I'm working on developing a unit on shading, texture and value, and came across this nice video on Rembrandt.
22.9.09
19.9.09
Yesterday marked the end of my fifth week at Silver Creek. I am more than half done with my secondary placement and big chunks of my brain are hoping that elementary will be less pressure, more fun. This not to say that high school is not fun and that I am not enjoying it, but I miss the easy acceptance of my elementary kids from BASE Camp. High School management seems to revolve around attitudes, boredom, and legal issues and it is exhausting trying to sort all that out on top of simply learning how to instruct.
Last week I came to a turning point. Perhaps it s simply in part due to my getting the hang of things or starting to teach my own lessons. But I came to this place of realizing how much of my activity centered around all that I had to do. Rather than thinking about what it takes to really get kids hooked, what I need to do to get them interested and learning, I was thinking about how to meet all of the requirements of students teaching. I have been so focused and stressed about filling out paperwork and completing lesson plans with everything worded and measurable that the thought of connecting with my students felt like one more task, one more thing that my overloaded brain needed to work out.
But over the last week, I've been rearranging my priorities. I've decided that if yesterday was the last day that I had to teach, the last day I had to be in contact with these kids, I would want to make sure that they had a meaningful experience with art. The question of whether or not I had every objective lined out clearly was not high on my list of priorities.
Now, I realize that I am still in the place where I am being tested and that I am being asked to submit to the authority charged with the task of awarding me my lisence. And I realize that they are always under the responsibility to submit to the requirements of the state and that these are the tasks that I must complete to move to the next step in my practice as a teacher. But I do not want to waste the time that I have in contact with thess young people still under my care, despite all of the other things that I must do. I am reminded that if I seek the things that are true and right and best, all the rest, the nitty gritty, will come together as well.
As the week came to an end,even though my sleep level was well below acceptable levels most days, I began to notice more and more kids greeting me in the hallways, excited to see me, wanting to share thier lives with me. I am seeing those relationships begin to grow and flourish. As I observe the ways that I interact with the students, I see that my conversations are less connected to my stress level or an assumed sense of responsibility and more connected with a desire to really be personal and genuine. I want them to know me-- and I learning to be more comfortable with that line between teacher and friend becoming less fragile. This not to say that I am throwing that sense of professionalism out the window, but allowing myself to be a person to them rather than working on maintinaing a staunch position as AUTHORITY. And this is the place where I am finding myself as a teacher. And I am beginning to see in myself the qualities that I admire the most in the teachers that have inspired me to teach.
Last week I came to a turning point. Perhaps it s simply in part due to my getting the hang of things or starting to teach my own lessons. But I came to this place of realizing how much of my activity centered around all that I had to do. Rather than thinking about what it takes to really get kids hooked, what I need to do to get them interested and learning, I was thinking about how to meet all of the requirements of students teaching. I have been so focused and stressed about filling out paperwork and completing lesson plans with everything worded and measurable that the thought of connecting with my students felt like one more task, one more thing that my overloaded brain needed to work out.
But over the last week, I've been rearranging my priorities. I've decided that if yesterday was the last day that I had to teach, the last day I had to be in contact with these kids, I would want to make sure that they had a meaningful experience with art. The question of whether or not I had every objective lined out clearly was not high on my list of priorities.
Now, I realize that I am still in the place where I am being tested and that I am being asked to submit to the authority charged with the task of awarding me my lisence. And I realize that they are always under the responsibility to submit to the requirements of the state and that these are the tasks that I must complete to move to the next step in my practice as a teacher. But I do not want to waste the time that I have in contact with thess young people still under my care, despite all of the other things that I must do. I am reminded that if I seek the things that are true and right and best, all the rest, the nitty gritty, will come together as well.
As the week came to an end,even though my sleep level was well below acceptable levels most days, I began to notice more and more kids greeting me in the hallways, excited to see me, wanting to share thier lives with me. I am seeing those relationships begin to grow and flourish. As I observe the ways that I interact with the students, I see that my conversations are less connected to my stress level or an assumed sense of responsibility and more connected with a desire to really be personal and genuine. I want them to know me-- and I learning to be more comfortable with that line between teacher and friend becoming less fragile. This not to say that I am throwing that sense of professionalism out the window, but allowing myself to be a person to them rather than working on maintinaing a staunch position as AUTHORITY. And this is the place where I am finding myself as a teacher. And I am beginning to see in myself the qualities that I admire the most in the teachers that have inspired me to teach.
