Ms. Steele's Art Room Rocks!

I am excited to share that in June of 2016 New York City created an incredible Blueprint for their art educators, K-12. The following are the different blueprints and may be applied to all art classrooms throughout the state. It's a fantastic resource of information, one that I am a little familiar with as I was part of a committee that created Blueprints for Los Angeles County.

Art links for the different blueprints:

Visual Arts

Dance

Music

Theater

The Moving Image

New York City Department of Education that initiated the project:

Office of Arts and Special Projects

When I worked at Pasadena High School, I joined several committees including Arts for All:

"In July 2002, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Los Angeles County Office of Education Board, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved and adopted the Arts for All Regional Blueprint."

Different districts within the county participated in creating our own blueprints for teaching and learning in the arts. Then all the different participating districts sent their evidence to Los Angeles County Office of Education Board and they created regional Blueprints for the Arts based on everyone's results. I represented Pasadena High School but we had 4 high schools and several middle and elementary schools for Pasadena Unified. You can imagine how excited I was to discover this wonderful tool that New York City created. I'm looking forward to using these in my upcoming school years.

“Why did you become a teacher?” It is the one question that every teacher is asked several times during his or her career. As a freshman in college, I was very lucky to have been hired as a student mentor at a dropout-prevention vocational high school. I was paid a whopping $5.07 an hour, but I was grateful to have a job that didn’t involve food. The teacher had me work one-on-one with the struggling teens and insisted that I teach my weakest subjects so that I could improve in them. There were times when I had to address the entire classroom and it was expected of me to stand up in front of the class to do so. I was also put in charge of designing the dances, creating after school functions, doing the bulletin boards, and setting up field trips. I instantly developed a strong rapport with the students. I got to see the once timid and embarrassed faces turn proud as they caught up in their classes and finally graduate. There is something completely magical that happens when you get to see students, especially students who overcome obstacles, walk down the aisle and receive their diplomas. I was hooked; I wanted to become a teacher.

Looking back, the teacher must have seen a future educator in me because every job that I did in that classroom and for the school, I have done as a teacher. I never considered teaching prior to that mentoring job; I wanted to be an artist and a writer. I did, however, relate to those struggling kids because I was once one myself. My parents divorced while I was in high school and it definitely impacted my focus as a student. Life was challenging but with the help of a few amazing educators and family friends, I not only graduated, I earned a full scholarship that covered my Associate of Art degree. Working with those students reminded me how special those educators were who helped me out when I was in need and I wanted to be like them, I wanted to give back.

I continued taking jobs that kept me in my general field of education from working in professional childcare to working at local community centers teaching art and ceramics to children and adolescents with exceptional needs. Art has always been a part of who I am and taking creative jobs was just a natural path to follow. I also worked in promotions at a radio station that kept my skill set of planning, speaking, and presenting to an audience, strong. Eventually, I earned two bachelor degrees from California State University of Northridge in 2001, English and Art. I was immediately hired at Pasadena High School to teach art with an emergency teaching credential. I earned my initial credential through California State University at Northridge, a graduate program for art education, totaling thirty-six credits. I earned my clear credential through Point Loma of Nazarene University of San Diego, a program designed through a partnership with Pasadena Unified School District and the California Department of Education.

I learned how to build up my art program by successfully writing grants and in the world of teaching art, the earning of grants is essential. With a lot of determination and the financial support from the grants, I brought back Ceramics to Pasadena High after a twenty-year hiatus which turned into the largest art program at our school. My Drawing & Painting students painted Pasadena's historic structures and their work was showcased at Pasadena City Hall and local establishments. My Studio Art and Ceramics classes worked together to create large installations that were showcased in a 9-11 Memorial, as well as, art shows at the College of Art & Design. I became a member to several district and city art committees and helped produce many art shows, including Pasadena Unified's No Boundaries, a K-12 art show that all schools participated in and joined the city's bi-annual ArtNight that runs throughout Old Town Pasadena. To this day, Pasadena Unified continues to participate.

After moving to New York, I substitute taught several subjects while waiting for interstate reciprocity to accept California and also, while I raised my daughter. Luckily, the interstate reciprocity agreement was updated and I now hold a New York State of Education Initial Certificate in art and after I finish up graduate school in 2018, I will have my professional. Since California's rigorous art education credential program includes more than thirty-six graduate credit hours, I am excited to be in the Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology Master of Science program at State University of New York, University at Albany. With the technology driven culture that we currently live in, I am very interested in learning about the blended classroom. As an art teacher, it will be a fantastic addition to my classroom as it will teach me how to create online classes with tutorial videos, freeing up my time to do more one-on-one instruction. It will help students by allowing them to replay the key components to learning techniques. Being able to stop and replay tutorial videos, will especially help those English language learners, as well as, those with exceptional needs.

In 2014, I was hired to work as the art teacher for an inner city private school, Bishop Maginn High School. The students have participated in several art shows including shows at the Albany Art Barn, the Albany County Offices, and the annual Catholic Schools Week art show that takes place at the Empire State Plaza. Bishop Maginn High School underwent major changes from moving to a smaller location, changing administration, decreasing budgets, and downsizing their programs, but we've worked hard to keep producing art through it all. The students are wonderful and I will miss them dearly after my position dissolves next year.

Teaching art rocks! I have the best job in the world because I get to make art exciting. I get to teach students how to successfully create by practicing the techniques and learning the tricks. I have it all because I get to teach art, create art, discover new teaching approaches, and write. In my classroom, I do more than teach the breadth and depth of art education, I bring passion for the students to succeed in all classes. When I'm not helping with an art project, I spend time assisting with papers, teaching study habits, coaching on presentations, and listening, when it’s obvious the student needs someone to just listen and care. I love my job, and I can’t imagine myself doing anything other than teaching. It is an amazing experience when students realize they too can be successful when given the right tools, whether a pen or paintbrush, a computer or clay.