Category Archives: Classroom

Jan5

Classroom Protocols in the Time of Covid

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I know it’s been a while since I last wrote. It’s been, well, it’s been a semester–interesting, frustrating, at times apathetic, and at other times guilt-ridden. I am sure most of you know what I’m talking about. I thought I would start off the new year with trying to look at the positives, with hopes that I can help some people. We spend 2/3 of the first semester doing both in-person and asynchronous. Like other in-person art teachers, I had to figure out material procedures that worked within restrictions handed down from on high–no group work, no sharing, single-use if possible.

I run my TAB studio in a very self-serve type of environment. Unfortunately this year, that wasn’t feasible and I didn’t set up the studio as normal. ::sad face:: Fitting the expectations set out for me to work into an open studio was frustrating, but over the 3+ months I’ve had students in my room, I’ve been able to come up with strategies to make it work. I do have less than half the students I would have normally in my room, and my largest class was 12 (half my normal cap BUT it was a ceramics class, so that made things interesting.) Fewer students does make some things easier, I will admit, however, I did need to order a bunch of supplies that I wouldn’t normally order–more new brushes, lots of extra tools, extra sets of some media, single-use condiment containers, mesh bags. But in the grand scheme of things, it will help out in the future as there are some things I think I will continue using and doing after we return to a more “normal” school life.

Let’s do this…

Time Out area:

  • I got this idea from another Texas TAB teacher, Lori Wallace. Not sure if it was her idea or not, but it’s a super awesome idea.
  • It’s an area on my counter that I marked out as the time out area with some tape. (A student thought we needed a fun zone too, so there is that section next to it labeled as such.)
  • Students put all used tools and materials there, so at the end of the day I can sanitize spray them.

Clean Cups and Dirty Cups:

  • In a few different places, I have 2 sets of plastic cups–some labeled clean, and some labeled dirty.
  • Cleaned tools (pencils, sharpies, skinny paint brushes, etc) are in “clean” cups.
  • After student use, they put the tool in a dirty cup (this includes hand sharpener and erasers).
  • I wipe down the hand tools with the provided sanitizing wipes at the end of the day, and then put them back into the clean cup.

Mesh Bags:

  • I bought these mesh bags with a local grant, about 80 or so of them. I use them for many things: sets of acrylic brushes, sets of watercolor brushes, ceramic students individual tools, sets of brush markers.
  • What makes them nice is that after the students use whatever is in them, they can put the bag in the time out area, and I can just spray the bag, turn it over, and spray the other side. The bag is mesh and plastic, so it gets the inside contents and allows for drying.
  • This will be something that continues next year…using the bags for sets of things.

Materials List/Paint Color List:

  • I made a list of all the different media I had to offer and a swatch of all the acrylic paint colors I have. I then laminated them and taped them down–one on each desk
  • Students can tell me what medium they would like and I can get it for them.
  • Students can tell me what paint colors they need, and I get those too.
  • This lessens the amount of hands touching things–I wear gloves to get the different media.
  • I don’t have to worry about sanitizing the paint bottles after each use because I am the only one touching the bottles.
  • I put a piece of copy paper on each paint tray (cafeteria type trays), squirt on the selected colors, and give the students their paint. They throw out the paper and put the tray in the time out area.

Individual Student Tool Sets:

  • This is mostly for my ceramic classes. This was costly, but there wasn’t really any other way. Tool kits were made; some sent home (and they come back when kids come back), and some stayed for in-person.
  • Each student has their own cubby where they keep their tool bag. I repurposed my cubby since I didn’t set up the studio as normal.
  • Each kit has a needle tool, a serrated metal scraper, a wide paint brush, a home-made sgrafitto tool (that each student made themselves), and a piece of canvas. I also bought a ton of wooden dowels (which I cut down to size to save money) and those longer, thicker paint stirrers. This allows for all to be able to use at the same time or for some to sit for a few days without being touched. These purchases will help out in the future with full classes.


Damp Boxes:

  • I have enough shoe box size to give each of my upper students their own box–both for in person and remote.
  • I walk around with large, under the bed size or sweater size ones, for my beginning students. I just go down the line, with gloves on, and give out each project. I do the reverse for clean-up.


Single Use Condiment Containers with Lids:

  • I originally bought these to send home underglaze to my ceramic students.
  • They come in handy for passing out regular ceramic glazes.
  • I took all my glaze tiles and put them on a tray. Kids can point to the color, and I then mark the cup with the glaze number in a sharpie, and then return the lidded glaze-filled cup to them. They also know what number glaze they had so they can ask for more.

A Zillion Washcloths:

  • Washcloths really are the best way to clean-up clay tables and paint spills. Those school paper towels suck.
  • I bought over 100 of them from Walmart.
  • Each one is “single” use. Student take one from the clean pile and go clean-up their table.
  • They then put the used washcloth in the bucket by the sink after they are done with it.
  • At the end of each week I was the washcloths for next week. I am lucky that I don’t have to take them home–I was given a key to the washers/dryer in the girls athletic area.
  • It’s a little more work, but it is actually cleaner than when we would share the rags–so many less cloudy tables because kids don’t understand to rinse and ring the towels first before wiping the table–because more than likely, the person before didn’t rinse it.

