Welcome to the Fine Arts Coaching Clinic Podcast, with your host Eric Sanford.

Ep 4 What are your educator professional goals?

As I’ve been exploring different thoughts on fine arts education, one idea has been abundantly clear - Not every teacher is in the same stage of their professional teaching development, yet it’s not always a conversation that comes up among lesson plans, lunch duty, and submitting grades.  But what could be more important for our personal progression? After all, this is our profession, and if we aren’t improving our teaching, what are we doing?

I would like to begin by sharing a small part of my journey.

I’ll be very honest and say that my professional goals did not always include many of the concepts in these discussions.  I was using a teaching model that was not best for me- I knew it wasn’t, but I didn’t know how to get out of the rut. After all, it’s all I ever knew.  I was spinning my wheels and not getting any traction.  I knew there was something else, some other way, but didn’t know where to start.

It wasn’t until I worked at a different school and had a mentor pushing my thinking on these questions that I started to open my eyes and really evaluate my teaching effectiveness.  

I had to check my ego - constantly. And I still do.  I was, and am, my worst enemy in progressing as a teacher, yet I was convinced that it wasn’t me at all.  

If the goal is to become a better teacher, we must know our honest self.

Part of knowing yourself includes asking questions to get a realistic idea of your reality.

The following questions can be used to help in this endeavor, but please do not limit yourself to only these questions.  Sometimes knowing where to start is the hardest step.  Maybe by answering these questions, you can take that first, second, or tenth step to becoming aware of your goals, and identify the journey to becoming the most effective teaching version of yourself.

You can find the questions on the faecc.org website, linked with the Episode 4 Resources. 

There is no expectation of sharing names, teacher experience, or anything else.  All you need are honest-to-yourself answers of “Yes”, “No”, or “Sometimes/Maybe”. 

As you answer these questions, if there are times that you try to convince yourself to answer a certain way, then it probably isn’t really that answer.  It’s not a bad thing.  It may not even be on your radar.  These are questions only for you.

You are welcome to number your paper or device 1 through 21.  Your answer choices are Yes, No, or Sometimes/Maybe.

1. Is your classroom cluttered or disorderly?

2. Do your students actively discuss the concepts of your fine art content in class using appropriate academic language?

3. Do you plan each lesson to have a specific, obtainable objective?

4. Does each part of the class flow seamlessly to each activity with students knowing visual or audio cues of when to refocus on the teacher?

5. Do you and your students feel safe to make mistakes without fearing ridicule?

6. Do you have a curriculum planned out, either from previous experience or provided guidance?

7. Do you use student mastery data to plan for following lessons, reteach opportunities, or choose skill level appropriate material for class?

8. Do your students actively evaluate themselves and use that critique to form personal goals?

9. Do you redirect and adjust the lesson based on “in the moment” observations and assessment?

10. Do you actively seek opportunities to give positive praise for students complying with expectations and directions (not always content-based)?

11. Do your students enter/exit class with how you imagined in your expectations?  (Is it as close to ideal as possible)

12. Do you enforce a classroom management plan consistently among all students? 

13. Do you set goals of what students should accomplish and know after they have completed your course?

14. Can most (over 70%) of your students not only demonstrate a skill, but also explain the concepts about that skill?

15. Do you use multiple learning techniques when teaching a new concept or skill?

16. Do you follow an agenda to minimize off-topics or "chasing squirrels"?

17. Does your classroom contain anchor charts, a word wall, posters, and other content specific visuals?

18. Do you prepare materials for classes in advance (more than 1-2 days)?

19. Do you notate the number of students that master the lesson objective for that day?

20. Do you struggle with how to teach diverse groups in your class (this could be learning styles, varying skill levels, multiple skills, etc.)

21. Do all your students know what they need to do in order to be successful (such as write out or explain all that is needed)?

Let’s take a look at the questions and categories.  Some of these questions could and do belong to multiple categories, so if you interpret it differently, no worries.  

I categorized these questions into 5 general groups - Routines and Procedures, Learning Environment, Content Knowledge/Lesson Planning, Assessing Students and Data, and Student Centered Learning.

These are somewhat sequential, and could be used as a roadmap for skill progression.  You are not limited to progression, but if you find yourself having trouble with a later category, you might backtrack to improve a previously mentioned group.  You might also find you excel at one category and lack in another. There is no rhyme or reason behind this. Just be honest where you are to know where to go next.

You can find the question numbers with their associated categories on the faecc.org website, just under the question list.

Let’s start with Routines and Procedures, questions 4, 11, and 16.  If you answered “no” or “sometimes” to any of these three, then you might focus on this part first.  Most of us have observed a classroom that runs like a well-oiled machine.  The class could run even if the teacher stepped out for a few minutes or was absent.  

