“Ellin reminded herself that children’s responses are nearly always worth the wait, and that silence, though uncomfortable for the adults, can lead to great thinking” (Keene and Zimmerman, 152).

There are a lot of reasons I want to be a teacher and Ellin’s thoughts above hit the first reason right on the head. I am so amazed by children’s responses. I love how amazingly unique and creative they can be when given the chance to solve a problem. This quote made me reflect on my own teaching. How am I giving my students chances to solve problems? And if I am giving the opportunities they need, am I giving them the wait time and the voice to really examine their thinking? I am not sure that I give enough self-reflection time to my students. Even if I can’t give them enough time to each talk to the class one by one, I could give them a few moments to “turn and talk” like on the video we watched in class, or write down their ideas before we start our class discussion.

“Kids taste, touch, feel, and smell their way through books as well as through experiences. So we model using all of our senses to understand what we read, hear, and view” (Harvey and Goudvis, 149).

This is central to what I believe students learn from art making. We experience the world with site, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Limiting activities to one learning style to me is like how my favorite food tastes when my nose is all stuffed up. Allowing students to express their learning through all of their senses enriches learning. When students have a chance to create something using what they learned and what they know from their experience it strengthens their connections to the material. The more connections they can make with information the better able they will be to hang on to it.