Gloves:

  • The district does supplies me with gloves and I go through 10 pairs a day maybe.
  • Gloves do help to pass out supplies and whatnot to the students…and you will need to pass out a lot. You’ll feel like a waiter, but it is what it is. Lol

I think that is all. I know this is long, but I hope it is helpful to those of you that struggled first semester with having an open studio or those going back to in-person for the first time. Like I mentioned, I sometimes feel like a waiter, and it is tiring many days. My kids like to remind me when I don’t hand out table wipes at the end of the day, and they laugh when I yell that I’m about to take my gloves off so it’s last call for supplies for a while. Undoubtedly, I get someone that needs something like a minute later. ::shrug::

Dec3

“Lucky” Number 13?

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This year marks my 13th year as a high school art teacher.  I have spent all 13 years in the same district, at the same school.  I have had 3 principals, 3 superintendents, countless colleagues, and over 1000 students.  Lots of things have changed over the years–some sad, some bad, but mostly good.  I have been lucky to have found a teaching philosophy, TAB, that really resonated with me and kept me from giving up on teaching all together.

Through the years I have seen amazing growth and creativity.  I have watched students eyes get wide as they discovered clay or when they were told they could choose whatever material they wanted.  I couldn’t have asked for a better journey.

As anyone who has gone on a journey knows, it’s not all puppies and rainbows.  And, this year has really demonstrated that for me.  I am having one of the hardest years I have had since my first year teaching.  I’ve had one of the hardest groups of students to come through my program.  I’ve written more referrals in 3 months than I did in 10 years of teaching; and if you know me at all, I’m pretty lax when it comes to discipline.  I just don’t write referrals.  Cell phones drive me up the walls, and kids doing homework in my class instead of arting gives me agita.

But, what really gives me pause this year, is the level of thought being put into the work.  And it’s mostly in my Art 1 classes.  Unfortunately, it isn’t a very deep level of thought.  It’s like they feel thinking is the hardest thing they have ever been asked to do. (Perhaps it is, who knows?) Now, I have always met students where they are in their artistic journey, but this is so different that what I am used to. We’ve normally had to work more on skill and less on concept.  This year it is a lot of column A and a lot a column B.  It has made me question how I am facilitating my TAB studio.  I feel like what I am doing isn’t enough to help them grow during their time in my class.

I have been taking notes and reflecting on years past to see what I can introduce to help them snap out of this lazy thing they call high school.  I know it is in there somewhere.  I know I can find a way to challenge them.  I think it’s a combination of the packets, themes, and explorations.  I’m not 100%, and I have more planning to do.

Jun10

Year 12: A Review

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I have completed my 12th year in eduction, and coincidentally, my 12th year as a

HS Art Teacher at the same school. It’s been an interesting year, to say the least. Many changes began and will continue in our district over the foreseeable future. Some good, some meh, and some make me say blerg.

Anyway, for the most part, things went really well in my TAB studio this year. This was my 6th year as a TAB teacher–I think. Maybe 5th. Who knows, and it isn’t really important how long I’ve taught under the philosophy…just that I believe whole-heartedly in it.

So, without further ado, here is my countdown (as usual) of my favorite moments of the 2018-19 school year.
7. CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ART: Not one, but two students (that I know of) changed their relationship with art. Both were freshmen this year and both took their required fine art credit this year to get it over with. About a month or so into the year, I over heard one girl telling her friends that she hated art, but because of they way I ran the classroom, she no longer felt that way. She liked the freedom and the faith I put in her. She liked making what she wanted to make. A while later, perhaps after the midterm ( the Tantamounter–old link, but you get the jist), another boy who was only there for the credit and I had over heard several times say he hated art, saw that he wasn’t limited to 2D work, and he came alive. Anytime he could figure out what to build to satisfy the packet umbrella, he would. He couldn’t wait to get started, and would go into the supply room and just dig and create. I am glad to say both signed up to stay with me in ceramics next year.


6. RAKU: Last year I was awarded a grant to purchase a raku kiln for my program. We finally were able to use it this year. It was so much fun. It was a great experience in building the community of my intermediate/advanced ceramics students, and it was such a learning experience for me…I learned a lot about propane. POST

5. ANOTHER GRANT AWARD: This year I applied for another grant, and after much delay, I was finally awarded at $5100 grant to purchase a pugmill for my ceramics program. We have so much dried up clay, and I just can’t wedge it fast enough. (And, due to our schedule and time limits and space, it is not that easy to have the students do it.) My order has been placed; now I am just waiting for it to arrive.


4. T.O.Y. NOMINATION: I was nominated for our Teacher of the Year award. While I didn’t win, I was happy that at least 2 people (you have to be nominated several times to make the final list) thought enough about my teaching and my presence at school to nominate me.
3. PACKETS: This year was the first year I based both my art 1 and beginning ceramics around “The 9“. The packets were developed by Ian Sands, and he let me use them in my classes. I used “The 9” in my art 1 classes and I developed “The 10” for my ceramic classes. I am really happy with how they worked in the classes.

With my art 1 students, we learned some basics about the topic, then the students went through the ATP (Artistic Thinking Process) when interpreting and creating their work. I found they gave the students a place to start with a broad overarching type of artwork, but helped to guide them in how and what they would make. I have some things to tweak for next year in the consideration questions and my input/talking with the students at that stage. But, overall, using them was a major success. I also thing that it will be a smooth transition to art 2 when we dive more into content of their art.

