Jackie Andrade

A Year in the Art Classroom: (Jackie's Student Teaching Residency)

One year isn’t as long as one thinks, especially when it's a one-year graduate program. However, in this short time, I learned a great deal and gained new insights into the world of art education. From the moment my program started, I was in the classroom. In the summer, I assisted in RISD’s Continuing Education classes for teens, and right when fall hit, I was in both elementary and middle school art classrooms. While having a full class load at RISD alongside my school observations, I was able to apply what I learned in my courses to the classrooms I was student-teaching in. As a hands-on, visual learner, this helped me immensely.  Middle school art came as a surprise to me, in that I didn’t think I would enjoy it this much. Being able to have conversations with students and introduce them to new ideas in the art classroom was truly amazing. In elementary school, these young students were excited about the new lessons I provided and about experimenting with new ideas and materials. Elementary students aren’t afraid to try new things; they love to explore and have the confidence to put themselves out there creatively. Art education is important at all stages of life; it gives you the opportunity to express yourself and connect with other classes and the outside world.

8th grade Zentangle Project

The eighth grade was instructed to think/research tangible item that was of importance to them, whether that be their favorite food, sport, or movie and then turn it into a Zentangle.

Name That Song

The sixth grade were instructed to choose a lyric from their favorite song, then pull imagery from the album cover to create a pop art-style painting. Once students were done painting and their paintings had been photographed, they uploaded them to Google Slides to add the lyrics. The font and color choice for their lyric had to emulate the emotion of the song.

Create Your Own Comic

The third grade was asked to design a character for a comic; the character could be from pop culture or made up. Once they brainstormed their characters, they wrote a story featuring the characters they designed.

Germination Cycle

This spring, second graders learned about the germination cycle in their classrooms. That being said, I wanted to create a connection between what they just learned in their classrooms and in  our art room. Students were instructed to either choose a realistic plant or create a made-up plant and depict its 5-step growth cycle in a mixed-media artwork.