Underwood's Art Room

It's Aliiiiive!

2011-10-25T22:58:00.000-05:00

Busy, busy, busy! Way back when I last blogged (it seems like forever, not just a month or so) I was actually caught up with my work ~~whatever that means~~. But I was wrong. Or rather, I'm back to being bogged down. I'm up to my eyeballs in art; I don't think I've seen the original surface of my desk in weeks. On the bright side, my darlings are making some pretty fantastic artwork. Now if only I could get it all on ArtSonia...

Other Art Teacher and I are especially busy this month. We've got some big projects to get done before Thanksgiving including setting up a big paper Christmas Tree decoration thing for Literacy Night and getting our kids on the Christmas art bandwagon so that the folks from the South Arkansas Arts Center can showcase it during their production of 'A Christmas Carol'. We're also moving at the end of the month and going to the state conference next week (shout-outs to anyone going to the AR art ed conference!), so we're gonna have to make like a bull--put our heads down, charge full tilt boogie at the target, and hope we hit it.

On a less frenetic note, I wholly enjoyed wowing my firsties today whilst making a cardboard cutlass. Also, I finally finished the mural calendar:

I'm pretty pleased, I've got to admit.

Sketchbook Lesson Part II

2011-09-07T22:27:00.000-05:00

Oh short week, how you mess me up. I spent half the day going to the wrong places because my subconscious kept insisting it was only Tuesday.

Okay, so sketchbooks. I implemented some of those changes I talked about in yesterday's post.
One major thing that helped was simply remembering to set my timer while I spoke. When you only have ten minutes, you find yourself less easily distracted and more prone to succinctness. I pared down the examples to only a couple, one of which included my calendar mural's concept sketches. There were quite a few excited kids when they noticed that the drawings were just like the mural. Score.

I also managed to get a little more student involvement simply by writing a question on the board: "What do you think a sketchbook is used for?" leaving plenty of space to write the kids' answers below. My lesson ended up starting with this little brainstorming session (making sure that brainstorming and practicing as uses were hit upon) to sketches (brainstorming and practice again) to the day's activity.

Going outside pretty much stayed the same, but I went with my "designated drawing spot" plan, and it worked like a charm for the most part. I still ended up fixing about a half-dozen covers, but that's not really avoidable at this point. Ending class, I'm gonna have to change things a bit to maybe just review of the day's information and a little sharing time about what the kids drew. Other Art Teacher really needs a rules and procedures review lesson next week (and I do have a couple new procedures -- taking roll, discipline chart-- that need to be introduced), so we're gonna have to postpone the sketch-to-composition lesson for a week.

All in all, I think it's really just down to timing now. I'll need to sit down at the end of the week and take another look at how things went, but I'm feeling pretty good about it now.

In other news, the Boss Lady approved my tentative plan to do a real mural with the 4th grade this year. In fact, I barely got the proposition out of my mouth before she jumped on it enthusiastically. (Huzzah!) She also would love for the kids to have a t-shirt design contest for Fun Day at the end of the year, so Other Art Teacher and I will need to plan for that. We're thinking of setting up a sort of contest center and letting the kids who want to participate go to that center for supplies. When they're done, some of the faculty and staff will judge them and pick a winner. Should be fun!

Rock on, Boss Lady, rock on.

Lesson: Sketchbooks

2011-09-06T16:26:00.003-05:00

Boy oh boy, what an adventure! ~~I don't feel very adventurous anymore.~~

As I blogged last week, Other Art Teacher and I taught a lesson on sketching today. I really need to be a reflective teacher, so here I go.

First step: I explained the difference between sketches and finished art. I had many good examples that the kids seemed to like (I showed them da Vinci and a couple of my personal sketchbooks). I explained that sketching is like brainstorming with pictures or making a rough draft/practicing for a finished work of art. The kids seemed to mostly get it. I think I need to lecture a little less, however, and come up with some way to better engage the kids at this part.

Next came the travelling portion of our class. After my first class, I decided to line the kids up by calling them by sketchbook. They grabbed it and a pencil and lined up. We walked outside. Now here's where I had a lot of change during the course of the day. I started out by having them turn to the first page and draw a line down the middle. There was some confusion about turning the sketchbooks sideways. In hindsight, I should probably say, "Draw a line across the middle of your page." Far less confusion and worry about turning their sketchbooks the right direction.

The second issue I had was the actual working portion. The idea here is to have the kids draw in each box for about 5 minutes. We were out on the playground, so I had kids swinging and drawing, sitting out by the fence, and climbing up to the tower's top to draw (which is fine, until they need to get down again). I had to yell a lot more to be heard, and it took me a small eternity to travel between clusters of students. I think that in the future I need to keep them all fairly close in designated "drawing spots". They can draw whatever they see, but they have to stay in that spot. We can then move to another spot for the next sketch.

I also had a few issues with drawing on pages they weren't supposed to (though thankfully not too many). One little girl drew on almost every page, front and back. I told her she doesn't get any more paper, so I guess that's an issue I'll have to tackle later. I need to let them know in no uncertain terms that they only draw in one box at a time and do not go to the next page. It would probably help to give them something to do when they've finished, like to close their book and talk with their neighbor. *g*

Also, I had a few covers tear off, and I doubt they'll be the last. Durability is a bit of an issue. I also had a few of the sticks break, so carrying a few extras with me might be good. I had to fix one sketchbook with a pencil and then go back and replace the pencil later. Strangely, my first graders had no problems with this.

The last of my plans for this lesson was to come in and discuss their sketches and how they will use them to create a composition next week. (Which one will you use? What would you change? How would you figure out the colors? Et cetera.) But my timing has been off, and I ran out of time to really do that. Part of the problem is that I wasn't setting the timer at the beginning of class and I went over. Although, there were also a few behavior issues, particularly with second grade who would not stop talking and had to line up in the hallway again. As much as I love all my little darlings in that class, they are still probably shaping up to being this year's Challengers.

At any rate, I have a few kinks to work out, but all in all it's gone just fine.

Sketchbooks, Sketchbooks Everywhere

2011-08-30T22:21:00.003-05:00

Whew! Two weeks of school done with...waaaay more to go. I wanted to blog before now, but it's been super busy these last few weeks. I am so ready for Labor Day weekend!

I've got a full load of 1st and 2nd graders this year (Other Art Teacher traded me some of her 1st grade classes), nearly as many 3rd graders and one 4th grade class, as per usual. (I'm sure they'll love being the only 4th graders--more stuff for them in centers.) They're all pretty good classes so far, and my most troublesome is--thankfully--not troublesome in terms of misbehavior so much as being loud, excited, and bright. They tucker me out, but it'll be a fun class all the same.

I have, however, already had to break up a physical fight this year (although, it was less of a fight, more of a random attack and attempted beat-down). During the middle of explaining the day's project and less than six feet from me, no less. Stressful.

So, projects.

This year, Other Art Teacher and I (as may have been mentioned before) are making a better effort to align our curriculum. We decided to start this year off with sketchbooks. Rubber band sketchbooks to be precise. I don't have much experience with book making, but Other Art Teacher has taken a few workshops on the subject and gave me some info and ideas. I cut paper like nobody's business last week, and the kids got to decorate and punch holes in their covers. This week we are finishing up by actually assembling the sketchbooks.

I know little hands have issues with fine motor control. It's good for them to work on it, but yesterday would not be a great day to repeat. I did, however, learn some do/don't do senarios for this project. It boils down to this: have the kids free-draw while I rotate from table to table helping kids put their sketchbooks together. Right now, I've managed to keep my involvement down to making sure the holes are aligned and holding the book in place so the kids can stick the rubber band through and place their stick. Every so often I and my trusty hole punch need to make an adjustment or two.

On a side note, rubber band books are kind of fantastic. They're easy to make (well, for an adult or older child) and can have paper taken out or added quickly. You stick one end of the rubber band through the first hole and put the stick in the little loop on the other side. Pull the rubber band across the back to the next hole, push it through and loop it over the other end of the stick. Voila, it is done!