My beginning ceramic students have their own packets. We started with “The 10” before the end of the first semester, and got through 4 or 5. It was a good place to stop and a good place to pick up in intermediate next year. I think it has been helpful in developing style and interests in ceramic art. I think it is harder for many high school students to communicate in 3D than in 2D, so having the different genres of ceramic arts to guide them is important in the journey. I also think it helps to teach the ins and outs of working with clay. We shared and compiled information in different ways as I tried to figure it all out. But, I made lots of notes on how to proceed with The 10 next year in my large group of incoming beginner ceramicists. I am excited for the next group to come in to the studio.
2. SKETCHBOOKS: Every year I change how we are going to do sketchbooks. For the past two years I bought sketchbooks and then had the students buy them from me. This year, I wanted something more. I wanted their sketchbooks to mean something, since I was going to have the kids use them for everything (except drawing tests and artist Mondays). So, instead of purchasing books–either me or them–I decided to have them make coptic stitch sketchbooks. It was a great decision. We did them the first week of school–you know that time when schedules are finalized and kids are coming and going. It was a lot of prep work, but worth it in the end. Most kids took ownership of their books. It was a mostly relaxing way to start off the year, talk about what was needed to be talked about, and to chat with the kids. Most kids took their sketchbooks home at the end of the year.


1. AP STUDIO ART: This year, for whatever reason, my principal had me teach a section of AP Studio Art. We have only had 2D portfolios in the past, and my partner has taught the class(es) since I had started. I was both excited and scared. I found out before the 2017-18 year ended, so I convinced a ceramic student to do the 3D portfolio. She agreed and they created the class for her. My 2D students ended up not doing the portfolio. I knew they wouldn’t. AP was the only 2D class they could sign up for senior year. But, my ceramics girl…she kept going. She worked so hard, and created some of the most developed ceramic pieces that have gone through my program. She completed and submitted her portfolio with a week to spare. I don’t care what scores she gets because the process of doing the portfolio itself changed her and taught her so much. That’s what is really important. I couldn’t be more proud of her.

That about wraps it up. Not everything was good or easy, I did have a student pass away from congestive heart failure. That was hard. And, I had some rocky friendships with colleagues develop this year. But, I can’t dwell on that. I was lucky to have an amazing group of students this year–kids that made me want to be there for them and be a better teacher for them. Overall, it was a good year in the #DuckArt Studio. I wonder what lucky #13 will bring in August.

Aug19

TAB, Modified TAB, and Other TABby things

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TAB is a huge buzzword these days. I see it thrown around in many Facebook groups. But what is TAB exactly? TAB is an acronym for Teaching for Artistic Behavior. It is a philosophy that has three core values. It asks “What do Artists do?” It believes the child is the artist. And, it believes the art room is her/his studio. It is these three ideas that drive a TAB teacher’s curriculum…how they run their studio.

That brings me to my next topic, Modified TAB. This isn’t really a thing. A teacher either believes in the philosophy or doesn’t. They don’t really pick and choose which of the values they want to believe. What confuses people is the misunderstanding that being a TAB teacher means you are balls to the wall full choice, all day long. Like I said…this is a misconception of the philosophy. When running a TAB studio, no matter the level, there is a spectrum of choice. The amount of choice a teacher will allow has several variables.

  • Campus/district expectations
    • Some teachers are expected to do x, y, and z. And most of us do like to be in compliance.
  • How “on board” a principal is with the change in the art program.
  • Bootcamp vs studio time
    • bootcamps are short amounts of time where the full class will explore a specific topic such as acrylic paints and color theory or copyright. Bootcamps should last a few days to a week tops. Studio time is where the students create their artwork.
  • Needs of the child
    • Each child is different in their learning styles and how comfortable they are with freedom. TAB is differentiation at its best.
  • Have to’s
    • There are certain things that teachers believe every student needs to know. This could be doing an attachment test to be able to use the sculpture center or biweekly drawing tests that have kids focus on the eye/brain/hand connection.
  • Teacher comfortability with giving up control.

Basically, a TAB teacher utilitizes varying degrees of choice throughout the year, for various reasons. But, they don’t utilize varying degrees of the philosophy.

Teaching in a “TAB-like” way isn’t a thing, but using varying levels of choice is. You can offer choice without being TAB, but you can’t be TAB without offering choice. You are a TAB teacher or you are not. There is not a formula as to how to run a TAB studio. There are as many ways to run the studio as there are TAB teachers. That’s the beauty of it. Believe the philosophy and do what works for you, your population, and your admin…as long as you have student Artistic autonomy as a goal for your students.

For more information about Teaching for Artistic Behavior, visit teachingforartisticbehavior.org

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A High School TAB studio with multiple mediums being worked on at the same time.

Jun18

2018 Texas TAB Lab

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One would think that by now I would be sitting in the sun, sipping margaritas and enjoying my summer.  One would think that if one didn’t know me.  I have 2 kids and the Texas sun is way to hot to sit under all day.  Now sipping margaritas…that’s another story for another day.

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My third week off for summer was spent doing some very important and exciting professional development–the Texas TAB Lab (#TxTABLab).  Lori Wallace and Julie Bates20180613_0938451693010827.jpg honored me months ago by asking me to help out with this year’s mini-conference, by heading up the secondary portion of the conference.  This year was our second event.  At our first meet-up, there were about 30 of us tops in this small conference room in a hotel in Waco, TX.  Ginger Tapia set the whole thing up and it was wonderful.  It was there that an event was born.  This year, TAB Lab was definitely the place to be, as we more than doubled the attendance with 67 teachers.  And, I am happy to say that the secondary peeps went from about 7 or 8 to almost 20.  It’s a good time to be a Tx TAB teacher.

