Sunshine in the Scrap Box

I'm currently getting ready to move to a new apartment and am also getting ready to move into a brand new art room...yay!  With all this moving on the horizon, I've been sorting and packing at home and at school.  On my last day of cleaning at school, I found a stack of unclaimed, no-name drawings.  They were some sketches we had done in preparation for a bigger project about landscape painting. Instead of throwing them into the recycling bin, I decided to cut them up and start stocking the collage station for next year.  After running them through the paper cutter quickly, I noticed when I got to the last corner of the stack of papers, there were about four beaming yellow suns in a nice, neat stack.

It may be hard to imagine, but this little discovery made me realize something that I particularly love about teaching art and about art in general.  The human brain responds to the challenge of creating pictures and making marks in very similar ways.  I would go so far as to say that they are almost universally human.  There are books upon books written about this very notion.  Human mark-making can be traced from the 23 kindergarteners in my art room in 2012 all the way back to the primitive folks who created those early paintings in the caves of Les Caux.

In this ordinary moment, seeing those suns all stacked up, illustrated one simple truth--in today's world of huge diversity from student to student, where differentiation is the number one key to success, it is still a pretty safe bet that 8 out of 10 students between the ages of 5 and 8, when asked to draw a landscape, will draw grass, maybe some trees, blue sky, and most likely a bright shiny sun  tucked just-so in the corner of the paper because it simply doesn't feel right to put it anywhere else.  Maybe I'm mistaken, but it's not my place to teach this out of them...the sun will migrate from the corner of the paper in due time.

For now, It's comfortable in the corner, and...

If you're lucky it will have sun glasses and a smile. 

Needless to say, I decided to memorialize this discovery and plan to hang these in my art rooms in the fall.

Happy Summer!

Along with many teachers at this time of year, I am breathing a huge sigh of relief...we made it to summer.  I'm also feeling extra great for having completed my first year--and my year of teaching K-2 art from a cart.  New art rooms, here I come!  I'm happy to be done, but I feel  like I'm having to guide my brain step-by-step back into a calm, clear state.  Going from being SO busy, to not busy is a hard transition to make, but a good problem to have.  I'm thinking a couple days at my easel in total silence with only my cat for company will cure me.  In the mean time, I'm starting to catalog lessons and photos taken in the last few weeks of school.  I had hoped to share them sooner, but the weeks just got too crazy...I'm  not a blogger of that caliber yet. 

My kindergarteners ended the year making books.  We read the book "One" by Kathryn Otoshi.  It is an excellent art book that also shares a great anti-bullying message.  The characters in the book are colors.  The color Blue is feeling bad because the color Red is mean.  Red is mean to all the colors until One shows up and stands up to Red.  As all the colors join One, they also turn into numbers...they "count."  So the overall message is "everyone counts." 

When I first read the book, I wasn't sure if the kindergarten brain would compute the double meanings in the story.  I was proven wrong.  Some were a little slower to catch on, but the vast majority got it right away and absolutely loved the book.  The other really great part was the conversation it sparked.  At one point, the author describes why Blue likes each color--yellow is sunny, orange is outgoing, purple is regal, etc.  When it came to Red, I asked students what they guessed Red would be and why didn't Blue like Red?  Their answers were so amazing.  Some said Red would be hot, angry.  One student said that red is the color of a stop sign, so he probably tells the other colors to "stop" all the time.  Two students in different classes (amazingly) said that Blue is like water and Red is fire or lava so if they get too close "blue will put red out" and he won't be there any more.  This part of the project, in my mind, was more beneficial than the actual art work.  It was a good reminder to me, that having a chance to voice these ideas with their peers in a comfortable environment leads to more growth than the actual art project.  No need to rush through the story or the project just to get them moving.  (This was true at the end of kindergarten anyway, in the fall, no chance. :) )

One of the projects First Graders ended the year with was a paper weaving project.  I found this lesson on Artsonia and adapted slightly.  They made Bugs in Rugs.  First, students made a design on a full 12x18 piece of paper.  They used rubbing plates, stencils, etc.  Next, they used rulers to draw straight vertical lines across their paper.  Some also numbered each strip.  After making their paper "loom," students started weaving.  The numbers on the strips helped a lot and was a good math connection.  If they wove the strips in order, the weaving pattern was easily figured out.  Students new they were on the right track if they could only see odd numbers at the bottom of their page. 

When weavings were finished, they made bugs.  I had ordered a couple boxes of Stick Its--basically colorful packing peanuts, the kind that dissolve in water--and hadn't come up with a good use for them.  Turns out they are great for making little things like bugs.  Students also used pipe cleaners for legs and sequins for eyes and decoration.  All in all, the project went really well.  For some students the weaving was really tough, but making bugs made up for it.  For me, it was a good lesson in differentiation. When in doubt add an extra fun step like this--even if it is just cute for the sake of cute.