Next week Other Art Teacher and I are going to do a small lesson on sketchbooks - what they are and how they are used, what a sketch really is, et cetera. Then we'll go walk-about with the kids and do some observational sketching (hopefully outside, if the weather permits). Normally, we'd be introducing centers, but next week is short on account of Labor Day, and to be honest, I really like the idea of doing an actual sketching/sketchbook lesson.

We'll see how it goes; I still feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants.

Back to the Grind

2011-08-14T15:28:00.004-05:00

Well, this is it. Tomorrow is the first day of school, and I'm running towards it full tilt boogie.

The last week and a half has been a whirlwind of classroom prep. I found out at the end of last term that I was going to be moving classrooms again and that I would be moving into the music teacher's room, as it has a sink. Okay. Student Minions, move my stuff!

The only problem? The music teacher was out for knee surgery and had no idea. Fast forward to now.

When I arrived at school a week and a half ago, it was depressingly obvious that the music teacher hadn't stepped foot inside her classroom since June. (On a side note, this wasn't her fault what with physical therapy and, later, a laid up vehicle to contend with.) So of course, I couldn't start setting up my classroom just yet. Once the Boss Lady determined where to put the music teacher, I hauled every last bit of her stuff to her new room--which, sadly, also had everything still in it, but that's another story all-together.

Finally, I was able to start working on my room. And boy, was there a lot to do. I worked late all week, about 9 hours yesterday, and a few hours today. It paid off, as I am basically ready for school to start (although I'm still waiting on the other half of my chairs). The only thing that didn't get done was laminating stuff, such as a few center signs and the numbers and such for the calendar mural I painted. Apparently the laminator's tension is messed up, and since I don't have clue one how to fix it, I'm gonna have to wait.

On the calendar mural:

One of the discoveries I made about my classroom this year involved a section of whiteboard near the window. Because this section was covered with paper, my first thought was that it was weird but kinda interesting to have a whiteboard and bulletin board sharing a frame. But when I took the paper off, it wasn't a bulletin board! For some reason, the whiteboard had been removed in that spot leaving the Masonite backing.

Why this was done, I have no clue. It seemed fairly useless. Now, since I had run out of bulletin board (I have a blank section, but this is intentional as I use it as a backdrop to photograph student artwork) and wall space in general, I had nowhere to hang my calendar. So I thought, I've got a ton of those little Velcro dots! I'll paint a calendar and use the Velcro to put up the numbers and month signs. And then, because that whiteboard is old, stained and just generally yucky to look at, I covered it with bright yellow paper and taped pictures to it.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Other Art Teacher and I got to sit down last week during PD and get some planning done for the first couple weeks. We're making a concentrated effort to align our curriculum this year, especially as we have plans to trade classrooms every so often to teach a lesson. For example, I would like Other Art Teacher to cover a lesson involving printmaking, whereas I might do something like clay or weaving. It should be fun, and I think the kids will enjoy it too.

So for week one of school, we plan to do a class activity wherein the kids get in groups and answer two questions: 1) What is an artist? 2)What would you like to create this year? We'll condense them onto one paper and hang 'em in the hall. Week two, we start on sketchbooks, which I will be storing in those brightly colored bins taking up three shelves of my bookcase.

Oh, and we also now get our kids for 60 minutes, so Other Art Teacher and I are very excited. Is anyone else starting tomorrow? Whether you are or not, here's hoping for a great first week!

A few pictures of my room for your viewing enjoyment:

I've never tried painting realistic clouds before. It was fun and adds a little pizazz to that side of the room.


The calendar mural. This was so much fun! I'm sad about the laminator; I wanna finish this thing!

End of Year Art Show

2011-06-19T14:59:00.003-05:00

Finally sitting down to post this (I'm slow, but that's no surprise). I was going to have pictures, too, but those are on a computer 6 hours away, silly me. It'll be at least 3 weeks, but I'll try to get the pictures up when I get home.

This year, Other Art Teacher and I decided to do a special 4th grade end of year show as the kiddos will be leaving us for the middle school next year. In the end, it became not only an art show but a fundraiser for our art program. This is how we set things up:

Visitors could make a minimum $5 donation to purchase an artwork (usually their child's), and we would stick a "sold" sticker on the artwork so that people could still view it. Available for silent auction was art donated by our Dean of Students, Other Art Teacher, and myself, along with two 26"x32" matted and framed photograph collections of the best artwork produced by the kids.

The artwork was displayed in the hallway leading to the cafeteria, on one wall of the cafeteria (mostly taped up in the large windows, which looked pretty nice), and on several cafeteria tables that we folded up for makeshift display boards. We also had a couple dozen 3D projects sitting out on the tables which included a fabulously detailed small-scale farm, a castle with a working drawbridge, and a 3-foot robot, flaming jet-pack included. Our kids put in some amazing effort for this show!

In the end, it was a big success for the first year. The kids were very excited about it and worked hard. (My guys, who did the majority of the 3D stuff and all the "murals" worked for around two months--including coming in during recess, after all their classwork was finished, and during activity time. Other Art Teacher's kids did lots of work outside of class, too.) Plus, we raised just over $500 in donations for our program. So thanks to all the students, parents, and teachers who made all of this possible!

Things I learned:

1. In a choice-based classroom, telling your kids that they can do "absolutely anything you want, just tell me what supplies you need" leads to fabulous artwork and effort, but you MUST make sure there are good guidelines and classroom management strategies in place.

I've never given my kids that much free rein in the classroom before, so I didn't really know what I was doing. The result was, predictably, utter chaos. I want my classroom to reach this point of complete creative freedom and self-sufficiency without me needing eight arms, three heads, and rocket boosters just to keep up with my students. Next year I'm going to start working towards this goal in earnest. (My 1st and 2nd graders will probably still be more limited, as they will be learning a lot more of the procedures for the first time.)

2. Aides and parent volunteers are mighty and awesome. Their help is invaluable (and largely aided us in getting set up on time) and should be made use of more often.

3. Children make fantastic minions. With around 100 students in the 4th grade, many with multiple projects for the show, we had a LOT of art to deal with. The kiddos love anything that involves helping the teacher, so it was great to have them mount their own artwork on black paper and haul their projects to the cafeteria. This takes a fair amount of the pressure off.

4. The iPhone can be an excellent classroom tool. I used mine to take snapshots (the quality isn't that shabby either) and as a timer. But I also discovered the voice memo app this year.

I started having my kids write artist statements this year (a requirement for anything being put in an art show). Every grade wrote at least once. But I want to make it easier for the little ones and my accommodation students. Having them dictate to my iPhone (since I have no student computers) means that, if they can't easily write their thoughts down (and legible writing is a big consideration too, haha), they can still tell people what their art is all about.

5. Speaking of artist statements: I found a website (of which there are many) detailing just what an artist statement is. (It's funny how that seems to be the one topic no one ever covered in college.) Ariane Goodwin's article is largely a blurb for her book, but it distills the artist statement down into three things: "what, why, and how you do what you do, from your perspective".

I've found that for most of my students, an artist statement becomes quite easy to understand by putting those three things in question form. What did you do? Why did you do it? How did you do it? At first, details are sparse, but as the kids become accustomed to answering, you can start working on getting them to put more thought into their writing. I've read some pretty fantastic artist statements this year.

5. Physical portfolios are both really great and really difficult. At the start of the year, we had poster board on the supply list so that we could make portfolios for the kids. We even have portfolio holders now. And we made the portfolios. But actually using them successfully, without making mine and my students' lives unbearably difficult? I'm still not sure how that's going to work.

So by and large, this whole experience has been pretty amazing. I've got a lot of good ideas for how I want to do things next year, and I'm definitely looking forward to the second year of the 4th grade art show. Still have to work out a lot of issues, but I'll get there.