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Let’s get to it.  Our main meeting hall was the Frank Fickett Center  (FFSTC).  The hotel suggested it because the conference room was not going to hold us all.  It was a wonderful space to be in for 2 days.  The conference kicked off with one of our keynote speakers, Katherine Douglas.  She was unable to make it to Austin, so she spoke via interwebs.  Among the many fabulous things Kathy spoke of, she told us in regards to child art that “adult eyes need to learn appreciation for it”.  She also shared her 7 goals for her TAB studio and her students.

  1. Have an idea20180613_100200859648563.jpg
  2. Get materials and tools to explore idea
  3. Explore/Make idea, with false starts, change directions, mistakes
  4. Know when it’s finished
  5. Put away materials/tools properly
  6. Reflect/Share ideas
  7. Think about what’s next

Thank you Kathy so much for joining us.

That afternoon we went to visit some classrooms.  The elementary teachers broke into 2 groups–visiting both Julie’s and Lori’s classrooms in Pflugerville.  The secondary teachers made the long drive to Taylor to visit my classroom.  I am so happy they made the journey.  In spite of the 80+° room temp, it was an amazing experience.  I talked briefly about my journey, then we toured my room and how it was set up.  We talked about daily activities and classroom flow.  There was much conversation…conversation that lasted well past when I thought we would leave.

 

We went to dinner at Rudy’s BBQ and went back to the FFSCT for some more art chat and some Paper Smaché with the one and only Clyde Gaw.  Paper smaché is like paper maché, but Clyd-i-fied.

 

Our second day opened up with our second keynote speaker, Clyde Gaw.  I bet you thought he was just here for Smaché.   He was also here for the cardboard. In 20180613_092720-1358794459.jpghis presentation, he told us of his journey–his life journey–from the train tracks by where he grew up to his current job as a high school TAB teacher in Indiana.  It was interesting to me to hear how and when he met people I know (or know of), like Clark Fralick, Diane Jacquith, Kathy, NanHathaway, and John Crowe.  My biggest take away from Clyde that morning was the rhizome.  He likened things to it and called us rhizomatic. (def 1 def 2).  If you were’t at TAB Lab, but you are meeting up with Clyde at some other TAB event this summer, I’m sure he’ll talk about it.

 

The rest of the day included a working lunch, small group sessions, mini-presentations from attendees and 2 guest speakers, Priscilla Lamb and Manuel Gamez.  Priscella presented on Autism and Special Ed.  Manuel is the Fine Arts Director for PfISD.  It was interesting to hear the perspective of a non-teacher, someone in admin.  He very much supports the arts and really likes TAB.  Bonus for Lori and Julie. We ended the day with some gelli printing with Lori and some faux screen printing led by yours truly.  Unfortunately, after testing the screen the night before, I didn’t wash it fully and the prints weren’t as clean as I would have liked.  But, my fellow teachers were cool with it and didn’t complain.

 

After dinner, many of us met back at the hotel conference room and had some cookies, milk, chat, and arting.  It was a fun way to end the day.

 

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Friday was our last day and Lori had set up a great activity at Austin Creative Reuse.  ACR is a store that is supplied by donations.  It is a TAB teacher’s dream.  Well, and it’s the dream of artists and crafters and people that are into reuse.  We met in the classroom at ACR and split into 2 groups.  Those with the late birthdays went to the store first.  I have already been to ACR, so I knew what was up.  The others were new and were in amazement.  After shopping time, we went back and we participated in what was essentially like “Chopped”, but with art materials. We worked in groups of 4/5.  We were given a theme of “represent”.  And we went from there.  I was fortunate to get with a group where we all just flowed and worked well together.  Our sculpture was called “Bond”.

 

All in all it was a fabulous conference.  I am so glad that I was able to go and that I was enable to pass on my knowledge to others.  I know that I didn’t provide much of what I learned at Tx TAB Lab, but if you are curious as to what was shared, visit out Padlet.  It has links to almost everything.  I look forward to next year when I hope we go even bigger…it is Texas after all…Go Big or Go Home!  Until then, I have Facebook to be able to talk to my new TAB friends.

 

Jun5

The 2017-18 School Year in Review

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Another school year has come to a close.  That makes 11 for me.  The 2017-18 school year was a good year for me.  I had a couple of bumps in the road–that one student who felt she no longer needed to be here (luckily she is still here ♥) and the whole grading issue with me not being in compliance.  Overall, it was a fun and happy year.  So, without further ado, let’s take a look back and see what went down.

⇒ I entered 3 students this year into Scholastic Art and Writing.  We didn’t get any awards or even mentions, but I am proud that I was able to enter the work of these 3 young women.  I think we were robbed, but life goes on, right.

by Geniveve
by Roxana
by Shelbi

⇒ I was honored when Diane Jacquith and Kathy Douglas asked me to have a small part in the 2nd edition of their book, Engaging Learners Through Artmaking.  I speak of how I include current artists in my curriculum through an activity called Artist Monday.  Students watch a short video and then answer some questions about the artist and what they create.  Artists are always current, and many create art in ways that go beyond the traditional ways my students know about art making.

