Author Archives: missjaybar

Jun2

Year in Review: Part 2: Things Learned and Things to Learn

Posted on June 2, 2015 by missjaybar

In this part of my reflection on the 2014-15 school year, I decided that I would look back over the changes that took place by bringing TAB/CBE into my classroom. While I have offered modified choice in my room for a while, this was the first year to fully implement the TAB pedagogy. It has been a huge learning experience, both for my students and for me.

I had heard and read about all the wonderful things that have an open studio could do, but to be honest, I was still skeptical. Could my student population really do well with such freedom? The answer is yes.

Let’s start with some positives from this year:

Kids worked through artwork until they were satisfied…at times starting a new piece because it just wasn’t working. This just amazed me. I’ve had kids work hard on things before, but never with the fervor I’ve seen this year. They pushed themselves. And it paid off.
Kids learned from other kids on how to do something I didn’t teach them. They would see something someone else had discovered and asked how to do it.
Kids tried new things, even when previously saying they didn’t like such-n-such medium. Some would try out a material, such as clay, just to discover they still didn’t like it. Others would finally break away from what was known to the, only to find a new love.
Clean-up/ownership of materials and tools. I have to clean a lot less than in previous years. I am not seeing a mis-use of materials (paper, paint, etc.–except for ez-cut.) Trusting my kids to be responsible with tools and materials was probably my biggest hang-up when moving to full choice. But, I was pleasantly surprised when tools got returned, when I still had erasers at the end of the year, and when the majority of brushes were cleaned. I think that giving the students trust to maintain the studio was a big factor in this area.
I am noticing I use the word kids a lot. My students are in high school and probably wouldn’t want to be called kids, and they aren’t related to me, but they feel like my kids. This year I have had the most comfortable relationships with students. I know more (and some things I would like to forget..can you say tmi?) about my students this year than I ever have before. I think this stems from a combination of reading their blog posts and the type of conversations I was able to have with my students. Because I wasn’t focused on them creating a certain thing or following a specific rubric, I was able to go deeper with them into their work and their lives.
Lots of growth happened this year. Not every student grew. Some kids are just there for the credit. They don’t care one way or another, and no matter what you say/do or don’t say/do isn’t going to change that. There were classes I took in both HS and at my first college where I felt the same. It’s normal. It’s okay. And I accept that. But, for the majority of students, they did care. I saw them push themselves. Some grew in drawing skills. Others in painting. Some grew in meaning put into their artwork. I had a couple that finally stopped copying things from the interwebs and began making their own. One student who did the bare minimum for 90% of the year finally came alive at the end once he realized he could things in an anime style if that is what interested him. He didn’t pass, but he promised me that the flame I saw at the end would be there for the whole time next year. I have a hundred stories to tell about student growth. It makes me smile when I think about them.
The art making didn’t always stop with just creating the theme artwork. Many students just kept going. They wanted to create this or that, so I let them. Why stop the creativity? Why make them sit there and do nothing?
My school is a 1:1 macbook, and this year I felt I really had the students using the computers in a positive way. We weren’t using it just because it was an expectation. We were using it to communicate and reflect. The website/blogs created by the students and by myself were a great thing, even if their writing needs some help.

While I did change things during the year to better meet the needs of the students, I still have areas that need addressing over the summer. And of course, there are areas I feel that if I just changed it up a bit, students would be more successful.

