REFLECTIVEWRITING

in the art room

kari lomax

Classroom Community

Within my first fewmonths of teaching, Irealized that many of

my students werestruggling with

reading and writing,and that there was aneed to incorporateliteracy in all subjectareas at my building.

“I need to encourage students tothink creatively.

How can I incorporate literacy in my classroom

while encouraging creativity?”

-inquiry notebook

What happens whenreflective writing isincorporated intoeighth grade art?

I decided to implementreflective writing into my

classroom to help studentscreate goals for their

artwork, brainstorm newideas, and reflect upon theirprocess for each art project.

I felt this would scaffoldstudents to write as theyreflected over their art

making in a safe, positiveclassroom environment.

Introduction

personal art journals."

"As I set out a pile of old bookson the first day of my eighth gradeart class, students were confused

with the materials, yet eager tocreate. I explained to them

that these old books would berepurposed to create

Art Journals"How are we

going to draw inthe books with

wordseverywhere?" "What will

we putinside thebooks?"

"Can we drawinside? Can I

splatterpaint?"

"Can I look inside ofyours?"

"Do we get to take themhome? Can I keep it?"

Research Class

8th18 students 9 males

9 females

semesterlong class

small class- one

on one instruction

My Research Goals

Encourage Mindset

Incorporate self-reflection and self-assessment

Goal setting/ Connect goals to artwork

Implement reading & writing

Build relationships & classroom community

Literature What is Metacognition and Reflective Writing?

The Benefits of Metacognition

Self-Assessment and Reflective Writing Strategies

Metacognition or thinking about thinking involves the “awarenessand regulation of thinking processes” (Amelia, El-Hindi)

As students begin to think about their thinking, they begin to graspthe relationship between art and the world around them (Andrews)

McDonald and Dominguez (2009) concluded that students can consider thefollowing: What is something I discovered for the first time? What did I findthat surprised me? What happened reminds me of… What am I wondering

about now?

THEMES

Methodology - Theory According to psychologist

John Flavell and theMetacognition Theory,

metacognition is the abilityof one to manage and

monitor the input, storage,search, and retrieval of the

contents of their ownmemory.

I wanted students to use their metamemory(Flavell) to organize their thoughts, search

for ideas, and think about their thinking. Usingjournals, students would use metacognitivestrategies to be actively monitoring their

personal artistic process.

Methodology - Sub questions

How can I scaffold students to helpthem engage in making meaningfulartwork?

In what ways is writing linked tostudents’ metacognitive thinkingprocess?

What happens when (a) art journals,(b) co-created rubrics, and (c) artcriticism reflections areincorporated?

How can students "think about their thinking"?

Focus Students

Methodology STRATEGIESArt Journals

Scoring Guides & Rubrics

Student Interviews

Teaching Journal/Modeling

Student Surveys: My Art Experience& Process Survey

Exit Tickets

Student Work Samples

Examples of Strategies

Data Analysis

road blocks

obstacles presented

Writing imprecise goals/Not artistic choicesSeeing reflection as being in the past/Fixed Mindset

Struggling with the writing component of Reflective Writing

Emerging Themes...

Data Analysis - FindingsGOALS

CONNECTINGStudents’ goals were broad, andwere not always specific orpersonal to them.

Student's goals:

“to have a hidden image andto draw a successful image”

“to get an A+, be creative anddraw something nice”

“The goals that students are writingare not meaningful to their artwork.

They are concerned about finishing ontime, trying their best, or being

creative. What does that even looklike?” (Inquiry Journal, February 8th).

Fixing GoalsSecond Project: Color Wheel

I started interviewing studentsto get them thinking about

their artistic process.

I asked the students "Are youaware of your decision

making?" and "Describe yourprocess."

Students could apply theirgoals to the decision makingby explaining why they were

making artistic choices.

PROCESS VS. PRODUCT

Revisited Goal Setting:

Students explained how goals“are written for something to

look forward to.”

“Art goals in the classroom arecreated to strive for

something and accomplishnew things.”

Data Analysis - Findings

GROWTHVS. FIXED

After the secondproject, I discoveredhow my studentsbelieved thatreflection was in thepast and completed,therefore they had afixed mindsettowards their work.

