Last year, I did a “quilt” project with Trish Maunder, who works with the Faith Ringgold Foundation. Trish does her own story quilt idea in school classrooms. During that time she also educates students about Faith and her story quilts.

Students pick a theme and then each student translates that theme into a personalized image. They also need to pick a famous quote or write a poem to accompany their image. The pieces are glued onto a larger piece of canvas with fabric strips covering the seams and then a fabric border is set around the whole thing. They turn out really well.

Well, the founder of my school saw the quilt my class did and wanted another one to auction off at an annual fund-raising event. Long story short, I exploded the original idea into a series of smaller quilts based on the founding principles of the school’s charter IN ADDITION TO the large quilt that would document the school’s growth from conception to fruition. It’s moments like that where I think to myself, “I know, let me put this bag over my head so you can all beat me with a stick.”

Well, the students let me down at the end of last year and I didn’t get much done. So, I ended up having to hijack my two painting classes to complete the work. It’s going to take the entire quarter to get all of the quilts done. I’m just hopeful that when they are all put together that they are strong pieces. Of course, they better sell too! LOL!

Friends tell me they get roped into doing things like this too. Why do we, as art teachers, fall for this stuff? I know on some level I liked the original idea and wanted to see it come to pass. In the end, though, I need to remember my ADD tendency to over-commit. It’s during those moments that I need to remind myself to be practical and realistic. In the end, I know my students better than any administrator because I work with them every day.

So, lesson learned. In the end, though, I’m thankful to 1) have a job and 2) have a job teaching art.

I came back from this year’s Art Educators of New Jersey Fall Conference with some new things to think about. I have to admit to wondering what this year’s conference was going to be like since the State refused the petition for a waiver for schools to cover overnight stays. But, the hotel was booked and things seemed just as crowded as last year.

While my school couldn’t cover my stay at the hotel, they did cover my food, tolls, registration/membership and mileage. The mileage coverage will bring my car rental to about $2-3. (My car has 195k miles on it and the engine smokes if I drive it longer than 15 minutes. LOL!)

I have to admit that one of the classes I signed up for was a dud primarily because the instructor for the class left too much time (an hour and a half) for “playing” and “experimentation” versus walking us through doing certain techniques with the medium. To me, direct instruction in those venues seems to have more value for participants. But, that’s me.

The non-hands on wire animal sculpture session was great and is something I can immediately bring to my classes this year. This plus a couple of other events made it a worthwhile adventure.

I’d love to be able to go to the National Art Educators Conference in Baltimore next year but I can’t swing being away from the family. Plus, my school probably won’t foot the bill. I may try to get there for a day. We’ll see.

Is it just me or is it really just hypocritical that people get bent out of shape over NCLB (No Child Left Behind) whereas the SAT has been around for (seemingly) forever? Ok, NCLB is about federal funds but the principle remains the same, right?

It all comes down to a single test being the defining piece of information about your ability to perform well in college (and, to some, life).

I’ve received a few responses to my last post concerning my students’ complaints during class (Intro to Painting, in particular). I was going to respond to them individually but I’ve decided it would be better to clarify my thoughts in a formal post.

The comments I’ve received can be summarized by Daniel over at kungfu komix—

“Ignore them. Students are always that way.”

I’m sympathetic to this sentiment. On some level I think any art teacher who deals with urban kids or kids taking introductory courses needs to be aware of this (seemingly) pervasive dismissive attitude.

I should have clarified myself in the original post that my distress is also (and perhaps more so) related to the incessant talking that occurs while I’m trying to teach. When I try to address it, the students don’t get it. Sadly, their insensitivity is what most distresses (and, frankly, scares) me.

It drains me because waiting for them to get quiet—which is what I was instructed to do by an administrator— causes my projects to take forever to get done or move forward. And, the fact that the lesson gets drawn out causes MORE complaining from my students. (Yes, they’re clueless to the fact that THEY are the root cause of the delay.)

The students’ insensitivity scares me because it reinforces to me how shortsighted they are to how their own behavior is negatively affecting their education. I’ve tried to clue them in to the fact that, unless they go into a science, medical or engineering field they would use most of the higher math they are learning. BUT, the skills I’m teaching them could be a hobby they enjoy until the day they die. Well, maybe the day BEFORE they die. LOL!

Hopefully, this fills in the gaps on my frustration regarding my students lack of motivation. Additional thoughts anyone?

This week was particularly troubling for me. Emotionally, I was drained by my students’ constant complaints:

• This is too hard
• This is meaningless
• This is so dumb
• I’m never going to use this
• Blah, blah, blah.

Albeit none of these complaints is new or surprised me. I’ll be reflecting this weekend on my personal responses as I do my lesson planning.

My painting class, in particular, has been quite distressing. They don’t understand why we’re learning drawing basics. My attempts at explaining it fell on deaf ears.

What do you do with students who position themselves beyond motivation?

I met with my media specialist yesterday. I wanted to discuss with her the possibility of taking 3-4 students out of my painting class and giving them writing assignments. One of the kids has been asking for this from the beginning of the year because he hates art. (He failed art last year.) We came up with a couple of ideas. We’re going to meet again next week.

The first month of school has passed. Over the summer I thought through what I would cover in the new classes I got approval for teaching.

