Early Feild Tunnel Book

For my early field class we were required to create a tunnel book sculpture that reflected our experiences from in the field. I had chosen to do a performing arts piece, creating a video for the project. The following is the artist statement submitted with my work:

Welcome to the World

When reflecting in my journals about my field experiences my primary focus centered on my management of the students’ behavior. Of all the challenges an early field student faces with maintaining organization, having a strong basis of the lesson, projecting their voices, and performing as a professional, behavior management was by far the most difficult challenge.

During my teaching experience there were moments where I had to raise my voice to get the student’s attentions. Nothing makes me feel guiltier then when I feel I’ve lost my temper or have lacked compassion for others. Although these moments are not my preferred behavior management technique, at times they seemed necessary but it is not something I wish to continue practicing.

My tunnel book sculpture is a dramatized reenactment of some of my most important experiences and discoveries from the field. The film explores tunnel/portals representing the different dimensions of the student and teacher experiences of behavior challenges. Title pages appear throughout the film with insights into the experience. My tunnel book sculpture is a performance piece to demonstrate my beliefs and ideas about behavior management.