My Teaching Philosophy

Students are individuals. Although they are grouped together within classes, I strongly believe that it is our responsibility, as teachers, to address them individually and customize our teaching to best aid them. We must not only consider students’ varying strengths and weaknesses, but also vary our instruction in order to target each difference. I believe that teachers have the greatest success with students’ achievement when they teach with diverse learning styles and recognize each student as a single person capable of learning.

I firmly believe that every student has their own strengths and weaknesses and that each individual excels in their own way. I believe that teachers should recognize these strengths and enable students to develop their weaknesses. Popular in education, Howard Gardner also recognized this potential within each individual and wrote about his theory of multiple intelligences context (Gardner, 1983, p9). I support this theory with the belief that everyone possesses all of the intelligences but excels in one or more in particular. I believe that teachers can use this knowledge to help their students excel. By identifying the areas in which students shine, teachers can help them conquer their weaknesses.

Another theorist who recognized the individualism of students is Robert Gagne. Gagne discerned that students tend to learn more effectively through a certain style of teaching. He introduced conditions of learning and proposed that students not only excel in different ways, but also learn in different ways. “It is probably the case that some learners can benefit from less complete instruction, i.e., certain events may be omitted from the stimulus materials without seriously affecting the effectiveness of the instruction,” he theorized, addressing the fact that teaching can be personalized and tailored to each individual (Wager, p8). This supports my premise that teachers will be most effective when they seek to teach students personal and individualized methods that allow every student to find success in their own way.

When we see students as individuals, we must also not forget that learning takes place in a social environment. “One is a unique individual, who still must grow up in a social context-an individual of feelings and striving, who must rely on others to furnish the tasks and to judge one’s achievements,” states Gardner, recognizing that although students are individuals, they must still be related in a social context (Gardner, 1983, p254). Students are collected into classes and classes are paired with teachers. This allows students to communicate with peers and mentors and interact in social activities. I believe that it is through collaborative help that students are best able to learn and grow. Collaboration with others allows them to witness ideas and viewpoints separate from their own and create new understanding. This belief is supported by Lev Vygotsky’s social development theory in which he describes the zone of proximal development. “The zone of proximal development defines those functions that have not yet matured but are in the process of maturation, functions that will mature tomorrow but are currently in an embryonic state” (Vygotsky, 1978, p86). Students are learning in the zone of proximal development when under guidance, in collaboration, or in groups and are able to function at higher levels within this zone. Vygotsky noticed that what children could only do in collaborative efforts at one age, they could do at a later age independently (Vygotsky, 1978, p87), demonstrating that through social guidance, such as the aid of an effective teacher, students inherit and develop skills that they will use later in life.

Teachers are instilled in classrooms to help and guide their students. Through this interactive relationship, teachers are able to create learning experiences in which students are able to succeed. I believe that each student possesses the ability to achieve. By identifying the individual strengths of our students and adjusting our teaching techniques to encompass a variety of learning styles, we can affect all of our students and help them each flourish. We must simply recognize students as individuals and understand that they each have their own intelligence and learning style that will develop when given guidance.

References

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Impressionism: Experienced

One cannot truly experience Impressionism without actually witnessing a painting from the movement in person. This became apparently clear to me after I visited the McNay Art Museum, located in San Antonio, Texas, and found myself before Claude Monet’s Water Lilies painted within 1916 and 1919. This grand piece is a prime example of the Impressionism period and allowed me to truly experience the movement and understand the techniques that comprised it.

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Kay Kahn

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“My work is a mosaic of fragments, collected experiences, information, and images. This mosaic is both ideological and visual. I like to begin with an idea that I allow to develop unhindered to encompass anything from the serious to the absurd. No thought is isolated and the simplest can build upon itself. Layers of connected thoughts revealed in a succession of images link and multiply in evolving variations. In my recent work, for example, I sometimes begin with just a word, but already this word comes with many meanings and connotations. Then I make a connection, a thin bridge, between each word and its images, and other perhaps abstract and veiled yet related ideas. My artworks are often labyrinths of intricate wordplay. I want the words to be read as fleeting and visual impressions that interact with the other stitched images. The figures in my work in combination with the words form a running commentary.”