Unfortunately, while I can change course content I can’t change my students’ hearts. This year, like last, is proving no different with regards to that. I was hoping my frustration level would have matured but my disappointment is already peaking.

I started teaching the kids about the Elements and Principles of Design by tying it to a nonrepresentational abstract drawing project. I showed examples of other black and white abstract works and talked the students through an initial; taking the definitions of the Elements and Principles and describing how I would write about it for that piece of art.

I read through some of the papers and many were poorly done. Because I decided to have them write once a week on a different piece—describing how the artist used the Elements and Principles—I realize now that I will have to provide them with an actual writing sample.

I’ll keep you all posted.

500 Animals in Clay: Contemporary Expressions of the Animal Form was one of two books that came to me last week. I reviewed it looking for inspiration for projects for this year’s upcoming ceramics courses.

I thought this book did an excellent job providing me with examples of what it title says the book is about: 500 animals in clay. From traditional examples to more modern interpretations, this book contains beautiful single-view photos. I would have appreciated a central photo with a couple alternate views in the sidebars simple because the works are 3-D and should be presented as such. But, I didn’t mark them down for that oversight. Oh, and BTW, this is NOT a how-to book. You’ll need to look elsewhere for such a reference.

Overall, I was looking for examples that would inspire me with project ideas as I teach an introductory-level ceramics class for high school students. Obviously, some of the techniques aren’t possible in my school but I’m not looking to copy what is depicted in the book; merely to show off what is possible in a sculptural presentation.

The photography sells the book. Kudos!

Summer is sadly approaching its end. Yes, I know, it nearly brings a tear to my eye as well. After having lunch with a few friends from where I worked two companies ago, I stopped in to Barnes & Noble to look at their art book section as I was needing some inspiration and direction for a couple of new classes I am starting in the Fall.

The B&N in King of Prussia had a pretty good selection. Well, for me it did. I was looking for books specifically about pastels and oil/watercolor/acrylic painting. It shouldn’t have been too hard but I was surprised the amount of material that simply missed the mark.

I’ll give you a simple rundown of the order I placed through Amazon. I’ve already received two of my selections (woo-hoo!) and am looking forward to the others coming ahead of schedule as well. Here’s the list:

1. Pastel School (Learn as You Go)
2. Painting with Pastels: Easy Techniques to Master the Medium
3. Landscape Painting Inside and Out: Capture the Vitality of Outdoor Painting in Your Studio With Oils
4. Oil Painter’s Solution Book Landscapes: XX Answers to Your Oil Painting Questions
5. How to Paint Like the Impressionists: A Practical Guide to Re-Creating Your Own Impressionist Paintings
6. Layer by Layer Acrylic Painting

Yes, I know there aren’t any watercolor-technique books in the list and only one acrylic book. I’ve got some watercolor resources available at my house. I just need time to go through them and think out how to incorporate the info. Of course, what to include is also helpful. I’ve got that to figure out too. Though time is short, it’ll come together.

Well, I’m off to bed. Good night!

School has been more draining than usual so I haven’t been posting and that’s been disappointing to me because I felt like I had gotten closer to being more consistent with my posts. Oh well. I’ll get back to where I need to be.

In the meantime, I’d like to share what’s been going on with the work my students have been doing with Betty Edwards’ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. The things I’ve learned are:

1. It’s okay to extend the lessons somewhat. Since last year I’ve struggled with failing kids. I want to hold them accountable for their performance, but I also want to be mindful that failing a lot of students can be a dangerous proposition when you’re looking to be rehired next year.
2. When you do extend a lesson be consistent so that the pace of the other lessons aren’t negatively affected.
3. Don’t be afraid to fail a kid for work not done (not much of a problem for me) or mark them down for work done poorly (can be a problem for me). This may sound obvious, but I’m a newbie and I know that I need to watch my tendency to be overly critical. I made a girl cry last week. Fortunately, I used the opportunity to show my humanity (by apologizing), to validate how she was feeling and to teach her about appropriate ways of expressing her frustration.

I offer these simple observations to help those who may have used this material before and found themselves in a similar teaching environment as I am now. If you have some recommendations of your own to supplement these, please let me know.

I’m going to try to post a few examples. Some of the work I’ve been getting has been quite good. We’ll see how the kids hold up with the profile portrait and self-portrait assignments.

I’ve been struggling with students who talk incessantly in my class (and, as a result, prevent projects from getting started or completed on time). The problem is pretty wide spread in the school so I’m not alone in my frustrations. However, in my art class it means that projects that should take one class can take two or three classes. And, it gets worse the more complex projects become.

So, what I’ve decided to try is to make those students who take time away from my class make up that time after school and that can be a problem since the kids are bused. For instance, a student who has been out for quite some time and just recently returned has reintroduced a great deal of disruptions back into my class. I’ve already spoken to his mother once about his disrespectful language and behavior. I’m going to be calling her again tomorrow to let her know that her son will need to serve a detention with me and make up time he’s taken away from my class.

Part of me remains uncertain if I should use the time to have students make up work or simply have them do other menial tasks such as cleaning (which is always needed). It’s going to be considered a detention and should they skip it they will receive a Saturday detention (one hour vs. three hours).

What are your thoughts on the topic of discipline in the classroom? Any changes you would make? Does anyone have any strategies for communicating the importance of working diligently at this late stage of the school year to high school students who should know better?