Have a great summer vacation everyone!

EDIT July 7:

As promised, the pictures we took of the art show:

Gotta love the giant robot.

Door prizes were lots of fun.

Art Teacher vs. Artist

2011-04-12T22:56:00.003-05:00

When I was in college, the Art Education club tried to host a "Dinner with an Art Teacher" once or twice a year. We would invite several nearby art teachers and all have dinner and then discuss a topic related to our field. For one memorable meeting, we chose to discuss art teachers as artists.

It seemed that a commonality among art teachers was the apparent lessening of personal art making, even a complete cessation for some. One guest speaker told us that she had gone for ten years without making any art--she told us she just couldn't find the time, energy, or inspiration to work on her own ideas. After so much time had passed, she became interested in items she had found at a yard sale and began to photograph them. It snowballed from there, and she became an active artist once again. This led to a very lively discussion. Why was art making left by the wayside? How did they begin creating again and how did this affect their experiences in the classroom?

Now that I am nearing the end of my second year of teaching, I can look back on that evening and really understand what those individuals spoke of. The first year of teaching is hectic. You are learning the ropes, trying to find your place with your peers and students and keep a handle on all the minutia of a classroom. You are preparing for the final exam which will determine whether or not you get a permanent license. It takes a great amount of energy with which to deal.

And I was still a little burnt out from my senior year of college--which was a mad rush from start to finish. (I had injured my shoulder in a car wreck and ended up having to put off my senior showing and my advanced ceramics course until the next semester when I also had to student teach.) Honestly, I'm not surprised at my lack of art making that first year. But it persisted well into the next year.

Young children are always impressed with the things you create, even if it is only a quick demo sketch on the whiteboard. They have a lot of "feel-good" reactions; it's always nice to hear how cool they think your hasty tree or bird is. But in the back of my mind has always been the thought, "I can do better than this, so why aren't I?" That's the million dollar question. Why wasn't I? I had more time now. I was surely no longer burnt out. I still had ideas--I even doodled fairly often. Plus, my kids would benefit from a teacher actively creating art. I had also been looking at Masters programs; the degree I want requires the submission of a portfolio of art created after college. And I didn't have any.

One day I was evaluating artwork from my first graders. Their artwork almost never quite looks like the thing they are trying to portray, and it becomes wonderfully free-form in some cases. As I was looking at a painting, I thought, "Wow. That looks like a huge, grouchy chicken!" (It was a tree, apparently.) The image that formed in my head was so vivid that I couldn't help but draw it. All I had on hand were post-it notes. So, onto the post-it note it went. I even shaded it nicely, slapped down my initials and put a date on it. On a whim, I stuck it to the filing cabinet next to my desk. A few weeks later, I created another. Now, I have made quite a few. They've taken on a life of their own: the Post-it Note Series. They live on the filing cabinet, and the kids love to look at them.

That was my first real step back into art making.

Then workshops started (remember them?). Ms. Sullivan, one of our music teachers, was working with fourth graders on a concert program, and her group really wanted tee-shirts. She asked me if I could help come up with something, and amazingly, I had a finished sketch in less than an hour. I colored it in Photoshop and handed it off. I was almost surprised at how much fun that sort of thing was. (The shirts look great; their group was called "The Treble Makers", ha ha!) Today I handed off a couple of wedding decorations a fellow teacher asked for help with.

It's funny, but now I suddenly feel like an actual artist again. Kind of ridiculous, I know; I didn't actually stop being an artist. But I've gotten back that drive to create. I've been excited at the prospect, and that's something I think has been more than a bit lacking. As soon as those decorations were done, I started working on a new project. I've made good headway on the preliminary sketches, and it's fantastic. It feels like a little part of you is missing when you don't create more than doodles on your notes during a meeting or whilst talking on the phone. I've missed this creative drive, and I hope that I never lose it for so long again.

The third color choice I gave Ms. Sullivan,
but not actually what they chose. (I seem
to have misplaced the JPEG of that one! Oops.)

Done with paint pens. Surprisingly fun!

Week One

2011-01-31T21:30:00.004-06:00

So, week one of my comics workshop.

It was kinda stressful but slowly got better. Day one was by far the worst. The kids in my workshop are by and large good kids, and I know most of them. However, I do have some large personalities (and large voices). That first day was kind of a nightmare, honestly. One boy, who had some behavior issues last year--nothing bad--has been hit with fourth grade attitude. He was all around loud and rude, and made more than one comment about cartoons being stupid (or something to that effect--it's kind of hard to remember thanks to being upset). He and a few other kids were just plain obnoxious for the entire hour.

This behavior threw me completely off kilter because I was already kind of floundering. I wasn't really sure what I was doing, even though day one was supposed to be relatively easy, with a kind of meet and greet, this is what we'll be doing plan going on. I was generally just out of sorts and not doing very well at getting the group on task.

It upset me enough that I thought about that child and that class for the rest of the day. I mean, the very rest of the day. I didn't manage to get to sleep until sometime after 1am. Fortunately, I was able to rally the next day and nipped those problems in the bud (mostly--my kiddos love to talk). I had a better plan and, later, a seating chart to top it off. They didn't much care for that, but it keeps certain students separated so they can work more diligently.

So, week one wasn't entirely a success, but things have been steadily improving. I learned quite a few things about keeping my cool and not letting my joy be diminished. (This is a concept I read about in the last issue of New Teacher Advocate I received. Very interesting read.)

The kids each have a paper portfolio to keep their work in. I took some sheets of 18x24 drawing paper, folded them in half and stapled them, lacking any sort of poster board or even manila folders (which our Walmart no longer seems to carry, grrr). Most of the week was spent going over some basic comics history and talking about tools used for cartooning. On the project side of things, we made sketchbooks. Which was a long, long, process, but turned out alright in the end. Although, the last ones didn't get finished until today. Even for me, punching holes and keeping them lined up was a bit difficult, and it was more so for the kiddos. But everyone has their own 60 page sketchbook now, which they seem excited about.

On a side note, if you are talking to your students about flash animation and can't find any actual animations to show them, the Hoops and Yoyo greeting cards are fantastic. The school firewall doesn't block them, they are great examples of flash, and the kids think they're hilarious. (I think they're hilarious, too! ;D )

This week is a bit more fun I think, as we are getting more into the hands on stuff. Because there are P/T conferences tomorrow, school will be out early and we'll have inservice on Wednesday. So, only three days of workshop this week, but it works out okay.

Today we talked about main and secondary characters and what makes a good character. The kids have learned some of this for writing, so there were some good answers. We also talked about the fact that characters don't have to be people. I cited Courage the Cowardly Dog and Transformers for examples. I even touched on turning an inanimate object into a character. (One of the kids created Ms. Pole, the talking light pole, which was great.) They brainstormed about an original character, things like looks and personality, job, likes and dislikes, and generally whatever they could think of. This was followed by sketching their character out and figuring out the visual design. The final part of this will be to draw their character on a piece of drawing paper and generally make a complete final portrait, which most of them will have to do on Thursday.

After this, we're going to touch on drawing objects, particularly the ones a character might interact with, and environments/backgrounds. Later on in the workshop, we'll get more in depth.

Now for something completely unrelated, I have to teach a lesson this week on procedures in the painting center to ALL of my classes. There has been an increasing amount of misuse of materials and some heinous messes created lately (at clean up time no less), so it's time for a recap. I'm thinking it's not such a bad idea to remind the kids about procedures this time of the year, anyway. A refresher never hurt anybody, and it may keep my classroom from turning into the site of a nuclear meltdown (which would be the mess plus my lost temper).

Workshops Aplenty

2011-01-23T20:08:00.001-06:00

Every year, the entire school participates in something called "Brain-based Workshops". These workshops are meant to stimulate our kiddos' brains and give them more focused support in certain subject areas. Workshops range everywhere from mathematics to drama, depending on each teacher's choice. I wasn't able to participate in this last year as I left in the afternoons to teach at the kindergarten, but I'm pumped up for it this year!

