Tag Archives: students

Jun21

2 Philosophies, 1 Program

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I wanted to take a moment to talk about my program. As many of you know, I am a TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior) teacher and have been for the majority of my 15-year career. What I am not sure people know is that my partner is not a TAB teacher. Yes, he sometimes gives choices to his students, our students, but for the most part, he is a traditional art teacher who assigns whole-class projects.

We have been working together for 15 years, and it has taken us 14 of those years to finally get our act together and create a program that not only allows cohesiveness for our students, but also allows for each us to teach to our own philosophy and to our strengths.

What does this look like? We were fortunate to have had a principal who trusted us as experts and allowed us to choose which class levels we wanted to teach. We both teach Art 1 classes due to the sheer number of class sections we have. (Texas requires one fine art credit for graduation, and the majority of students pick art as that FA credit.) We split the Art 1 sections as evenly as we can. The experiences for the students in our respective classes is different, but we are okay with that. The students get to know us as teachers and people, they get to learn about our program, they get to make some art, they have fun, and for about half, they get that credit they need so they can move to the pathway they are really interested in.

It’s when the students decide to continue in the art pathway that things really start to make sense for how we have structured the Duck Art Program. We have split the remaining sections of courses by levels between us. My partner teaches all sections of art 2, I teach all art 3, then the seniors return to him for art 4 and AP Studio. He teaches both AP 2D sections. I teach AP 3D, but I am also the ceramics teacher, so that is what makes sense for us.

Splitting the classes this way works to our strengths. He is really good at teaching techniques and materials, so the art 2 students benefit from all having this shared experience where they get to focus on skills and learning new materials. They come to back to me in art 3. We focus more on the ATP (Artistic Thinking Process), studio habits, and creating original art. My class helps them to really consider content and finding what media they like to work with, what types of subjects they like, and what they want to explore. AND they really start to find and develop their voice. So…..when they return to Art 4/AP, they have a well-rounded background and can create amazing art. It was hard in the past to have kids that were all over the map because we taught the same level in totally different styles. I understand that as a TAB teacher, I always meet students where they are, but this isn’t about meeting students at their artistic level, this is about the students have a common base knowledge that allows both teachers to better meet the students needs.

It took us forever to learn to play together, and play together well, but better late than never I say. I am excited for this coming year because we will be able to really see how well this will benefit our students and our program. It was time to stop being an island in a department of 2 and instead come together as 1. It is possible to work with those that don’t follow a TAB philosophy like you do. You just need to check your ego and remember what is really important and the focus of your art program–the students and helping them in their journeys to becoming artists.

Jan24

Restoration of a Practice

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As we enter the third week of the new semester, I thought I would update on my “restoration” of the school year. (Confused? See this post for some clarity.) I know it has been a short time, but I am starting to really feel like I am getting a hold of the school year. Maybe I should say it’s been a long time. I mean, it is January, and we’ve been in school for about 4 months already.

img_20200123_183235_2816965594421370195777.jpg       img_20200122_110002_4556652781830567087963.jpgI came into this semester in a different frame of mind. I realized in December that I needed to change what was happening in my art studio, what was happening with my students. I felt they weren’t getting the best out of our TAB studio. And, I knew it wasn’t really them, but it was me. I was doing what felt right last school year…what worked for last year’s students. I was doing what I thought I should be doing. I wasn’t really seeing what my kids were missing.

So, over winter break I sat down with notebooks and made lots of notes. I figured out what my students were needing, and got to planning.

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We started off with an exploration of the human face. It was very teacher-led, but it was a good way to start off the new semester. It got them engaged because teens love drawing eyes and lips. It helped to build their skills, and it was a nice ease back into art after 2+ weeks of sitting around.

But, it was what I decided to do after that I think is really making the difference. In art 1, we had been working through “The 9”, packets designed by Ian Sands that offer a lot of choice, but on a more basic, general subject matter (landscape, nature, architecture, etc.) These have been helpful, but I felt my art 1 students

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needed more. At one point in my TAB journey, we worked with themes. I felt it was time to incorporate themes again. What I ultimately decided was that students would have a choice of a new packet (this time portraits due to the exploration we did), any previous packet we have visited this year, and a theme. And, so far, so good. Students are much more engaged with the larger choice, and because everyone isn’t doing the same packet, there is much more delving into the ATP (Artistic Thinking Process). Also, the required student-teacher meeting between development and creation has really helped them as well.

