Importance of Art in the Schools

I love art. Every since I was in elementary school I have loved to draw, paint and pretty much do anything that has to do with art. Ibelieve that I acquired this passion from the opportunities that I was given in elementary school as well as outside of school. Art is such an essential part to growing up that if it continues to be eliminated from elementary, middle and secondary schools, then students will begin to have negative effects. It is more than just being able to draw, but it is a way to show self expression and put your feelings down on a piece of paper. Art also exercises a different part of the brain which does not get used as frequently when learning other subjects. I am a strong believer that there is an artist in everyone and that keeping the arts in general such as music as well as painting and drawing etc. is crucial to a well-balanced education.

Why do we teach?

Why do we teach? The answer to this question varies for every person. Personally, I believe that we teach in order to ready our society for the future. The students that we teach will someday be our future leaders, teachers, doctors etc. And in order to ensure a good future, students need to actually learn what is being taught and not just do school work to get by. There is a huge difference between school work and learning the material. I believe that in some cases school work as in worksheets, projects, tests etc. are helpful, but how much are those things actually helping the students really learn what is being taught? I think a more effective way of learning is creating a diverse learning environment where different strategies are used on a rotational basis so that every student will have the opportunity to learn in the best way for them. Some of these strategies include projects, hand-on activities, personal experiences such as field trips and individual exploration. Including these different strategies in creating a diverse classroom is a big quality of good teaching.