My workshop? Cartooning, focusing more on comic books/graphic novels than animation (although it will be touched on). It starts tomorrow.

From what I've gathered, it's usually something of a toss-up as to how long the workshops run and what your typical students will be like. (Most kids get placed into the workshops they need most, but dedicated students are given the option to pick one of the more "fun" workshops.) This year our first workshop session will run for eight weeks. And we get our kids 5 days a week for a whole hour! I only have 14 kids in my workshop, too, which will be nice.

Exciting, but kind of daunting at the same time. I've never had to plan lessons so closely together or create a unit for 8 FULL weeks. It's been a bit hard to rap my mind around, but today I managed to get myself mostly organized. I brainstormed all the things I think the kids should know about comics, some various activities and bell ringers, and started trying to organize those ideas into a logical progression. I have now have lesson plans for the first three days as well, which will give me some time to write up the rest of my lessons for the week. (Especially as I forgot to plan for the REST of my classes. Oops!)

I'm going to be covering a range of information, especially drawing techniques and story writing. My kids will probably whine a little about that part, but I'm not ashamed to admit that I will be cackling with glee on the inside. I love making my kids write! However, they should all be fairly used to it, as the other art teacher also makes her kids write and plan regularly.

Our first order of business is going to be a short history of comics and animation, a general explanation of what we'll be doing, and a "meet and greet", if you will, as I don't know all of my workshop kids. Days 2 and 3, we'll be making sketchbooks which will be used daily. I see lots of unexpected problems in my future during that activity. But I'm looking forward to it!

No Contest

2010-12-06T17:04:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday (we all really needed the break, I'm sure)!

Other Art Teacher and I got the art show hung just before school let out for Thanksgiving and just in time for literacy night, so we had a lot of traffic through that hallway. It was wonderful! We were hearing a lot of feed back about how good our 1st and 2nd graders did and how great the hall looks with all that art up. Our superintendent even got to see the kids efforts, which is pretty great I think.

Definitely great effort and a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the spring art shows. On an unrelated note, ever since Other Art Teacher and I had the kids participate in the Arkansas Endangered Species art contest, I often get asked, "What do we get if we win?" Sorry kiddos, but you don't get anything, because it's not a contest.

Last week I really started to develop some lesson ideas for the parts of the frameworks I have yet to cover (thanks to my handy-dandy check list). I'm still feeling incredibly awkward about how I want to organize my lesson plans. Do I make units based on the principles and elements? Do I group them on techniques? There seem to be a million permutations I could use, but as yet I haven't found something comfortable. It doesn't help that because I started working with TAB this year, I feel even more random and scattered than usual.

I'm doing robots again with my 1st graders. It's lots of fun! But this year, with TAB, I'm presenting the lesson to the whole group and then offering the actual creation of paper robots as a "project center". So I work with up to six kids at a time on the robots and the other kids do their own thing. (Or maybe I'll end up with robots from the other centers too, who knows!) 2nd grade is working on a short color unit, and my 3rd graders are doing winter landscapes.

It's 4th grade that's really fun and fantastic so far. After working out a few more behavior issues with my wild bunch, we were able to finally start coloring the murals last week. Aside from one group's mishap with a cup of water (!), things seem to be going great. The kids are still really into it, and I'm looking forward to critiques and hanging up their "murals", not to mention officially opening the mural center. (Right now, the kids do have center choice for how they color their murals.)

Speaking of which, I really need to open my fabric center soon. It'll probably be after Christmas, but that gives me time to figure out placement, supplies, and lesson plans.

Done and Done!

2010-11-18T17:40:00.000-06:00

So I spent the last two days crawling around my floor mounting art for the 1st and 2nd grade art show; I am absolutely tapped out. Because of certain issues, we (the other art teacher and I) mounted the artwork on large sheets of black bulletin board paper to be hung on the wall.The way I did mine meant working on the floor was easier than the tables. But I am sore, and my knees feel absolutely shredded.

But everything is hung and labeled now! Yay! We've gotten a lot of positive reactions from teachers and students so far. The older kids keep asking when they get to have an art show (it will be in the spring). I am very happy they're all so excited.

Overall, very pleased with how it all looks and the reactions.

Back in the Saddle! (Or at Least Trying to Blog Again)

2010-11-16T18:56:00.003-06:00

When the new school year started, I had every intention of blogging on at least a semi-regular basis. Alas, I have been lazy. Of course, things have been rather busy...

A lot of my school's PD this summer focused on differentiated teaching. For quite a while I had been playing with the idea of switching teaching styles and using what is called Teaching for Artistic Behavior, which is something that the other art teacher at my school uses and that other teachers have presented on at conference. However, it is so drastically different from traditional styles of teaching that it made me highly nervous. But as we sat through the PD, I decided I would just have to take the plunge. This was, of course, less than two weeks before school started. Did I have any idea what I was doing? Nope.

Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB for short), is otherwise known as choice-based art. The philosophy behind TAB regards the students as artists in their own right, and as such, they are given the freedom to make their own choices about art making (like content, media and complexity) with the art teacher acting as facilitator and general font of knowledge--which is not to say that the teacher does not teach. Mini lessons, as one might call them, are used to cover all your frameworks; the students either chose to do the teacher's lesson or are tasked with including something from the lesson (for example, including lines in their art if that's what the lesson was about).

Students are given the choice of several art centers such as painting, drawing, collage, and clay. They choose their center for the day and begin to create whatever sort of art they like. Students are then in charge of cleaning up whatever mess they make. Generally, if a center doesn't get cleaned up to my satisfaction, I close that center for a minimum of one class period. It's a pretty good deterrent!

So fast-forward to now, and I still don't really know what I'm doing. It is, however, getting better. I can pick my fellow teacher's brain, and I joined the TAB yahoo group which has a huge community full of useful tips, ideas, and encouragements. I also honestly feel less stressed out about things like classroom management this year, which is probably the biggest highlight of switching over; I kinda feel like I've found my inner Zen master (most days anyhow--last week my blood pressure skyrocketed I was so furious with my students!) It's still a little difficult to let go, but I'm working on it. Plus, the kids absolutely love it. As they get used to procedures and what they can do, it seems like most of them are really settling down and starting to create some fantastic art.

This week has been super busy because we're having a 1st and 2nd grade art show this week (it officially opens Thursday). I have 10 classes total to finish grading, mount on the black paper we're using and then hang in the designated hallway. Thankfully I am finally totally caught up with grading and can start mounting. There is a theme for this art show, which is "Fall".

I don't think I'm too keen on the idea of themes for art shows, but the younger ones do well focusing once they've done their brainstorming and practice sketching. I suppose that it's also kinda fun considering the time of year and all. Still, we should have done the older kids first (a bit of an "oops" moment that Other Art Teacher and I had the other month). They have more experience with both art in general and TAB specifically, so I really think we could have done more of a general art showcase with them and then done the same with the little ones during the spring. Oh well. This is the first art show we've done, so I guess it's good practice. At this point, I'll just be relieved to have everything hung and finished with.

Worst Day Since Yesterday

2010-04-14T20:41:00.001-05:00

EDIT: Is it bad that I'm too lazy to go through and change all the present tense wording to past tense? I wrote this yesterday but forgot to post. Blegh.

Really, what can be more embarrassing than having a half-dozen teachers and aides witness a class full of kindergartners pushing your buttons thoroughly until you explode? To be honest, I really couldn't say.

In my last post, I declared that there was a new contender for the title of "the Challengers". Well the kindergartners aren't giving up their title so easily. As you might have guessed, I've had a vexing time today (and I'm not even getting into the standardized testing going on right now--I'm testing a group to help out).

