Homework 12.1. Comments for Future Teachers.

Perhaps it's because of the fact that as the semester rolls forward, I've become more and more with the lesson planning process in several of my other classes, or because the prospect of student teaching looms ever closer, but in observing the work of the other members of this class I was really struck by how readily each of these projects could be transformed into successful and engaging lessons for the art classroom. I commented on Tammy's Scratch game, Eva's sound piece, Becca's stop motion animation, Jane's scratch exploration, Alycia's sound piece, Josh's Scratch game, and Tiffany's sound piece, and really found that each of these pieces had so much to offer to students, on so many levels and in so many ways.

I think that the process of this class, which encourages us to explore these digital materials with which we may not be overwhelmingly familiar, lends itself really well to our process as educators. As we learn about these materials, we are encouraged to explore and to play, and the actions that we are engaging in, I've found, are similar to those that we might ask our students to engage in as well. I think that it is important to remember this process even as we become increasingly proficient in these materials and become able to engage with them in more and more complex ways.

Just as we were encouraged within Processes and Structures to go back to purposeful play and exploration with traditional materials, so too should we remember to engage in purposeful play with the digital. I think that both of these combined will serve to help us continue to generate and build amazing lesson plans for our students!