I20200116_1003544689872620955959336.jpg am finally fully engaged this school year, and all it took was some deep reflection and a few tweaks to restore my passion for TAB and teaching.

Jan2

“What’s So TAB…?”

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I often see people asking questions along the lines of “What’s so great about TAB?” Sometimes the question is sarcastic. Other times, you can catch the wif of a true curiosity. Someone who really wants to know why so many have made the switch to this philosophy of “asking what it is that artists do”, and of “believing students are the artists and the classroom is their studio”.

This post is for you…all of you. Both the sarcastic, who *think* they don’t want to know, AND the curious, who *know* they want to know.

There are many things that make Teaching For Artistic Behavior (TAB) great. Many of the reasons are common among TAB teachers, but just as each TAB studio is different, each TAB teacher has her/his top reason for it’s greatness.

Let’s get to it.

  • It’s budget friendly. Whether you have a large budget or a almost non-existent one, since you don’t need class sets of everything anymore, it allows for a wider range of materials and tools.
  • It’s a relationship builder. Because each student is working on a more “independent’ style artwork, you can find out more about each student. Because they are adding more of themselves into each artwork, and because you aren’t policing step by step instructions, you can spend more time talking with them.
  • Deeper Thinking and Connections. I’ve found that when I’ve asked my students to plan the artwork, from the beginning, even with a theme, (instead of me designing the whole unit) my students have gone deeper into the meat of their artwork, and the connections between ideas, themselves and their art have increased ten fold.
  • More Exploration. Letting students decide what medium(s) they want to use and how they want to use them is a game changer in creativity. Students are continually asking me, “what if I?” or “what happens when?” it leads to discovery and conversation and wonderfulness.
  • Differentiation. This one is a big one. Because a TAB teacher is not expecting a student’s work to look like an example, and because we are looking at the underlying aspects of art making (the artistic process, choice making, problem solving, skill building, etc.), it is much easier to meet students where they are, and to help them achieve goals that are suited to them, and not everyone else.
  • A Philosophy, not a Curriculum. TAB is a way of thinking about art education. It’s not a curriculum you can buy on TPT. There are no set lesson plans, no explicit rules to be followed. This allows TAB teachers to be flexible in what they teach and how they convey it to students. It allows for campus and district expectations to be met. It allows for a teachers’ level of comfort when it comes to giving up “control” to the students. It gives teachers flexibility when deciding to follow state or national standards. And it allows for more time to focus on the behaviors of artists instead of only exploring every medium that can be fit in during a school year.

It is that last bullet point that is my top reason for what makes TAB so great. TAB has allowed for so many deep, meaningful things to happen with my students. I’ve seen so much growth and connection making since I changed to TAB. Once I realized it wasn’t about me, but about them, and I changed the way I taught to reflect that…

I have never worked harder as a art teacher than I have as a TAB teacher. Yes, physically I did more work when I taught in a more traditional manner, but I wasn’t as happy. Now, the hard work comes mentally–reflecting on what my students need (which changes year to year, and even from semester to semester), reflecting on my teaching practices, reflecting on myself as an artist and a member of my school community, and how I can bring those things into what I am teaching. It’s draining, but so worth it and fulfilling.

If you are a TAB teacher, what is your top reason for why it’s so great? If you are not, what is stopping you from really checking it out?

Aug18

Seeing the Art of Children

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Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

~Pablo Picasso

This is the ultimate challenge to artists, isn’t it–to hold onto that wild abandon and curiosity when making art.  As we grow up, for some reason that changes.  How we make and view art as adults does a complete 180, and I believe this issue needs to be addressed.  In this day and age as we talk about creativity and how this new generation lacks creativity, we must ask ourselves how did we get here?  Then, we need to figure out how we can change that.

Somewhere along the line, we are taught that the skill to make things realistic is equal to beautiful/good art.  That coloring in the lines is a goal.  That creation comes with a set of directions that needs to be followed.  Things like expression through messiness and exploration through process go to the wayside.  Does this stem from an unconscious connection to the development of fine motor skills (FMS)?  Perhaps somewhere we think that as we develop our FMS, our art should follow suit–that it needs to look sharp and be realistic.  But, I think that is taking away what art could and should be.

