About Me
I grew up in Sioux Falls SD and went on to College at SDSU. It was during the summers between college that I discovered my love for teaching through working at Camp Foster in Okoboji as the ranch coordinator where I taught horse back riding on a daily basis. I now teach High School Art at Milbank High School in Milbank SD. I have also now illustrated three books with Tree Shadow publishing company that you can find information about on my blog or Amazon. I love teaching and getting to watch my students learn and grow in the arts everyday.
Teaching Philosophy
My belief is that each student is unique and has their own original style. As an art teacher I believe in guiding students to reach their full potential in creating and understanding art in ways that are meaningful and applicable to their own lives. It is important to have a balance between instruction and freedom within an art classroom. I believe this pushes students to think of original ideas and express themselves, while also learning how to describe and work with various mediums, styles, culture and historical values in art. Through the use of various teaching strategies I strongly believe that art should be taught to reach out to all learning styles to ensure the success of each student.
One important aspect I would like to maintain in my teaching is a balance between freedom and instruction. It is important for students to be able to express themselves through their art and create what they are most passionate about. This provides them with motivation to take pride in their work and follow through. However, it is also important that the students are learning the elements and principles along with applications in relation to history or culture. One way I feel this can be done is by first providing instruction as to why a specific idea is important and giving some narrowed down expectations. Through narrowing the field before asking students to apply it to their own way whether it be subject matter, design or expression they will be able to create what they want while learning to follow guidelines and push their problem solving abilities. Instruction in design, art history, and techniques are just as important as freedom of expression and creativity. Through helping guide students to apply both technique and creative expression in their work students may be driven to feel motivated and successful in their creation while also working with important ideas in art.
Applying different teaching strategies so as to reach all learning styles is also important to my teaching. Though many students are able to learn through the traditional hands on projects that are typically seen in art, I find that implementing other non-project based strategies can also be implemented. Non-project based assignments may support why the projects are important and help students to make connections between art and the world around them. Through using various methods to teach I feel lessons also become exciting for the students so that they never know what to expect and are not always practicing in the same way each day. Through various texts, culture, history, and other subjects, I feel that each student may find that one thing that calls to them. Because each individual learns differently, it is important to understand each of their learning styles so as to better facilitate learning.
Therefore through a balance between creative original thinking, and disciplines, and the use of various teaching strategies, I believe that the growth of student’s success in the art class can be guaranteed. When there is a balance between freedom and discipline in projects, the students are able to express themselves while still having some structure to guide them and help them learn certain aspects. A focus on originality can also help to give students more freedom and express themselves as an individual which is why it is also to focus on each student separately at many points. Then through the use of various teaching strategies, multiple intelligence are aided in finding different ways of looking at and thinking about information so as to better understand the visual arts.
~Ashley Plummer
One important aspect I would like to maintain in my teaching is a balance between freedom and instruction. It is important for students to be able to express themselves through their art and create what they are most passionate about. This provides them with motivation to take pride in their work and follow through. However, it is also important that the students are learning the elements and principles along with applications in relation to history or culture. One way I feel this can be done is by first providing instruction as to why a specific idea is important and giving some narrowed down expectations. Through narrowing the field before asking students to apply it to their own way whether it be subject matter, design or expression they will be able to create what they want while learning to follow guidelines and push their problem solving abilities. Instruction in design, art history, and techniques are just as important as freedom of expression and creativity. Through helping guide students to apply both technique and creative expression in their work students may be driven to feel motivated and successful in their creation while also working with important ideas in art.
Applying different teaching strategies so as to reach all learning styles is also important to my teaching. Though many students are able to learn through the traditional hands on projects that are typically seen in art, I find that implementing other non-project based strategies can also be implemented. Non-project based assignments may support why the projects are important and help students to make connections between art and the world around them. Through using various methods to teach I feel lessons also become exciting for the students so that they never know what to expect and are not always practicing in the same way each day. Through various texts, culture, history, and other subjects, I feel that each student may find that one thing that calls to them. Because each individual learns differently, it is important to understand each of their learning styles so as to better facilitate learning.
Therefore through a balance between creative original thinking, and disciplines, and the use of various teaching strategies, I believe that the growth of student’s success in the art class can be guaranteed. When there is a balance between freedom and discipline in projects, the students are able to express themselves while still having some structure to guide them and help them learn certain aspects. A focus on originality can also help to give students more freedom and express themselves as an individual which is why it is also to focus on each student separately at many points. Then through the use of various teaching strategies, multiple intelligence are aided in finding different ways of looking at and thinking about information so as to better understand the visual arts.
~Ashley Plummer
Students and Parents can view work in Artsonia. Click the button below!
