Sheldon Alan "Shel" Silverstein September 25, 1930
"All The Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' In The Sun,
Talkin' 'Bout The Things
They Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda Done...
But All Those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All Ran Away And Hid
From One Little Did"
So one day I'm sitting in my classroom having my lunch...a special treat today because I have a couple of left-over devilled eggs from last nights pot luck at pottery class. There was my banana, as usual, waiting to be eaten with activia, and, of course my ruffles. Well, what else is a smart phone good for than to take a photo when the kodak moment presents itself. I emailed it to Sue and she got a mid-day chuckle out of it. I hope you get a mid-weekend chuckle out of it as well.
Today is Shel Silverstein's birthday and I just thought this quote from him was oh, so appropriate in light of what I'm trying to do with this curriculum; but ,also in terms of what I expect from my students in their quest for knowledge about art. The other day in class I observed a young man sitting and talking AT a few other students, who were also ignoring their work and paying full attention to what he was saying, which had nothing to do with art. I asked him if he knew what was meant by telekinesis. He said no. I explained to him that it meant being able to control physical objects with his mind. The ability to simply will, by concentration, something to move. I went on to explain that it was not possible in real life to do that, but, in the movies when it is portrayed as real, the person doing it is concentrating real hard on that task. So even if he sat there staring at his paper, his work would not get done, but by not paying ANY attention to it, there wasn't even the "fantasy" chance that it would. Besides, he was keeping others from doing their work.
As you can tell from that encounter with this student, I have the hardest time just saying "get busy", "stay on task", or any of a number of quick responses to "lack of engagement" with my students. Maybe I'm just antsy that this process will work and that eventually my students will "get it". I have to remember that they are so used to being told what to do, how to do it, when to turn it in, and what to remember from the experience that they aren't used to making all those choices themselves. That's what this is ALL about. This idea of deciding for oneself all of these aspects of learning.
Here's another quandary I experienced the other day. Here's a student whose still life objects were the little colored plastic boxes. He is given the option of composing an abstract expression. He chooses the largest format, 18 X 24. He chooses colored pencil as media. He draws 5 shapes of cubes in outline form only. He colors the lines in colored pencil. He sits there as finished. I look at it and see all kinds of options for him to "complete" his work, not the least of which would be to simply color in the boxes. I decided not to suggest any specific direction or alternative except to say I would encourage him to research further how other artists might have chosen to finish a work like this, and that to me it did need "finishing". He still has two full days before the end of the cycle to work on it. After I spoke with him, he just sat there staring at his paper for the rest of the period. I want him to WANT to do the best job he can and to WANT to feel proud of what he"s done. The quandary I have is how much external input into his intrinsic decisions should I exercise? If he is unwilling to "teach" himself, at what point do I decide what would be best for HIM? As I spell it out here, I think what I will do is discuss with him on Tuesday some options I would think about, show him some examples with a short demo, and then, if he still is not motivated to add to what he has, have him go through the GRADE RUBRIC and answer the questions in it. Perhaps be finishing that process, he might decide that perhaps there might be further actions he could take. If anyone out there has any other suggestions, please post in comments. Be assured I will look at them.
Well, thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy rambling. I hope you share this with others and that you become a follower of the blog and use the opportunity to comment. As I encounter future dilemmas in this process, I will try to be honest in the posting and share them with you.
5 comments:
Some thoughts on self-directed when it is tempting to give some direction:
Start the week with the students setting some goals - "what I'm hoping to achieve this week." You could model this and explain that it is also organic. We often set goals that end up leading us to other goals we hadn't intended to achieve, which push the first goals back in priority. But committing some ideas to paper/computer/voice recording - whatever - gives a spot to check in with and see if I've forgotten a plan that I intended to do. Once "you've" worked through your list, time for a new list. What comes next? First task in the new week, review last week's list for unfinished business. What got pushed back, good reasons? Can take 5-10 minutes (or more if engaged), but could at least help structure time when it doesn't feel structured.
How to "improve" the work in progress. Here is that quality conversation. If the artist is 'done' - quality has been achieved, then you're right, he should assess it and perhaps get some peer feedback. How would someone else 'grade' his work at this point. Can s/he see the quality that the artist was going for? Does a peer have any suggestions? Perhaps that could be built into a lesson as well - find a partner, evaluate progress together to this point. Give each other tips, feedback. Maybe another student will give the push you want him to have but don't want to take away the student directed experience.
So great to be a part of this journey - can't stress it enough!!!
Very good insights. You really get it. Last week I gave them the form I posted on djochum2 called "My Goal is to". I have those sheets in a drawer. I felt it was a way to make them feel like they committed to an action plan. I like what you said about setting a weekly goal. I have them get out their daily logs at the beginning of each period in order to have them handy for taking notes. Tuesday I will have them write down goals for this coming week. Then on Thursday, I'll have them write in their logs about whether they accomplished the ooals they set. I also like the "peer evaluation" idea. I will definitely work that in and post a blog on it. I will use the same rubric question the student is using for the self evaluation. Thanks so much for the feedback.
The "weekly goal' thing might help for some, but might have no effect on others who don't do their work or just don't care for it... I guess its up to them to care or not
Oblivion...you are so right about some benefitting and some not on the weekly goal...and also about caring...takes me back to day one when I had them do a "care survey" and told them I didn't care how much they know until I know how much they care...caring is the NUT of this entire idea...as Robert Pirsig said in Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, "caring is quality and quality is caring...one can't exist without the other..the great thing about this curriculum is that it gives those who "might" care a chance they wouldn't have had and those that never will care will stull learn something about thinking for themselves...win/win...
I would like to tell you that my son enjoys your class. He has told me how much he has learned and that he thinks it is really cool how you do your videos. I would like to thank you for being a great mentor.
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