Helping the students to understand why we do the blogs. We started out with artist behaviors. The students wrote about what they were doing and addressing the behaviors. I thought they were moving along and understanding things. So, we moved to artist statements after winter break. Nope. Most students weren’t there yet. I then gave them the option to either do an artist statement or pick 2 behaviors like we did previously. After reading their end of year surveys, I know they didn’t really see the point of them. A handful of students did (and by handful I mean like 5), but the majority couldn’t see the point of writing in art and thought it was just busy work or for a grade. This is good to know. I know my student population has an issue with writing, and I am sure that our state testing is partially to blame. They are not good at writing, sad to say. But, what I gleam from all this is that I need to help them to see that artists write about what they do. That reflecting on the actions they are doing can help them grow as an artist. And, that writing is not just for English and History class.
I did well creating demos for the students, but I feel I could do more. I feel that I left some things up in the air…like color mixing…and some kids never explored that on their own. Perhaps if I give them a taste of what color mixing could do…it could bring more life to their artwork.
The students have the ideas, they just need a bit more help as to what is possible out there–both in image, media, and technique. How do I get them to see beyond the typical art room materials? How can I encourage them to try something new? How can I get them to go deeper and think further beyond the obvious? I need to address my line of questioning, the way images get shown to them for inspiration, and helping them to make more dynamic composition decisions.
This is the first year I had all 3 sculpture levels doing ceramics. It was a lot of trial and error. While the students were happy with how things ran, it could be better. I haven’t figured this out yet, but I will…even if every year we change some things to make it better.
Themes were tricky. Ones that I thought would be killer…dropped dead. I like working with the themes and I think, especially for my art 1 kiddos, they worked well. Feedback said the students liked to have a starting point for their artwork. Things I have been considering for next year…giving the entire list of themes and having them pick as they please…but then how would our padlet brainstorming work with that method. Having the students suggest themes and then having a vote. Something else?
Feedback and critique needs to change…big time. I give personal feedback as I walk around, but I feel I miss students or I hit them too late in the process and they have yet to fully understand things can still be changed and you can go back to an earlier stage. I want to do critiques more…especially mid-project. (And definitely mid-project in ceramics.) I am hoping that this topic will be brought up at the TAB Institute this summer so someone can help me to suss this out.

I have more questions, but this has gone on long enough. I feel that I will always have questions and that is a good thing. I can’t become stagnant and complacent in my art studio. No one will benefit from that. All in all, it was a fabulous year. I mean, there wasn’t one day this year where I woke up and said I didn’t want to go to work. That says something…don’t you think? And I know that things will just get better and better if I keep putting my students first by helping them to think like artists and behave like artists and create like artists.

Big changes are on the horizon at my school. Our entire admin staff is changing. We are getting a new principal and moving from 4 assistant principals to an assistant, an associate, and a dean of curriculum. And, they will all be new people. I’ve had a chance to sit and chat with our new principal. He is very easy to talk to. I told him about all the changes that I’ve done this past year. I talked abo P1050334 ut TAB and choice and the pedagogy. He thought it was wonderful and that it aligned with something that was talked about at some principals/superintendents conference. That made me happy and feel that I was doing the right thing. And, surprisingly, when I said my final good-bye to our current principal, he said something I never thought he would. We didn’t always see eye to eye, and sometimes I thought he just didn’t notice and didn’t understand. But, he told me to keep doing what I was doing. To keep my expectations high and keep pushing the students. He said that that is what they will remember and what they will appreciate.

And to that, I say, they do. And I will.

Jun1

Year in Review: Part 1: Highlights

Posted on June 1, 2015 by missjaybar

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My school year officially ended on May 30th. Yeah, that’s a Saturday. It sucked, but what ‘cha gonna do? Anyway, as always, the end of the year is bittersweet. It’s a joyous time as I get to watch the seniors finally be set free to fly. But at the same time, it’s sad because I have to watch the seniors finally be set free to fly. As I watched them throw their mortar boards up into the air Friday night, I wondered many things. Did I do enough? Did I teach them enough? Did I help them to understand they are more than the small town they grew up in? Did I give them enough room to create and imagine? Did the lessons I tried to instill really sink in? If not, will they eventually sink in?

Once I am done questioning myself specifically about the seniors, I take time to reflect on the past school year. I look at what I learned. I look at what I can improve. I look at the triumphs. And, I look at my failures. A lot happened this year. I don’t think I can talk about it all in one post. So, stay tuned for a series of posts where I can focus on the learning and the failings from this year and how I can move on and improve for next year.

In the meantime, let me use the rest of this post to show some of the highlights of the 2014-15 school year at THS.

VARSITY FOOTBALL TEACHER OF THE WEEK

I was honored by our Varsity Football Ducks as the final teacher of the week. The teacher chosen gets to don a jersey and hangout on the sidelines for the game; however, I chose to sit in the stands–better view of the whole field. This game was special as it was a play-off game at “The Palace”–a huge stadium on the outskirts of Austin. It was a very cold night, but I dressed warm and cheered my heart out. The boys played hard, but unfortunately ended their season. I was honored by them a second time that evening as they allowed me to share in their emotional ending. The boys were not afraid or ashamed to show the tears in their eyes as their high school football careers came to an end. I kept the jersey and hung it up my office. I don’t think I was supposed to do that, so don’t tell nobody. 😉

THE BIRTH OF THE LLAMADUCK

My classroom got a new mascot this year. While my intermediate/advanced worked on their morphing animal project, I too thought I would join in the building. And, thus the birth of the Llamaduck. Part llama. Part duck. 100% awesome!! The duck sits proudly in the room, welcoming all who enter. Kids like to pick him up and hug him. They rub his head. They try to steal him–like I wouldn’t notice he was missing. In fact, one day he was hidden and I couldn’t find him. It was a sad afternoon. Many seniors thought they should be able to take the llamaduck home. But alas, I said no–the Llamaduck must stay in the room.