To start us off, I was informed that there was a new student, a quiet and sullen little boy standing near the back of the line. Then, one of my usual troublesome boys was really acting up; I left him sitting outside the office where he--I am sure--promptly fell asleep (I think he needs it anyhow).

I had a nice long talk with the kids about their previous behavior, and they were quite eager to offer up reasons the class didn't go well and how they could change that. Of course, there was plenty of chit-chat and interruptions galore. Nothing said penetrated their brains, I am certain, except for those precious few whom give me no real trouble on most days.

At first, they were marginally well behaved. But by the end of class, well... I didn't lose it like I would have at the beginning of the year, but I felt as though I could have.

Maybe I should have closed the curtains entirely (it really kind if stinks being on display for anyone passing through the cafeteria) and stood quietly while they went insane. Maybe that would have made an impression. I don't know. All I know is that I'm at my wit's end, and summer vacation has never sounded sweeter.

The No Good, Very Bad Day (but at Least it Wasn't Raining)

2010-04-08T19:06:00.000-05:00

I think my kindergartners have a contender for the title of "The Challengers". I have just finished royally chewing out my 1st graders. And I gnawed a little on the fourth graders the other art teacher has (using my classroom). The poor things looked a little shocked, but they were treating their sub quite rudely.

Deep breathes, Underwood. Deep breathes.

Been having trouble with this class for several weeks now (since Christmas in fact), and they've had several instances of very disruptive behavior which was addressed first by putting their heads down and then by writing, as in this post.

Today was just the icing on the cake, the proverbial straw, my last nerve et cetera et cetera. To even be heard (because counting down, ringing the bell, and standing quietly waiting for silence did little to provoke much more than several shushes and a return to previous deafening levels of sound) I had to yell so loudly they probably heard me the next county over. I marched them back into the hall to line up and chewed them out (which was witnessed by their teacher to boot). The final verdict is that they will no longer be doing art, they will be writing about art instead.

Joy.

Now I'm at the kindergarten, and these kids have been hit with a serious case of Spring craziness. I tried, but nothing was getting done. We came outside instead much like the other classes (as much because of general insanity as because the teachers are having a meeting).

The sun is shining, there's a nice cool breeze (80 degree weather this week, geeze), and this group of kids will be having art tomorrow, too, so why not?

My Hero...

2010-03-31T00:05:00.000-05:00

Ohhh Spring Break, how I miss you. It went by far too quickly, and I have learned what the worst day of the year is: the following Monday. I was pretty exhausted, which didn't help (for the curious, check my lj here.)

We had parent-teacher conferences today, and so it was certainly long. I don't get parent or student visitors, and the time is generally spent working in the classroom. It did afford me the opportunity to take down the snowflake mobiles my second graders did; I promised I would give them back after Spring Break. Tomorrow I'll take pictures of them.

Shortly after arriving at the elementary from the kindergarten, I was paged by the office to receive a phone call. Jodie, who is one of the secretaries at the kindergarten building told me that Dr. Warren, our Superintendent, wanted to see me. Do you ever get that feeling in your gut, like you expect to turn around and find it laying on the floor because it's fallen out? I sort of felt like that, only less dramatic. I also had people sing-songing in the background that I was 'in trouuuubllllle'. Those ladies crack me up.

As I have mentioned before, the "artroom" at the kindergarten is a stage. I have no access to water, and so, just before we all left for break, I submitted a grant proposal for the money to buy a portable sink and accessories. They're expensive, usually running anywhere from $700-$2000. So no way can my art budget ever cover the cost. When I arrived at the administration building, Dr. Warren had my proposal and was basically saying that it was ridiculous and unacceptable (though of course far less bluntly said), and my first thought was that I needed to rewrite it or something. But, as it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised.

Dr. Warren, who told me she didn't even realize one could get portable sinks, said that the grant was unnecessary as I should have already had a sink, and I was to fill out a requisition form to be turned in as soon as possible. They're going to buy my sink for me, no fuss, no muss. When I was told I had to see Dr. Warren, I had no idea that it was going to be something so absolutely fabulous! I was seriously squealing like a little girl on the inside. I still am! Dr. Warren is totally my new hero.

Attitude!

2010-03-18T18:59:00.001-05:00

Just recently I have decided that I need only 3 rules for my classroom:

#1 - Have a good attitude.

#2 - TRY.

#3 - Have fun! (Okay so this last one is silly, but I like it and think it's still important.)

No. 2 has been an unofficial rule for most of the year, something that I have continuously pounded into my students' heads. But the first really only occurred to me after today. Attitude is important! Of course I knew this; so do most people, if only in an abstract, back of the mind sort of way. It may go by a different name or phrase -- we routinely admonish the kids to "make good choices".

This week my kids have had a free-draw day, earned each 9 weeks through good behavior. But today's 1st graders have had somewhat appalling behavior since Christmas, and as a consequence, they lost their free day. Now, as it so happens, I had nothing planned for this eventuality. So I got out a quote on attitude, one that my college mentor teacher gave to recalcitrant students to copy. I had the children sit quietly with their heads down while I explained to them exactly why they didn't get free day. Then I read the quote:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes. -- Charles R. Swindoll

I feel that this quote is something of a truism, and I was really getting into it. After reading it aloud, I further expounded upon how important having a good attitude was. I'll admit I was on a bit of a tear (they've been incredibly frustrating for months now--talking, sniping, arguing, tattling, the list goes on). I wasn't shouting, but I was loud and rather vehement, gesturing and pacing through the room. And I'm not sure why (or even if I wasn't imagining things), but it seemed to me that for once the kids were actually taking in what I was saying instead of letting it go in one ear and out the other. Time will tell, I guess.

And then they spent the rest of the class copying that quote.

Now, having thought back about today and how thoroughly I lectured my students, I've thought about how this all applies to me, not just in my teaching but in my life. Attitude really is one of the most important things in life, and I think it's something that one should always try to keep in mind.

As an instructor of small children, I know that how I feel has immediate effect on my students. If I am unenthusiastic, so will they be. I've noticed that my students are always more difficult to keep on task if I'm feeling low energy or low on excitement. And it makes it hard. But I also know that if I just take a few minutes before class to breathe, and to do whatever I need to do to change my attitude, the whole day just brightens. Both my students and I will have much more fun. Sometimes, I just need to do something utterly silly like wave my hands wildly in the air and jump up and down or have a quick stretch. It wakes me up! (Sorry, theater person here; we do crazy warm ups like that.) Or maybe I'll read a bit of an interesting article or funny anecdote. Sometimes I start the class speaking with a silly accent; giggling kindergartners can really lift my mood. But if I ignore my less than wonderful attitude, I end the day feeling disillusioned, exhausted and put out.

It's something to think about. If I police my current attitude and try to keep to a positive outlook, will things go more smoothly, even when they don't? I'm not sure, but I think that it will at least make me feel better, more productive, and more fulfilled.

March Madness

2010-03-01T16:24:00.004-06:00

It's funny, the last week or so, I've been feeling a lot more "awake" (which is ironic, considering some of the hours I keep) than usual. I think I know the cause: I started a lesson last week with my 2nd graders that I've been looking forward to for some time.

A wonderful thing, that enthusiasm. I need to get more pumped about the other lessons I've been teaching, too, and stop feeling like an automaton.

The lesson is on Pysanky AKA Ukrainian Easter eggs.

When I was a kid, I used to watch Reading Rainbow. (Is that still around? I hope so; it was fantastic.) One of the stories on the show was "Rechenka's Eggs", a story about an old woman who rescues a goose; the goose lays beautifully painted eggs as repayment for those it broke. A very lovely story. Afterwards, the show featured a segment showing the audience how the eggs are made. I was (and still am) fascinated by how intricate and beautiful the eggs are.

When I was ordering supplies at the beginning of the year, I found the book in a supply catalog and got it. As the 2nd graders are going through a pattern unit, I felt this would be an exciting project with lots of depth--culture, design, fun--and it's 3-dimensional, which the kids haven't really gotten to do yet, unless one counts the snowflake mobiles we created recently.