⇒I took my upper ceramic students on a field trip…on a Saturday!  It was so much fun.  We went to the Texas Clay Festival in Gruene, TX.  My students got to see a woman who was burnishing a pot and talking about terra sigillata.  They saw a variety of artists and got to see what people would be willing to pay for ceramics.  And, they got to watch a raku firing.  I am so glad that we went.  The fact that they were willing to give up a Saturday to go on a field trip was tremendous.  I hope to make this a yearly activity.

⇒ Seattle 2018.  This year’s NAEA conference was in Seattle.  I was lucky to be able to present not once, but twice at this year’s conference.  And bonus for me, both were with my very good friend and amazing TAB teacher, Elizabeth Honeysett.  We presented on Single Media and the TAB Classroom.  Liz talked about her jewelry classes and I talked about my ceramics classes.  We also did a ticketed event–The Secondary Choice Demo Room.  This was extra fun for me because I got to see adults make art.   Seattle was a blast.

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⇒ Restorative Discipline was brought into my school in the 2016-17 school year.  Each year they train a small amount of teachers.  I was lucky to be asked to be part of the 2017-18 cohort (cohort 2).  I really like restorative discipline because it focuses on relationships and community building.  It stresses being proactive instead of being reactive.  It was a great fit for me because I am all about relationships and community in my classroom.  We had many trainings throughout the year, which kept me always reflecting on my teaching.  I reflect anyways, but the reflections from the RD perspective made me think about things I sometimes gloss over.

⇒ RD brought the academic circle into my teaching practice.  In RD, there are many types of circle activities you can do with your students and the academic circle is one I really liked.  I utilized it in my ceramics classes.  There had been a disconnect between what my students researched on a artistic behavior and the art making that went along with it.  The academic circle filled the gap.  It allowed me to check what my students learned on their own. It allowed my students to share and connect with each other.  It allowed for questions.  It allowed for students to see ceramic art their peers were drawn to.  And, it helped to clarify the big idea for the students before they moved to the creation of their work.

⇒ I applied for a grant and was award it!  In our community, there is a Screen Shot 2018-05-27 at 11.42.27 AMfoundation called the Taylor Educational Enrichment Foundation (TEE) that offers thousands of dollars in grants annually.  I finally got the courage to write a grant proposal for a raku kiln kit.  When the day finallyarrived when we would find out who would be awarded, I’ll admit, I was nervous.  I heard the band and the cheerleaders coming down the hall.  I kept hoping they were coming to me and not going to walk on by.  My principal ducked his head into my office and told me to come out into the hallway.  I was so excited.  I was dancing around my classroom.  I have since ordered and received the kit and I can’t wait to set it up and teach my students how to raku this fall.

⇒For a few years, I make and gift some special seniors a piece of “Duck Art” pottery.  It started when some seniors bugged the crap out of me for cereal bowls.  So, as an end of year gift, I made bowls and gave them each one.  On the inside of the bowl, there was a duck.  The next year the seniors weren’t into cereal so much as they were coffee.  So, the image was transferred to a mug.  Each year, the duck image changed, but the sentiment was the same.  I made X# of mugs–all similar in shape, color, and image–and handed them out to the lucky ones I had forged relationships with.  This year, I wanted something different.  I really don’t like being a production potter.  I don’t like making the same thing over and over.  I decided to make each mug different and glaze each mug different.  The only thing that was my thru-line was the Duck Art medallion I made.  I made a sprig, which was a good lesson for the students, and went from there.  At the end, the students got to pick which mug they wanted according to their tastes and what fit well in their hands.  This has become the new and final senior Duck Art Mug.

 

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The Duck Art Mug!!

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The lefties

Those are really the bigs things that happened this year.  Like I said, it was a good year.  I made some stronger relationships with both students and colleagues.  I am sad that my ceramics seniors are gone.  They were a great group of kids.  But, I am excited for those returning next year.  I learned a lot about my teaching and how I want to move forward.  I really understand the end goal I have for my students–both those that will be with me for a year and those that will continue on.  I have worked hard (and continue to) on how to help my students meet those goals.  I have much in store for next year…I hope to implement “the 9”, courtesy of Ian Sands, with my art 1 class.  I have taken the 9 and created my own version–“the 10”–which is geared for my upper ceramics kiddos.  And, our principal decided to split the AP Studio art program between my co-worker and myself…so that will be interesting.  I am happy with my 11th year, and I look forward to another fun-filled TAB-tastic year in the Duck Art Studio.  But, until then, I will relax and enjoy my summer.

Feb26

A New Approach to the Bootcamp

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Well, it’s a new bootcamp approach for me and my students. Normally when we do bootcamps, there are many demos by me. And, since I don’t want to spend the whole class period doing demos, it ends up being one per day and then work time. So, each approach is learned separately. Granted, this has been okay for our drawing bootcamps and painting bootcamps. Last year I followed this approach for printmaking as well. It was kind of a disaster. Most kids didn’t really learn much, they whipped through each technique, and they wasted a lot of materials. So, this year, I decided we needed to do something different.

My school is 1:1 MacBooks, and it is an expectation that we include a technology component. I thought this would be a great way to meet that expectation and change up the bootcamp. This year, I would expect the onus of learning the techniques on the students. We talked about how this bootcamp would be different and that they were the ones to watch the demo videos for the technique they needed to learn. I would only be doing one demo–inking and pulling prints.

