Skeleton Model to Teach Structure & Critical Thinking

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

I am a middle school teacher just starting in a very high-needs district in the South Bronx, NY. Previously I worked in Amityville, Long Island. This was also considered a high-needs district, but there are vast differences between the two. For the most part the students at The Academy of Public Relations are motivated and hard-working. The faculty members are constantly working to counteract the effects of their environment and to provide role models and options for the future. However, the school itself is only in its third year and is severely lacking in resources. The administration is committed to including aspects of interdisciplinary education whenever possible. This is particularly important to me as I am currently working on an Ed.D. with Northcentral University – the subject of my dissertation being interdisciplinarity. Most basic art supplies are being provided. I can teach a comprehensive art curriculum without much trouble but feel that the students would still be missing something if I couldn’t go further. I feel that as an art teacher, I am in a position to make up for some of the necessary education that students no longer are provided due to the time constraints of the No Child Left Behind Act. I have tried this before (in Amityville Memorial High School) and it was quite successful. Here, however, the cost of a model skeleton is prohibitive. A life-size model of a skeleton would give me a chance to teach the students figure drawing the right way – focusing on basic structure, not only to teach observation, perspective and proportion, but to help them understand that all things have an underlying structure to them. I have heard many science teachers complain that they no longer have time to teach about the skeleton in life science – if it isn’t on the test, it isn’t taught! If I could have the skeleton model, I could not only teach those very necessary facts but share it with the science department who could build on my lessons in a way that would encourage critical thinking in the students. These days so much time is spent “teaching to the tests” that some of the most important lessons are lost. A skeleton model would help make up for this in a big, comprehensive way.