COSTUMES, WIGS, AND STUFF

This year my room was visited by Miss Mia Wallace and Ms. Frizzle. I love to dress up to show my school spirit. Celebrity day and favorite cartoon character day were no exceptions this year. I also dressed up for pajama day with some comfy slippers and yoga pants. I think my cheesehead hat and cheese earrings also made an appearance to support the Pack, but I just don’t remember.

NAEA15 IN NOLA

You can read all about my adventures in New Orleans here and here. It was my first convention, and definitely not my last. I had soooo much fun and learned so much. I made new friends and connected with “old” ones. I look forward to Chicago…I hope.

APRIL TEACHER OF THE MONTH

It is always a wonderful thing to be recognized for all the good you do in your classroom. Sometimes in art we feel overlooked and underappreciated. So, when I won the Crystal Apple Award for April, it was a great surprise. And a happy one.

2nd ANNUAL HIGH SCHOOL ARTS SHOW

This year’s art show went so much smoother than last year. I was prepared earlier. I had students take the wheel the day of, which made all the difference. It downpoured that evening, but that didn’t stop the community from coming out and celebrating the amazing young artists we have at THS. Here is a link to the slideshow of artwork. It’s long, so don’t say you weren’t warned. (Eventually there will be a link…I haven’t quite finished editing yet.)

NEW COMPUTERS ARRIVE

We are a 1:1 Macbook school. Our computers were starting to run slow because, well, nothing is built to last for very long anymore these days. Our district was able to update our laptops, starting with the faculty. They are so shiny and light. Love them.

#LETHIDDEWALK: The Movement

Hidde was our exchange student from the Netherlands. He is an amazing person. He played in our Duck band. He tried to play soccer, but some UIL rule wouldn’t allow him to play in actual games. He is smart, funny, and super talented. I was lucky to have him in my art 2 class this year. I wrote up a student spotlight on him here.

Anyway, at some point, it came to light that he was not going to be able to actually walk at the graduation ceremony. For some state/district reason, it just couldn’t be allowed. Of course, the student body didn’t want to know the reasons why, they just wanted him to walk with the rest of his class. They took to social media and soon it was everywhere…the local paper, the Austin-American Statesman, KVUE (local ABC affiliate), and even Good Morning America. It was an interesting last couple of weeks at school. Hidde was given a certificate at our awards ceremony, but was not allowed to walk. He was recognized by the Valedictorian at graduation…and luckily Hidde was up on the stage with the Duck band to come forward and be recognized. One last cool thing is he has a rap song, written by Hidde, produced by a student who goes by T-Hall, and placed on T-Hall’s SENIORIT15 album.

TEXAS FLOODS

If you haven’t been watching the news the past week or two, well, then get thee to a tv man!!! Central Texas has been flooding. We’ve been in a draught for many, many years now. On Saturday May 23rd, insane rains poured over Central Texas and wiped out numerous homes along the Blanco River in Wimberley. If that wasn’t enough, on Monday, 2 storm systems came through–producing a few tornadoes and combing into one storm, leaving behind a ton of water and flash floods along a wide section of Central Texas. Taylor was not left out. Many neighborhoods found themselves underwater. Some district faculty and students ended up with water in their homes–some losing everything. Our high school was also the recipient of the flash floods. Our front vestibule and offices were water-logged. Water seeped under the gym floor and gathered in the athletic offices. It reached as far as our cafeteria. Workers came in around 11pm Monday night and continued to work throughout the day Tuesday–part, if not all, of both gym floors will have to be replaced and the carpets will all have to go as well. While it is dry now, it could have been worse, and it is sad to see my school community hurt. Our speech teacher started a collection and it felt great to be part of an amazing teacher/staff community who donated so much to help the town.

LAST WORDS

It was one of my best and favorite years teaching in my 8 year career. I have decided that teaching art is truly my calling. It is where I need to be. I have fun every day and I make the most special and lasting relationships. Every year my kids ask why I drive so far to work, and I tell them it’s because of them…that they are make it worth it. I will miss this year’s seniors, but I know they will do great things.

