Over the last week or two I've made a discovery--or more realistically, I finally faced a problem area in my teaching day that has needed attention. I realized that in the frenzy to keep up with all the logistics of my day--class to class, school to school, paint spill to untied shoe--I wasn't being a great listener. One of the things about my job that I find most rewarding is the fact that I get to teach a class that allows room for socialization and a lot of sharing. My most favorite thing to do is to step back and listen while students are working. Over the last few weeks, this aspect of my job somehow fell out of the forefront of my mind and priorities. In all honesty, I'm somewhat in mourning for all the fascinating tid-bits of thought I've missed over the past month or so. To rectify this problem, I took a few steps that have been fairly helpful.
1. I've geared my morning routine so that it now includes more exercise and less coffee. I have more energy and patience which means I have more room in my brain to deal with the day to day things that may come up and can stay calm, able to listen and in the moment.
2. I've structured sharing moments into every class.
3. I've become more in tune with the rhythm of my classes--that sounds odd, but no two classes are the same so can't be taught exactly the same. I have kindergarten classes at the end of the day every day. The first in line starts art immediately after their afternoon recess. This means their energy is really high and scattered. I have to start at their level, grab their attention, and then bring them back down to an operating level that is more conducive to a successful, not-crazy art class.
4. I've started keeping a little notebook near me all the time so I can quickly jot down kid quotes and thoughts as they come out.
5. Above all, I'm constantly reminding myself to remain calm and comfortable and to not latch on to too much power in the classroom. This alone creates an open and comfortable atmosphere where students want to share ideas and thoughts. It's taken me some time to really see this but, power and control are not the same thing. Students need room to guide themselves freely and to THINK their way through a series of given tasks. This doesn't mean I let them go at it with no direction. It means I let them veer from the plan if they want to or if they have a better way of doing something that I hadn't thought of. More often than not their ideas are successful, and when they aren't they've learned firsthand that some ideas are better than others--and that's OK!
In reviewing the success of these few steps, I think they're working fairly well. If not for paying closer attention to these aspects of my day listen to what I would have missed....
Kindergarten conversation 1:
Carson: "My step-mom's cat died because blood was coming from its privates and he went to heaven.
(side note: there is no such thing as TMI when you're 5!)
Jim: "What's heaven, Carson?"
Max: "Heaven is a place in the sky by God and the dead angels. You become a dead angel when you go there.
Kindergarten conversation 2: (On the opposite end of the insight spectrum....)
Javin: "Pee-pee."
Austin: "You can say that again!"
Javin: "Pee-pee."
Austin: "You can say that again!"
---Repeat about 5 more times....you get the idea!---
Long story short, when you start listening, there is no end to the fascinating things kids say. No, there not always insightful, but in my opinion, any thought that a person between the ages of 5 and 8 (as is my clientele) can commit to words is worth listening to.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Lights, Art Class, Action!
One of my first grade classes is especially curious, and their teacher is very good at drawing this out of them and following their inquiries. Lately, I've been lucky enough to join them on some of these adventures. In their classroom reading time, they noticed an illustration in a book that depicted two people walking through the forest at night with a flashlight. They were very curious about how the artist created the illusion of the flashlight shining in the darkness. When I came to their classroom for art that week, they bombarded me with excited questions--"How did they do this? Can you show us? Can we try it?" As a teacher who is always happy to let my students plan lessons for me, this launched several weeks of exploration in art class Each class approached the challenge in different ways. (Teaching lessons in the same exact way for 8 sections of first grade gets a little boring.) The one similarity was that we read the same book--"Black Out" by John Rocco. The challenge was the same as well--create the illusion of light in darkness using warm/cold colors. This concept was an extension from their previous project of Warm Inside/Cold Outside paintings.
One class made small scale collages working with different kinds of papers and practicing layering to create depth. They were each given a 6"x9" piece of paper for a background. It was really nice to have them work small--I tend to let them always work big, but the change to a small scale project was refreshing. They also had to really focus on the goals of the project--lights and layering.
Two other classes were given more freedom to choose their own materials and subject matter. They met the goals of the project and they were also able to use previous knowledge about composition and materials used in prior lessons.
One class made small scale collages working with different kinds of papers and practicing layering to create depth. They were each given a 6"x9" piece of paper for a background. It was really nice to have them work small--I tend to let them always work big, but the change to a small scale project was refreshing. They also had to really focus on the goals of the project--lights and layering.
