I think in the context of this class and art education and why it is important a key point in the reading is on page 173 when Shana is able to succeed through poetry in a class she usually fails in. The poetry project helped her to see value in herself and her culture. I think this is very important. In cases where there are different classes and races in schools the arts can give them an opportunity to find themselves in different ways. They could not be doing well in there math and English classes but then they can find an outlet through art and gain a new respect from their peers that way.

It resonates with me because I am Finnish American. I grew up in my home speaking English with only my mom. I always struggled in my classes especially English. I still struggle in classes with a lot of reading and critical analysis. I some how feel like I am on an elementary reading level in college and while I have many abstract and conceptual thoughts and am able to make art work from my soul that is something to look at writing a paper or reading a long reading seems like one of the most difficult things to do. So I in the same way find myself finding value in myself through art much like Shana, the girl I wrote about earlier.

This reading is alot of history and I think it is just confusing to think about how things were back then. Having segregated schools..... some people not even being aloud to attend schools. And how it seems to be still the case that there are not the traditional "segregation" in schools but a separation between the well-off white folk and the poor and races. But from all of that and all the historical and political talk which personally is hard for me to read and take in comes to prove how important the art are to have around so I guess then it proves its point.

New questions? Just wondering how there could be a more equal society in general? In an ideal world how would education be changed if every kid had equal opportunity on all fronts in the home also.

I think it deepened my thinking in making me put things into a historical context and really being reminded of how far society has come but also how far it has to go.

I mentioned how it related to me as a learner already. I am not quite a special needs child but I do find my self value through the arts. I really related to the passage about Shana.

One of the key points was how important imagination was. How it provides a safety net for experimentation and rehearsal. Along with imagination sensibility was important, to slow down and savoy things. I think these both could be related to the eight habits of mind. I think Imagination is part of expression and sensibility is part of observation.

Another key point in the reading was representation. Representation stabilizes an idea or image in a material and makes possible dialog with it. This is one of the main parts of art without representation there would be no art. It is the part that connects our consciousness with the material world. When we can take something and represented it in some kind of material for and present it to the world.

Another key point was about how the arts can direct our thinking. Specifically how it can direct our thinking inward and we can observe what we see or feel. There are not many times or things in this world that allow us to reflect on ourselves as people. When we can look at art and be moved, we discover that that is possible. Art helps us discover the emotional contours or ourselves. Parts of our brain and sense of self that we did not know existed.

"Learning how to become the architect of your own experience and therefore learning how to create yourself" I full-heartedly believe in this and I think the arts is a very important thing to have to keep young peoples minds open to really knowing that this is possible and you do create yourself and life is what you make it.

Eight habits of mind.

I think I do use all of these in my process in different ways. DEVELOP craft: that has been in order since the beg. I'm going to use the example of drawing I have been drawing since I was very small. ENGAGE AND PERSIST: I start a piece of work, usually with a small scribble. I keep scribbling and I guess this then would be envisioning. I see pictures come through the scribbles. I find the pictured that come out to me and want to be drawn. The pictures usually EXPRESS a feeling or emotion I am dealing with at the time. I OBSERVE the picture after words and usually gain some insight about myself that I didn't have before. REFLECT:I think that would be the same as observe, as I'm observing I reflect on what has come out and see what I can learn about myself in that moment. STRETCH AND EXPLORE: I think the whole way in which I draw, a stream of consciousness style is very much stretching and exploring. UNDERSTAND THE ART WORLD: a finished piece becomes the art world. It is my way of communicating that idea into the world and is a piece of art.

Box

Box. I think that her way of artist process is a very good one. Having a box that you can gather physical things in to keep your head together it makes sense. I could see how it wouldn't work for everyone but for her it seems enough to get her by. It seems like an organizational aspect to have her thoughts in one place about one thing. I think this way of process would be a good approach for myself also. But I also think I would want more within  that box. Notebooks that I wrote things down in to keep in the box. But physical pieces of material things seem to make something concrete and you can actually see it in process. There is something to be said for when you can see something getting done. That sense of accomplishment is important. Especially in the artist process. I think in art things can begin to get very conceptual and there is not always a lot of physical things to hold on to and pieces of the "piece" are just flying ideas in ones head so I think it is nice for her to have found something she can have in a material way and to get that sense of accomplishment within a project.

Art for Our sake

This Article had a lot to say about why art is important for learning. Mostly because it let's us form new ways of thinking. Some important points was that we learn how to learn from our mistakes, we see new patterns and how to envision new solutions. I thought these three were very strong points. We learn other modes of thinking that math and science don't teach.

I myself was kicked into the real world real fast after graduating high school and had real problems that needed a lot of creative thinking. I thankfully am very invovled in the arts and have a wealth of knowledge about how to think outside of the box. I would have never made it through what I have made it through in circumstance and in mind if my mind hadn't already been opened through art. 

What is Art for?

In reading the article It makes me think back in time. All our utensils are art. Objects that are almost necessary to live. What we eat out of, what we prepare our food in. Everything we use today all technology is in essence art. It was all designed by someone. Even an old time calculator, used to do calculations, it too was designed. Art is around us much more than we think, and is not just a painting or a dance, which are very important aspects of art in today's world too,  but there are some parts of art that aren't absolutely integral for living but some that are. The one that are integral for living do make life much more pleasant usually. 

Art was also used in spirituality sense ancient times. whether it's the design aspects of Stonehenge, or the making of a little stone doll that seems to be symbolic of some kind of doll. Art seems to bring out spirituality in many ways and spirituality seems to inspire art. They are very closely related. 

What does it mean to Educate the whole child?

I think going in to the  home life and making sure that families have housing and children have enough support one of the most important aspects. A close friend of mine didn't have a supportive family and he did not do well in school. I think if there is more of a focus in reaching out to troubled children that would be a very good thing. That give children with troubled families a choice to succeed in any sort of circumstance. A public school should offer that support. 

So I was talking about what kind of learner I was before I took the tests.... now I've taken the tests.... They all make sense nothing was too surprising.

Active

Intuitive

visual 

Global

Auditory Tactile

 visual/verbal learning

visual/nonverbal 

Tactile/kinesthetic

auditory/verbal

All I found true, and interesting. It makes me think about aspects of how I grew up and how that would affect how I learn. When I was little we traveled and lived in Finland and Switzerland and finland and when we moved back to the states had O'pears from finland at home so I grew up bilingual. I think that would be a huge reason why I'm global, and have those thinking patterns.