Erin Bridgers

Return to: ETAP 623 Spring 2020 (Zhang) | Erin's Mini-Course

About Me

Hi everyone! My name is Erin Bridgers and I am currently in the CDIT program at Albany and hope to graduate next year! In addition to working on my masters, I work as an art teacher at Waterford-Halfmoon Jr-Sr High School and am a new mom to a one and two year old. I'm looking forward to learning how to enhance my teaching practices!

My Topic and Purpose

In the typical art room, students are constantly listening, observing, and creating, but how often do they take the time to take a step back and reflect on their progress, their successes and their struggles? Reflective strategies are essential for student success in the art room but many teachers lack the skills to make this meaningful and effective for their students. This mini-course aims to educate on the ways teachers can help their students to strengthen their reflection skills and become life long learners.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing this mini-course, participants will:

• Identify what reflective practices look and sound like in the art room
• Explain several methods that allow for student reflection in the art room
• Understand the importance of reflection across content areas and how reflective practice lead to the creation of life long learners
• Create a reflective assignment that can be used for their specific content area

Needs Assessment

Problem

It is widely acknowledged that self assessment and reflection are staples to creating life long learners, but many teachers do not make the time in their curriculum to teach reflective and partake in practices with their students. As an art teacher, I have observed how important it is for students to take a step away from their work to reflect on their progress often throughout the creation process, and I feel it is equally important to take this time to assess ones progress in every content area.

The process of self assessment and reflection does not come naturally to all students, and proper education on how to encourage this kind of thought is very much needed in the educational community today.

What is to be Learned

Learners will be educated on what self assessment and reflection looks like in the art room, be able to recognize how reflective practices can be used across content areas and learn how to create a classroom environment focused on continuous reflection and growth mindset. Learners will get a chance to look at a variety of reflection activities that they can use in their classrooms and create a reflective assignment for use in their particular content area.

The Learners

Participants in this mini course will be primarily teachers of the arts, but I believe teachers of any content K-12 can benefit from the information in this mini course.

Instructional Context

Instruction for this mini course will require internet and the ability to watch videos, open google documents and create documents. The information will be given primarily in the form of readings, lectures and videos in an attempt to appeal to several different learning styles.

Exploring the Problem and Solution

Students will explore what it means to teach reflective practices and learn how to implement these skills within the classroom environment.

Goals

The main goal of this mini course is to participants to better understand the importance of self assessment and reflection and how to use it as a tool to create deeper learning experiences for students.

Analysis of the Learner and Context

The Learners

Those involved in this course will be either pre-service teachers looking to gain more insight into the benefits of self assessment and reflection in the classroom, and teachers already in the classroom looking to enhance these practices in their content area. Participants will most likely have a basic idea of what it means to have students self assess but will take this course to learn specific ways to implement this and the reasons for doing so.

Learner Analysis

Learners will come into the course with varied backgrounds in education but it will be assumed that they have at least heard of self assessment and reflection upon beginning the class. Since the course is primarily aimed at individuals who have an understanding of what self assessment is, the course will focus on giving learners specific ways that self assessment and reflection can benefit their students in the classroom. The course will provide learners with a solid understanding of the benefits of reflection within the art room and other content areas.

Context for Instruction

Learners will be asked to read texts, watch videos, create their own assessment tools and assess their own learning throughout this course. Learners will watch videos and discuss in a collaborative manner the key points and ideas they develop according to the speakers theories.

Performance-Based Objectives

This course aims to teach students the importance of utilizing self reflection and assessment as tools for instruction in the art classroom, but also extending to other content areas. After completing this mini-course students will have developed a nu,ber of ways that they can have their students self assess throughout the length of a class.

• Learners will demonstrate an understanding of self assessment and reflection
• Learners will define examples of self assessment and reflection
• Learners will understand the benefits of teaching self assessment across content areas
• Learners will generate a self assessment activity to use within their own classroom

Task Analysis

Unit One The Benefits of Self Reflective Practices in the Art Room

• Participants will examine the benefits of using self reflection in the art room
• Participants will understand what self assessment and reflection looks and sounds like in the art room

Unit Two Self Reflection and How It Promotes Student Driven Success

• Participants develop an understanding of how self reflective practices promote life long learning

Unit Three What types of self assessment tools can be utilized in the classroom

• Participants will examine a variety of self assessment tools
• Participants will reflect on learning and make their own assessment tool to be used in their content area.

References and Resources

“The Benefits of Student Self-Assessment for Academic Performance.” Academ, 6 Mar. 2018, academ.com.au/importance-student-self-assessment/.

“Best Practice: Benefits of Reflective Learning.” Best Practice: Benefits of Reflective Learning | Blackboard Help, help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Interact/Best_Practices/Reflective_Learning_Benefits_Best_Practices.

A Conscious Rethink. “What Is Self-Reflection And Why Is It So Important?” A Conscious Rethink, 6 Mar. 2020, www.aconsciousrethink.com/10258/self-reflection/.

“Gibbs' Reflective Cycle.” The University of Edinburgh, 20 Mar. 1970, www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle.

“How to Reveal the Creative Process Through Reflection.” The Art of Education University, 21 Nov. 2017, theartofeducation.edu/2017/11/29/revealing-creative-process-reflection/.

Inman, Johanna. Five Best Practices for Effective, Yet Sensitive Critiques. Temple University, teaching.temple.edu/sites/tlc/files/resource/pdf/5_Best_Practices_for_Critiques%20%5bAccessible%5d_0.pdf.

Norwood, Andrew. “What Does Self-Assessment and Self-Reflection Bring to the Learning Journey.” Schoolbox, schoolbox.com.au/blog/what-does-self-assessment-and-self-reflection-bring-to-the-learning-journey/.