Bella Roumain

ED 199, Section 01
11/22/2021

I really enjoyed our visit to the Newfields Art Museum. It had been a long time since I'd been to a

museum. The last one I went to was the Chicago Art Museum which is really big and a little

overwhelming. I thought that Newfields had many unique exhibits and I liked how they tried to make

them interactive. I included pictures from an exhibit that featured furniture. There was an innovation lab

where people can design chairs. There were a couple tester chairs that you could sit in, and they were all

really different. In the lab, there were four steps written out on the wall: Brainstorming, Rendering,

Prototyping, and Reviewing. I enjoyed this activity because we were in the shoes of an artist and learned

about how they develop their ideas.

I connected this back to my teacher identity because as a new teacher, you have to go through the process

and test out what teaching types resonate with your students. Once you've come up with an activity and

edited it, you could test it out on one of your classes and if the lesson goes well, you can add it to your

collection of effective activities. Later on, if students become bored of it, you can go back to the

"rendering stage" and change it up to make it fresh again.

Each of the members in the team of educators had different backgrounds, some were art teachers,

some were english teachers, and some didn't have much experience in art at all. It made me think about

my Asset Based Thinking and the importance of keeping an open-mind. I'm still in the beginning of my

journey in education and I don't know where it is going to lead me, I try to remind myself to be open to

new ideas and opportunities.

Going into this visit, I wasn't sure what to expect from the presenters because I couldn't remember

what the educational tour was like when I was in elementary school. I was curious to learn about their job

in the museum. They talked about the summer camps and I made a connection with them. Over the past
three summers, I've worked at my town's children's camp, and last year I was one of the managers. My

job sounded similar to theirs because we both have to come up with activities and crafts. They Kids are

always looking forward to the next cool thing, and it's

a challenge to keep up with them.

On the right, I included a picture from

another interactive exhibit and I think it's connected

to the College of Education's core value of "Pursue a

Just and Equitable Society." This activity was

featured in a collection of paintings, and the museum

was encouraging their visitors to express their

creativity. There were no rules or restrictions of what

you could draw and anyone could participate. The

main goal was to use art to tell your story. Not

everyone feels welcome to express themselves due to

unfair societal pressures.

After listening to the speakers, I thought about what curriculum and the professional learning

community means in terms of an art museum and how their job is still important in education even though

they're not in a classroom. They base their planned activities off of the exhibits so that patrons can build a

better understanding of art and have a personal connection with it. The educational team works together to

make everyday great, and I remember them saying "everyday is different." Education is a blessing and a

curse because you never know what the day will bring. It's important as educators that we're ready to

make everyday great no matter how many things go wrong. The museum not only teaches children but

adults also. Everyone has different takeaways from museums because everyone has different experiences

with art.