I create a Google Slides with my expectations for the bootcamp and shared it with my students in Google Classroom. At the start of the bootcamp, we went over it. I expected that each student would learn a minimum of one printmaking technique. They students could decide to either work alone or in groups of up to 4 people. Each group had to make 3 copies of an artwork that utilized different printmaking techniques. AND, they couldn’t repeat techniques in their piece. So, for example, a group of 4 had to create an artwork that had 4 different printmaking techniques. If you worked alone, you had to learn 2 techniques.

While I have 2 things I need to revise for next year, and I will get to those in a minute, I think overall this was a success. The majority of the kids watched multiple video demos before making decisions on what they wanted to learn. They communicated with others on the artwork creation and learned from each other when they had questions about techniques. Of course I had those that needed more attention than others, and I had some that needed modified requirements, but that is normal in a TAB classroom where differentiation is a common occurrence.

The biggest thing I have to revise is HOW I deliver the information and expectations to the students. The multiple copies aspect of printmaking was a difficult concept for many. I also want to look at the time line for next year. The students had 8 studio days (48 minute periods) to create and do a google slides for a presentation. I think I need to make it a full 2 weeks (10 days), not including a day for presentations.

I am proud of my students. They worked hard and learned way more than they realize. I plan on trying to incorporate this type of bootcamp into our future bootcamps. I am glad that I put the learning was put on their shoulders because it allowed me more time to observe and interact with my students.

May29

2016-17 Year in Review

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It’s that time.  Another school year has come to an end.  And, in honor of me finishing out my 10th year, I will count down the 10 biggest things that happened this year.   Not everything that happened this year was good.  In fact, it was kind of a crappy year.  But, I did learn a lot and made some great relationships with me students.  So, without anymore drivel from me, let’s do this.

10. UNITY:  I will admit, I saw the Unity Project video on Facebook, and I was in.  I emailed my principal and he was all in.  I created a gofundme project for it and through the kindness of others, the project was funded quickly and I was able to go shopping for materials.  It was a great way to kick off the year.  I had so much support from other teachers and our student body.  While there was a few hiccups along the way (one being when a students thought he could climb on a pvc pole and he broke it), in the end, it was an amazing installation.

9. THE PURPLE HOODIE: I had a tough student this year.  He was hard to reach.  He didn’t talk much, and he often had his purple hoodie pulled up over his head.  I started the year off by giving him some space, and by asking his monitor teacher for some strategies with him.  It took a while, but we built a relationship.  He spent much of his time during his class in my office, but he would do the work I asked him to do.  And believe me, he did not like making or talking about art.  After a while, he would come in during lunch to hang out and chat.  He did this at other times as well.  We built a relationship where I could be honest with him and give him a fair dose of snark and it was all okay.

There was this one day that was bittersweet.  It both made me sad and touched my heart at the same time.  He came into my office one morning during tutorials, but there were already like 6 other kids in my office.  I said hi, and he looked at me, but then left as quickly as he came in.  I sensed something was off.  I figured I would ask him later that day.  He didn’t show up to class.  When he returned the next day, he told me where he was…talking to some people in the office.  When he told me why, I was saddened.  I won’t go into details about why.  And I know this is weird, but it touched me that I was the 2nd person he came to find to talk with him.  The first wasn’t in her office, so he came to me. I care very much about this young man.  And, I am glad I gained his trust.  Sadly, he has moved to another city with his father.  But, rumor has it, he will be back next year. Relationships can sometimes matter more than art making.

8. ESCALATION: I have a co-worker that has been teaching with me for the past 10 years.  We get along on the surface, but when you look closely, you will notice we couldn’t be more different.  For starters, we teach on complete different ends of the art spectrum…he’s dbae and I’m TAB.  We don’t play well together and it has been building up for years.  I finally got up the courage to talk to an admin about the situation; I went in with the intention of seeking advice in how to make our department better and how to work with him.  It was suggested that we circle up, a restorative discipline term.  Basically, it was like mediation.  He basically refused, and one day it escalated between us in my classroom.  Luckily, I was on conference and I held my cool. We still haven’t worked things out, and I have been told our head principal will eventually talk with us, but I’m not holding my breath.

Why am I adding this?  Well, this was a big event that happened this year.  I think it needed to happen.  I would have liked to go to mediation, but I am mostly okay with the outcome.  The fact that I spoke up and I was honest about my feelings and that I took ownership that I wasn’t innocent in any of it was big for me.  I don’t like confrontation, nor to like to create waves in my workplace.

7. SCHOLASTIC ART: This year, I finally got up the nerve to enter my students work in the Scholastic Art contest.  I was so nervous.  I see the potential and awesomeness in my students’ works, but do others.  My kids don’t make “normal” pieces, and often times it’s not what “they” consider gold seal work–one reason I don’t enter into our state art event.  But, I was told Scholastic was different.  My kids didn’t win anything, and after looking at what did win for my region, I wondered about the judges.  But, that is neither here nor there.  I am so proud of my students for trusting me.  I still think they were shafted because their work was super cool.  I know, I’m biased.  I look forward to next year and entering more student works.

