Hello students, parents, friends, and faculty! My name is Ms. Melnick. I am the art teacher! I am certified in Art Education from Kindergarten through twelth grade. During my training, I have experimented with many different areas in the arts such as painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, drawing, 2D design, and 3D design. I feel that exposing students to many techniques and mediums is very important in the art room. I believe doing this will help each student find something that he/she enjoys in the arts.
My Philosophy of Education
Art works as a way of responding to the world around us. Art allows the artist to express and interpret feelings about ideas. By translating feelings into visual means, the artist opens up communication within themselves and with the viewers by sharing his/her viewpoints about the world.
I have to express myself as an artist because as a producer and spectator, art allows me to communicate with the world. Art pushes me to interpret and critically analyze aspects of our world, helping me to develop my own ideas and feelings. Through interaction with art, my mind has developed a higher order of critical thinking that allows me to pose and solve problems. As I grow as an artist, my interest in developing the mind grows.
Art sets the foundation for learning. Drawing is the first form of communication a child utilizes. Art is a field that involves a lot of visual and verbal communication. Visual and verbal communication facilitates learning. Most importantly, art allows students to be creative and original in their ideas, which will help them develop unique ideas in other areas.
As an educator, I want to build students’ confidence, creativity, skill, visual perception, and aesthetic awareness so that they are able to produce, write about, and discuss art. Art production and study develops these skills within students, and leads students on the path of understanding themselves, their culture, and cultures around the world. I want to teach art because it is a subject that allows me to gain insight into an individual. I want to help students discover themselves, and help them to introduce themselves to the world.
A classroom environment that best fosters learning requires the students to work quietly, and stay on task. Yet, an art room should allow students to interact in order to gain insight into their work. I believe that respect is the fundamental element needed in the classroom: respect for oneself, the teacher, classmates, the school, and materials.