maria pairitz's
community of teachers portfolio
i. subject matter
evidence
Syllabi of Courses Completed
As an educator, it is not enough to be knowledgeable in your subject matter, you have to be energized and excited by it. The best teachers are able to transfer their knowledge and enthusiasm to their students. I believe in order to make art education engaging and relevant to my students, there are specific ideas that need acting on within my teaching. I have collected evidence that demonstrates my ability to ensure students feel ownership and control in the process of making, encourage the idea that the arts are an act of investigation and trial and error while giving them a safe space to experiment in, and make students feel that what they are doing matters and holds weight within the school and broader community.
The evidence I have collected includes a collection of syllabi of art courses I have completed, student feedback concerning my enthusiasm and ability to connect art to their personal interests, my philosophy of art education, my art teacher Instagram account, my Intro to 3D Curriculum, a gallery of my personal work and of my students' work, an excerpt from a letter of recommendation, my membership to the National Art Education Association, and journal excerpts from student teaching.
These experiences have allowed me to practice conveying my knowledge and enthusiasm openly and work on connecting art to student's lives. Throughout my student teaching, I was very intentional when designing the curriculum so that each lesson and project connected to some facet of my students' lives. I also made sure that during my instruction, I kept an engaging tone, smile, and upbeat energy despite factors that may have diminished my positivity for that day.
Reflecting on these experiences, especially the student feedback, I have come to realize that connecting art to students' lives does not always have to be in a super personal, deep manner. I can also utilize fun, light-hearted interests that aren't specific to an individual, but rather a shared experience or interest. I will continue to work to strike a balance between these ideas.
All of this evidence is the culmination of years of interest and commitment to visual arts. It communicates the value I have for visual arts, new and effective ways of relating visual arts to my students, and how it impacts their lives outside the classroom. With this evidence, I believe I have demonstrated my ability to help students develop an appreciation, if not passion, for my subject matter. I believe I have met Ready to Teach for this expectation.
These are courses I have completed throughout my college career relevant to my subject matter. These include studio courses, art history courses, and art education courses. We are required to have 51 credits in visual arts before graduation.
Foundations of Art Education and Methods 1
Foundations of Art Education and Methods 2
Introduction to Visual Culture
Art History: Ancient and Medieval Art
Art History 2: Renaissance - Modern
This is my Philosophy of Visual Arts Education. I wrote this as my final written assignment for H205 - Introduction to Educational Thought. I laboured over this piece until it concisely represented everything I believe about art education. I know that it will need to be continually revised as I develop new opinions and are exposed to knew ideas, but this is my starting block to build off of.
I have created an educational Instagram account to display student artwork. I invite all of my students to follow this account so they can see their peer's and their own artwork displayed to a broader community. This also allows them to see me convey my enthusiasm for their work and art in general. This also connects art to my student's lives as social media is a huge facet of most adolescents' lives.
Intro to 3D Curriculum
As I have been with Danielle for a year and half, I felt very comfortable with the Intro to 3D curriculum and asked if I could take over the course and change up the curriculum for my student teaching. Danielle thought it was a great idea as she had been wanting to change things up for a while and allowed me to entirely make up my own curriculum.
I centered my curriculum around the theme "Identity" so that each project would connect to individual interests and experiences, deepening student learning. We began with creating an Identity Page which was to be a source of personal inspiration for future projects, filled with pictures and quotes that are personally significant to each student. We then moved into our Spirit Pod project in which students were challenged to create an abstract sculpture that represented their spirit. In our next unit, students selected a significant memory or event to inspire their narrative vessels. I worked the entire summer to create lesson plans, handouts, assignments, assessments, and presentations to create a curriculum that I believed conveyed my personal enthusiasm for art, engaged students, and deepened student learning.
Personal Work
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Oil on Canvas 9x12
Acrylic and Ink on canvas 18x24
Acrylic on canvas 18x24
Student Work
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These are samples of student work which show their growing interest in the subject matter. Many of these examples went beyond and above the requirements of the assignment. These projects also represent their sustained engagement with the subject matter as it takes usually a few weeks to complete each project.
Journal Excerpts
Today I decided to demo throwing on the wheel since a lot of them expressed interest in the wheel. I used it as kind of a pitch to sell Ceramics 1 to my students and get them excited about it. They all seemed very engaged and interested and several of them tried to throw on the wheel! The wheel is always super interesting to students because it's like magic. I want to figure out ways to incorporate that same wonder and enthusiasm about other techniques I teach, because on wheel demo days, the students are always engaged.
A few class periods came up with some ingenious techniques when mashing the wire and reed together. One girl wrapped the wire around her strand of reed, then she was able to manipulate it however she wanted and it held its form steady. I made sure to show the rest of her class and the following classes her discovery.
C. came into class and noticed that the bins with the materials from yesterday weren't on the table. He was like, "Are we not doing the spheres again today?? I've been thinking all day about how I want to change mine!" then proceeded to tell me basically his reflection on his first piece and what he would do differently. I was smiling so big and told how excited it made me that he had thought about those things!
Danielle, my cooperating teacher, wrote me a lovely letter of recommendation. There is a segment within the letter that describes my content knowledge and ability to transfer my knowledge to my students. The segment is as follows:
While Miss Pairitz is certainly academically minded and accomplished, she is also an incredibly talented artist. Maria is both knowledgeable and proficient in a wide variety of mediums ranging from traditional drawing to digital design. Even when faced with new mediums, techniques, or concepts, Miss Pairitz took time to learn alongside her students and further bolster her repertoire of artistic skills. What makes her unique from most artists though is her ability to transfer her knowledge and expertise to students in a clear and meaningful way, a skill not all art educators master.
National Art Education Association
To stay in the know about recent developments and practices in my field, I have bought a membership with the National Art Education Association. They provide tons of events, seminars, webinars, and resources for art teachers.