I think this unit went extremely well for our first experience teaching at the high school level. I had been introduced to the idea of using cigar boxes to explore inner and outer identity through an introduction to art therapy class at Towson University, and couldn’t wait to utilize the idea in the classroom.
As soon as we were given the opportunity to teach an interdisciplinary unit with social studies, Mai-Ly and I searched for a way to utilize the idea of propaganda, individual freedoms, societal injustices, and identity with Dada art. We played with the idea of creating propaganda posters and collage, but wanted to take that idea further and do something new, challenging, and personal for the students. I then remembered the box idea, showed it to Mai-Ly and thus the Identity Box Unit came to life.
We worked together creating the specifics, settling on the idea of the exterior of the box representing how society sees a person, and how the interior of the box could represent who the person really is. Still wanting to use art exemplars of the Dada movement, we chose to explore the use of collage and found object art. We thought our tenth graders could relate to the preconceived imagery collage offered, as well as relate to found objects on a personal level. Knowing our overall stylistic components almost instantly, we seemed to luck out in connecting it back to history.
Our 10th grade mentor teacher was in the process of teaching censorship, rebellion, and rights throughout history. (Which is why we thought the Dadaists would fit in perfectly). Breaking our unit down into individual components we found that we were exploring stereotypes, injustices, ways in which to rebel, and the effectiveness of protests. To make these ideas concrete and relevant to our students of City Neighbors, we thought exploring Occupy, and breaking it down into components would help the students see how rebellion, protesting, etc. begins, if it’s effective, and relevant to them. After looking at the components of Occupy and why this movement began, our students found stereotypes and injustice to be two of the main causes. Once they were able to identify reasons of rebellion, we looked at how artists explore the themes of stereotypes and injustice. This is where the importance of the symbol revealed importance.
Once the connection of injustice, stereotype, and inner identity was made with our students, they were given the challenge of transforming a typical cigar box into a work of art, hinting towards the art styles of the dada and assemblage artists. Our students were able to learn proper collage, wood stain/patina, and adhesive techniques as well as transforming typical objects (found objects) into artistic symbols.
I feel that our class appreciated being able to explore personal feelings and expressing who they are, and rejecting/rebelling against societal expectations they frequently fall subject to. While many of our students had no previous experience with art, I feel that the majority of the class gave a great deal of effort trying new things. Mai-Ly and I tried to give students choices as we presented new challenges, such as bringing in power tools, sewing kits, a range of glues, wire, etc. I think the students appreciated this aspect as well, rather than them all having to do the exact same thing.
Throughout the lessons, Mai-Ly and I made sure to restate the big ideas, and essential goals of the unit, to ensure student understanding. We also made great use of our teacher examples, using them as each lesson started, so that the class understood the meaning behind the collage, found objects, adhesive techniques, etc. I felt we gained a great deal of respect as the students got to know the ideas behind our boxes. Ms. Sieloff even said that the students really enjoyed getting to know us as teachers through our boxes.
In fact, my most memorable part of this unit was when I was talking with a student who didn’t quite grasp the idea of how to contrast the interior of the box with the exterior’s ideas. To help her get an idea of how to do this, I referred to my box and explained a few different ways I did this. As she listened to what each of the objects represented, she pointed to a part of my box I didn’t explain. In fact, she pointed to the part of my box that represented the deepest emotion of my box. I explained to her that the black shredded fabric represented the dark aspect of my past, that even though the memories weren’t always good, they are still a part of me, and helped me grow into the person I am now. As I said this, her face glowed with a smile. I said, “Not all of what you put on the inside of your box needs to be a direct or happy aspect, as long as it explores who you are, what makes you, you, and how you are challenging societies stereotypes of yourself.” As soon as I said this, she said assured me she now understood and knew what she wanted to do. Words cannot explain the personal connection I felt with that student as we were talking, and knowing that through exploring my box, she now understood the direction she wanted to go felt remarkable.
While we did come across certain setbacks, and had to end up cutting certain ideas out of our unit, we were able to successfully complete our unit. Overall, Mai-Ly and I didn’t experience a great deal of behavioral issues; we did experience a few students in which we had to personally address. While unsure if what we were doing was effective, we quickly gained respect and saw a change of attitude and work ethic from those we had to address.