I can't, of course, provide 40 some-odd 2nd graders with real eggs, for various reasons, so I've decided to get plastic Easter eggs instead. The eggs will be hot glued together, so as to survive the project as a whole egg, and then they will be gessoed white (gesso is canvas primer for any non-artists reading this--it's usually white and is thicker than normal paint, so it should provide a good working surface). In lieu of dye, the kids will use tempera, and I'll apply a coat of spray varnish to give the eggs a glossy, finished look, which is also the final step for real Pysanky.

I haven't written out the entirety of the project's lesson plan, just what I need for this week and last, but I'll be hashing it out as I glue egg halves together this weekend.

When I'm not occupied by lesson planning, I've been playing catch-up with Art Sonia. I signed up for it near the beginning of the year, but just never found the time to get any pictures taken. I have a LOT of artwork to photograph, but I'm about half-way done. I've got two more 1st grade classes to do and eight kindergarten classes. Sadly, 1st and kindergarten each had about 3 times the finished work than 2nd or 3rd grade, as their projects have tended to be shorter in duration. But I'll get it done eventually.

In other news, I'm still waiting to hear back from a Praxis III examiner. I signed up at the beginning of last month to take the exam during March. I won't be terribly put out if it gets pushed into April, as I know how swamped they are, but that's not going to stop me from checking up on them periodically. I'd really like to get it over with, and I really kind of wanted to show off the Pysanky lesson. Ah well. Six to one, half a dozen to the other, as my father would say.

Now Presenting: A Crucial Step for Surviving Kindergarten

2010-02-26T16:03:00.000-06:00

Roll your eyes towards the heavens, take a deep breath, and let it out--slowly, lest you explode. Repeat as necessary.

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword (or Most Other Consequences)

2010-02-16T16:21:00.001-06:00

When I was student teaching, my mentor teacher introduced me to the concept of writing as a consequence of misbehavior (or rather, reintroduced it, as I certainly didn't make it through school without having to copy definitions now and then).

Flash-forward a year, and I had yet to utilize this consequence with my own students. Until last week, that is. For the last few weeks, one of my 1st grade classes had been acting up terribly, and I finally had had enough. The "attitude paragraph" came to mind, and so I told them that they would be spending the next class writing instead of making robots.

Now, despite the fact that they wouldn't be making art, I didn't want the kids to write a bout something completely unrelated to the subject, so I found a handful of simply worded art definitions for them to copy. (Any flashbacks to elementary school yet?) They sat and wrote the whole forty minutes. If they finished early, they started over. The next time I had that class, the behavior was much better, and we were able to start working on the robot project.

The week before last, one of my 3rd grade classes had some atrocious behavior, and out came the definitions again.

On an individual basis, I use a check mark system. The first check is like a warning, but I think my consequences were simply too vague for my students. I'm not even entirely clear on them either! I've decided to go with the writing. Two check marks will result in copying a half-page of definitions (which is roughly 5 or 6 short sentences) and 3 nets 'em a full page plus a talk with their teacher. I've yet to have a child get more than 2 checks so far, so hopefully that trend will continue!

Going in Circles

2010-01-20T19:03:00.000-06:00

Well I encountered a few more interesting challenges last week, and for once they didn't come from kindergarten.

My lovely 2nd graders have been in the process of creating snowflake mobiles since just before we left for Christmas break. Last week I had intended to finish the project off by having them tie all their snowflakes to a straw with fishing line. It was, shall we say, terribly optimistic of me to assume this could be done quickly and cleanly in the span of 40 minutes. Not. So. Murphy and I? We're bossom buddies. In either case, I'm going to need another day to wrap things up.

In one of my 1st grade classes, I had a particularly frustrating (and kind of sad) situation crop up. The kiddos are using basic shapes to make robots right now. One of my students wasn't drawing anything, pulling the old "I can't" card. So I do my usual spiel about trying anyway, but still I get vehement (read: sullen) protestations. The kid was adamant that all she could make were letters, which is totally bogus. I suppose there's something about this particular project that is causing major brain blockage, because usually she will jump right in and start drawing stuff.

I tried everything I could think of (with twenty other children vying for my attention, at any rate). I drew an example shape (we focused on a circle). I made a dot-to-dot. I even stooped so low as to guiding her hand for her, hoping she would get a feel for it. I could barely get her to hold the crayon--all she would do is make a "c" and claim that was all she could do--even on the dot to dot. With the guided drawing, she completely relaxed her hand to drop the crayon when we hit the c point. She just STOPPED at near completion, and that was it. Some of her peers tried too, but they weren't any more successful. Maybe I should have tried an "o". Sadly, I didn't think of that until it was too late. Also, I'm hesitant to label it beligerence or a desire to get out of drawing; she's always very enthusiastic.

At the moment, I'm stymied. This week I'll be ready to try again, but...it's frustrating!

2010-01-12T16:30:00.001-06:00

I have been incredibly remiss in regularly updating my reflections these last couple of months! Shame on me.

It always seems that when I feel like there's something to reflect on and blog about, I never have immediate access to my blog. I suppose it shouldn't matter; for example, at the moment of writing this entry, I am using Notepad, to be copy-pasted at a later time. Doesn't seem all that difficult, I know. But somewhere in the grand scope of things, it just didn't occur to me to do it, or it became an excuse not to write. In short, I've been lazy.

But my New Year's resolution is to STOP--being lazy, that is.

The week following the holidays was quite slow and easy; the kids (all but one class) had earned free days for the 9 week period, so every class got to have free time while I kicked back and putzed around at my desk. Not exactly the most stellar method of getting back into the swing of things. It is now our second week back, and I have managed to kick some of the laziness in the butt. I have some great lessons with my kids--unfortunately, I still end up dragging because I'm just not getting enough sleep. Going to bed in a timely manner is perhaps my most difficult challenge! But I've got to do it.

This week, my kids are doing the following:

K - Non-objective dot pictures. They have a lot of fun with it, and it kind of builds on the book we read before the holidays (the Dot). Today I even had a couple kinders who used the term as an answer to a question (correctly, if you don't count actually saying the word right), and I was thrilled to death! I have no idea what I'm going to do with my 2-day a week kindergartners, but I have until Friday to figure it out.

1 - These guys are making ROBOTS. They love robots, so dropping names like R2D2 and Optimus Prime or Bumblebee gets them all sorts of excited. What this lesson involves is looking at a print of a robot sculpture I have (it is made from things like retro TVs--very cool) and identifying basic shapes therein. Then we talk about how robots can look any way they want, not just humanoid, or rather "people-shaped", and how shapes could be put together in fun ways to make a robot. Yesterday was the guinea pig class, and they got it, but there was a distinct lack of imagination and a lot more "copy completely or partially the teacher's example and the picture on the board and the stuff in Transformers". I was a little disappointed, but it went okay. Today though? They blew my mind. I did a demo on the board (and erased afterwords) and we talked about thinking. In otherwords, think about what your robot looks like. Can it fly? Does it have arms? A head or face? Wheels? Absolutely NO copying something they've seen before. They had some incredibly detailed and imaginative robots at the end of class, and I can't wait to take these pre-sketches and make some awesome robots next week.

2 - Now, the second graders are probably completly exhasperated with me as we still have to finish the snowflake mobiles we started before the break. Right now they are more snowflake and less mobile. But we'll be finishing them up this week, and I will hang them from the ceiling (where they will likely remain right up until Spring Break, lol).k

3 - Third grade is currently in the midst of my "baby", that is, the unit I created as an assignment during my student teaching. They are into the third and final project of the unit, the Laurel Burch project. This week, we looked at and discussed some of the artist's work and discussed how she used color, line and pattern to convey emotion to the viewer. We talked about themes, in this case friendship, and did a brainstorming worksheet. On this worksheet, we all brainstormed 8 friendship action words like play and hug. Then the kids had to assign each word an emotion and each emotion a corresponding color, line, and pattern. Not everyone finished, but that will be for next week. The backside of the worksheet contains two areas for pre-sketches, which they will be required to complete before they can start the drawing on their 12x18 paper.