Work by a student with autism describing who she is
Beginning ceramics student self portrait.
Art 2 student exploring an eating disorder she once had.

The old adage that says “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” comes to mind.   Art could be defined by this, and many people do define art this way.  But, should it be defined by this?  I think this minimizes what art is.  I think children get it right.  For children, art is about the process.  It’s not defined by skill.  It’s not about correctness.  It’s about telling a story.  It’s about making what is in their head a reality.

And, we as adults need to understand that.  We have been told for so long what to do and how to do it that we have lost track of our inner child.  And, as art teachers, we have an opportunity to help create the next generation of adults who can see art and make art as they did as children.

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Art 1 student in-progress work

You have to be in a state of play to design.

~Paula Scher

That is where Teaching for Artistic Behavior can come into play.  (See what I did there?)  Starting at the elementary level, we can not only teach kids how to behave like artists, but we can teach ourselves and our colleagues to see their, the children’s, work for what they intend it to be.  We can stop telling our students what to create and how to create it, and let them tell us what they want to create and how they want to create it.  Each student has her own story and voice to tell it.  We can stop pushing our adult agenda and aesthetics on students and listen to them.

This doesn’t mean we don’t help our students improve their skill.  This doesn’t mean we don’t teach them about composition or color theory or shading or foreshortening or art history.  Those things are important parts of art, and we should incorporate them into our lessons, but should they be the most important or central part about art?  We need to help guide our students on their journey and see their journey for what it is…and we need to look at it at their level.  We need to meet them where they are.  We need to stop telling them what art should look like, but instead ask them what they envision it could look like.

Art 1 student exploring what society says a man is supposed to be.
Part of a larger series by an art 2 student

Perhaps a bullet list will help… And remember, these lists are not mutually exclusive and they are not complete and can change with time

What art doesn’t have to be:

  • photorealistic
  • 24 of the “same” image (ie student created “Van Gogh sunflowers”)
  • polished
  • colored in the lines
  • a finished product

What art could be:

  • made of repurposed materials
  • messy
  • unfinished
  • a “failure”
  • a journey
  • outside the lines
  • unrealistic
  • in need of an explanation

What should be your takeaway from this blog post?  That children’s art is NOT adult art.  AND, we as adults need to recognize that and stop judging it like it is.  Does that sound harsh?  Maybe.  But, what if we did just that and helped to make a generation of artists instead of a generation of followers.

Part of AP student’s concentration.
Art 1 Non-representational work
Art 1 Non-representational work

 

 

Jun18

The Re-Do: A Final Exam

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It appears as if I am not the only one to have students revisit an artwork made earlier in the year to re-work as a final exam for high school art.  (Melissa Purtee wrote about it here, and I did take the idea from Ian Sands.  Janine Campbell did it years ago.)

Anyway, for my art 1 and my art 2: p/d classes, the exam was to take a piece of artwork they had made sometime in their class that they created or started to create and re-do it in one of 3 ways–make it better, make it different, or rearrange it.  We looked at a slide show, I answered questions, and then kids had at it.  When they were finished, I had the students fill out a written reflection about the new artwork, why they chose that piece to redo, how they re-did it, and which was stronger/why.  There were a couple of other questions about the work they did this year as well.   The students had to turn in the original (or a photo of the original) with the new work so I could compare.

I thought it was a great way to finish the year.  Students were able to go back over everything they had created.  Some pieces they hadn’t seen since I put them back in their portfolios earlier in the year, some forgetting even having made the piece.  The reasons students gave for choosing specific pieces varied–from it was my favorite piece to I wanted to take it out of my sketchbook to I knew I could do better.   I am so proud of the work they put into the new pieces.  It really was a good way to show what they had learned over the year–art making skills, decision making skills, and reflection skills.  It’s a final exam I will continue to use in my classes.

I wish I had taken more photos, but I was so caught up in what they were doing and the end of the year, that I forgot.

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.

Jun24

Talking With Students

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Teachers like to say that they talk to their students.  Secondary art teachers especially like to say that.  But, what does that mean– talk TO your students.  Furthermore, shouldn’t that say talk WITH your students?

In a TAB classroom/studio, it is very important that we talk with our students.  Talking TO them is like me just going on and on and on and not making any sense or relating to them in any way.  That’s a monologue…not a conversation.  If we talk WITH  our students, so much more is going to happen.

