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Thoughts on Arting

Making the artists of the future, one learning experience at a time. 

Teaching isn't Linear

2/27/2016

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Picture
The Apex Design Process that students use to work through ideas in the Open Art Room.
Last week I wrote about the content of my ideal art class. Some teachers agreed, others responded with questions:
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That's great, but what about skills?

Students have to learn technique.
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You have to have a plan or it will be a free-for all.
Why do some people assume that TAB means not teaching skills or technique?

I've been thinking about this all week and what I've realized is this: it's hard to visualize a type of teaching other than your own. 

Traditional art classes are linear - the teacher introduces a project and helps the students move through the steps more or less together. Everyone works on the same skill or technique.

TAB classrooms aren't linear- they spiral. In my practice I teach students our Apex Design Process, then support them as they use it to create. 
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One Art 1 student's planning for my painting Bootcamp summative assessment - she started with watercolor, tried two compositions then decided to move to acrylic. We discussed each step along the way as she work to develop the skills she needed to create her vision.
Picture
Her finished work with obvious growth.
 Students move through the steps of the design process at different paces and they use it to work on their own ideas. The key is that they work through it, always learning and growing as artists. 

How could work like this, this and this be produced without the opportunity to learn and develop skills? 

And why are we so quick to dismiss things that are different?

​TAB is teaching, and in art that means skills and techniques are developed. Teaching doesn't have to be linear to be valid and valuable. 
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The Trouble With Art Class

2/20/2016

9 Comments

 
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I once read a question by an art teacher concerned with a student's disobedience. The student refused to do the assigned project. Instead, she was making her own art, which was quite good. The teacher wondered how to punish the student. 
"Fail her."
"Give her a zero."
"She has to learn who's class it is." 
The online community of teachers responded. I disagree, and I suspect many of you do as well. 

Why is art class about completing projects, not about making art? 

Why is art class about learning the rules, not about breaking them? 

There is a better way. Plan activities that teach students how to think like artists. Let children use their own ideas. Give options and guidelines, not steps to follow. Develop voice. Build a classroom that's more like a makerspace than a factory. The student described above? I'd give her an A. I'd ask her about her inspiration and talk to her about her work. I'd help her with an challenges she's having and together we'd figure out how to bring her work to the next level. How else do you teach creativity? ​
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Is Choice Always Choice?

2/15/2016

2 Comments

 
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Choice is a unifying term when we discuss the spectrum of art ed that runs from DBAE to TAB. Almost all teachers offer choice, right? 
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To answer this question we have to think in the context of Choice versus choice. Choice, with a captial C, is a pedigological strategy that TAB teachers use to teach artistic thinking. It relies on allowing the student to make decisions that are meaningfully impactful on the art being 
created - content of work, theme, materials, style, when it's finished and what's next are examples of this. 
​On the other hand is choice, with a little c. This type of choice is present in all classrooms but is not used intentionally to teach creativity. It can be used to allow learners to make big decisions but often it's not, instead it provides superficial choice, like what color to paint the background or where to draw the groundline. These little choices don't add up to Choice and are inherently different. When you really get down to it, are the two images I've included with this writing all that dissimilar? 
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Screenshot of a Google search for "Birch tree art lesson".
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Skills and Application

2/13/2016

1 Comment

 
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The balance between developing skills and teaching for creativity is a tricky one. Finding it has been a goal of mine. My ideal Bootcamp gives students enough information to create a solid foundation of understanding. Then the students are able to build new learning in directions they choose with me and each other as guides.
My Art 2 students are nearing the end of studying the figure and facial proportions as part of Artists Develop Skills. During this unit I've woven one day Bootcamps with mini-projects. They've learned new skills, like body and facial proportions, and applied learning with increasing independence. 
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Bootcamp: Students learning proportion by working in groups to create a life-size figure.
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Mini-lesson: Creating life-size figures that interact with the school campus. In this case a zebra tape mural made last year.
The summative project for this unit was broad and challenging: make art in any media using what you've learned about the figure or the face. I asked students to look at the Bootcamp and mini-lesson sections of this unit as research for the summative project and they all had clear ideas ready when it was time to use them. Many student decided to continue with drawing, but some selected media like oil pastel, drawing with the ipad or painting. 

I've focused on teaching that planning is doing what you need to gather the information you need to be successful in creating. As my students set about planning what to make they used they were very thoughtful about what learning or resources they should use and growth was very evident. 
Picture
One student's planning. She decided to sketch, work on specific details and print a resource image. Other students used grids, watched video tutorials or asked me to demo.
PictureFinal drawing in progress.

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Bootcamps

2/4/2016

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I love Bootcamps. It's been a little over a year since I started using them, with the idea in mind of sort of a center opening on steroids. I like the concentrated skill building that happens in a short amount of time during Bootcamps and I like the flexibility - you can do a few in a block, like I do, or one at a time, like Ian. 
Picture
Art 1 student working with a grid on a value drawing.
I use the Gradual Release Model when I teach Bootcamps. I start with demonstrating new information, having students draw along with me as I talk. Next I have a group learning component, where students interact, discussing and applying what they've learned. 
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Drawing bootcamp group work.
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Quick drawings made before and after learning facial proportions, Art 2
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Group activity to learn about human proportions, Art 2.
Next I have a short session of independent practice, then a longer assignment where students are asked to apply new knowledge that they'd like to explore further in a more open-ended format. These learning experiences are a combination of teacher directed and modified choice. Once my the month of drawing, painting, clay and photography Bootcamps that I do with Art are over, my students tend to be comfortable selecting media independently and can successfully navigate open choice in materials. I do Bootcamps with my more advanced students as well, like facial proportions and figure drawing with Art 2. Bootcamps, however you do them, provide a safe jumping off point for students who are used to following directions instead of making decisions. 
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Summative drawings from drawing Bootcamp, Art 1.
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    Mrs. Purtee

    I'm interested in creating a student student centered space  for my high school students through choice and abundant opportunity for self expression. I'm also a writer for SchoolArts co-author of  The Open Art Room.

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