Emma Ahart

12-14/20

ART EDUCATION 308 - FALL 2020

HIGH SCHOOL LESSON PLANNING AND STUDENTS WITH DIVERSE NEEDS

When students reach the high school level, they are continuing to develop based on what they
had learned in middle school and do so by thinking more critically of rules and topics presented
to them and approaching new subjects in increasingly sophisticated ways (Burton, 2004; Eisner,
2002; Kerlavage, 1998). Their social relationships tend to have a heavy influence on their lives.
High school students enjoy their building sense of autonomy in the classroom with lessons that
allow them to make their own choices and express artistic freedom. They also have a desire to
develop their sense of selves as unique individuals, which can lead to conflicts with adults who
they feel are out of touch with what they are going through (Kerlavage, 1998; Kroger 2004).
This desire for uniqueness does not hinder desire to also belong to a community, especially
from people and groups who can support their personal growth towards adulthood. High
school students also have an increased capacity to work from memory, think metaphorically
and abstractly, and interpret and manipulate artistic metaphors (Burton, 2004; Hafeli, 2008;
Hetland et al., 2007; Kerlavage, 1998).

In regard to artistic development, it is at this time that students really being to develop studio
thinking patterns (Anderson & Milbrandt, 2004; Hetland et al., 2007; Kerlavage 1998). Their art
making tends to focus on themselves and personal relevance as subject matter, using thoughts,
feelings and anxieties to fuel their artistic vision. As they learn how to use new tools and
mediums, they will begin to explore different combinations and techniques in pursuit of artistic
satisfaction (Eisner, 2002; Graham, 2003; Hetland et al., 2007). Furthermore, they will become
increasingly confident in their own fluency and ability to keep an open mind to new ideas and
perspectives in art and understanding. (Burton, 2000).

In this section of the video Addressing the Diverse Needs of Students we are shown a blended
class between the school’s senior visual arts honor students and the schools multiple
handicapped special education classroom. The special ed students have a wide range of
disabilities such as in communication, emotional, social, a physical. The students in that class
deal a lot with a sense of isolation and feeling of being unequal to others due to not having
much chance to work with other students outside of their class. The two classes come together
to do art projects for the purpose of helping the special ed students build confidence in new
environments and apply their learning to art, and for the Honor students they have the
opportunity to work with other students who are different from themselves and see how they
learn. One of the honors students describes how she thought the other students would be a lot
different, but she learned that they were actually not and that they simply needed a little extra
help comprehending things. For the special ed students this combined class has been very
helpful. Where some students were very shy or mostly nonverbal, in the class they would be
much more open with sharing their thoughts and ideas out loud with everyone else. There is a
general sense of confidence in the students that was otherwise mostly lacking before. One
student in particular, who rarely would speak on a normal day really opened up and spoke quite
a bit to the class to talk about his thought process behind his mask with much enthusiasm. The
lesson shown in this segment is a project making animal masks, which was linked to the what
the special education students were learning in their separate class. We can see the two
teachers working together to revisit the academic topic when going over the lesson and
connecting it to the art of mask making. Ways this was done was using specific vocabulary
words that the students would know, asking them what they meant or read from their notes if
needed. A lot of visuals were used, and in-depth demonstrations that students were able to
help with. The two teachers collaborated together to come up with a well thought out plan of
specific words to be used strategies to help engage the students in varies ways like
demonstrating, sharing thoughts, and working with the honors students. Together they were a
cohesive unit, so it was easy for the students to trust in both to know what they were doing and
look to for leadership. The art teacher expressed that adapting instruction for diverse learners
is a conscious choice, and a constant challenge to make sure that the lesson isn’t watered down
too much so that there isn’t learning happening for the special ed students. Through these
classes there was a growing enthusiasm, and no longer were students saying “I can’t” and “I
won’t”, and now saying I’ll try”, which is a huge step forward for so many of them.

This combined class is really a wonderful experience for all who are involved. As stated above,
for the special education students, it is a chance for them to experience a new environment
that is not there normal more isolated class and help them develop more confidence in said
new environment and give them experience working with others. For the visual arts honor
students, they have the opportunity to work with students who learn differently from them and
better understand them as people. For the teachers, they have the opportunity to collaborate
and gain experience building and improving lesson plans for a wide range of students who they
would normal have had the chance to. I would love to seek out a similar opportunity as this in
my own school. It is a way to build up a community of caring and empathetic individuals, who
can carry on the skills they have developed into other communities they are a part of. Art is
such a versatile subject that, as seen in the video segment, can be a bridge between subjects
and students. It can be adapted to include the learning of any other academic subject and
present the knowledge in new and creative ways. In my own classroom, I could see a class
collaboration like this happening once or twice a month, depending on how long or involved
the projects are. I would work the special education teacher to choose an optimal time that
works with the learning in their classroom and the learning in mine. I think it could be a good
idea to include a project that could displayed somewhere in the school so that other students
who do not have the opportunity to be in these blended classes can see what is happening and
break down the misconceptions between students who are and are not in the special education
program, and build a stronger sense of community for the school as a whole.
(A screenshot from Addressing the Diverse Needs of Students,
https://www.learner.org/series/the-art-of-teaching-the-arts-a-workshop-for-high-school-
teachers/addressing-the-diverse-needs-of-students/)
Example of a 2D High School Lesson Plan, created by Matt Fussell
https://thevirtualinstructor.com/color-theory-lesson-plan.html
Example of a 3D High school Lesson Plan, by Park Hill School District
https://www.parkhill.k12.mo.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_62416/File/Academic%20Services/B
oard%20Approved%20Curriculum/6-
12%20Art/Revisions%20Spring%202017/CeramicsSculptureCourseSummary--
Board%20Approved%20February%2023,%202017.pdf