Jen Gontarek

Reflection #6
9/12/2016

After reading Freedman and Boughton and the Hafeli readings, I realize that it is of great
importance to allow students to explore media before they are asked to reach a certain goal. The
five operations that are mentioned in Chapter 7 of Freedman and Boughton include experimental
manipulation, applying technical skills, making formal decisions, achieving idea realizations, and
creating affective expression. Each of these operations is very important to the creative
development of children in the art room; exploration of media can help students understand the
relationship between their ideas and the medium that they are working with. The first operation,
experimental manipulation, describes the importance of allowing students to get to know
materials so that they can use them to their full potential. This idea is also reflected in Exploring
Studio Materials. The second operation is applying technical skills. This focuses on technique
development; students need some technical instruction in order to flourish in the medium that
they are working with. The third, making formal decisions, focuses on how students realize that
formal decisions that they make in their art can help to convey meaning. The fourth operation,
achieving idea realization, involves students realizing that they have the power to make their
ideas visible through creating art with different mediums. Finally, achieving affective expression
involves the student realizing a connection between their emotions and the visual representation
of these emotions. All of these operations are crucial to the creation of successful art. The
importance of technology is also covered in the reading. Technology is important to cover in the
classroom because it is so prevalent in students everyday lives. One downfall to using
technology in the classroom is that students dont get a feel for the more traditional media that
are covered in Chapter 8 of Freedman & Boughton, as well as Chapter 2 of Exploring Studio

Jen Gontarek
Reflection #6
9/12/2016
Materials. However, technology programs such as paint can help students who lack the skills to
draw realistically.
One insight that I want to bring into my lesson planning is allowing my students to get a
feel for the media that they will be using. Because I am teaching Pre-K at St. Marys, it is of
great importance that the students are given the opportunity to explore different mediums. At the
preschool level, art making is more about the process than the product. Exploring the materials
will help the students to gain an understanding of what happens when they use these materials,
hopefully leading to their understanding of how they can tie meaning into their work in the
future. Another insight that I plan on including in my lesson planning is having the students keep
a Studio/Visual Journal, using either a paper-based or a digital approach. I think that it is
important to record the history of my students artwork in order to show their artistic progression.