#DuckArt

Art Teacher 4 Lyfe

Apr16

A Snapshot of Some Great Student Work

Posted on April 16, 2015 by missjaybar

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I have some kids that are just super hard workers. They jump right in and get to creating when posed with a new theme. I wanted to share some new pieces being made in my room.

Joseph, a senior intermediate ceramics student made this delicious set.

Malinda, art 1, clay medallion to go with her painting for theme of Power

LaRunn, a transfer student who just 3 weeks ago joined my beginning ceramics class, making this piece for our Interaction theme

Marisa made two ducks for her Interaction piece…representing her and her daughter

Another Interaction piece. Cassandra made these cute penguins

Marisa, art 1, created this thoughtful piece for the theme of Power

Casey, art 1, found her Power in the ability to create a life. (Don’t worry, pregnancy is far off her radar.)

Just so proud of these kids.

Apr14

Flipping Blooms on its Head

Posted on April 14, 2015 by missjaybar

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I followed a link posted in my twitter feed by one of my #artsedpln members–Thanks Amy Traggianese. The link brought me to this article: Flip This: Bloom’s Taxonomy Should Start with Creating. In this article, author Shelly Wright proposes that we flip the bloom’s pyramid upside down and begin with creating. Wright says,

“Rather than starting with knowledge, we start with creating, and eventually discern the knowledge that we need from it.”

Chris Davis, Powerful Learning Practice LLC

For years I had my kids memorize facts and try to get them to understand what we were learning–whether it be about color mixing or bas relief. Then they would try to apply what they learned into an artwork that I created for them. They never really got to the creating part.

With my TAB classroom, I think this fits in perfectly. My young artists go through this new version of Bloom’s every time we create new artworks. They brainstorm/draft/sketch ideas first and foremost–create. They then look over those ideas and see what works and what doesn’t work–evaluate and analyze. Sometimes they need help with their ideas/artwork, so they get help from peers, teacher, books, online. They do some research, conference with some people and bring that to their work–apply. They finish their artwork and can reflect on it–understand. They move on to another artwork, thinking about what has worked before, learning from mistakes, using learned techniques/materials again–remembering. Finally, the cycle starts again.

While this is a crude and elementary example of how the “Flipped Bloom’s” works, it does work in a TAB/CBE classroom. Wouldn’t you agree?

Apr12

It’s Art Show Season

Posted on April 12, 2015 by missjaybar

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It’s art show season for me, and probably for many of you. This is my second year heading up our annual art show. And, it is the second year my school had an annual art show. So, um, yeah. I thought I would share some things that I do to make my show a success.

