Christmas Party videos...go figure..

"One must from time to time attempt things that                                              are beyond one's capacity." Auguste Renoir I decided again this year, since I was scheduled to teach on the last day before our Christmas  break, to treat my students to a wee party.  I brought in Swiss Miss hot chocolate and a box of Gansitos (small chocolate covered cakes with filling).  I told them they could work on their art or sit and talk, but no games.  In the midst of this "inactivity", a couple of the students actually got  out their work and spent some time on it.  I took the liberty of recording about a minute of each of these students at work.  The sounds and music you hear in the background is just my ipod hooked  up to a speaker.  Enjoy.

I showed you SaVonne's work in an earlier blog post.  She is now using ebony pencil to capture the
essence of DYNAMIC lights and darks in her drawing.  When the period was over, she packed her
drawing up with a couple of spare pencils and took it home to work on it over the holiday.  Can't wait
to see it when it's finished.


Jennifer just began working on this floral drawing the day before.  We had looked together at some
value drawings of flowers and she decided she liked this approach.  I enjoyed watching her spend her
time slowly building the values.


Crystal found a book I had brought in on drawing and was captivated by the section on hands.  She
had drawn a few hands up the side of her paper.  We talked about how she was going to deal with the
larger composition.  She said she wanted to draw a larger version in the center.  I gave her a piece of
transparency, she put it on the overhead, and traced the larger hand.  Here, she is beginning the process
of creating a value drawing of that larger hand.  This student has not, in the past, seemed very motivated to work on her projects.  I get the feeling that this is one she will stick with and do a good job with.

I'm off for Germany for the holidays.  I may or may not post while I'm gone.  Chances are I will because
my daughter Angela will probably bring up something, we'll have discussion, and it will invariably lead
to a post.  If not, see you next year.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

A Delightful Drawing

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

Walt Disney  

Isn't this a very nice drawing by Raymond Ortiz in my 3rd period class?  Raymond took this home and worked on the floral subjects after a discussion on Monday about bringing out the interest in the composition by using strong gradations of dark to light.  Then today we discussed various alternatives to enhancing the composition by creating a background that would show off the floral arrangement.  Next thing I know, Raymond is presenting me with his finished artwork for a final critical analysis.  I gave it two thumbs up and asked if he would mind exhibiting it for awhile in the classroom.  So now it hangs near the door for all to enjoy.

Way to go Raymond!

On Friday we will have a little pre-holiday celebration along with our regular class activities.  I will provide some warm beverages and a small snack and the students may bring in something simple for all to enjoy if they want. I don't care to disrupt the learning/creating process too much, even during these times of the year.  We have little enough time to create.  On Friday, then, I am going to try and shoot some photos of other finished works since many of the students will want to take their work home to either give as gifts or continue working on them over the holidays.

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle..."

"Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye..it also includes the inner pictures of the soul"

Edvard Munch. 1863

Today,just a short little video of a student working on a drawing she did a lot of work on at home.  In the past, I very seldom allowed students to take home current art work to finish it or work on it.  My reasoning was simple.  I feared two things: 1.  The student would finish the work, bring it back to class and then I would need to find something else for that student to do while the rest of the class was still working on that assignment, and 2.  the student would take home a piece of work that had been kept nice and neat in his/her drawer and portfolio, work on it at home, and bring it back all rolled up, wrinkled, and the "worse for wear".  THEN how would it look up on display for all the world to see next to all the very neat and nice work of the rest of the students.  Nothing doing for THIS control freak.

So what's different now?  First of all, since it IS their work and THEY are the ones who will be grading it, deciding whether or NOT to display it, and hopefully feeling good about their work to the point of taking extreme care of it and ultimately hanging it in their rooms at home, I tell them they may take the work home at ANY stage.  If they DO finish it, more the better, because then they will have time to pursue other work they now have time for.  I don't need to FIND THEM work since they are in charge of deciding what it is they are doing.  I just need to remind them to investigate, research, read, and "try out" whatever suits them.  What fun!

"Gentlemen, and Ladies...START YOUR ENGINES!"

"I do not consider my self as having mastered the flute, but I
 get a real kick out of trying."

Sir James Galway   December 8, 1939

I was wanting to shoot just a little footage today of student "work in progress" so I went over to SaVonne's area and saw that she was just far enough along to accommodate this activity.  I wish I had pursued it a bit further with her, but I know you will get the point of the discussion.

At the beginning of the period, in order to possibly influence some of the students to move along with their artwork, I spoke of an analogy.  I told them how much I enjoyed coming around to their places and seeing what they were doing, making suggestions, and asking them questions.  I said that some of them reminded me of that "fictional" race car driver sitting in the pits.  As a coach, I can suggest how fast to drive, where to turn, when to pass the other cars, etc.  But you have to "be in the race" for me to be able to do that.  If you are sitting in the pits with your engine turned off, the only advice I can give you is,
"start your engines" and move out onto the track.  THEN I can do my job of helping you in any way I can so you can be successful.  To be honest, however, some of the students are just taking more time to prepare their designs at the sketching stage...but they STILL need to get started on their final works instead of being so elaborate at this stage.