So, what does it look like to talk with our students

  1. You get to know your students…what they do outside of your room, what teachers they like, whom they are dating, what they do in their free time, what their home life is like, etc.  This is really important if we want to help them to create meaningful artworks.  Knowing these things can help spark ideas when they are stuck in an artwork or getting started.
  2. Asking questions that don’t have an answer.  The open-ended question gets them thinking about things on a deeper level.  It can be about their art or it can be about society or some other issue that you think has nothing to do with art.  You never know how the way a student contemplates answers to those questions is going to show up in an artwork.
  3. Art history on the back-end.  When we talk with students about what they are creating, it can open up the student to artists they may have never know about.  Hey, I see you are into drawing patterns–let me show you the work of Britto.  Your work reminds me of an artist named Mondrian.
  4. Relationships are built by talking WITH someone.  This means listening as well.  We like to think of the art room as a safe place for students, a place where they feel comfortable.  Well, to build that type of environment, we want to build relationships.  We want to build trust.  Trust can lead to some amazing things happening in our classrooms.
  5. Letting them have opinions on their artwork and the work of others around them.  Yours, the teacher, is not the only authority on artwork.  Giving students an equal footing helps to validate what they are thinking.  They need to know their opinions matter.
  6. Making the students feel comfortable to ask questions.  If the students feel you are unapproachable, they will never ask questions and their artistic growth will more than likely be stunted.

I would be amiss if I didn’t list a few things that talking WITH doesn’t include.  It doesn’t mean telling them not to do something, like a corner sun.  It doesn’t include telling them their artwork doesn’t meet your expectations of how much contrast or values it should have.  It doesn’t mean only saying hello to them or just talking about the day’s assignment.

I love to build relationships with my students.  I love having open and real conversations with them.  I love getting to know them and having them get to know me.  I love when I can show them new things because I listened to what they had to say.  And I love when I can see that they thought about things we talked about because it shows up in their artwork or their other conversations they have.  Talking WITH them is so important because the art studio is about so much more than just making art.

Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.
~Rollo May

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.

Aug5

New Year, New Curriculum

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Summer is over for me as in-service starts on Monday the 7th.  And, that means it is time to shake off the sun, which is hard in Texas.  Anyway, with the start of the new year comes new lessons, new ideas, and new curriculum to be implemented.

Curriculum: the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course or program.

Since I am the only ceramics teacher, I am in charge of my own curriculum for those courses.  And, the ceramics curriculum is going to be the biggest thing I will implement this year.

For some years now, I have taught my ceramics classes in a way that lends itself to my TAB philosophy that I follow.  My purpose is for the students to be able to think like ceramic artists by the end of their time in those classes.  That includes knowing about clay, glazes, and different techniques to achieve the ideas the artist wants to create.  I have structured my classes as a teacher-led beginning, with the first semester leaning more towards a choice class with “projects” I have designed to teach the basic building techniques ceramicists use.  From there, we move into a more TAB atmosphere with themes and the students using the design process while interpreting those themes.  My upper classes have even more freedom to either take or leave the themes.

I have found that most students were not really understanding how ceramic artists work nor were they able to think like one…relying too much on me and very low-level ceramic skills.  That when I finally made the connection that I needed to dump themes like I had in my art 1 and art 2 classes, and move to a more unit based curriculum…but not units based necessarily on the artistic behaviors that I use in art 1 and art 2.  Instead, I needed to come up with common artistic behaviors that ceramicists use.  Creating 3-dimensional objects requires a different mindset and understanding that creating 2-dimensional artwork.

I racked my brain for what I had learned and seen over the years in ceramic arts, and invented a list of things I felt that ceramic artists did when creating their work.  Many are based on the type of work they create and how they create that work.  I will take those behaviors and structure the units like I do my normal units–with 3 parts: digging deeper, challenge, and your turn.  In the digging deeper students will define some pertinent words to the behavior, students will watch and analyze a video about an artist that works in that fashion, and then will find examples of ceramic art in that style.  For the challenge…well, I don’t know yet how that will work…but, I’m not too worried about it right now.  And of course, the your turn section.  I think that is self-explanatory.

My plan on using this is to start with my intermediate/advanced class and have them be the guinea pigs.  Once the beginning class has finished the first semester and is ready to move onto the units, I will have tried them once and can tweak what is needed so they will be able to use them.  Basically, intermediate/advanced will be a semester ahead.  And, in the long run, it should work out that those in advanced next year will be able to truly be full TAB having been through the ceramic behavior units.  (I hope that makes sense because it does in my head.)