I start collecting works at the start of the year. I know some teachers prefer to have the students curate the show. That’s not my style. It is a matter of choice. My co-worker this year had students submit what they wanted. I am curious to see how that goes. In any case, I find that starting at the beginning of the year helps when it comes time for mounting. You can start mounting whenever you want. No need to wait until the week before or the week of.
I print out rosters for all of my classes with a blank grid. As I collect artworks, I check off a box for that student. This helps me make sure I have something from almost every one and it helps when it is time to make labels.
I mount all my work on black construction paper. There are a few examples that need white mats, but for the most part, black is good. I don’t have a lot of extra money or time for fancy mats. The works look good on the black construction. And, it is easy to do. I don’t mat works that are on canvas board. Those get hung as is.
I make all the mats have a 1″ border. I created a tool to help with mounting. It is a 1″ wide “L” I cut from chip board. I can line it up with one corner of the black mat, spray the back of the artwork, and then use it to guide the artwork on to the mat. It really has helped to cut down on the time it takes to mount over 200 pieces of artwork.
This year I had my aide help me out with labels. Last year I bought a large pack of Avery return labels. The labels fit perfectly on the 1″ border of the mat. I only put the student’s name on the label. My aide downloaded the template and uses the list I have created on my rosters so she knows how many labels to make each student.
For 3-D artwork or non-matted work, I put the name labels on 3″X1.5″ bristol board tags. These get either placed by the sculpture or tacked on the wall just under the artwork.
If you have ever told a high school student to tell his or her parent something, you know most likely whatever it is will never get relayed to them. So, I thought a great idea was to send invites to all the parents/guardians of the students who have artwork in the show. Here is my template. (Please note, the original was made in pages and that does not upload to google docs so well. The font on the original is a script, which makes it look a bit more fancy.) I put 4 invites on a page and print onto white cardstock. I found some envelopes at Michael’s that fit the invites perfectly. The counselor’s secretary was super nice and printed out all the “to the parents of” labels for me to make addressing them easier.
I also send invites to the superintendent, the deputy superintendent, the head of HR, all my principals, the middle school art teacher, and the teachers and staff at the school. Their invites are the same, but I leave out the part about their young artist having work in the show. I think it is nice to formally invite my colleagues and administration.
For other advertising, we do a couple of other things. A student created a poster this year to hang all over the school. A huge banner is being created to hang from our school’s balcony. The poster is being run in the announcement powerpoint at lunches. We shared the poster with our district PR person. He came and took pictures of the students getting things ready. He will run these pics on the district FB group. I think it will also go in the local paper. We have the poster running on the front page of the district and the high school websites. My principal set up an all-call to remind everyone about the show the night before.
Every art show I have been to has some sort of food at the opening. This show should be no different. I have talked with the culinary teacher, and her students are going to create some yummy treats for the event. This adds a little something extra to the show.
This year we we also be adding some music. I have talked to the band director and he agreed to have some students play some nice music during the show. He will set up on the balcony overlooking the show.
We are having the show on a Friday evening, so I had to take when to set up into consideration. I am taking the day off for school related business. I have also hand-picked several students to help me hang all the work during the day. I contacted all their teachers and asked them if they could miss their class that day. I found last year it was kind of a pain to have new students each period helping out. I felt like a broken record and things were getting forgotten and nothing was smooth. I thought having the same group of responsible students all day would make things easier.
We will hang all the work using poster tack. It works well on both our fabricated wall tiles and our cinderblocks. We have a few easels for larger paintings, and we have a place to hang framed work. I saw another teacher this year get the little wads of tack prepared in the days before. I haven’t done this before, but it seems like a great idea. I will ask my aides if they want to do that.
All the sculpture work goes on round bar height tables we have at the high school. Last year I had an abundance of brown burlap, so I cut it to use as table cloths. (I was smart and bagged them up and hid them in the faculty work room for future use.) We will use those again.
A cool thing I like to do, which unfortunately I didn’t get to this year–yet, is create QR codes for seniors. It is nice to have a little bit of info about our senior artists near their work. Students give brief responses to questions like what is your favorite media, why do you like art, and what are your plans after graduation.
The last thing I like to do is go in over the weekend after the show and take a high-res picture of each artwork. I then edit them, put them in a slide show, and put the show on youtube and my art website. This way, those that couldn’t make the show can still view it. It’s a long slide show, but it helps to advocate for your program.

I know this seems like a lot, but if you start early enough, it is pretty easy. Organization is the key, in my opinion. I am a pretty organized art teacher, and it really comes in helpful for events like this. As I said in the beginning, this is what I do. I am sharing in case you needed some help on ways to make your show set-up easier. Use what will help you. Ignore what won’t.

Relax. Take a deep breath. And happy Art Showing!!!

Apr5

Presenting at NAEA15 NOLA

Posted on April 5, 2015 by missjaybar

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On a whim, I thought I would put a proposal in to present at the NAEA National Conference in New Orleans. The proposals were due at the end of May last year, or something like that, and I cut it pretty close. I don’t know why I put in that proposal…my husband had recently become unemployed and I wasn’t sure if we could even afford it. But, I decided we would figure it out if I was accepted.

Fast forward to the beginning of the school year. I received an email saying I was in. I was in shock. I knew many had proposed, and I was honored that I was a lucky one that was accepted. Now, I had presented before at my state conferences. In fact, my first presentation was as a first-year teacher. I was presenting a 3-lesson unit I had done during my student teaching. The room was packed for that and I was nervous as hell. But, all went well and I was glad I had done it. Another time I presented I did a hands-on session. While it was totally fun, I hated bringing all the supplies with me. However, this was my first National conference. Things would be different. The audience base was a gazillion times bigger than Texas. Talk about pressure.

This time I was going to present about how I have my students create altered books. I chose to do a lecture-type presentation that would last about 25 minutes. My session was called “Altered Books: Exploration Around a Theme”. I created my powerpoint. I gathered all the photos I had from various years. And, I packed up a bunch of books my students had graciously allowed me to take to NOLA. I created business cards that had my session info and a QR code that linked to all of my information (website, email, twitter accounts, school website, etc.) I highly suggest this. It made it so easy to share things with others. I was even able to give out at other times to teachers I had met during the conference.

