get my colleagues together for brainstorming. The brainstorming session was something I knew I wanted to do in person. I simply work better that way. Unfortunately, I don’t work in the same building as my art education colleagues. Luckily, we had a meeting scheduled and were able to get together, but other than that, I don’t typically see or talk to them as often as I’d like. Our administration provides time for us to get together but it’s really not that often. This made me realize that I am missing incredibly valuable time for collaboration, ideating and more possible “ah-hah!” moments as a group. Regardless of how difficult it is to get my colleagues together, this unit has helped make it clear that this collaborative time is essential to generating best possible solutions for problems of practice. Personally, I love teamwork, so I was thriving in our brainstorming session. Most ideas that my colleagues and I came up with are completely possible but each have their pros and cons. Based on my personal time, energy and resources, some of the cons totally outweigh the pros and make it less likely for me to want to try. As mentioned above, I also already implement some of the ideas into practice. The idea that I am most excited to try out is actually one of my own. I definitely want to try creating videos that I upload to YouTube to help “buy” myself more time. I’m excited about this one because I feel like I can already picture how this will help and I believe it will make a huge difference. I am also interested in the possibility of having one specific student become a classroom helper. There is a lot of time, effort and thought that would go into that though.
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If you'd like to make any comments about this post, you can do so on this google doc. My Idea Notes - "Prime Your Mind"When it comes to taking notes and doing preliminary thinking, I love making lists and writing on paper. I think this helps me remember the things I am writing down and work with ideas in a more tangible way. Below, you will see a photo of my list which is a representation of my stream of consciousness on my problem of practice. My Post-Incubation AddendumAfter going for a 30 minute walk and doing a few simple chores around the house, I sat back down to revisit my work. Below, you will see another photo of a list I created of edits and addendums to my original work. My Reflection on the ProcessI really enjoyed the process of work - incubation - revisit the problem. I have no problem focusing and getting a task done when it is necessary but the main reason I liked this process so much is because I was allowed to let my mind wander and take a break. On a side notes, It kind of reminded me of a tabata style of training the body which has an on and off pattern of: work hard, rest, work hard, rest, repeat. I believe this process can really work and help someone solve problems but it has to be taken seriously. When I primed my mind, I set a timer for 15 minutes and I thought long and hard about only my problem. I didn’t allow myself to get distracted. Then, I took my incubation period seriously, too. Because there are so many things on our to do list, I believe it would be easy for others to become distracted during this part of the process. I made sure to allow myself the time to take a quiet walk and let my mind rest. When I revisited the problem, I felt refreshed and ready to get back to work. I didn’t have any significant “ah-hah!” moments but I can easily see how implementing this practice more often could bring great realizations to any problem in our daily lives.
My 5 Why’s Root Cause AnalysisMy Problem is: With over 500 students in the school, 24 classes total, 6 different classes a day, 3-5 different preps a day, 45 minute classes and 5 minutes between classes, the biggest problem of practice for me as an elementary Art teacher is material management. Why is it the biggest problem of practice? Response 1: This problem is a wicked problem because the answers range so vastly from teacher to teacher. I would say, according to my empathy report, the main reason this is a problem is because art teachers have a very small amount of time between classes to get out, distribute, set up, clean up and take down materials and supplies. Why is it so hard to do all of that in that time? Response 2: Art teachers typically have a high amount of preps with each class doing something different from the last and the next. Also because art projects require a wide variety of materials and supplies. Why do art teachers have a high amount of preps? Response 3: Art is an elective or co-curricular so there are typically less art educators in a school compared to general education and therefore generally have multiple preps to cover a lot of different content and media within the art world (compared to, for example, an algebra 1 teacher who has the same prep all day). Why do art educators have to cover so much different content? Response 4: Most art educators want their students to have the chance to experience a vast range of art content and media, two-dimensional and three-dimensional. Why do art educators think it is important for their students to have the chance to experience different content? Response 5 (my root cause): Whether an art educator takes on more preps by choice or is simply assigned them by an administrator, most choose to use a wide range