In other news, the Challengers are once again challenging me--go figure.

My classes with them have not been as incredibly frustrating as they were before (this may be due to a return to a more, shall we say, hard-nosed approach wherein I give out sad faces and sad notes at the drop of a hat), but nonetheless, they frustrate me. I don't know what it is about my kids, this class in particular, that makes me lose it and be all raised voice grrr. But I do. Today I had to kick out a child in my class--twice, no less--and it was the same one who got removed to the office for dumping 2/3 of my table supplies on the floor and throwing markers. I started the class by dropping him outside the office as we passed because he was doing his usual messing with the other kids acting up thing and told him to come to class when he felt ready. He came back about halfway through and got to work. Had one marker thrown, but otherwise okay.

Then he started acting up more, so he along with some others ended up with a sad face. then he got a sad note and began to throw a small fit that included the shoving of my marker bin across the table. Where it not for the presence of other kids around the table, it probably would have ended up on the floor. this was about five minutes to the end of class, but I sent him to the office anyway to sit outside. he dragged feet all the way to the end of the cafeteria (so of course now I'm having to shout across the caf at him) and basically doing everything he can to not actually leave. An aid happened to be going that way, and she had to walk him out.

Okay, so now I've got to settle the rest of the class (who always take any opportunity to chatter that they can) and get them lined up and back to their home room. Goes just fine. After this, I sat and talked with my little trouble-maker. It didn't do much good, as he really couldn't get past the stage of crying and protesting that he didn't "want a sad note!" I explained why he was getting one, but I'm not sure he actually payed any attention. He really just didn't want one, and I don't think this particular kiddo really got why what he did was against the rules.

He is honestly my most challenging student as far as behavior goes. And I know that I'm not handling it correctly. Problem is, it's proving to be incredibly difficult to change how I behave when confronted with his misbehaviors. Part of the problem is that the whole class is kind of wild, so taking the time to deal with one student seems to give them cart blanche to go wild. But really, I just need to stop and breathe. I need to THINK before I react. Gah. Back to the drawing board.

2009-11-17T19:15:00.002-06:00

A week or two ago, we had to submit our professional development plans for the year. As always, my mind is occupied by a certain kindergarten class and their vexing and stroke-inducing behavior. Now that we are in the second 9 weeks, I have this class twice a week--needless to say I am ever so excited. Putting sarcasm aside for a moment, I have to say that I genuinely like these kids on an individual (and occasionally small group) level. Together, however, they are...wild, to put it mildly.

Naturally, my PD Plan for the year revolves around the theme of classroom management. This class--which has brought me to the point of tears, which has made me laugh, which has both darkened and brightened my day--is my challenge.

For the last week or so, I have been scouring the internet looking for solutions other teachers of kindergartners have implement in their classrooms, trying to find ideas that I can use. Effective ones, hopefully. I also stumbled upon this site: Dr. Mac's Behavior Management Site. So far, I am liking the strategies I've been reading about. Therefore, I'm going to start implementing some and see how things pan out.

As you can probably guess, I will be focusing especially on that class. If I succeed with that class, I can succeed with any class. That's the feeling I get. Plus, I want very much to be able to do projects on the same level I do with the other classes.

For example, at the moment I am doing collage with my two 2-day/week classes. Or, I was. The first class, probably one of my best behaved groups of kindergartners, are doing an 18x24 collage of a pumpkin patch. They are all working in "teams", with each table forming a team. It's challenging for them because they have to share so much. They can't claim a pumpkin as their own. They can't claim the paper they tear as their own. The result is some squabbling and some whining, but the result, I think, will be a good one, even if the project itself isn't up to par. They need to experience such a large-scale group project.

Now the next class (and lets call them the Challengers for future reference) were going to do smaller collages, working in pairs. I thought better of myself when I actually had them. I know that they are not ready for dealing with this particular project. I had them do individual pumpkin drawings. They aren't doing torn paper collage because the mess would be incredible. I would see glue painted on people, on the table...the possibilities are endless (there's a reason they are banned from painting for the foreseeable future). However, I told them that we would try a team collage around Christmas--if their behavior improves. That's my goal.

This week, the strategy I'm going to employ is "catching them being good". Basically, much subtle (or more blatant for the little ones) positive reinforcement. Having read some of the experiences of other teachers utilizing this (even with what were considered "bad" classes), I feel like it might have some very positive effects. I'll keep up with it for a few weeks to see how it works.

When we return from Thanksgiving Break (everyone will be starting fresh on projects and such), I am also going to go with something I read on a message board and change my class stars system to see how it works. Currently, the class starts with four stars and loses stars for misbehavior. I'm going to try letting them earn stars instead, with up to 4 stars possible during class. Since our classes are forty minutes long, that means every 10 minutes I will evaluate class behavior and determine whether or not they have earned a star. I'm going to tell the kids that they can politely remind me if I forget to evaluate for now, but in the future, I may try a timer if I'm having problems remembering. It depends. I think this will mesh better with my star board system, too, wherein the kids earn a star for good behavior and get a prize every third star. Generally, the behavior of my kids at the 1-4 building is pretty good, but I'm hoping this will further improve some undesirable behaviors.

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

2009-10-29T22:37:00.002-05:00

Today felt like Monday, and I am totally exhausted. There is every possibility this post will make little to no sense in places. Hopefully I am awake enough to avoid that. : p

So yes, I am doing a lesson on Where the Wild Things Are. And such a funny coincidence that I started just when the movie came out (which I still totally want to go see). The lesson was recommended to me by my mentor teacher from Internship, and I'm doing it with the kindergartners right now.

It's quite a lot of fun. Except for that class that got banned from painting FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR because they were so completely out of control. I'm talking about a child covered from head to toe in paint, paint on the floor, paint on the wall, the tables (and not the top) and chairs. Paint. Everywhere. Egad.

But I digress.

So, lots of fun. Today I had a pretty hyper class, so I did something different. We were reading the story, they were fidgeting badly. When it got to the part were the "rumpus" occurs, I suddenly decided that we would rumpus too. After I showed them the pictures, I told them to line up behind me, and we marched down the stairs into the cafeteria and had our own wild rumpus around the room.

It was very fun and the kids loved it. It also had the pleasant side effect of settling them down, especially when I told them that if they made good choices and worked hard, we'd do it one more time before they went back to their homeroom. And the walk back to class was spectacular! These kids are pretty noisy in the hall, but today? Total angels. Awesome, and a great way to end the day (not counting bus duty of course). Now I'm wishing I'd thought of it earlier so that all my classes could enjoy it. There's next year, I suppose.

On another note, I totally feel like I'm getting back into the groove of lesson planning. When I sit down and really think about a good, involved project, I plan in units. After all, I have to have lessons building up to that great project I want to do! I can happily lay this revitalization at my fellow art teacher's feet, as she was the one who prompted me about my planning process, and because yesterday was an in-service day, I had plenty of time to get my brain jump started and plan.

I started with 3rd grade, as they needed a new lesson for next week. Somehow, my brain got caught on abstract art, and now I have a whole unit (comprised of 4-5 projects) all mapped out and am extremely pleased. All I have to do now is flesh out each individual lesson. I'll say more about the actual lessons after I've worked on them more.

I decided to precede the unit with my much smaller Laurel Burch unit to give the kids an introduction to some of the concepts the abstract unit will cover, like communication through line and color (hopefully I will not be lazy and upload the lesson plans this weekend). Since the LB unit will take about 5-6 weeks (I've got them for 40 minutes a week), I'll have plenty of time to work on the new unit. I'm excited and raring to go on it and the other grade levels!