To say I was nervous is to put it lightly. I was nervous I would talk too fast. I was nervous no one would show up. I was nervous I would flub. I sat in the hall outside my room going over my slide show. I knew the information by heart. I don’t know why I felt the need to go over it. It didn’t really calm my nerves. Then people started to show up, waiting with me outside the room. They were there for me. I was starting to calm down.

I finally got in the room to set up. I began putting the books on the table and it was like a signal went out the art teachers in the room. They began to swarm the table. I felt a sense of calm, and my worries melted away. The room was full of art teachers–way more than I anticipated. I began my show. I was steady. I slipped in my humor. I talked with pride about my students. I didn’t rush.

Basically, I felt I rocked it. Later, during the rest of the weekend, when random people came up to me and said how much they enjoyed my presentation…I knew I had.

I look forward to presenting again. I already have the wheels turning, trying to decide what I want to present about.

For those that didn’t attend, here are some files from my presentation. Message me or comment if you have any questions. I love sharing.

Mar30

NAEA15 in NOLA: A first-timer’s review

Posted on March 30, 2015 by missjaybar

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Last May, (I think it was May), I took a chance and decided to throw my hat in and wrote a proposal for a presentation for NAEA15 in NOLA. I hadn’t presented at a conference in years, and I don’t know what possessed me to try this time. Tons of art educators also submitted proposals, so I figured my chances were slim. Months went by as we waited patiently to get an email letting us know our proposal had been selected. As luck would have it, mine was.

I’ve been teaching for 8 years now. And, I am sad to say, that this was my first trip to a national conference. I have attended many state conferences over the years (including my college years), but for one reason or another–mostly my kids and lack of funds–traveling out of state just wasn’t in the cards. But this year, I had to, as Tim Gunn–our keynote speaker would say–make it work and get my butt to New Orleans.

I feel so lucky that my family was able to send me over to NOLA. This has been a wonderful experience in my teaching career. In short, I learned a lot, I made new friends, I met some of my internet colleagues, and I had some yummy food.

As with any convention, there are some sessions that are meh, some that are okay, and some great sessions that pumped me up. The topics were relevant or were intriguing enough that I could make it relevant. One that I loved was called “Existentialism and Evocative Design in Teenage Artwork”. The speaker was Jesse Dortzbach. My biggest take-away from that session (albeit not the only thing I am taking from it) was:

INVESTIGATE. GROW. DISCOVER.

I went to tons of sessions about TAB and Choice in the classroom. I sat and soaked it all in, reflecting on my practice, comparing/contrasting what others were doing. After attending Ian Sands’ and Melissa Purtee’s session on choice in the high school classroom, I sat and talked with two teachers for over a half hour about TAB, how I came to use it, and what it looks like in my classroom. One of the teachers was someone I have friended online, so it was nice to finally meet face to face. The other was a gentleman from Chicago. I *think* I helped convince him to take that chance on TAB and move forward to implement it.

This brings me to another great aspect of the National Convention…something I haven’t really experienced at my state convention…and that is meeting people. I met a ton of people. I have been chatting with people for almost 2 years now on Facebook and Twitter, but that’s all it’s been, chatting. They have just been images on my computer screen. It was so nice to finally put real people to their profile pics and twitter handles. I was able to hear voices. I was able to laugh with them, smile with them, share moments with them. I worked and designed a purse with Cassie Stephens, Phyllis Brown and Julie Shields in Tim Gunn’s “Ready, Set, Design: Bringing Design in the Art Classroom” session.

I met my #ArtsEd PLN and tweeted with them. I got to talk face to face with Janine Campbell, one of my partners in crime for #TABChat. I met my TAB colleagues at a drinks meet-up. I gathered with Art Teacher Facebook Group friends for more drinks after that. I could keep going, but I won’t. I’ll stop by saying it was fabulous.

Now, NAEA created an app for the conference. Before the conference, I wasn’t so in love with it. But, once in NOLA, turns out it was good. I used it for all my sessions…never needing my paper catalog. The app had an activity feed where you could post statuses and pictures. It was a bit overwhelming because several people posted waaaaaay too much and some posts would get lost. However, Friday I posted a plea for some dinner company. A couple of ladies replied, and I met up with them and a few more and had a great dinner. We ended the night with a fun walk down Bourbon Street. The next day I met two of them for lunch and we several of us had our final dinner down in the French Quarter.

