In this professional learning program with visual artist Molly Gaston Johnson, teachers will learn how to use basic elements and principles of design as a means of communicating ideas. Through designing their own artworks in a series of exercises that build from simple and quick, to more intentionally social-emotionally driven, and then curriculum-driven, participants will learn how to share a design language with their students. Participants will learn to create abstracted visual representations of ideas and use those visual creations as a starting point for verbal and/or written explanation of concepts represented. These experiences help participants to invite students to express their understanding of curriculum concepts and/or social-emotional concepts by employing the elements and principles of design.

Recommended Participants

• Teachers
• Paraprofessionals
• Visual Arts Specialists

Learning Intentions

Participants will:

• Engage first-hand in the excitement of learning the language of design.
• Analyze the meaning of a concept and appraise options for how to create an abstracted visual design that represents that concept.
• Assess their work in comparison with responses on the same topic.
• Differentiate the nuance of meaning created in small design choices.
• Engage in guided reflection.
• Analyze the visual work of others and draw clues from these creations that connect to meaning.
• State how personal reflections connect visual facts in the work they are analyzing to the meaning they have understood.
• Examine nuance through comparing one design to another.
• Reflect on the creative development of the students they work with and consider content for an Arts Individualized Education Plan for one student.

YA Connections

• NJSLS-VPA: Artistic Process; Creating; Anchor Standard 1: Conceptualizing & Generating Ideas
• NJSLS-VPA: Artistic Process; Responding; Anchor Standard 7: Perceiving and Analyzing Products

Social Emotional Learning Professional Standards for Educational Leaders

Standard 4: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment