A good thing happened in the art room today

Hey, I made brown!

2005-11-11T11:02:00.000-05:00

I have semi-opaque biggie cake tempera paints. In each set there is white, black, green, blue, red, and yellow. A student discovered how to make brown out of these colors and shared her excitement for her accomplishment with the rest of the class. "Hey, I made brown!" she shouted. Students gathered around the painting table to watch her make it again. She was so thrilled to have discovered this on her own. There is no doubt in my mind that this student understands color theory and will be able to apply it to a variety of self-directed projects.

Can you do an art project that connects with our social studies curricullum?

2005-11-09T10:56:00.000-05:00

Because students express their own interests in a choice based curriculum, they are free to make connections to all parts of the curriculum. They make connections that are meaningful to them. Inspired by an odd, geometric shaped piece of cardboard 2 boys made a sculpture replica of the Mayan ruins. They thought it would be fun to build pyramids and stone structures out of cardboard and then paint them to look like real stones. These students really understood not only the social studies lessons they learned in their classroom, but how to use that information to build a strong, interesting, and neatly made sculpture in art class. What a connection!

The 6 painter limit

2005-11-07T10:46:00.000-05:00

For some time I have been frustrated with the mess left in the painting center and sink area when each class leaves. Instead of taking the paitning center away entirely I decided to limit the number of painters per class to 6 at a time. What a difference. This little change accomplished several things. It keeps all painters at one table, in one area of the room. At clean up I can tell who is supposed to be in the sink area and who is just hanging around. I have 3 sinks, so each only has to have 1 person waiting in line. with a very tight budget I don't have to put out as many paint trays (less wasted paint). Clean up has gone from complete insanity to a reasonable calm.

Out of control

2005-11-04T10:42:00.000-05:00

A quote from a 1st grader. "I started cutting the eyes and my scissors just went all out of control!" This boy was cutting 2 holes in a paper plate mask. Not really knowing when to stop cutting, he ended up with 2 holes the size of small mangos and 2 long spirals. His enthusiasm was uncontrollable.

I got a 5 too!

2005-10-26T10:36:00.000-04:00

I have to grade students in art. I have a 3 part grading system based on Behavior/Conduct, Artwork/Work Habits, and Attendance. The main grade I put on artwork each week is a 1-5 behavior score. After passing back artwork today in a 2nd grade class I listened to the children's reactions to their grades. "5 means exccellent!", "Oh, I got a 5 too." They were so excited to have the feedback on their work. They were proud of the work they had created and invested not only in the art process, but also in the behaviors that they exhibited in order to create this artwork.

Preschool Patience

2005-10-24T10:26:00.000-04:00

I have 5 special needs preschool classes. Each class has several students, each with various abilities and disabilities. Every student in these classes is so unique I find it very hard to come up with a simple lesson that each can interpret to his or her own abiliy level. It can be very frustrating to try to meet the needs of every student without losing my mind. Today, as one of the assistant teaachers was exiting my classroom after a particularly loud and trying 30 minutes, she said to me, "You are so patient with them." This was so nice to hear. It was just a simple comment but at that moment I realized that someone noticed my effort.

Under Over Under Over

2005-09-23T20:18:00.000-04:00

Every morning I have one particular 5th grade girl who comes to my room and asks "Is the painting center open yet?" I reply, "sorry, not yet, soon though, soon." Last year was a struggle for her, the only thing she enjoyed and felt somewhat successful at was painting. She is a student who has trouble reading and has lots of academic difficulties. Last week when I introduced weaving shetook a risk and decided to try it. To my surprise she worked a complicated pattern and had not one mistake. She took it with her and I hooked her up with a weaving partner in her class so she could have him check it throughout the week. By lunchtime she had already come back to replenish her yarn supply. I am so happy that she has now found another success in the art room. Painting will open soon, I hope she continues to take risks even with her old standby around.

"next project"

2005-09-22T20:29:00.000-04:00

I opened the full found object and cardboard construction center today. On the second day of school one 4th grade girl drew a sketch in pencil. It was a boat with wheels, and the only color piece was the sail colored with the a rainbow crayon. On the bottom she labeled the drawing "next project". The multicolored sail was inspired by a piece of paste paper in the collage center. Her decision to choose the rainbow crayon to show this could not have been better. When she started to build the boat with wheels she started with cardboard the first day as this was the only material available. This week when all the found object boxes were available she began to add details. The wheels were perfectly chosen to coordinate with her sketch. She achieved great accuracy by choosing 3 foam squares to decorate the front of the sculpture to exatly replicate the squares she traced from a template onto her sketch. I watched in awe as this young girl movde between centers, each inspired by the previous and chose the exact materials she needed for her self conceived project. Bliss.

They have finally got it together

2005-09-20T21:12:00.000-04:00

My first period class on Tuesday really gives me hope for the rest of my classes. It is so nice to come into school and look forward to this wonderful class. Today I realized that when the behavior issues subside it opens the door for huge successes. These kids have very quickly figured out that if they finish breakfast, walk quickly and quietly to art, and sit down to listen right away that they will have what seems like an endless art class. They kept saying "Don't we have to clean up?" and I'd reply "Nope, not yet, seems like we have a lot more time to work today, doesn't it?" They came to school today ready for art and ready to learn. I see a perfect mix of enthusiasm and maturity.

Just wait until...

2005-09-19T16:37:00.000-04:00

We have a new 4th grade class this year comprised of gifted and talented fourth graders, 2 or 3 from each elementary school in the district. There are 3 students who were in my school last year and are used to all the centers. I thought that these three might be disappointed because I chose to open centers slowly since so many students were new to the choices. Wow, did they create a buzz over the centers to come. "Just wait until you see when puppets opens, and when weaving opens, we even did sewing last year!" from one eager young lady. I could tell she had been saving up ideas all summer just waiting for me to provide the supplies and encouragement for her to realize them. Her enthusiasm spread until the room a buzz with future ideas.

Drawing cars on Friday afternoon

2005-09-16T17:27:00.000-04:00

Last week a child asked if he could take one of my car pictures home to continue his drawing. Unfortunately my response was no, I don't let these types of materials out of the room as I often never see them again. So he asked, "where did you get this photo, I'd really like to have one." I simply told him that I found it on a car calendar I got at the dollar store. Today, a week later, he came to art with a very satisfied look on his face and told me that he found the same calendar at the dollar store (2 years later). He beamed with excitement, now he could continue his passion for drawing cars at home just as he does in the art room. This encounter made me sure that he was not only learning about drawing in the artroom but also how to act like an artist, 45 minutes of art at exactly 12:10 on Friday afternoon is no longer enough for him.