For me this is huge. When I don’t know people, I am super shy. But, on this trip, I put that aside and just went. I put myself out there. I told myself that I wan’t going to just sit in my hotel room… And I didn’t.

Some lessons I learned as a first timer:

Wear comfy shoes. And, just because you can walk around in your cowboy boots all day at school…walking around the convention center and NOLA in them is not the same.
Wear what you want. I was worried about what to bring. I decided that I would bring what I wear to school–jeans and nice shirts. It was perfect.
The conference hotel isn’t always your best bet. I stayed at a cheaper hotel (Thanks @Hampton). It was closer to the main convention sessions than the Hilton, it was cheaper, and it had free breakfast.
Business cards were a plus. I am glad I made some. It really made things easy at the end of my session and to give people my info.
Put yourself out there. Don’t be afraid to talk to people. Don’t be afraid to meet up with new people. Don’t just sit by yourself in your hotel. Do stuff!!!
Say hi and smile! If you see another teacher with that NAEA lanyard…smile at them. Hopefully your happiness will rub off and they will smile back.

One thing I didn’t talk about here was my session. I will be creating a separate post on that. It rocked so hard that it deserves more than a blurb in this post.

All in all, it was an amazing time. Like I said, I am so grateful that my family was able to swing it for me to go. I am already looking forward to hopefully going to Chicago for NAEA16. I guess I best get to saving my milk money.

Mar15

Day to Day in My TAB Classroom

Posted on March 15, 2015 by missjaybar

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A post on my art teacher’s fb page asking about how a TAB classroom works at the high school level got me to searching my blog for a post on how I do it. I found numerous posts on why I do it, the themes we have used, and organization of my room. While those are very helpful, they don’t really talk about how my classroom is run–the day to day.

I have said in the past that my classroom is a living entity, and that is as true today as it was when I wrote about it; and it will be true tomorrow and for years to come. I have to ebb and flow with the needs and wants of my students. Otherwise, I am taking away something important from the students and not living up to the pedagogy I believe in.

The basics of running my classroom include: introduction of theme, brainstorming, inspiration, demos, time to plan and work, due date, reflection.

INTRODUCTION OF THEME: This is just that…I tell the students the theme. At the start of a unit, I turn to the kids and tell them the theme. simple. easy. Themes we have used this year include: man/machine, interior/exterior, power, pressure, home, environment, light, sound, surrealism, self-portraits.
BRAINSTORMING: A few of our themes have not needed brainstorming–like self-portraits. But, for the most part, we brainstorm as a class. We are a 1:1 school with MacBooks, so I have the students use a program called Padlet to help them develop ideas. This helps in several ways…it allows for multiple points of views, it helps to give a voice to those who are shy, and I can link the brainstorm board for those that need to go back and review.
INSPIRATION: Currently I am helping my students get some inspiration. Many of my students haven’t been exposed to much art, so thinking outside of the box is often difficult for them. I like to help them see what could be possible within a certain theme. I create pinboards with a myriad of examples for my students. I hope in the future to change this by having my students find the inspiration and creating the pinboards. I’m just not there yet.
DEMOS: Part of running the TAB classroom includes giving short demos on various materials, tools, techniques for the students. When I introduce something new, I do a quick 5-8 minute demo and I record it. I took a page from Apex High School and created my own media portal. I post all the videos here so students can go back and reference if they were sick or if they need a refresher.
TIME TO PLAN AND WORK: The majority of time spent in my classroom is dedicated to this. At the moment, I don’t require students to plan by sketching or the like because it is not something I always do. Some students plan on their own, while others don’t. I am seeing that the reason for this is that they don’t know how. This is something I am working on and planning on adding in the future (as soon as I figure out how…). Many of my students experiment as they go, working through ideas and finding solutions–just like many artists do.
DUE DATE: I’m going to be honest here, I like having due dates. I think they are important. They help to keep my students with wandering minds on-task. They are important for future endeavors. I think it is something they have to learn. I use a soft due date and a hard due date. There is a week between the two due dates. Basically, the day after the soft due date I introduce the next theme and we brainstorm. During that week, those that have finished with the current theme can move on and start planning/working on the new theme; those that need a few more days can finish up working while thinking about what they want to do on the new theme. I have found the soft/hard due date works for my student population, and it helps keep me in compliance with a few district/campus policies.
REFLECTIONS: During the first semester, each student created a website using Weebly.com. As a class, we talked about 8 different behaviors that artists have. Every 2-3 weeks, the students chose 2 behaviors and wrote about how they were or weren’t showing that behavior. It didn’t matter where they were in the process of an artwork. It was helpful for them to see that the processes they were going through were what was changing them into artists. When the second semester started, I introduced the artist statement, and the students reflected at the end of each unit, writing an artist statement about what they just created. I realized that many were not ready to move on to this and were producing better reflections about themselves and their work talking about the behaviors. I give them a choice at the end of the unit about how they want to reflect now.