28.8.09
two weeks
Second friday of the school year. I've officially made it through two weeks of student teaching. I am more tired than I thought I would be. Teaching is often harder than I think it is going to be. There is always too much to say and too little memory. There are always moments that you realize there was something you should have said before all 36 students started talking again. And there is always that point when you realize that you really just need to slow down, be calm, and put more faith in yourself. There are so many opportunities to let your intution take over and go with whatever happens. And there have been numerous class periods that make me hope that someday I will be good, confident, personable, timed, and clear.
17.8.09
I just took over an hour to make and eat my dinner and now I sit in a clean house, dishes done, contemplating what I want to do now. Eleven and a half hours ago, I got in my car and drove through the country to my first day of school-- my first day as a teacher.
Today was a really good day. After meeting with my mentor teacher last week in the midst of the chaos of moving, I was feeling more overwhelmed than ever. Today, however, after getting a few nights of good sleep, knowing there were plenty of groceries at home, and having most of my belongings settled in, I felt ready to take on this crazy life of teaching. Over the weekend, I discovered the one good thrift store in town and scored a nice assortment of professional attire for my new appointment for a price even a student teacher can afford.
Although I didn't get as many lesson plans written today as I hoped I would, I went through the process of figuring out budgets, calculating numbers of students, and ordering supplies. I got the quick and dirty run down on doctoring photocopies to make handouts from books without written directions, but great illustrations. And I had a lot of great conversations with my mentor teacher about how to plan engaging lessons and what to do with kids who finish too early.
Something I've been thinking a lot about is the issue of time management and balance in my life. Even though many student teachers have told me that this thing takes over your life, that it is the most difficult thing of all, and that student teaching is an all-consuming monster, I've really been looking forward to this time as a chance to determine my own balance of time. My way of life up to this point has been dictated by the expectation that 12-14 hour days most days of the week are normal and appropriate. I feel a little like I might need to go through detox to change this standard in my life. I want to change it because I really find that having time to make a delicious dinner for myself and allowing myself time to enjoy it is so good for my soul. I feel better about my relationships when I have time (and energy) to do dishes and keep things clean. And I consider a restful sleep to be something worth fighting for.
For all of these reasons, I feel lucky to have the model that I do in my mentor teacher. I asked her how late she stays at school after the bell rings at 2:15 and expected her to say 4:30 or 5. "I try not to stay much later than 3:30 or 4," she said, and added, "I try really hard to keep work at school and home and home." Other teachers, she went on to say, allow school to take over their entire lives and end up staying until 5 or 6-- and they really are teachers all of the time. "This is a job," she advised me, "that can easily consume your entire life."
So here I am, at 6:29, enjoying freedom from guilt about what I need to be doing for school. I have time to think about what I might choose to do with myself now that I have a few personal moments. Part of me feels like I may be forgetting something, but another part of me tells me that this very act of forgetting is just what my soul needs.
This morning at our staff meeting, the principle reminded us all of a very important thought:
"You cannot take any better care of others than you do yourself."
So here is to a great semester ahead full of learning and adventure!
Today was a really good day. After meeting with my mentor teacher last week in the midst of the chaos of moving, I was feeling more overwhelmed than ever. Today, however, after getting a few nights of good sleep, knowing there were plenty of groceries at home, and having most of my belongings settled in, I felt ready to take on this crazy life of teaching. Over the weekend, I discovered the one good thrift store in town and scored a nice assortment of professional attire for my new appointment for a price even a student teacher can afford.
Although I didn't get as many lesson plans written today as I hoped I would, I went through the process of figuring out budgets, calculating numbers of students, and ordering supplies. I got the quick and dirty run down on doctoring photocopies to make handouts from books without written directions, but great illustrations. And I had a lot of great conversations with my mentor teacher about how to plan engaging lessons and what to do with kids who finish too early.
