Chapters 14-19

Constructivist Theory has always been my favorite learning theory. I don't always see a way to apply it consistently in a public school system, but I like it nonetheless, and when I spend time with my nephews and niece I try to foster their learning by creating opportunities for them to construct/discover their own knowledge.
I appreciate the notion that any adult would prefer to draw with the raw freshness of a child. Looking at the Up With Art student work this week has helped me appreciate how talented young artists are in their own right. They see things differently and respond to the visual stimulus in an alternate fashion that is unique because it is not perfectly realistic.
In the sequential curriculum chapters I gained a fair amount of insight as to how to approach getting students from each grade level to engage in meaningful discussions that are appropriate for their age group. Sometimes because excersizes involve higher order thinking I believe I have the tendency to avoid that with the younger groups of students. It might be because I did not know what they were able to handle and how to use guiding questions to help them through the discussion.
While the book tends to invite instructors to praise student work. The suggestions are helpful to improve the way I offer praise to my students. Sometimes I say "great job" when they announce they are finished with their work. That type of generalized statement doesn't help at all. I could comment on a unique solution and say something like " I see you did ______, how did you come up with that idea?" The most important part, it seems, is to demonstrate to students that you respect their art. I need to do a better job at avoiding making suggestions to students when they are stumped. Because of the nature of the art specialist's schedule, there are times when I hurry them through the steps in order to keep up with the clock. That practice does nothing for the student who would benefit from the constructivist method of learning.
I noticed how often the painting set up was one brush per color. Has anyone else ever seen that? I'm not sure I like it, simply because it seems that would eliminate or discourage color mixing.
I wish I would have read the middle school chapters prior to spending two weeks at the middle school this semester.