Busy. Busy. Busy

I'm in the midst of finishing clay projects with all three grades, K-2, from my art cart...insert scream.  The kids are loving it, so all the extra work is worth it.  Enough said there.  All the stress, hair pulling, etc. that the above mentioned has caused was greatly reduced today because I got to set foot in my BRAND NEW art room for the very first time.  Yay!  Huge storage rooms, tons of windows, and 3 yes THREE sinks.  Cannot wait.

Technology (of a sort) in the Art Room

I recently made great strides in technology integration in my classroom...my first grade students spent three weeks of art classes using my extra special, super duper SHADOW MACHINE.... AKA an Overhead Projector!!  Yes, I know, it's overwhelmingly impressive.  As an art-on-a-cart teacher for this year, I have to be creative on how I meet that technology standard...

Joking aside, first graders recently learned about the solar system and the rotation of the earth in their science classes.  It turned out that this coincided perfectly with art lessons about Shadows.  We talked a bit about how artists make shadows using color and elongated shapes.  We looked at Wayne Thiebaud paintings.  After discussion we made the distinction that shadows in a painting or drawing are basically pretend.  Before we delve into how artists do that, we spent several weeks having a whole lot of fun making REAL shadows.  I was totally shocked at how well students did with this.  Each class took a different approach.  Not knowing how this would go over, I wanted to keep the lesson somewhat fluid to adapt to students' interests and the direction they wanted to take.  When all was said and done, the results were amazing.  My plain old overhead became a stage for many simple though exciting little tales made from paper cut outs that students presented in "Shadow Shows" at the end of the lesson.  One of my favorites depicted a student's own version of Chicken Little. His version involved an alien ship zooming in and stealing the sun.  Chicken Little stormed the ship, retrieved the sun, and put it back where it belongs.  Quite an amazing adventure.  Needless to say, there were also many monsters getting their heads torn off, etc.  As always, I saw the usually range of results.  Some students definitely got into the presentation part of this more than others, but as far as the process of translating a piece of paper into a paper cut out and finally into a shadow on a screen was rewarding to ALL students at ALL levels of ability.

New Paintings Underway... Spring Break!

Paintings underway....this series is titled Forward Wisconsin depicting the sights, past times, imagery, and even animals of the great state of WI. In addition, I am beginning to add some paintings of photos I took at the historic protests for workers' rights that took place in Madison over the past year.

Process Over Product

 After a busy week of hanging student work parent/teacher conferences and handing back student work before spring break, I've been thinking a lot about the old art teacher adage--"process over product."  I've heard the phrase used a lot, but started to realize that it's one of those terribly subjective statements that can take on many meanings depending on personal opinion.  It makes me wonder, what is process? what is product?  Is there a shining ideal example of either of these things?  Is it possible to pin down a more specific definition?  Working at the K-2 level, I've had to adjust my methods to be very process oriented.  At the same time, like any teacher or parent, I am really pleased when students' work turns out looking like the work of someone in 3rd or 4th grade not 1st grade.  Who doesn't love that?

To zero in on this question a bit more, I took a closer look at some of my students latest projects at every level I teach.  My kindergarten students are starting a unit on animals and animal habitats...our first stop on this adventure is ISLANDS.  We read the book The Little Island by Mary Wise Brown.  Students then had to construct a paper island--took some problem solving, but finally landed on masking tape as the best fastener for the 3-D island part.  (If I do this again next year, I will most definitely be investing in some new staplers.) The next class period was spent making fish, birds, waves, trees, etc out of scrap paper.  I would say this is definitely a process based lesson.  Students had to use 2-dimensional materials to create a 3-dimensional effect.  They also had to use collage/building techniques over drawing.  They really enjoyed the process, and I was happy to see those students who really rely on drawing skills facing a new challenge of building images out of paper. 

first step: create island

Some classes made an Island mural instead of individual islands.

second step: fill in water, build trees, animals, etc.

In a slightly more Product-Based vein, first graders recently completely self portraits.  They did a drawing first in pencil, outlined their lines in sharpie marker, then painted with tempera paint.  The second part of the project involved cutting out their portrait and creating an interesting background.  The final step was to write a short poem about themselves.  The lesson here was how to incorporate their words as part of the picture. The results were really amazing and students were very proud.

I definitely saw a huge range in results in this lesson, but for the most part students were completely amazed at the fact that they could draw their faces so easily.

In the end, I have concluded that like so many things in human life, it isn't a question of process VERSUS product.  One is not better than the other; rather, a healthy balance of the two is answer.  One could say the same about nature vs. nurture.  Take out the VS.  We need both.

Being a Good Listener

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.