6. DALLAS: This year’s Texas Art Ed Assoc held it’s yearly conference in Dallas.  I presented not once, but twice.  I presented once about grading and TAB…it kind of bombed.  I was told it was fine, but I know better.  The other presentation was a overview of HS TAB.  It went really well.  Beyond the presentations, I participated in my first live twitter chat, got to have great burgers and beer with a friend who I met in Chicago at NAEA16, I met the terraforma cards guys, and I got to throw some bowls for a local empty bowls event.  It was a pretty fun time, I must admit.  It was a much needed and much appreciated work-cation.

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5. THE BIG APPLE:  NAEA17 was held in my old stomping ground…NYC!  There was no way I was going to miss a chance to go “home”.  I don’t even know where to begin.  I got to room with 2 of my favorite TAB ladies.  I got to finally meet and hangout with Melissa Purtee.  I stayed in a hotel in midtown.  I lived in Queens, so the hotel stay was new and so cool.  I got to go to the MOMA, which is in a completely different location from the last time I went there…over 20 years ago.  I had a fabulous dinner with other TABbers, provided by my fabulous mentors, Diane and Kathy.  Times Square had become something I couldn’t believe…so bright and shiny.  And, I got to have a reunion with one of my closest friends from college.

4. 4th Annual THS Art Show:  Six years into my time at THS I asked if we could have a high school art show.  Up until that point, there wasn’t any.  This year marks the 4th year that I have put up a show that celebrates all art made at our school.  I don’t just show off my students and my co-worker’s students.  We include any other elective where art is created–welding, fashion, photography, floral design, culinary, and we include our teachers.  It is a lot of work, but in the end, it is so worth it.  This year I was worried that it wouldn’t go off well.  (See the escalation paragraph above.)  But, I put that aside and just focused on the art.  I think it was a great turn out.  Students sold their work, and not just to their parents.  The rain stayed away (every year it rains at the beginning of the show) during the show itself; I do believe it rained earlier in the day though.  I found a better way of hanging the paintings, almost none fell down this year…the rain always brings the humidity and that doesn’t play nice with how we used to hang out artworks. Granted no one from central office showed up, even though they were sent formal invitations, but I’ve come to expect that.  And quite frankly, those who are important, like parents, friends, teachers, and the community, showed up in support.  I look forward to celebrating our students again for years to come.

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3. A SMILE LIKE I’VE NEVER SEEN: Art is a funny yet fabulous thing.  It can grab hold of the most unlikely and unexpected people.  This year I was lucky enough to witness this.  I watched a student finish a project early and ask me if I could show him how to use the wheel.  We weren’t slated to use the wheel for months, but who am I to stop a student from learning to art.  That week, I knew art had put her hooks in him.  Over the next few months, I watched him grow, and learn, and create.  I watched him create bowl after bowl, vase after vase, each time honing his skills, and using every ounce of clay we had.  But, it was more than that.  I saw the passion for what he was doing rise in him.  I saw a smile, and a light in his face when we talked about ceramics and his work.  I am so glad that he decided to sign up for beginning ceramics.  If only he found it before his senior year.

2. RESTORATIVE DISCIPLINE: Our school started to implement a new behavior management system.  It is called restorative discipline, and for the most part, it is meant to be proactive instead of reactive.  It is not something that the entire campus learns at one time.  It is done in stages.  I know that seems odd, but after learning about it, it makes sense.  I was lucky enough to have been asked to be in cohort #2, which began it’s training 2 weeks before school ended.  It is so much about community and building relationships…which is right up my alley, and why I was asked to be in the 2nd cohort.  I personally think it was cool to be asked knowing why they asked me.  (Some were asked because they thought that teacher was lacking in that area.)  Anyway, so far, so good.

But, more than being part of the next cohort, I did participate in a couple of tier 2 circles this year…these are reactive, but they can make such a difference.  I had one student who I kept butted heads with, and if she kept it up, we knew she was headed to our alternative center.  We circled up and we both spoke our piece and listened to the other person.  We made a contract and tried to implement it.  We hit a bump and had to re-circle.  But, that time worked.  We now have an amazing relationship, and don’t tell her, but I will miss having her in class next year.

1. NO MORE THEMES: This year I dropped the themes for my art 1 and art 2 classes.  I instead went with artistic behaviors for major units.  We worked our way through: artists solve problems, artists communicate, artists, observe, artists steal, artists represent, artists abstract/don’t represent, and artists work in a series.  This was a major step forward for me and my students in our TAB studio.  I think it really was more meaningful to them to really understand what artists do.  It really made a huge difference, the switch that is.  I could see it in their work; I could see it in their exploration; I could see it in their understanding of art making; and I could see it in their growth.  And, at the end of the year, I had the least amount of work left behind I have had since making the leap to TAB.

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It has been a very interesting decade of art teaching for me.  I have changed so much.  My teaching has changed so much.  I like to think it’s all for the better.  I keep learning new things, about art, about teaching, about students, and most importantly, about myself.  I often wonder what is going to happen next, which is something that keeps me interested and wanting to go to work every day.   What obstacles will I face and will I overcome them?  What new things will I learn?  What new things can I teach someone?  What new relationships will I make?   What new surprises will I find?  I think it’s this last one that I really enjoy because I love being surprised by what my students do and learn and create and tell me.  It is what makes it all worth it.

Sep3

2 Weeks of Exhausting Fun

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September is finally here, and for me, it marks having the first 2 weeks of school in the books.  It’s been exhausting and I have had to stop my personal exercise regime because of it. BUT, it has been so worth it.  My new (and returning) students and I have had a blast and have rocked it.

