Standard I

Teachers demonstrate mastery of and pedagogical expertise in the content they teach.

The elementary teacher is an expert in literacy and mathematics and is knowledgeable in all other content that s/he teaches (e.g., science, social studies, arts, physical education, or world languages). The secondary teacher has knowledge of literacy and mathematics and is an expert in his or her content endorsement area(s).

At CSU I had the opportunity to gain a degree in Art Education and a BFA. With this unique degree, I have had the opportunity to learn many different art forms like pottery, metalsmithing, drawing, painting, and sculpture. Along with my extensive studio experience, I have many opportunities to experience working in art classrooms at various schools during my practicum and at

both my student teaching placements. During this time, I honed my lesson planning and classroom management techniques while working with classroom art teachers. Because of the previously mentioned, I would rate myself as proficient in Standard 1 due to my extensive studio and classroom experience and my successes within these opportunities. My goal is to keep learning more about art making and opening up myself and my classroom to new art practices, and to keep using reflective practices to continuously grow as a teacher.

Element A: Teachers provide instruction that is aligned with the Colorado Academic Standards, their District’s organized plan of instruction, and the individual needs of their students.

This artifact, a presentation I created and used to facilitate a lesson on commemorative brooches, demonstrates my ability to meet Colorado Academic standards as a teacher in a way that supports my students' learning through the description of my expectations and how they are tied to Standards. Every part of this presentation supports the Colorado Academic Standards. For example, I have included contemporary artists for students to learn and transfer their knowledge about into their own artwork, I have included the rule of odds which supports mathematical standards, and I have included a portion of planning that supports students growing and practicing writing skills. Finally, this presentation demonstrates how I use the standards to support my students' needs through the use of their personal connections to a person who has greatly impacted their life to create an artwork.

Element B: Teachers develop and implement lessons that connect to a variety of content areas/disciplines and emphasize literacy and mathematical practices.

This artifact, a student triptych comic strip and feeling monster, demonstrates my ability to facilitate a lesson that supports learning new art techniques and skills while emphasizing literacy and math because students were able to successfully create a story using context clues, details that show setting, and speech bubbles. Students also learned prefixes for mathematical numbers and were able to identify tri (triptych), di, and mono (monochromatic) as meaning three, two, and one.

Element C: Teachers demonstrate knowledge of the content, central concepts, inquiry, appropriate evidence-based instructional practices, and specialized characteristics of the disciplines being taught.

This artifact contains everything I need for a successful lesson. It demonstrates my knowledge of art concepts (reflection, persistence, durability, function) and content (wire bending, wire cutting, wire shaping and forming, jewelry techniques) in ways that are comprehensible for my students. My presentation contains tips for preemptively stopping common mistakes which are specific to the lesson’s specialized characteristics and resources for helping students understand the content or concept further. My presentation includes my own research for instructional strategies and art concepts/history/examples translated and presetated in a middle school friendly manner, meaning its easy to understand, promotes deeper thinking, and defines new terms.