Wednesday, July 27, 2011

AQ Visual Arts

I am finding the AQ (Additional Qualification) course in Visual Arts to be very enlightening. It began with the teacher, Tony, introducing many great new ideas for inclass activities, showing us many picture books which can be used in a variety of grade levels, and reviewing the elements and principles of design. It progressed into printmaking with styrofoam, softoleum, and acrylic plates and then sculpture including a field trip to the Gardiner Museum. A new dimension was then added to spice it up - we worked with a partner to create and develop a lesson plan to teach to the rest of the class. This brought more new activities to our attention that we can implement in our own classrooms.

We have enjoyed three guest speakers, a return trip to the Gardiner to glaze our pottery, and a field trip to Arts Junktion. I was lucky enough to pick up some valuable items that were being recycled. As I reflect on the course I feel that I have enriched my knowledge base in Visual Arts and feel very confident that I will be competent in teaching this subject to any Primary/Junior grade.