The art of teaching, like the art of painting

Amanda Forbes
Teachers are like painters. We begin our careers with blank
canvases, in college. Like painters, we put our blank canvas on an
easel to prepare for painting; we go to school. In college, we first
prime our canvas. As teachers, our primer is knowledge. We read,
study, and learn about different content-areas. We learn as much as
we can about English, Mathematics, Science, History, Physical
Education, and the Arts and how to teach these subjects. We prime
our canvas with general knowledge and a foundation for our careers
as teachers to be painted upon.
After our canvas has been primed with general
knowledge, we begin to sketch our image onto
our primed canvas. Our sketch consists of lines
of deeper knowledge like theories of teaching
and strategies for teaching across content-areas.
We take ideas from theories like accessing
students background knowledge, strategies for
classroom management, and tools for differentiating curriculum for all students needs. We read
about these things, we study them, and we write them down. We sketch them onto our canvas as
a basis for teaching.
As we finish our sketch on our canvas, we
move into the first phase of painting. We begin
entering classrooms to observe and volunteer.
Our first strokes include the careful observation
of how master painters (teachers) perform. We
observe how they teach their subjects. We
observe how they manage their classrooms and
how they interact with their students. We take careful notes about what we see and we reflect on
our observations. At some point, we begin our hands-on experiences in the classrooms. Master
teachers allow us to teach a lesson, or help prepare
a lesson. We interact with students of various ages,
grade levels, and learning abilities. All of these
experiences are the first strokes of our paint. The
more of these experiences we have, the more colors and strokes we paint on to our canvas of
teaching.
As we exit our time in college, our
experiences in varying classrooms
have allowed us to paint the first layer
of our painting that is teaching. There
are colors on the canvas that have
been stroked on through our time
reading, presenting materials, working
with our peers to demonstrate
knowledge, writing lesson plans, taking exams, and collaborating with teachers and professors.
This first layer of the painting is the point in which we enter into teaching. Either through
student-teaching, substitute teaching or becoming full time teachers, we are now ready to begin
the next layers of paint.
The next step of completing a
painting is refining details. The
process of refining details in a
painting is a long one. It takes not
days, weeks, or months, but
years. As we make our way into
teaching in classrooms, we learn
more about teaching than we ever
could have imagined. Our interactions with our students, experiences with texts and curriculum,
our shortcomings and success in classroom management, and our adaptation to change allows
us to paint more and more details. These details will be the small things we learn on a day to
day basis in our classrooms. A good teacher, like a good painter, knows that the best teachers
are those who never stop learning, adapting and evolving their classrooms and their ideas about
teaching. Teaching means never becoming stagnant. We must add layer after layer, adding
texture and detail onto the painting that is teaching. The more details we take the time to add,
the more beautiful our painting becomes, meaning the more we offer our students and the more
opportunity they have to
learn during their time in
our classrooms.









Painting:
Ryan S. Brown
Reflective Statement for Metaphoric Model
SLO 1: Demonstrate advanced understanding of the trends, issues, and research associated
with education in general and with their respective specialization.
Relevance:
Creating this metaphoric model demonstrates my advanced understanding of the trends,
issues and research associated with education and teaching. This model outlines how
education and teaching are evolving entities. The model demonstrates my understanding that
in order to be an effective teacher, I must understand that trends and issues in education
change. Situations arise daily that will require me to adjust my ideas about teaching and even
how I manage my classroom. Advanced understanding of education requires one to
understand that a teacher can never stop learning. State standards and requirements will
change, and I must keep up with these trends and adapt my curriculum and classroom
accordingly. Creating this model demonstrates my understanding of issues like curriculum and
lesson differentiation for creating learning opportunities for every student regardless of learning
abilities and learning preferences.
Significance -
Competence in a metaphoric model is significant for a professional educator because it
demonstrates knowledge of the complexity of education and teaching. It is important for
teachers and future teachers to understand that teaching is not a singular act. Teaching is a
process that stems from learning, modeling, practicing, failing, and adapting. The road to
teaching has no end stop. Teachers must always be learning new trends and research that
support effective teaching models and strategies, and implement these new ideas into their
classroom as they arise.
Link to Theory -
This model calls for a teacher to use everything they learn during their core and teaching
credential classes. This means that teachers will implement a variety of theories into their
classroom. Effective teachers paint their canvas with details from constructivism, behaviorism,
information processing, and social learning theories. This model links to these theories
because it outlines that teachers must provide learning opportunities for all students, with
varying learning abilities and preferences which means using learning strategies that
incorporate all of the learning theories.
Resources/Technology- What technology did you select to support this artifact? Include interactive
applications and videos any/all technology suitable.
In creating this metaphoric model, I used Google search and researched the steps to creating
a painting. I used the research I gained to translate the steps of painting into the steps to
becoming an effective teacher. I used Microsoft Word to create the metaphoric model and
integrated images from Google Images into the model.
Professional Actions/Areas for growth -
Discuss the results/changes in your professional growth as you worked through the process of
creating your metaphoric model. What are some areas you would like to grow in as you practice your
profession?
Working through this model, I found that the most difficult part was in thinking of a metaphor that I
thought best suited teaching. Because teaching is so complex, I struggled to find something to use as
a metaphor that I felt was as complicated as teaching. However, I have watched my husband, an
artist, paint. I have seen how many small steps he takes in preparing a canvas, sketching the image
to be painted, and how he paints layer after layer adding in more and more detail. Once the idea
came to me, I knew it was a perfect metaphor. The road to teaching is similar. There is no set of
instructions to become a teacher. There are many small steps, details and adaptations that make a
teacher a teacher. As a future teacher, I would like to grow in understanding how to integrate the four
learning models together in the classroom. Because I agree with specific ideas from all of the learning
models, I hope that one day I can efficiently implement strategies from the various theories into my
future classroom.