Students wanted toget things right thefirst time and wereafraid to makemistakes.

Today a focus student explained herprocess. "I choose things that I like. Ipracticed to help with the details so Ididn't mess up.

-Inquiry Journal, March 9th

Exit Tweets

"reflection is going over what you’vealready done and improving it or(thinking) about things you could’vedone."

The exit tweet providedimmediate feedback for onhow I could better meet theneeds of all of my studentsin the class. The students

explained how they liked theidea of tweeting somethingto me and that they would

appreciate having a reply totheir tweet.

Growth Mindset Survey

"I'm not creative. I can't draw.""I can't do this.""I messed up, I want to startover." "Will do you this for me?""I don't want to try this.""They are so much better thanme."

"I'm on the right track!""I can try my best."

"This is going to take some time.""Mistakes help me learn."

"What can I do to make this evenbetter?"

"I'm going to ask for help.""I won't give up."

Growth Mindset SurveyResults

Fixed: 45%down to 15%

Growth: 55%increased to

85%

“I finally feel the presence of growth mindset beginning to settle into myclassroom. Hearing the students talk to one another about their artwork

and showing perseverance is happening.” -Inquiry Journal April 14.

Mindset Examples

Data Analysis -Findings

WRITINGIN REFLECTIVE WRITING

My class couldreflect verballythrough interviews,surveys, and classdiscussions, but hada hard time writingdown their thoughtsin class.Complained aboutwriting in art class.

My Art Experience Survey

Although some studentsdidn't enjoy writing in art

class, they found beinginterviewed helped them

receive feedback.

Implemented MetacognitionTop 3 Choices:

I'm thinkingI'm wonderingI just learned

StudentReflection

Growth fromJanuary to

March

"What is art?Why is art

important?"

One Page Portfolios

"How I make my art is unique. I’ve enjoyed this class because we weretaught different ways to make art that is useful and effective.

Different techniques I learned were to make my lines light and gentle so they’reeasy to erase. I also learned that I just go straight into drawing, and I don’t

really plan out my art." -Student Reflection

Intrepretation - Outcomes

Implementing growth mindset in my artroom encouraged students to be more

mindful of their thoughts andencouraged their creative process and

making mistakes. As the semesterconcluded, my class became

more aware of their successes and feltproud of their creations.

Implications & LimitationsI would advise to implement reflective writing the first day with the students as

incorporating writing into the art classroom is not always the first thing thatstudents think of when they come to our class. It is crucial to welcome students’

thoughts and encourage their creativity through art making and writing.

Philosopher JohnDewey explains thatwe do not learn from

our experiencesunless we reflect

upon them. Asstudents areexperiencing

reflection, teachersshould take the timeto reflect upon their

practices, as well. Semester long class insteadof entire year

Where I fit in theLiterature + Art

Community

Research Reflection

Implementing journals and reflective writingmade me as a teacher and a researcher morereflective about my own teaching practices.

The power of growth mindsetGrowth mindset empowered my students topersevere through reflective writing, eventhough they had never written in their art

classes before.

One page portfolios takeaway

The FutureIf I continued with my study, I would incorporate...

More opportunities for students to respondto ideas within their art journals.Study how providing journal prompts at thebeginning of each class would impactstudents.Allow students time to free write before eachproject.

After action research I will...Continue implementing and experimentingreflective writing strategies.Encourage growth mindset.Provide feedback and more opportunities.Reflect upon my own practices.

Fellows ExperienceMy time as a teaching fellow has

held me accountable forreflecting upon my encountersthat occurred daily. Spending

time in my own classroom, andgoing to class twice a week made

everything more relevant andapplicable as I was learning howto become a reflective teacher.

This Year's Successes

Mentor Teachers3 Fellows within the building

2nd Art TeacherClassroom Management

Art ElectivesCollaborationMy Students

"I have learned hownothing truly prepares to

you be a teacher untilyou step foot in the

classroom on day oneand start learning for

yourself."

Student Art Journals

Color Wheel

9 squares thatrepresent me

Shading IllusionSymbols

QUESTIONSthank you!

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