Explorations

Me in the past: 

This is charcoal.  Here are some things you can do with it. 
(students try the things) 

Now make art with charcoal. 

This was the essence of a charcoal Bootcamp. The idea was to have to have a short period of teacher-directed learning that would, in theory, give students the information they needed to explore and create on their own. 

But I've been thinking - how does teacher-directed instruction support independence, inquiry and experimentation?  Does it elicit deep understanding of media and divergent thinking? 

What if, instead, I said: 
Here are a few types of charcoal, here is paper. How are the types of charcoal different? How are they similar? What happens if you add these colored chalk pastels to the charcoal? 
(students work in groups to figure it out, record answers, then share findings with the group)

Later: 
Here is some huge paper. Make a drawing, using what you've learned, that incorporates symmetry. What questions will you need to find answers to before you start?  

​

My work from yesterday, inspired by artist Heather Hansen, planning new content.

This is all hypothetical now, but I'm excited to see how it impacts student learning in my classroom this fall. I'm planning student-directed investigations for all media that will replace my Bootcamps. I'm calling them Explorations.

From the beginning, my students will explore and find their own answers. They will have support from me in at the start, especially in the form of guiding questions, but over time the responsibility for developing questions will shift from me to students. 

I think this will change everything,