In Art 3 we spend the first semester working on our book study of Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. I struggled for years with what to do in the second semester to “fill” that time and to help me with the required weekly minor grade. Last year it finally hit me that I needed to challenge my students with small art tasks to get their juices flowing after a weekend of whatever it is that teenagers do.

Enter the Monday Art Challenge. Students come into the room to find a slide on the screen with directions for that class period. They have the entire period to work on the given task. Some challenges are practice activities, like doing a blind contour, or a continuous line drawing of the room. Some are new techniques–trying a new medium, creating a collage from some frottage, or creating a zine. Then there are the ATCs based on “random” words or shapes or the Principles of Design.

Unfortunately, I do need to grade the products of our challenges, so I came up with a simple grading rubric. We go over what each level looks like, and for the most part, students are in the top 2 sections. I added a slide after the 2nd or 3rd week about making up the challenge due to absence. Since part of the challenge is a time constraint, I thought it should be carried over into the make-up expectations.

This year I am also teaching Art 4, which is a nice continuation of what we started last year. I thought these students were so successful with the MAC last year, so I just picked up where I left off. I added a reminder slide of the expectations, and then began to add to the original slide deck. I have had to remind them a few times that they were not necessarily spending the time nor putting in the effort I began to expect from them. Not sure if it was a senioritis thing or if they really just wanted to get to their own work. But, after a quick reminder of the expectations, they bounced back.

I’ve been extremely happy with this activity. I think it allows creativity within constraints, and it also allows for personal expression and interpretation–something I strive to teach as TAB teacher. I love starting Mondays this way and getting them back into our little DuckArt world.