I think our strengths included our ability to open the lessons in an effective-attention grabbing way, as well as our demos and speech. When talking to our class, we demanding respect, but spoke to them on a respectful, casual manner. I think our weakness might just be getting students to voluntarily participate in class discussions, which considering we were new to their classroom is completely understandable. I’m sure class discussions are easier to facilitate if your students are able to get to know you. Unfortunately, I feel they didn’t start really opening up until the middle of the unit, when they started to get to know us and feel comfortable as us being their teachers-not just visitors.
I was extremely happy that our students were overall able to finish their boxes by the time we left, and that Ms. Sieloff would grant them extra time to finish them before grading them. When I came back a few days after our last day teaching to pick up some student work for presentations, I was able to see that many of the students had kept their word- and continued working on their boxes during their free time, which felt really good to see. In reading many of the student’s artist statements, I saw that they really grasped the main ideas of the identity box, and were able to connect to it on a personal level. I must say that I was interested in knowing what each student was working on the entire time, and feel a remarkable sense of accomplishment in reviewing photos of their final products. I can only hope they feel the same sense of accomplishment in looking at their box. I can’t wait to use this unit plan in my future as an art educator, perhaps extending the lessons and time frame to ensure students meet the challenges, are able to finish, and can explore new ways of utilizing the box as a metaphor.
Mai-Ly Nguyen's Experience:
I think our unit on Identity Boxes went very well. Focusing on the art and cultural movement of Dada and connecting it to Ms.Sieloff’s tenth grade social studies class was successful. It related very closely to their class’s discussions of social injustice, censorship, and rebellion. To get the class involved and fired up, we also discussed the Occupy Wallstreet Protests that were occurring up and down the east coast (and more relative to them- in Baltimore). Once the students were interested in protesting against stereotypes and social injustices, we introduced the artistic problem to show their rebellion in a visual way using Dada art techniques.
Each student chose their own cigar box to transform by the end of the three week session. At first, the students were not grasping the idea of the box. It was as if they needed constant reminders that the outside of the boxes were to represent the stereotypes and injustices that they personally face while the inside of the boxes were to represent who they were and how they were rebelling these social issues. We had also expected the students to take the time outside of school to find 2-D and 3-D items. This, we realized, may have been too much to ask of them. Only a handful of students did as we asked and were prepared for the lesson of the day. After the second lesson, we had to make changes in the unit. Cutting away an entire closing lesson to wrap up the unit as a whole, we added more work time so that students had extra time to search and assemble during the classes.
Megan and I adjusted to our changes and took our mentor teacher’s advice to not be afraid to repeat the objectives and the lecture information. The students would repeatedly forget what we previously told them and needed constant reminders on what we were doing, why we were doing it, and the artists and art terms that we mentioned. I also quickly learned that how the students behave really depend on how and where I start the lesson. Whenever I had a presentation, I would stand towards the side of the class, which led to a few issues with students talking to their peers instead of participating in the class discussions. Another thing we could have improved on was closing the storage room door during work time. Even though we placed out all of the day’s materials on the back table for their use, the students quickly learned what supplies were left in the back and freely roamed back there to choose what they wanted. This was an issue for a few students who were behind and only wanted to paint their boxes or use the materials that we did not intend for them to use that day. We finally took the paint home with us after the fifth day, but we should have thought to do this early on.
Although we had a few setbacks, there were a lot of good things that happened in this unit. Because this project heavily relied on personal ideas and what was meaningful to that student, it was easier to get the students involved and attracted to the project. It also was a big help to explain to the class what our boxes meant. Showing them how we’re stereotyped let them get comfortable with us as their instructors and gave them a window to who we are. Having a lot of materials prepared was a really large aid to our unit. The students had plenty of materials to choose from and made all the difference in making each box unique and successful.
If I were to do this unit again, I would allow more time. Because we were only allotted six 1 hour classes, we were limited to how much work time to have for each the inside and the outside of the box. Because the students need so much time in class to not only assemble the pieces but to search for them, it was such a rush for the students to complete their boxes.