Had a very nice compliment for the program today, although unspoken.  I needed to be out of the room for a few minutes.  While I was away, my supervisor/evaluator stepped in for an informal observation.  I came in, said hello, went into the room and moved among the students as I usually do.  When he was finished with his notes, he handed me the form, smiled and said, yes when I asked him if he had ever had the chance to read my blog.  The notes on the observation form were all positive.  I especially liked the check marks for "engaged" and "student directed activity".  I complimented my students when he left for being on task even though I wasn't there and helping to verify the strength of the program.   Very cool!

Ruminations on Relaxation

"The air is like a butterfly
 With frail blue wings
 The happy earth looks at the sky
 And sings."

(Alfred) Joyce Kilmer   December 6, 1886

It's funny how thoughts occur to me through some odd set of circumstances or situation that is totally unexpected.  

I'm sitting in the chair getting a pedicure the other day when Amy asked me, "So how are you getting along with that new art curriculum you told me about?"  This is at the beginning of what would be an hour session, so instead of a cursory, "oh, fine", I set off on a monologue of how what I've been doing compares to what I've done over the years.  Not from the standpoint of how much more the students are learning, how much better their artwork is, or how much more they seem to enjoy learning about art.  I have already told her (and you) all of that.

What occurred to me was how different my everyday experience has been with my art classes.  I have found my class time to be so much more relaxed than ever before.  That made me wonder about why that was.  In reflecting on the kind of teacher I have been and the way in which I have conducted my classes, I would have to say that I'm a bit of a "control freak".

I guess I don't think of that as such a bad way of being, since my philosophy has always been that you can't teach anyone anything unless you have their attention and you can't have their attention if you have a chaotic environment.  "Classroom Management" is the altruistic concept.

Since I do feel the need for order in the classroom, I have always needed to be organized to the hilt.  I would pass out supplies (or have selected students do it), set up assignments in a logical order, set deadlines, and make sure there were few, if any, wasted moments during the class period.  This meant my being "on top of it", in terms of seeing that needs of students were met, etc.  I have wondered at art teachers who seem to somehow welcome chaos in their class rooms.  Seeing students all out of their seats, crowding around a central media area waiting to grab supplies, noise levels off the charts, directions screamed out by the teacher over the voices of the masses.  I know I would just not like it.

So my answer to Amy was, "you know I find it rather relaxing to not be in charge".  Then I thought, WOW!  Here I have 30 students doing 30 different things at the same time and I find that RELAXING?  It's because I have placed the burden of their learning on their backs and relieved myself of that responsibility.  By taking the time to set up the organizational structure and following through on all its ramifications, I have an environment where all I have to do is remind the students of their responsibilities, answer questions, make suggestions, ask them why they feel a need to change what their doing, and praise them.  Of course, I still demonstrate media and technique, show them videos on artists and concepts, give them examples of art work through slide shows, and discuss with them aspects of art they need to know.  All that's a given.  What I enjoy now is the relaxing feeling that everything is in place and I can truly enjoy the experience of watching the students learn.  Good deal!

Dynamic Light and Shade

"The artist must train not only his eye but also his soul."

Wassily Kandinsky   December 4, 1866

Since the students are dealing with the concepts of VALUE and EMPHASIS this cycle, I decided to scan in a book of images from a book titled, DYNAMIC LIGHT AND SHADE.

I showed this slide show to them on Friday and discussed the ideas of focal point, etc. with them after the viewing.  I figured that everyone would enjoy this slide presentation, so I converted the slide show into a movie format and posted it to youtube.com.  Here is the video to the theme music from "Somewhere in Time".  Hope you enjoy.

then MASTERY...

 "Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know"

Rembrandt Van Rijn

When we began today, I brought up the video we saw in our last class on Gabriel Orozco.  I wondered aloud whether any of the students noticed anything peculiar about him as he worked on his various artistic endeavors?  What I noticed was that he was extremely focused and heavily concentrated on his actions while he was creating.  He wasn't just standing on a corner, talking with friends with his camera pointed out into the street snapping pictures.  Of course, the analogy of this sarcastic bit of dialogue was to emphasize this need to focus and concentrate on our work here in the room and not think that our work will turn out just as well if we play at it while sitting and talking to our friends.  The title of this blog, "then MASTERY", refers to that second factor in the concept of intrinsic motivation.  The FIRST is AUTONOMY.  I have provided that factor in spades.  The students have had all the autonomy one could possibly have, save being able to stay home and not come to school at all.

  

The idea of mastery is simply that it is a PURSUIT, not an end in itself.Those that are serious about learning know that they will never achieve this idea of mastery, but as they spend their lives pursuing it, they become the artist they hope to be.  This concept is universal and can be applied to every area of learning.  I think that using the term PRACTICE as it applies to the medical and law professions is probably the most appropriate.  I think that we need to apply this idea to the profession of teaching as well.  We use the term "practice teaching" when we are first leaning about the profession while still in college.  I guess after that we NOW are masters and know it all.  Maybe that's why some teachers who have been in the classroom for 25 years have really only taught one year 25X in a row.  Maybe it isn't surprising to see teachers who have been "spoon fed" their education spoon feeding their students in the same way.  I believe that for our educational system to ever get on the right track, some of us need to break away from this mode of operation and re-invent our methods, re-think our goals, and modify the process.

So, what do YOU think?