Something I've been thinking a lot about is the issue of time management and balance in my life. Even though many student teachers have told me that this thing takes over your life, that it is the most difficult thing of all, and that student teaching is an all-consuming monster, I've really been looking forward to this time as a chance to determine my own balance of time. My way of life up to this point has been dictated by the expectation that 12-14 hour days most days of the week are normal and appropriate. I feel a little like I might need to go through detox to change this standard in my life. I want to change it because I really find that having time to make a delicious dinner for myself and allowing myself time to enjoy it is so good for my soul. I feel better about my relationships when I have time (and energy) to do dishes and keep things clean. And I consider a restful sleep to be something worth fighting for.
For all of these reasons, I feel lucky to have the model that I do in my mentor teacher. I asked her how late she stays at school after the bell rings at 2:15 and expected her to say 4:30 or 5. "I try not to stay much later than 3:30 or 4," she said, and added, "I try really hard to keep work at school and home and home." Other teachers, she went on to say, allow school to take over their entire lives and end up staying until 5 or 6-- and they really are teachers all of the time. "This is a job," she advised me, "that can easily consume your entire life."
So here I am, at 6:29, enjoying freedom from guilt about what I need to be doing for school. I have time to think about what I might choose to do with myself now that I have a few personal moments. Part of me feels like I may be forgetting something, but another part of me tells me that this very act of forgetting is just what my soul needs.
This morning at our staff meeting, the principle reminded us all of a very important thought:
"You cannot take any better care of others than you do yourself."
So here is to a great semester ahead full of learning and adventure!
15.8.09
Gordon Hopkins
I love the simplicity of Gordon Hopkin's work. I often find that I simply get too carried away with my own paintings and envy artists who are able to leave well enough alone with a minimum of colors and shapes in one painting. Maybe I'll work on that. Perhaps this sort of discipline will be seen in my "later works." In the meantime, enjoy some of these and take a look at the artist's website for more beauties.
14.8.09
Julene Harrison
I was admiring and getting inspired by Julene Harrison's paper art, but then couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw this one.
26.7.09
prepared?
As I get knee deep and face to face with the reality that in just a few weeks I'll be student teaching, I am coming to the realization that learning to teach is something that an infinite number of years in school will never fully accomplish. As I scramble to figure out what the heck I am going to do, I rack my brain, searching for the meaningful things I gleaned from the numerous hours spent in class that will come to my rescue now. And for some reason, the only thing I can come up with is "motivation."
I have been reading some great books, "From Ordinary to Extraordinary," by Ken Vieth, "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," by Betty Edwards, and "How to Be an Explorer of the World" by Keri Smith as well as this fabulous article my mentor teacher directed me towards. As I read through these ideas about how to get kids creative and how to present problems in the art classroom, I realize that these sort of philosophies and modes of teaching are wonderful and meaninful and great for our kids-- and they are things that I as a teacher can only come to master through experience. As I've been emersing my nerdy little mind in these books, I've wondered how much of these models were covered in my few semesters within the School of Education and the Art Department. Why didn't they give us more training in setting up a lesson this way? I think to myself. I don't know. Maybe they did and I didn't hear because my sensory functions were still recovering from the late night before in the painting studio. Maybe I just need a few more years of "doing" before I really understand.
Regardless of the ability of a classroom to teach me everything I need to know abou the nitty gritty of teaching, I've come to many a good thought. One struggle I've been facing in writing my units and lesson plans for the coming semester has been in the area of organization-- how do I put all of these ideas swirling around down on paper in such a way that my advisors, the state, and administration will understand what is going on in my classroom and in such a way that I know what I am supposed to be doing with all of these young faces looking attentively in my direction.
So, based on the advice of my mentor teacher, these great texts, and what I already know about lesson planning, I came up with this little sequence to help me frame my lessons in a way more conducive to introducing art as a "problem to be solved."
Class:
Lesson:
Problem to be addressed:
Resources Available:
-- Instructional Support
-- Materials
Learning Goals:
--Skills
--Concepts
Assessment:
Sequence/Procedures:
An aspect of Vieth's book that I'm really enjoying is the presentation of art process as problem solving, such as "Given two weeks, how can you transform an ordinary door knob into a work of art?" I think an approach that focuses more on an innovative aim is a great way of getting kids away from seeing art class as a place for people born with the talent of realistic rendering to a place where everyone gets to uncover thier own creative ideas. Art is no longer about creating a marketable product, but engaging in a creative process. Which is really what it is about, isn't it?
