My Art and Philosophy

You can now view my artwork on a NEW website: http://rebeccajardinsart.wordpress.com/

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Hi my name is Rebecca Jardin.

I am the grade 6-10 art teacher at Lincoln Community School, Ghana. Previously I was working at Hangzhou International School, China teaching grade 2-12 for three years.  Over the past 14 years I have taught art in Australia, London UK, UAE, China and now Africa. Every year has always been different and a fabulous experience. I have been very fortunate to be able to teach art to adults, preK- grade 12 and to students with learning difficulties.

In my spare time I love to travel, practice yoga, go to the gym and of course paint. I am currently working on an exhibition of my own work. I will keep adding some of my artwork above so you can see that your art teacher practices what she preaches!

Thanks so much for visiting this site. Please leave comments.

MY PHILOSOPHY

Every child is an artist it is a GIFT. I am very fortunate to have the joy of encouraging students to acknowledge and enhance this gift.  I am providing unique skills that can be explored and developed for life. In my classes the students are developing skills that bring a whole new understanding and enlightenment to their thoughts, emotions and place in the world. This is why I am an ART teacher!

I believe in student centered learning and see myself as more of a guide. There is nothing more exciting than seeing students explore and develop their own ideas.  I often demonstrate tasks and use artists of past and present to inspire the students before they start their personal inquiries.  Having them bring their experiences into the classroom creates trust, respect and an excellent opportunity to learn about others.  This also establishes a very creative, supportive and dynamic learning environment.

Targeting student’s interests and prior knowledge helps to eliminate behavior problems in the art room.  However, students are aware of my expectations of their behavior as this is made clear at the beginning of the year and is consistent throughout. Positive reinforcement such as promoting work on the Art Blog, hanging work around the school and using online galleries are highly successful ways to capture the students’ interest and enthusiasm. I enjoy offering students the opportunity to compete in art competitions and display their work on slide shows in the front office and at assemblies for the families to see. If students know that their work is going to a wider audience they take greater care and often push their skills to the next level.

It is important that the students are able to learn from their mistakes, as this is where some of the greatest ideas come from! Students are very aware that in my classes the “process” is just as important as the product. Evidence of investigating, planning, creating and evaluating is in their development workbooks and recorded online through the use of “voicethread.com”.

I believe my greatest strength is my desire to constantly evaluate myself as a teacher and as a person. I am proud of what I have achieved but believe I am capable of even more. I often attend art classes, workshops and professional development when possible and regularly produce my own artwork, which is important for the art students to see. I also encourage my students to reflect and evaluate their own work and work of others. Evaluation and presentation is the final step in their artistic learning process and is just as important as the creating, therefore they regularly display their work with their evaluations throughout the school.

Overall I am creating opportunities for the students to function as an artist rather than simply a learner of the arts. I do this by encouraging students to think critically and provide many opportunities for research, discussion, problem solving, experimentation and application. Students are developing socially, intellectually and emotionally in my classes. Art is a very powerful tool for communication and it is an absolute joy to share this information with enthusiastic developing artists!