MEDIA CHOICE: I have set up my classroom so that almost all media is out in the classroom and easily accessible for the students. We started off the year with b/w drawing media. From there I added color media. Next was printmaking, then painting and collage. Starting in the second semester I opened sculpture and clay. At this point in the year (10 weeks to go), students are allowed to choose whatever media they want.

I know that not every TAB classroom works like this, but this is what works for my student population and for me. I hope as I continue with the TAB pedagogy, I am able to allow even more freedom to my students. I keep a list of running notes of things I think will make it run better next year. What demos did I miss this year that would have been good? What if I spent more time on each behavior individually? How can the students get more out of blogging? Things like that.

There are never two days alike in my classroom. In fact, even when I do an intro day, no two classes are ever the same. It’s a good thing. It keeps it interesting to me. It keeps me on my toes. It keeps me happy.

Mar11

A New Theme Brings Back Some Life

Posted on March 11, 2015 by missjaybar

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Over the past week my students and I have waded through learning about how to draw and shade facial features. All of this was leading up to the intro of our newest theme: the self portrait.

It’s a scary theme for many high schoolers. Many surprised themselves with how well they could draw lips, noses, and eyes. But I could tell they were still dreading the theme.

I then showed them the pinterest inspiration board full of famous self portraits AND a myriad of non-traditional self portraits. I could see the tension and apprehension melting away. I could see the light in their eyes that had been missing these past 2 months. I could feel the excitement in me return.

That same day, a student had talked to me about a controversial piece she wants to do. She wants to “talk” about the darkness she had inside and the scars that haven’t healed. Since I know she is already getting help, I gave her the go ahead. Today she made a cast of her hand and part of her arm. It has a well thought out diagonal opening on the arm where I imagine you will be able to see the dark and the scars. I know to some that this may seem like a cry for help. I see it as a way to help her heal. I feel it could possibly help others too.

I didn’t intend for this post to take this turn, but as I was writing, I was thinking of her and a peer casting her arm today. I thought more information was needed. I admire her courage to take this theme and really make it her own and something that has meaning to her.

Feb24

Let There Be Light?

Posted on February 24, 2015 by missjaybar

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Light:

the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible.
understanding of a problem or mystery; enlightenment.
(of a color) pale.
of little weight; easy to lift.
gentle or delicate.
(of entertainment) requiring little mental effort; not profound or serious.
(of persona) good; vs. evil (dark)

This was our theme. Seems like there could be a myriad of possibilities. I thought it would be “easier” that our previous theme of “Sound“. Unfortunately, it was much harder than I thought it would be for my students.

I don’t know if it was the theme or if it is just that time of year. (To be honest, I have hit that proverbial wall that often shows it face in February as we are just on the cusp of beginning the last 2 marking periods of the school year. But, I digress.) While a few knocked it out of the park and had some deep thinking and meaning to their artwork, many just went through the motions.

Not everything that came out of this unit was bad. It helped me to realize some things about my students, myself, and the atmosphere in the room. My students need a break from computers. Enter our next theme of surrealism where they will rely on their minds for ideas. I need a break. I know we just returned to school, but I feel like I am about to start up this huge mountain of responsibilities and I won’t get to the top until mid-April. And, finally, my room has become too comfortable. It’s a double-edged sword really. It’s what I wanted. I wanted my students to want to be here. I wanted my students to want to make art. I wanted my room to be a living thing. And it is all of these and it is not all these things. I don’t know how to explain it. I like the chaos of art making and several of my classes deliver. But what I don’t like is just general chaos–which other classes are becoming.

So, see, this unit has brought reflection and thought for me. This is a good thing.

Here are a few more good things that were brought about by this unit.