Shaymon Cain

Teaching Philosophy

As an educator my first priority is to design an environment that is conducive to learning. Without effective classroom management, real learning cannot begin to take place. My approach to classroom management is to be as offensive as possible, in other words I work to anticipate how a variety of students would react to any given situation and adjust my plan accordingly. Once a learning environment has been established, my next primary goal is to present the visual arts in a way that will reach a diversity of learners. My approach to designing an art curriculum is to create a balance of art production, art criticism, aesthetics and art history.

 Classroom Management

      Physical Environment

o   When creating the physical environment I have focused on efficiency and function. The physical environment should facilitate instruction and make the transitions to different activities quick and easy. By organizing materials according to media, and providing students with areas to store personal work, the time spent on non-learning activities is placed at a minimum. Adding visual elements around the room will support student learning on individual units and general classroom procedures. 

      Daily Procedures

o   Bell Ringers and a specific exit routine, allows students to come in and get a productive start each day. Varied learning activities increases retention and interest.

Rules & Consequences

o   Keep it simple and direct. This is important if it is to be consistently followed and enforced. I have narrowed the rules down to the most essential behaviors in the art classroom. The consequences are clearly defined and easy to implement without distracting peers or taking time away from instruction.

Grading

o   When creating a plan for grading it is critical that students are assessed using many formats and many aspects of intelligence. I have designed my grading system so that all learning types can succeed in my classroom. This does not mean lowering expectations or the amount of material learned; rather it is about allowing multiple answers to a given problem. For example if I assign a presentation, students may choose from several methods of presenting to best showcase their knowledge of the material.

Safety

o   Safety is a very important aspect of the Art Classroom. Students will be working with materials and tools that they have never worked with before. For this reason I have devoted a portion of instruction time to learning safety rules, and will also provide on-going instruction with the introduction of each new material. When students understand the proper use of materials and tools it increases their ability to create successful products with those tools and materials.