I want my students to feel like artists by way of changing the way they think of artists. They don’t have to be good drawers or good painters to be good artists. They just need to see that art is a way of expression and it can take on many different forms, whether that manifests in a new car model or a new dance move or a new product advertisement. I want them to develop their own creative ideas and be able to express them. Granted, most of that expression in my classroom will be through visual art but I want to instill in them the idea that creativity is not only in visual art. I want them to see the world as full of art. In that way, they will naturally become artists.

In an attempt to enable all students to learn and participate in my classroom, I have tried different methods of classwork throughout the year. I planned more group work earlier in the year to get my students comfortable with each other. They could lean on each other for support while everyone was new to art. In that way I hoped to build a classroom community that fostered a network of support. Later projects involved more independent work so students could hone their individual skills and become more independent in my classroom.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
– Henry Ford