Two other classes were given more freedom to choose their own materials and subject matter. They met the goals of the project and they were also able to use previous knowledge about composition and materials used in prior lessons.
Cold Outside--Warm & Cozy Inside
With my first grade classes we read several poems from the book Winter Eyes by Douglas Florian. His poems are perfect for young readers and best of all, he illustrates each poem with really great paintings that are also very approachable for young artists. Florian's images provided an excellent springboard for teaching my lively first graders about warm/cold colors and also the opportunity to teach them how to draw the interior of a room.
We read a few poems and then zeroed in on two in particular. One was about a cold "wintry, wondrous" night. The other was about being cozy and warm inside. We looked at the details of each painting and especially at the colors. I demonstrated a few possible approaches to drawing either a Cold Outside picture or a Warm, Cozy Inside picture.
We read a few poems and then zeroed in on two in particular. One was about a cold "wintry, wondrous" night. The other was about being cozy and warm inside. We looked at the details of each painting and especially at the colors. I demonstrated a few possible approaches to drawing either a Cold Outside picture or a Warm, Cozy Inside picture.
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| Cold Outside |
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| Cold Outside |
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| Warm, Cozy Inside |
Architecture and Human Habitats
Second graders just wrapped up an architecture project in which they had to create buildings or human habitats with interesting architectural details and shapes. My goal was to guide them beyond the typical house made from a square with a triangle on top for a roof. They got it, and the results are great!
(The little characters in this painting are "half-caterpillar-half- man singing opera"...naturally!)
Students first studied different images of buildings. We also read the "House Book"--the author of the book is escaping me--but it's a children's book with great illustrations of all the parts of a house. We also talked a bit about different kinds of buildings and how they are different. Students were able to choose whether they wanted to create houses in a neighborhood, skyscrapers, cabins, etc. This really helped ensure that everyone's project turned out differently.
The process started with drawing just the buildings or houses first. Color was added with watercolor paint, crayon, or marker--I gave a variety of choices for this part. Then, the buildings were set aside and students created their backgrounds. They had to consider the sky and the ground. Lastly, the buildings were cut out, arranged in the best spot, and then glued in place.
One significant part of this project for me was that I started to notice the day to day logistics of teaching art are becoming easier and easier. As a result, I'm more tuned into the choices I make as a teacher and the choices I make as an artist. Although, in all honesty, I have done very little of my own artwork of late, I have found myself becoming inspired by the lessons I'm teaching. In my own work, I've been at a stand still as I decide what route to take next. I'd like to try a new subject matter but can't quite narrow it down. I've decided to start turning my attention to what I'm teaching...that is where I'm directing my creativity these days after all. This architecture idea stood out to me, so now I'm looking more closely at the interesting houses in my neighborhood and thinking about how I can tie this concept into some new paintings of my own. We'll see what happens. Perhaps the glaring emptiness of that brand new canvas on my easel won't be so empty much longer.
Students first studied different images of buildings. We also read the "House Book"--the author of the book is escaping me--but it's a children's book with great illustrations of all the parts of a house. We also talked a bit about different kinds of buildings and how they are different. Students were able to choose whether they wanted to create houses in a neighborhood, skyscrapers, cabins, etc. This really helped ensure that everyone's project turned out differently.
The process started with drawing just the buildings or houses first. Color was added with watercolor paint, crayon, or marker--I gave a variety of choices for this part. Then, the buildings were set aside and students created their backgrounds. They had to consider the sky and the ground. Lastly, the buildings were cut out, arranged in the best spot, and then glued in place.
One significant part of this project for me was that I started to notice the day to day logistics of teaching art are becoming easier and easier. As a result, I'm more tuned into the choices I make as a teacher and the choices I make as an artist. Although, in all honesty, I have done very little of my own artwork of late, I have found myself becoming inspired by the lessons I'm teaching. In my own work, I've been at a stand still as I decide what route to take next. I'd like to try a new subject matter but can't quite narrow it down. I've decided to start turning my attention to what I'm teaching...that is where I'm directing my creativity these days after all. This architecture idea stood out to me, so now I'm looking more closely at the interesting houses in my neighborhood and thinking about how I can tie this concept into some new paintings of my own. We'll see what happens. Perhaps the glaring emptiness of that brand new canvas on my easel won't be so empty much longer.
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