I Wish.....

I was talking with a parent last week about her children.  I said that her son made my day when he walked into the art room saying to himself, "I love art, I love art..."  He was excited to be there. 
The parent smiled at my words, but started to tell me that her neither of her kids were very good at art. 

Her kids are some of my best students! They almost always have a creative story to go with their work.  Their stories/work reflect their interests and they enjoy the process of making something.  They embrace the materials and they try (without anyone judging them) the techniques I introduce. 

I wish that we could forget about the end product in the art room and think about the process of making art.  I truly believe that is where the value of art education lies.

Proud of My Students

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"A scientist at MIT tells me that his grad students are very smart and
technically capable, but when they get an unexpected result, they are slow in
their ability of figure out what they have discovered. He says their greatest
need is to become more creative." Marvin Bartel

"Science  students have learned to be careful to avoid mistakes…not how to learn from mistakes. They lack the imagination and creativity to see their own discoveries when they happen…they waste time & energy because they have not learned to actually experiment. Their science classes assigned them lab work where they already knew... answers before they did the lab work." Marvin Bartel

 

Teaching for Artistic Behaviors encourages creativity.  You might not always like what you end up with, but at there is something important about exploring your ideas in a "hands on way."

I can learn from you, you can learn from me.

Professional Development all day yesterday!  That used to mean that my tushy would be sore and I would be SO tired from my brain not working all day.  Doing nothing can really sap your energy.

It is a good thing that times have changed.  I spent the morning with the other art teachers.  We always have a lively discussion and I always walk out questioning the philosophy of teaching art. 

The afternoon was spent challenging the way we do things as a school.  We saw an awesome video based on a TED TALK that Sir Ken Robinson did a few years ago.  (I have seen it a few times,  but I was just thinking last week that our staff needed to see it also.  I found myself paying attention to the group reaction to his message.  I know how I feel about his words, but it always surprises me when other don't agree with me!)  Then we spent time in small groups and the Iowa Core.

My favorite quote came from a student teacher working in my building.  "I can learn from you, you can learn from me."  I decided to try this out today when I started puppet making with a group of 2nd and 3rd graders.  I asked for a few students to become teachers, to learn the skill first and then be willing to teach the others at their table how to do it.  At the end of the class I asked them if they had any advice for the kids they would be teaching next time.  Many of the comments focused on messing around, and then one girl surprised me.  She said, "Think about your idea and listen to the people around you who may know more than you."

WHOA!  That was the message from our professional development yesterday.  If we as teachers can do this, imagine the possibilities!

Getting started

We started off the school year talking about ideas. (Just like last year!)  I was so excited to see the students already coming in on the first day with great ideas and remembering the routines of the room. 

We started with basic drawing supplies, pencils, markers, crayons and colored pencils.  We will be adding oil pastels and chalk pastels next week for the 1st -5th graders.  I can't wait to see what they do!

End of the Year

It seems amazing that the 2009-2010 school year has ended.  I have really enjoyed working at North Bend this year.  The staff and principal are amazing, but it is the students who have won my heart.  It has been so rewarding to see these kids representing themselves through art and challenging themselves artistically.  

Yesterday I had my 2/3 and 4/5 classes log into artsonia to see their portfolios and write comments to friends about the work they have done this year.  It was fun for me to hear their conversations.  I had one 4th grade boy say that he wished he had more time to put work into his portfolio.  Another mentioned that it was strange to see all of his work together in one spot.  He went on to say that he knew he could do better!   Overall, the students were very supportive of each others work.  Artsonia is a wonderful motivation for most of the students.  What a great place to praise our students for simply being themselves.

Art will be different next year.  This makes me sad.  We will only have art once a week and there is talk that the art room may need to be used as a classroom.  I am not sure if I will be teaching from a cart or where we will make art.  I am not sure how I will adjust my program, but I know that our administrators have the student's best interest in mind as they make their decisions.

Still Life

I introduced the idea of still life to my classes last week.   I defined still life as the main subject being an object that could be arranged.  I may have confused a few kids because I was a little hungry when I put my presentation together and most of the images were of food!  I brought in a big gum ball machine my dad gave me.  I bought gum balls this weekend so they may be even MORE motivated when they see it full!  I also had stuffed animals, bottles, plastic fruit and flowers available.  A few students drew markers, pencils, easels and even the chairs from around the room.  It lead to many discussions about the difference between a portrait and still life.  Some students questioned whether the playground and houses we see outside could be still life.  It was fun for me to hear the conversations and clarifications between students.  It was interesting to see the challenges they set up for themselves. 

Portraits

We have been talking about portraits for several weeks.   The working definition we are using:  A portrait is a representation of a face or a personality.