Here is my list of ceramic behaviors:

  • Artists Work in a Series 
  • Artists Explore Color 
  • Artists Explore Surface Treatments
  • Artists Work Conceptually 
  • Artists Create Realism 
  • Artists Communicate 
  • Artists Work Decoratively
  • Artists Work Functionally 
  • Artists Develop a Style 
  • Artists Create Installations 
  • Artists Work “Figure”atively

This is all a work in progress, but I feel that it will be very successful.  My move away from themes and into AB units in art 1 and art 2 were highly successful in my students becoming artists, so the natural conclusion is this will too.

Jun14

Reflection and the Final Survey

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Every other year, I like to provide my students with a final survey to see where they are at and to gain some insight on my teaching from the students POV.  If you don’t already do this, I highly recommend it.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the data you receive.  (Also, it’s nice to hear that our students love us every now and then. 😉 )

I created several google forms, breaking them up by class.  I think there are different things to know from the different students.  The insights of a student that has had you for 3 or 4 years is way different than that of a first year student or a student that was only there for the fine arts credit.  Also, if you have a single media class, you can form the questions to reflect that.

“What I liked most about how you ran our art class was how you had a great relationship with your students and your class was the class everyone looked forward to everyday.”

” you’ve taught me not to judge people for who they are”

“I learned that you have to trust yourself and learn to take risks.”

“I think when you pushed us we got better”

I asked a variety of questions, ranging from the students telling me their strengths and weaknesses to how they felt about my teaching methods.  I asked what they liked and what they didn’t like.  I asked what they had learned and what they wished they had learned.  I also asked what I could change.  Kids are pretty honest.

“the artworks we did were fun because we could do what ever media we wanted to do as long as we could fit the needs of the project”

“I liked how we had the prompt or whatever and then you allowed each individual person to take their time to make their art and you helped each person with their specific questions.”

(Favorite part of class) “being able to use a lot of the equipment freely” & “being able to talk to you about anything”

One thing that I think is important when creating the forms is to make almost all questions as required.  It makes the student think and add to previous answers. The only ones that are optional are “Name” and “Anything else you would like to add”.  If a student thinks he can be more honest by remaining anonymous, then that is a good thing.

(I’ve grown as an artist…) “because when I run into a problem I can figure out a way around it instead of getting frustrated and starting over again”

“You ran [class] like were weren’t just kids and you trusted us to use the tools effectively and whenever we wanted.”

“I loved that you would give us a broad topic to help get an idea of what we want to make our art of, but what we actually made was up to us. So we had freedom in our art.”

“I loved that you gave us a topic that we had to base our artwork on, but that you didn’t push us into doing anything. You let us create the artwork that we wanted and let us use whatever media we wanted”

As I sat this morning finally reading their responses, about a month after they filled them out, I made some notes.  I jotted down some of the things they liked.  I jotted down what they wished they had learned.  I made notes on things they felt would have helped them grow more.  I even wrote down some quotes that I didn’t put in this post. And, I have to admit, reading their words about how much they enjoy the TAB studio/pedagogy really helps to solidify that I made the right decision when I made the switch.  I’ve been TAB for several years, and I rarely doubt the decision to go ther, but it is still nice to hear from those that it truly affects that it was a good thing.

I am glad that I waited a month to read the responses.  Enough time has passed that my mind is fresh, but it hasn’t been so long that I can no longer hear the voices of my students in their responses.  This list will help me when I go in about a month to work out things for next year’s classes.  I can know what is missing, and what not to change.  Now, I don’t agree with everything they said.  I know some kids didn’t like writing about the artists we learned about and some didn’t like the computer stuff; that I won’t change because I do think it is important for their artistic growth…they just don’t see it at the moment.  But, I was surprised by how many liked learning about current artists and how many actually liked the drawing tests.

I have been doing surveys for as long as I have been teaching, but I think this year’s surveys were the most informative.  I think I finally asked the right questions and got responses that will be able to help me create a better studio and learning experience for my students.

“Most people just take art because they need a year of fine art and honestly that’s why I took art, but as the year went on I started to really love this class and making artworks.  I can’t wait to have art again next year!!”