With so many threads making up an intricate composition, I marvel at Khan’s work and her ability to combine many small parts to create a whole. Her wall works are especially astounding as they combine multiple elements to create an interesting-looking collage, filled with meaning and purpose. I am impressed by the skill and amount of patience it must take in order to create this works of art, especially with a medium that I am not very familiar with. It baffles me how single threads can come together to create what looks like a painting or mural upon a wall.

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Hiroshi Sugimoto: Unmasking Time, Life, and Death

A man intrigued by the capture of time, Hiroshi Sugimoto is a well-known photographer constantly striving to freeze time within his photographs. Through his multiple series, Sugimoto takes several pictures within a common theme, exploring the use of shutter speed, focus, horizon line, perspective, contrast, and lighting in order to emphasis the passing of time or the contrast between life and death. He is most famous for his photos of empty movie theaters and drive-ins, lonely seascapes, posed museum dioramas, and life-like wax portraits and is well-known for using extremely long shutter speeds. Read more

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La Reina Mora: Bold Painting, Proud Dancer

When first viewing Robert Henri’s painting, La Reina Mora, one notices a lone dancer, posing within a bright light emanating from an unseen source. Contrasted against the dark and obscure background, the woman stands boldly with her hands resting on her hips in an assertive stance, the only subject and focal point within the piece. Staring out past the viewer, she bares a complacent look upon her face, appearing as if she is posing for a portrait.

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Film Exposure

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Photography is an art that relies heavily on light. In order to correctly capture the image before the viewer, a camera must successfully capture the correct amount of light. This capturing of light relies on film exposure.

By pressing the shutter button, one allows light to strike the film and take a picture and by setting the exposure, one can control how much light is allowed to enter the camera, therefore influencing the way a scene will be depicted. When too much light is let in, overexposure occurs, but when too little light reaches the film, underexposure results. In order to achieve the correct amount of exposure, one must understand many contributing factors such as subject lighting, lens aperture, shutter speed, and film speed.

Obviously, one must learn to compensate for the amount of light that surrounds a subject. When the subject is dimly lit, more light should be allowed within the camera yet when there’s an excess of light, it should be restrained. This control can be adjusted through the camera’s lens aperture through f-stops, the shutter speed through intervals, or even the film’s speed or sensitivity to light. When choosing an f-stop, one must determine whether a larger or smaller lens opening is required. The larger the f-stop number, the smaller the lens opening. The opposite is true of shutter speeds, however. The smaller the fraction, the shorter the amount of time the curtain within the camera is opened and the less light is allowed to reach the film. While lens aperture and shutter speed are the factors most often considered when dealing with film exposure, the film itself may also play a role as films with higher ISO numbers are more highly sensitive to light than films with lower ISO numbers. All factors must be considered in order to correctly set a camera’s exposure and accurately depict a scene.

By understanding each factor that determines the film’s exposure to light, one can more accurately capture the correct amount of light and more accurately create the scene that is desired. Because light is essential to creating successful negatives, it is important to understand and master the factors that govern it.

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Comfortable Treasures

For my 3-Dimensional Design Final, the class was assigned to make a piece of art that could support a seated person and solve a functional problem that did not necessarily look like a traditional chair.

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Statue of the Sleeping Ariadne: Sleeping Beauty

Though many pieces of art today are meant for the enjoyment of others as they stand before the work and entertain their eyes, artworks from Ancient Times were often meant to involve the viewer as they enveloped him, astounded him, or even allowed him to become part of the artworks or the stories represented. When exploring the ancient artworks within the San Antonio Museum of Art, one piece playfully welcomes the viewer into Greek mythology as he stumbles upon the statue of a reclining woman. Placed upon a squat pedestal within the Ewing Halsell Wing, the Statue of the Sleeping Ariadne represents Greek myth as it imitates Greek sculpture through the work of a 2nd Century A.D. Roman. Though the artist who created the work may not be known, the myth that inspired the piece lives on.

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George Fitzugh

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Just before the Civil War erupted within America during the 19th century, arguments and debates over slavery were very prominent and common. These debates were spurred by author, George Fitzburgh, a pro-slavery colonist who supported slavery because he felt that it was good for everyone within America.

Explaining that a paternalistic society was orderly and structured, Fitzhugh described that following the traditional values was best for masters, slaves, and non-slaveholding whites. In his view, allowing the masters to take care of the weaker and poorer slaves, slavery actually protected the weak, rather than devoured them, as in a capitalist society.