Students thrive in this type of environment.  It’s consistent and students know what to expect because the teacher has envisioned those routines and taught them effectively.  During Episode 1 we explored a method of developing routines and procedures.  If this is one of your goals, I encourage you to seek as many resources as possible to help you develop that goal further.  

Routines and Procedures have the ability to make or break your class.  Without class routines, you will work harder as a teacher.  It’s never too late to teach these, but if not done in the first three weeks of classes, students will have to unlearn what they have done thus far

The Learning Environment, questions 1, 5, 10, 12, and 17

Some parts of the Learning Environment are beyond our control.  If you are a floating teacher, or if you teach in multiple classrooms, the physical space may be something you cannot influence with anchor charts, posters, or even cleanliness.  There are other options for word walls, anchor charts, and visuals, but you will need to either carry them around or have it digitally available. 

The remaining questions about the Learning environment all align to how you promote a safe, positive learning space for all students and your relationship with your students. It’s not just the physical environment, but the emotional and psychological environment could be the biggest difference between seeing students engaging or apathetic.

Look for examples of what you want to emulate.  Reach out to colleagues and join professional organizations to get an idea of how you would like your classroom.

Content Knowledge and Lesson Planning - questions 3, 6, 15, 18, and 20.

For fine arts, content knowledge and lesson planning very much go hand in hand.  You, the fine arts expert, must know your content to create lesson plans.  By knowing the content, the sequence of skills, what and when to teach is not an issue.  If you are not as comfortable in the content, get comfortable.  Find resources, classes, literature, a mentor, anything you can to improve your situation so you are not faking it for the students.  

If content is an issue, planning will not be easy.  If you know your content inside and out, then planning could be one of those discipline skills that takes time.  Have a goal of being one week ahead in your lesson planning.  Even if you need to readjust, at least you are already preparing for what comes next.  

Knowing your lesson objectives and planning activities will also prepare you for collecting student data - knowing who is successful with your lesson.  Knowing the parts of your lesson you need to revisit or reteach is not possible without knowing what you want to achieve in class.  

The next category looks at Assessing Students and Data, questions 7, 9, 13, and 19.

Assessing students should be based on lesson objectives and goals, from your planning.  If you worked with students during an entire lesson, wouldn’t it be helpful to know which students were successful by the end, and which ones needed more work?  Would that not impact your next lesson?

Would it not be helpful to know which students understand a concept, even if they can’t demonstrate the skill yet?  How many times have we repeated a specific term like half note, value, plie, or stage right - and students don’t respond appropriately? They may be able to demonstrate it, but they have not linked the skill and the concept together yet.

In just a few short minutes of looking at collected data, you would know if you need to revisit that lesson or if it is safe to continue.  Many of our lessons are sequential, one skill and concept building on another. Why would we not use that data to influence what and how we teach to be more effective?

In the long run - knowing which students need more support on specific skills could save you hours of frustration over the next several weeks, months, even years in a multiple year program.

In an education system focusing so much more on individual student improvement, how much more simple would it be to show student mastery of small, fundamental skills and concepts as part of their fine arts education?

If you’ve kept written records of all these small objectives and adjusted your teaching accordingly, then the bigger goals will fall into place more effectively and efficiently, saving you time and frustration.

Our last category is Student Centered Learning, questions 2, 8, 14, and 21.  

These questions focus on how students engage and learn about fine arts.  They include both parts of Artistic Literacy, the knowing of the concepts and the skills needed to demonstrate them.  It also includes critical thinking students can draw from later in life to continue their artistic journey or appreciate that artform.  

It is this category that promotes student artists into adult arts advocates.  It provides a wealth of experiences and knowledge that, as adults, they can resume their pursuit of the art, have meaningful discussions, and make informed opinions and critiques of what’s new.  After all, who says involvement in the fine arts should stop when you graduate?

Closing

I want to briefly mention that your definition of a successful fine arts class may not include all these ideas.  Nor should you attempt to start adding as much as possible right away.  Goals take time - years - to become fluent and automatic.  In no way am I asking you to become a master at these overnight, next week, or even by the end of the year.  

You may even choose to not follow this path at all.  There is no amount of classroom observations, teacher evaluations, or administrator visits that will impact your path more than your own choice. 

In the end, you are the lifelong learner that chooses your path.  Hopefully this episode has helped you identify where you are on that path, or at least given you something to think about for your next step.

A nugget of wisdom - the grass is not always greener on the other side - it’s greener where you water it.  Don’t neglect your personal progression as an educator.

Remember to send us your feedback, faecchost@gmail.com.  Be sure to follow our socials, and let us know if you are interested in a collaboration episode or if you have a topic you’d like to hear more about.  You can find all our links at the website faecc.org.

This is your host, Eric Sanford, with the Fine Arts Coaching Clinics Podcast.  Until next time, Peace and Blessings.