I learned the value/concept of pursuing a visual problem a few semesters back through the completion of the final for my figure painting class. The whole time, I struggled through the class, bored and uninterested in painting the figure. Throughout the semester, our instructor was showing us examples of artwork, saying, "look how this artist focuses on pattern, how this artist makes the figures look bony or weighty or ghostly." I didn't get it until the end-- I realized my painting was never going to be a success until I solidified my aim. What was I working towards? The obvious answer was "self-portrait"-- that was the assingment. But as an artist, I realized I have to dig deeper than that. What vocabulary was I hoping to expand? What was the problem I wanted to solve?
I think this idea of "visual problem solving" rarely makes its way into the k-12 classroom. Art is about going in and finishing projects that look pretty. But I think we need to trust our students with more advanced thinking-- and ultimately this is the type of thinking that is going to get them hooked on a level below the surface. Art is not about external experiences as much as it is about the struggle through the process of solving a problem. Making a goal and working night and day, sketch after sketch until our fingers bleed. This is what good artists want-- to move forward, they enjoy the struggle of finding it out. And we need to be training a generation of students who understand the joy found in this process.
I have been reading some great books, "From Ordinary to Extraordinary," by Ken Vieth, "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," by Betty Edwards, and "How to Be an Explorer of the World" by Keri Smith as well as this fabulous article my mentor teacher directed me towards. As I read through these ideas about how to get kids creative and how to present problems in the art classroom, I realize that these sort of philosophies and modes of teaching are wonderful and meaninful and great for our kids-- and they are things that I as a teacher can only come to master through experience. As I've been emersing my nerdy little mind in these books, I've wondered how much of these models were covered in my few semesters within the School of Education and the Art Department. Why didn't they give us more training in setting up a lesson this way? I think to myself. I don't know. Maybe they did and I didn't hear because my sensory functions were still recovering from the late night before in the painting studio. Maybe I just need a few more years of "doing" before I really understand.
Regardless of the ability of a classroom to teach me everything I need to know abou the nitty gritty of teaching, I've come to many a good thought. One struggle I've been facing in writing my units and lesson plans for the coming semester has been in the area of organization-- how do I put all of these ideas swirling around down on paper in such a way that my advisors, the state, and administration will understand what is going on in my classroom and in such a way that I know what I am supposed to be doing with all of these young faces looking attentively in my direction.
So, based on the advice of my mentor teacher, these great texts, and what I already know about lesson planning, I came up with this little sequence to help me frame my lessons in a way more conducive to introducing art as a "problem to be solved."
Class:
Lesson:
Problem to be addressed:
Resources Available:
-- Instructional Support
-- Materials
Learning Goals:
--Skills
--Concepts
Assessment:
Sequence/Procedures:
An aspect of Vieth's book that I'm really enjoying is the presentation of art process as problem solving, such as "Given two weeks, how can you transform an ordinary door knob into a work of art?" I think an approach that focuses more on an innovative aim is a great way of getting kids away from seeing art class as a place for people born with the talent of realistic rendering to a place where everyone gets to uncover thier own creative ideas. Art is no longer about creating a marketable product, but engaging in a creative process. Which is really what it is about, isn't it?
I learned the value/concept of pursuing a visual problem a few semesters back through the completion of the final for my figure painting class. The whole time, I struggled through the class, bored and uninterested in painting the figure. Throughout the semester, our instructor was showing us examples of artwork, saying, "look how this artist focuses on pattern, how this artist makes the figures look bony or weighty or ghostly." I didn't get it until the end-- I realized my painting was never going to be a success until I solidified my aim. What was I working towards? The obvious answer was "self-portrait"-- that was the assingment. But as an artist, I realized I have to dig deeper than that. What vocabulary was I hoping to expand? What was the problem I wanted to solve?
I think this idea of "visual problem solving" rarely makes its way into the k-12 classroom. Art is about going in and finishing projects that look pretty. But I think we need to trust our students with more advanced thinking-- and ultimately this is the type of thinking that is going to get them hooked on a level below the surface. Art is not about external experiences as much as it is about the struggle through the process of solving a problem. Making a goal and working night and day, sketch after sketch until our fingers bleed. This is what good artists want-- to move forward, they enjoy the struggle of finding it out. And we need to be training a generation of students who understand the joy found in this process.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