In the North, industries and factories were succeeding, promoting free trade and competition. This often allowed entrepreneurs to control the weak and poor members of the society, and as Fitzhugh explained, allowed the strong to “enslave” the weak. In the South, he felt there was a more successful and orderly institution that protected the weak, actually making them the most free of all people.

Through his writings, others were able to read his logic and support his ideas. These supporters helped prolong the slavery debates and actually helped launch the Civil War. A pro-slavery propagandist, George Fitzhugh felt that slavery was the best situation for America economically and socially.

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Tecumseh

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Not long after the Revolutionary War, competition over North American lands strengthened, leading to multiple wars and battles. Leading a Native American alliance, Tecumseh, a Shawnee war chieftain, tried to unite all of the Native American tribes against the every-encroaching powers of the white civilization.

Led by visions and awakenings, Tecumseh would try to persuade his peers by foretelling disasters and predicting success. With the help of his brother, The Prophet, Tecumseh became a strong obstacle standing between America and expansion.
Determined to progress, American colonists fought against Tecumseh’s armies, slowly weakening his alliance. Viewing the Native American lands as room to grow, they did not understand the sacred importance they represented for the Native Americans.

Constantly facing his rival, Governor William Henry Harrison, Tecumseh was determined to defeat his opposition and protect his lands and livelihood. Tecumseh’s efforts only prolonged American victory and conquest, however. Finally meeting his end, Tecumseh was slain by Harrison in a substantial battle that marked the beginning of Native American decline.

After losing their strong, inspirational leader and left with his unsuccessful and defeated brother, the tribes began to separate and weaken the bonds of alliance. Without unity, the Native Americans were overwhelmed by the power of the Americans and were eventually defeated.

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Slaved to Submission

"Celia: A Slave" by Melton A. McLaurin

“Celia: A Slave” by Melton A. McLaurin

People are raised to harbor a natural thirst for power and control and develop a strong sense to protect that authority and preserve their ways of life. With these internal motives and desires, southerners of the newly-formed United States of America were comfortable with the power established within the patriarch and unwillingly to surrender their newfound independence, freedom, and supremacy after breaking ties with Great Britain and signing the Declaration of Independence. Although declaring that all men were created equal and were endowed with unalienable rights, including “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” racism flourished among the antebellum south, and slavery became a part of the white American Dream. As illustrated through Melton A. McLaurin’s biography, Celia, A Slave, “slavery was an institution fundamental to the existence of southern society, a permanent part of the southern way of life” (18.) Through Celia’s eyes, one is enabled a unique view of the hidden secrets and conflicts of slavery that empowered white males and conserved the power of the master.

An ordinary slave, Celia was purchased in 1850 at the age of fourteen by Robert Newsom, a successful, sixty-year old farmer living within Callaway County, Missouri. Although instructed to cook and help his daughters with the daily household operations, Celia’s primary purpose was not to lighten the housework, however. Having been a widower for nearly a year, Newsom required a sexual partner and had deliberately purchased Celia in order to fill that role, just as one of every five female slaves was expected to. For the next five years, Celia would endure continuous sexual exploitation and abuse and even give birth to two of Newsom’s children. While pregnant with a third child, however, Celia’s ordinary slave life would no longer remain common and unnoticed, but enter history through dramatic trials within court.

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Believing the 17th Century Was in Decline

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At a time when religion was centralized in one’s life, unfortunate events were often interpreted to symbolize religious meanings. Natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, droughts, and earthquakes were seen as warning signs from God. Even attacks from Native Americans were seen as proof of divine dissatisfaction as God was unpleased with current situations.

In the late end of the 17th century, New England clergymen had been warning of declension, the falling away from Biblically-prescribed ways. This encouraged Puritans to look for signs, which they found inevitably. Even jeremiads were given, in which the Puritans attended sermons filled with dire warnings of impending doom.

With King Philip’s War raging on, many Puritans were fearful of New England’s decline. Cotton Mather was a Puritan who was very convinced of this demise when his five-month-old infant died along with his younger brother, Nathaniel. This, followed by his witness of witchcraft, convinced him and others of the decline of New England.

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