Sally Linfield Observation

On October ninth, I visited Sally Linfield’s Art class at Oakridge Middle School, here in Collier County, Florida. The school is well decorated with many of the student’s artwork displayed at the entrance and along the paths to the classes. The school has a nice atmosphere and was built with a large courtyard with foliage in the center for an open air setting. It had a feeling of tranquility, although the students were moving from class to class.

Located a few doors down from the office, Ms. Linfield’s class is a large room with one wall of windows to let the sun shine through. For a good ten minutes, Ms. Linfield leaves the classroom door open for an added outdoor feel, “until the kids get loud,” she says. The class consist of eight color

Collier County’s goals are for students to understand elements, principles and techniques of art and its history, and Ms. Linfield’s goals are simply to increase creativity and skills. The Florida standards have the same goals as the County and is pretty easy to follow. Testing is trickier, because it is too specific and leaves little to creativity, according to Ms. Linfield. While researching the standards, I can see that Florida as many similarities to California’s. Florida’s requirements are more detailed, such as the Artistic Perception part for California’s has four sections to develop; like, 1.0 - identify and describe all elements of arts found in selected works of art (California Dept. of Edu.). Florida has eleven parts that qualify as critical thinking and reflection; like, 1.1 – apply a range of interest and contextual connections to influence the art-making and reflection process; 1.2 –use prior knowledge to reflect on multiple interpretations of works of art

She insisted that being very organized is key to having a good classroom experience. She also mentioned to make sure to remain emotionally stable during class time, because the students feed on how their teachers feel, and will react to it. –“So to have a good day, show up happy, leave your personal worries at home because they will take the opportunity to push your buttons.”

During the time I observed Ms. Linfield teach her students, she definitely gave out the feeling of self-assurance. She gave very clear detailed instructions on how to proceed with the tasks at hand. She also repeated the directions on several occasions and mentioned how fun the project was several time as well. I am certain all this put out a positive vibe out to the students and stimulated their creativity.

At last, I asked Ms. Linfield if she practiced art herself. Her response was that she only does art for her personal satisfaction. She particularly enjoys drawing black and white portraits and nature journaling with watercolor