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I don’t like to start off the school year in a traditional way.  I like to have my students jump right in and get busy getting messy.  On our first day, we had 20 minute classes, and I was required by my admin to go over certain things during certain periods.  But, that did leave me time to show a small video to hopefully get my kids thinking about my class and art making in a different fashion.

Over the summer, or maybe it was last year, I found this video by artist and motivational speaker, Erik Wahl.  I thought it was perfect for some first day inspiration.

 

The next two weeks were spent doing not one, but two community projects.  First my students prepped, and installed our own Unity Project.  The welding students cut down steal tubing to use as our braces.  My students painted 7′-6″ PVC poles black, and they balled up miles of yarn.  Once the set-up was complete, they began to add their voices, by choosing the identifiers that represented them, then bringing it to life with yarn on the installation.  (I will write more about the Unity Project in another post once it is complete.)
 

Once we were finished with our part in the Unity Project, it was time to play with some clay. I like to start the year working with clay.  The majority of kids like clay, and it gives them some time to get to know me and each other without much pressure.  I use this time to teach some basic clay skills–slab draping, scoring/slipping and other surface treatment techniques, and to have the kids give back to their community.  This is the one piece the students will make this year that they aren’t allowed to keep.  I do ask all my students to create a bowl for out Duck Art Club’s charity fundraiser–Empty Bowls.

Next week, we will finish up our bowls, then move onto exploring the artistic behaviors that are essential to my classes.  I hope my students keep enjoying art class and continue to knock it out of the part when it comes to my expectations as the weeks, semester, and year continues.

Mar7

Finally Figuring It Out

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It took the better part of the year, but I think I have finally figured out my Art 2: Painting/Drawing class.  Last year I ran art 2 the same way I did my Art 1.  All of us were new to TAB, so, I felt the need to make art 2 different wasn’t necessary.  But, this year, since I had some kids from Art 1 in my Art 2, I had to change it up.  I started out with an altered books unit I had done for many years.  It is basically a way to get students exploring using media in different ways.  However, the kids were not exploring and were not really understanding the purpose of the book, but they did them anyway.  In my gut, the class just felt off.  I told the students this, and they kind of looked at me funny, but were willing to just go with it.

After about half-way through the second marking period (we run classes for a full year, broken up into 2 semesters consisting of 3 6-week (mostly) marking periods) the class and I “started over”.  I stopped with the altered books and put them into the storage closet. We went back to what I knew worked–themes.  Students were coming up with some great ideas.   I thought things were finally on-track until I was talking to a student during our second theme and asked him how he was thinking of proceeding with his idea.  I asked about media and paper type.  He looked at me like I had 5 heads.  Then I took a look around the room, and I began to think the class looked like it was a beginning class, not a class that had gone through a year of high school art already.  Yes the students had good ideas, but the artistic process stopped there. There was no skill development, there was no risk taking, no reflection, no connections.

At this point, what does any good art teacher do?  Do they just keep on keeping on?  Or do they reflect on what is going on and change things to help better the learning and understanding?  I chose the later.  We would “start over” just one more time.

By this point, it was the end of the first semester.  This gave me the much needed time to really reflect on what my students needed.  It was at this point I was going to try a unit style that Ian Sands developed.  It involves 3 parts:  digging deeper, challenge, and create.  (You can find examples of his units here.)  I borrowed his unit, Artists Steal.  The students were successful.  I mean, there was still work to be done, but for the most part, the transition was a smart one.  I could see them beginning to have a deeper understanding of things artists do and how they, artists, create their artwork.  Many of the kids used what they created in the unit challenge for their artwork.  I was impressed by the level of understanding of appropriation.

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Sponge Bob

Next it was time to create my own unit.  I followed the “formula” for the unit and I decided that our next unit would be “Artists Tell Stories”.  I came up with a digging deeper section, a challenge and a create section.  With this unit, I saw several of my students really looking at artwork and finding out the story behind it or reading the story it was telling.  They were also providing an excellent reflection on the video they chose to watch.  Link  Link  Link

They say third times a charm, and they were right.  I am glad that I went with my gut and stopped and started things over twice with my students.  I can really see the growth taking place now and I can see their work having deeper thought and deeper meaning.  Is this by any means perfect?  Of course not.  It is a work in progress.  They know that.  If it were, we would have done our current unit (Artists Represent), and the next two (Artists Abstract and Artists Are Non-Representational) first.  But, hindsight and all.

I’ve got a couple of things to change on the structure of the units…like removing the option to create a pinboard of artwork.  I found this isn’t lending itself to any deeper understanding.  And, I need to work in more skills bootcamps, but that will come.  Right now, as much as I want this particular group of students to explore different ways of art making, all but 1 or 2 don’t really want to, I think right now that momentum they’ve got going with exploring things artists do is more important than interrupting them to explore painting or printmaking or something like that.  It’s all about choices and finding the right balance in the class.  And with one and a half marking periods left, I feel I have made the right decision for both them and myself…..but mostly them.

I always say that my TAB classroom is a living entity that ebbs and flows with the needs of the students.  My art 2 class this year proves that.  If you are feeling a class is off, or they need something they aren’t getting at the moment, stop and reset.  It is okay.  It can only help.  Be transparent about what you are doing; your students will understand. Mine did. And remember, it’s all for them.