1. “Assignments that include a mix of structure and freedom provide optimal support for students’ creativity and confidence” (Hobbs, p.87).
I strongly agree with this quote because it provides the students with flexibility in their work. As an art teacher, I enjoy giving my students guidelines, but also provide a great deal of creative flexibility to express themselves and justify their choices. Often, their minds are overflowing with things that they “must” know or “must do” exactly in the steps outlined, but often students miss growth opportunities here when too much is structured in their curriculum. Having goals in mind for projects is important, but creativity and freedom of expression carries as much weight in my mind as the structure. I caution teachers to beware of overloading students with the list of to do and not to do. Let them make mistakes and learn from them. I absolutely love that my job contains such flexibility and freedom. I am very lucky!
2. “Media composition practices promote intellectual curiosity” (Hobbs, p. 88).
I believe this to be true after completing our digital stories lesson. It is quite difficult to be inspired by creating a visual story, but finding the line between connectivity/reliability and going too far emotionally. It is quite a learning curve process. I drafted several versions, ones with music, different sequencing, etc. It begs the need to dig deep for the true essence of your message. In the beginning it is hard to pinpoint where the journey of experience and trial-and-error will lead. But I strongly agree that media constructions promote one to be intellectually and emotionally curious, to weed out the gems and edit out the un-necessary. I greatly enjoyed the process of making the digital stories and they opened my eyes to new avenues for some of my classes through creativity media outlets like prezi and animoto. Technology is getting better and better and providing me with such great teaching tools. I hope to pass this enthusiasm on to my colleagues. Fingers Crossed!
3. “Learning about life, in all its manifestations, is the only necessary subject matter for education” (Hobbs, p. 90).
I think this quote is magnificent! It is truth to its core. What we do in life is adapt. We learn about it, truth, lies, frustrations, love, loss, parenthood, responsibility, the list goes on and on. The key to all things in life is learning as much as you can about the subjects that interest you, doing things you enjoy everyday, loving deeply, laughing often, and making the most of everyday you wake up! Life isn’t hard. I like explaining to children the importance of being happy and finding joy in thing everyday. Much of this is lost to them in their teenage dramas, but hopefully one day they will understand the deeper meanings of life. This is a good video clip assignment. “learning about life.” Perhaps I will construct an assignment soon and see what manifestations the children in my classes create. Could be interesting and beautiful, I’m sure. Always finding reasons to be excited.
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