As a teacher, I want to make the kind of world where students value diversity, creativity, and can think critically for themselves. I hope my students get a diverse perspective from me, because I know I have learned just as much from them sharing through their artwork. They have such powerful and unique voices, and the best part of being a teacher are the moments when THEY realize they used them and feel that power.
Our discussion touched on the idea that our students most likely aren't going to be professional artists, and our class can and should still be valuable for those students. I remember reading a blog from Ian Sand's, a strong proponent of choice based art education, about rethinking Art 1 and creating a class that is for the 95% of students that won't make art at a professional level rather than a prep course for AP or post-secondary art education. My first year teaching that class was based around elements and principles, and drawing basics, and the projects SUCKED! They weren't making art, they were following steps. Now I start the semester in Art Foundations with the Forbes list of Top 10 Employability Skills, and discuss the 8/10 that we use and how we will use them. I actually show Chuck Close to my 7th grade students as a great example of a person who's art got better once he stopped focusing on realism so much. At this age, I just want them to try things and experiement. I had never heard of Lynda Barry before last night, and she is another great example for students that enjoying making it and trying something creative is enough. It doesn't have to reach some external level of quality. Both of the poems to me touch on the idea that we can be alive but not really living. Even when kids are making art, I find that I have to remind them to be present and not focusing too much on their converstaion, their music, etc. It is so important to be able to have a sensual and physical experience with the materials. ( I still haven't figured out how to word this in my HS classes that won't cause a giggle fit.) Most of all, I know that I will have succeed when students leave my class more creative, confident, empathetic people even if they can't name a color scheme, throw a pot, or draw. I would like them to have technical skills, but its those deeper thinking and feeling skills that they will need and use forever.
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After talking with Dr. Walker about teaching strategies, do you have any ideas on how you might start to incorporate contemporary practices in your own classroom? I'm not looking for full-blown lesson plans, but rather some brainstorming ideas on how contemporary strategies (and the work of contemporary artists) might begin to show up in your classrooms. Also: We have done two projects in class (Object Self Portrait and Walking Score). Reflect on your own experience in making these pieces. Take a look at the results. What big ideas might your pieces connect with?
As I was reading the Chapters from Dr. Walker, I was definitely drawn to her discussion about experimentation in the second chapter. i have brought up play before and we compare and contrast play, practice, and making portfolio quality work. However, I have been unsuccessful coming up with a way to scaffold play for students. I have started with a mantra from a colleague in the science department: "The difference between messing around and science is writing it down." So I have intructed students to have that scientific mindset of observing and recording what happens. I think having the structure of having the verbs will help students know what to do. There is also the element of pleasure in doing things like "to smash" that are a little unacceptatble and destructive that most students aren't willing to do without being told it's ok. The walking score and self portrait pieces that we did connect more to the sense vs. nonsense chapter. I think some of my older students would enjoy these more, but it would take a lot of support and front loading for some students to see them as valuable. One of my first art experiences at UNI was taking Drawing 1 with frje, who used a lot of these sense vs. nonsense strategies in his teaching. At the time as a freshman undergrad, I remember thinking that this crazy bs was a waste of my time, and wondering when we were going to learn to draw. It wasn't until later that I was able to understand, process and appreciate what he was doing. Now I can say that class was very valuable and impacted my teaching more than any other class that I took at UNI, and that a conversation that frje and I had, has had more lasting impact and is seared into my brain more than any interactions I had with other professors. In terms of teaching with contemporary artists, I would like to start having a monthly theme and periodically show students artists that fit into it. For my research, I have had my students start making "creative bank accounts" on their art websites. Rather than have them create a specific art object around a certain artist, I would rather they use this information to add to their creative bank account page more organically when they find an artist that resonates with them. Reflect upon this week’s content with regard to this idea:As teachers, we are charged with helping our students to understand and navigate the world around them. Has technology made this easier or more difficult?
One thing that stuck me watchig the videos and reading the articles for this week was a sense of fear or discomfort about the future and a sort of unease about the amount that technology has taken over our lives, espescially the parts that are reminiscent of science fiction horrors. I think this encrouchment of technology is more bothersome to "digital captives" than our "digital native students". They don't know any different! I think many students see technology for its possibilities like Aimee Mullens. In some ways, it is students that help us navigate and understand technology, and its conventions. For some of my students this tech has become so vast and ever present, that they struggle to pull themselves away and be present in the moment. I think the connects to Baudrillard and his ideas that we have lost touch with authenticity because we are so used to simulations, as well as the World of Tomorrow short film. I think it is important to help students understand that it is important to have experiences that are real and not filtered through your phone camera on selfie mode. I know I have tried to consciously not take pictures, or post on social meida when I am doing things so that I have a real memory of the experience and not just a digital one. As the students coming to us become more and more immersed in tech and sociel media, it will be more important as teachers that we help them have real phyical experiences that aren't filtered through a phone. However, for all the negatives of tech, I don't think I could go back after teaching in a 1:1 school. It is amazing that the things that students can learn about are not limited to the walls of our classroom and the funds that I and their parents have available to give them these experiences. They are no substittue for the real thing, as I have told them many times that there are some artworks that I didn't appreciate until I saw them in person. But for the students who have never gotten outside of Clarke Co., Iowa, technology gives them a glimpse that there is a vast world out there and hopfully a desire to go out and explore it someday. |
AuthorMorgan Singleton is a secondary art educator with a Master's degree in art education. Archives
April 2017
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