of materials and supplies in order to provide a well-rounded art curriculum to their students but feel like there is not enough time to get out, distribute, set up, clean up and take down materials and supplies. My Why-How LadderMy Point of View FrameworkMy user works full time as an Art educator at an elementary school. She/He teaches art to the entire school which has approximately 530 students at it. There are 24 different classes ranging in grades preschool through 5th grade. He/She typically has 3-6 different preps every single day. All of these preps require a significant amount of time, planning and preparation, especially of materials. There are 6 different classes every day (of all different grades) for a 45 minutes period. The Art educator has 5 minutes between every single class to make all of the necessary changes with material management and projects. Something that would make material management more manageable and less overwhelming in that short amount of time between classes would be help from another person or some other way to buy more time. My Problem StatementA position in the field of Art education requires a tremendous amount of planning preparing and managing materials. The Art room is a place for abundant and diverse hands-on two-dimensional and three-dimensional learning experiences. These learning experiences and projects entail hundreds of supplies for hundreds of students. Because of this, an Art educator must dedicate a significant amount of time to set up, distribution, clean up, take down and storage of all materials. Additionally, Art educators typically have as little as three and as many as seven plus different preps every single day. In my opinion based on my research, the single most important difficulty in managing materials and supplies is the unbelievably small amount of time between classes where an Art educator must completely switch materials from one class to another, multiple times a day. The goal is to find different ways to maximize the use of this small amount of time (or other time), in order to minimize stress and make the overwhelming task of material management way more manageable for an individual.
Part One: Defining with SnigletsExosicle (eks oh sik el) - n. The state of being after exiting a warm shower in the middle of winter. Artapy (art uh pee) - n. Treatment intended to heal the mind and soul through the creation of art. Octoyarn (akt oh yarn) - n. A piece of equipment created and used in the art room to aid the process of distributing yarn to many students. Part Two: Reconsidering and Reframing For each art project we do in my classroom, each student artist creates at a different pace. A majority finish around the same time but there are always outliers that finish way early and way later. One of the biggest problems with this is what to have early finishers do or work on while the rest of the class is still in the thick of the project. This used to cause me a lot of stress. Last school year, any artist that finished early was allowed to do "Choice Time". This meant they could choose something to do from an array of things: blocks, connecting cubes, drawing with paper, using drawing books, sculpting with modeling clay, drawing on whiteboards or in sketchbooks, and more. At this point, clean up was not simply the project students were currently working on, it was so much more. Although I absolutely loved the idea of students being able to choose what creative activity they wanted to do, clean up was always very loud, slow moving and was never done completely right. Things were always put away incorrectly and I always ended up cleaning up after the clean up. It was way more trouble than it was worth. I needed to simplify and look at the situation differently.
This year, I have reframed this early finisher problem; "Choice Time" is now restricted to free drawing with whiteboards or sketchbooks and using drawing books. Because of this, clean up is significantly more efficient, much more quiet and is always done correctly. With this change, I had to sacrifice some choices but early finisher work should not mean more work for me as the teacher. It should be something quick and easy, which whiteboards and sketchbooks are. Moreover, I actually allow students to help do an additional job during "Choice Time", such as wash paint brushes. You'd be surprised at how many are willing to help! After reflecting on this situation, I realize that clean up used to be a highly stressful and chaotic time for me in the classroom. Now, after observing how clean up goes in my room this year, it is calm and students already know what to do and know where things go. I believe the biggest takeaway is for me to remember to generally simplify and sacrifice what I can with any given stressful or chaotic situation. This concept can be applied not only to my lesson plans and classroom management but also to my personal life. For example, something that is always overly complicated for me is planning out meals and the grocery list for a week. I have already been considering what I can do to make this a simpler process and if I can make any sacrifices in any way. Perhaps I have the same breakfast and lunch every day and choose 3 different dinners to make for the week. So, I would sacrifice variety with breakfast and lunch but would significantly simplify my grocery list and shopping. |
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