Alexis Lloyd

UWRT 1103
Caruso
12 April 2016
Defense Paper
I found that trying to teach teaching is very different than trying to reinvent teaching.
Arts Infused Based Learning is basically the art of reinventing the ways of teaching because you
have to bridge that gap between traditional classroom settings to make sure that students are still
getting that curriculum based learning but still are intertwined with the new more effective ways
of teaching.
But I as I was researching I found that this isnt something that you can just flat out learn, but yet
something that you have to be comfortable with doing and also something that is going to make
you step out of your comfort zone. My product wasnt something tangible but the action of using
AIBL in a lesson to show the distinct differences between it and traditional teaching.
When I first started this project, I thought that it would be really easy to portray good
teaching but that wasnt the case either. Everyone has a different teaching style, everyone has a
different unique learning style, so trying to accommodate everyone at the same time is almost
impossible but you have to try and get to the closest point you can when reaching out to students.
You have to show them that you care and are willing to break out and do something different to
help benefit them. Most of the time students think that teachers really dont care about what they
think or how they feel because they are so self absorbed and dont break out of that comfortable
zone leaving the student feeling lost and vulnerable. ......It affords the teacher the opportunity to
learn more about how each student thinks and to develop critical thinking skills in a non-

threatening and engaging way. It is slow-paced, relaxed and yet it has a certain kind of intensity
as it draws in the viewers and has them constantly looking for something else to notice (Moore).
We all want to feel heard and we all want to feel important and I dont think that it should
be limited just to what goes on in the classroom but of what can happen outside of it. Getting
involved in other students lives may show that you were willing to hear them out and they may
have opened up to you about a lot of personal issues because they feel that connection with a
teacher that they feel like they don't have to put up a front or have their guard up in front of them
anymore. Some of my favorite teachers growing up were the ones that sat with me after school to
talk or just simply said hello to me even if I wasnt in their class and felt like I was somebody to
them. I felt like they knew that one day when I got older that I could make a difference before I
could even see it in myself. Potential is one of the main things that kids seem to lose when they
enter in a classroom especially with someone new. You have a clean slate with them, nothing to
look back on, but if they dont see the potential that you see, its not going to change anything
that they feel. You have to make them want to be the best possible version of themselves
(Gormally & Brickman). They simply arent motivated to do the work and follow through
unless it is something that can hold their attention and keep them active. Its like how we view
this generation and Apple products. We always want the latest and greatest of what is coming out
that month whether its a new iphone, or a new laptop, or watch, but while we pine over these
materialistic objects we are showing students that something new is almost always more
interesting, so that is how they are going to view learning. They want to be involved in the new,
and shiny, and bright and they want to feel like they were the ones who had the final say when it
came down to business.

Among the many sources I found that there were a lot of videos online that show teachers
teaching in AIBL format and you can distinctly tell that the students that are engaged and
following along are actually learning something without even realizing it. When they look back
at that memory, they might always remember Queen Elizabeth because their teacher did
something so cool and different that it stands out in their mind and makes it seem more
interesting than it already is. I dont know about you but sitting in a classroom for eight hours
learning about something that I dont even care about, makes me very unmotivated and its very
hard for me because if I dont feel motivated than the chances of it getting finished are very slim.
You have to make students WANT to learn and as much as they will fight it in the beginning I
have almost always seen it change the way a student perceives learning in the end.
My product was to show the style of AIBL and although it was very difficult to teach
teaching, I found a way to portray it in a way that my peers can see a difference between what
weve been being taught, and what can be taught in the future. If you dont care about education
then youre probably not the intended audience for this but I want it to reach out there to students
who dont have that belief in themselves. They are worth so much more than what they may feel
while sitting in a classroom where their teacher hates teaching, and they can make the new
difference in education if someone just sees their potential. There is many new programs that try
to reach out and help students through AIBL like the LilySarahGrace Foundation, and I know
from personal experience that nothing makes adults happier than seeing happy smiling kids
during a lesson plan in the middle of the day. Thats when you know you may be doing
something right.

Works Cited
NEW
Kennedy, Linda T. The Silver Lining News. N.p., 25 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
OLD
Freedman, Kerry , and Patricia Stuhr. Curriculum Change for the 21st Century: Visual
Culture Art Education. N.p. 114. Print.
Gormally, Cara; Brickman, Peggy; Hallar, Brittan; and Armstrong, Norris (2009) "Effects
of Inquiry-based Learning on Students Science Literacy Skills and Confidence," International
Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Vol. 3: No. 2, Article 16. Available at:
http://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/vol3/iss2/16
Infusion: Arts in Education - Using Arts to Learn. YouTube. YouTube, 21 Oct. 2010. Web.
Moore, Diedre. Visual Thinking Strategies: A New Adventure in Teaching Art.
Education closet. N.p., 24 Feb. 2016. Web.
Riley, Susan. Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core. Edutopia. N.p., 30 Nov. 2012.
Web.
Wilson, Terri A. Infusion: Arts in Education. BC Teachers Federation . N.p., May 2012. Web.