Homework Lasts Forever

2009-10-01T17:10:00.002-05:00

Wow. It’s the seventh week of school already, and while I have settled into something of a routine, I still feel like a rank amateur. I’m sure I will for some time to come. As the days fly by, I have, however, come to realize that yes, I do love this job. (Despite the difficulties with certain classes, there are many more enjoyable moments.) We’ll see if this attitude holds for the rest of the school year.

These last few weeks, I haven’t been reflecting through writing as much as I should have been, but I have been thinking things over a lot. I’ve gotten at least a few areas of improvement pinned down (and fodder for the Professional Development Plan we’ll be required to hand in soon), especially in the area of lesson planning and classroom management.

Back when I was in college (as though that was so much longer than half a year ago) I was accustomed to a heavy workload. I took 17-18 hours a semester, spending my days and evenings working on papers and in the studio and studying for tests. I also was working to keep my academic scholarship, so good grades were doubly important. Now that I’m no longer in school, things are a little different.

It seems that there is a place in your brain that says around this time of year, “Shouldn’t I be turning in something? Do I have a test coming up?” For a while, your mind is stuck in the habit of being a student, hard to break after so many years. But there is a larger part that says, “Woo-hoo! No more school for the REST OF MY LIFE!” It is exultant. And there is something about that which makes you want to become utterly lazy. I don’t even have to create those monster lesson plans that we all have to use for our education courses, much less write up a detailed and thoughtful reflection – all of which were graded.

That’s not to say that I’m not putting any effort into my duties as a teacher—I am. But I could be working more efficiently, putting more thought into the week’s lessons. I utilize a great deal of lesson plans from other teachers. A few are my own, and I don’t expect that to change over night. As I learned during my student teaching, creating a meaningful and successful lesson plan or unit takes a lot of time and effort. I don’t have time to create one for every class all at once. It has to be gradual.

But when I am creating a lesson, or pulling ideas and giving them flesh, I still need to sit down and really plan out how it’s going to work. What are we going to talk about? What skill will we learn? In what order should things be presented?

It’s like I am flying by the seat of my pants.

It’s really hit home this week. My third graders started still lifes this week. I’ve never actually done still lifes with elementary kids before—or anyone for that matter. But I thought, “Hey, how hard can it be? I did them all the time when I was a student!” The problem is that I underestimated a third grader’s capacity for sheer bullheadedness. They ask you why and what the point is. They complain about their inability to draw whatever objects you have laid out. I didn’t take into consideration that they need to really build up to something like this. Drawing real objects can be tough for an adult artist, much less a child who may be still gaining control of their fine motor skills.

Thankfully, I can learn from my “guinea pig” classes. For the next class, instead of jumping right into the actual still life, we did exercises to help ease them into it. I also changed the objects being used. Because it’s fall, and I was at Wal-Mart anyhow, I picked up two of those cute mini pumpkins you see, a regular orange one and a white and orange striped one for variety. Their shapes are fairly easy to see and draw: an oval and a circle, ignoring the stems. Hopefully, this will bring the project down to a level that is easier to succeed at for my students, all without sacrificing the skills and ideas I am trying to teach them.

But again, this just hammers in that I really need to focus on planning better. I need to go step by step and consider, “Will this work?” I even need to plan out what I’m going to say—to a point. In other words, I need to pretend like I’m still in college, and these lesson plans are for a grade.

In a way, they are--intangibly. I’m being graded every time one of my students succeeds or fails, and I’m being graded on whether or not I did everything I could to help them succeed. If I haven’t, I’m already failing.

For that Bug Under a Magnifying Glass Feel

2009-09-10T18:15:00.001-05:00

Today was the day of my first observation. My boss, the principal, sat in on my first kindergarten class today for roughly 20-25 minutes (and she'll be sitting in again tomorrow to observe one of the kids). I'm just glad that I'm used to having people sitting in to watch me teach (due to my internship last spring), or I might have felt nervous about more than a just faint fear of the class' behavior. Luckily, this first class was very well behaved, as they generally are.

Once again, the project was sponge printing. This time, I was better prepared. I found my rags (which had been in plain sight in my supply closet the whole time, of course) and so was able to conduct a much smoother clean up. My Love & Logic strategy feels like it's starting to work. I still need to finish the book, of course, and it will take some time before I truly begin to get the hang of it, but I ended on a good note today.

Now, I think I need to rewind and go back to the first class of the day.

I had 2nd, 1st, and kindergarten today, in that order. 2nd grade is doing a contour line project right now. They have a piece of standard sized paper and write their names on it in big block or bubble letters. Then, they color with colored pencils. A wonderful, no mess project, but something I can still work on reinforcing classroom procedures on. Plus, it was one worry taken away from all the rest, which is never a bad thing!

This class is one of my rowdier ones, but they actually did quite well. There is a table that I am pretty sure needs to be broken up and spread out, so sometime before next Thursday, I need to break out my seating chart and switch people around. There was a whole lot of "they're pushing the table into me!" and "he kicked me!" and squabbling going on. I ended up moving one girl to work at a desk alone, and another boy moved to a single desk --his own decision-- to work. But sadly, despite how well the class worked after this problem got figured out, I still ended up feeling like a complete heel.

Early in the class, I had given the little girl I moved a check mark because she wasn't paying attention. Later she had been working so well that I told her she could put her name on the Star Board. Unfortunately, my own criteria is that if the student gets a check at any time, they are no longer eligible for the Star Board. (Incidentally, another boy got his name up and then got it taken down because he got a check mark right at the end of class.) I later had to go back and take her name off the board because it should never have been there at all. Of course she started silently weeping. And what could I do? I felt awful, but it is very clear that if they have a check they can't get a star. I couldn't just let it go, could I? Ooohh.... That was a big lesson for me, I guess. I really need to be consistent, but I have GOT to pay attention to things like that so that I don't end up being inconsistent or just plain "mean". If I had never told her to put her name up (because I remembered her check mark), she would have been just fine at the end of class. Instead, I am now a horrible, horrible Indian giver. Woe!

Fast forward back to kindergarten...

My last class was my third worst class. (Why are they always the last class? Why can't they be the first class, so that I can end on a good note?) When I arrived, their teacher was very obviously at the end of her rope. I figured, "Oh man, they are gonna be crazy!" But they did really well today! I was so excited, I had to brag to their teacher (who really needed to hear that) and to the principal and office ladies. They were a lot more talkative than some classes, but they listened really well for the most part. Everyone finished their project. There was no big scary clean up chaos (except for the two inch dead roach I found floating in my water bucked after school--eeeeeeewww). And miracle of miracles, they walked back to class quietly. I only had to stop a couple times and ask those who were horsing around, "Will you settle down better here or at the end of the line?" I think we all know what their answer to that was. Joy!

Really, the only thing I have to deal with now is putting my drying rack together; so far, it's not working so well. I think I need to put some WD-40 in the screw holes to deal with the rust, first of all. Then I can deal with the pain of trying to hold the parts together while getting a screw in correctly. Blah. Fortunately, I'm done with painting for at least a week. Tomorrow is the Monday/Friday group, and they are doing very basic collage right now.

.....until Monday, anyway. Painting paper for the Hungry Caterpillar collage, I recall now. So I do kind of need my drying rack. Oh well. That's what the weekend is for!

The Metaphorical Straw

2009-09-09T21:14:00.001-05:00

As the days have passed, I've been noticing something of a trend within my classes. Namely, my most frustrating classes seem to be solely kindergarten. Now I love those little guys, but there are classroom management issues that make me want to tear my hair out. Or cry, which was something I expounded upon in a post on my livejournal here. Essentially, there are certain classes that get so out of hand that I end up shouting. They just ignore me, or they forget about it by the next time they come to class, and all I end up with is a sore throat, a headache, and the urge to cry (or scream, depending upon the day). This is unacceptable to me.

I know that as a new teacher I'm going to run into problems like this. Not only are these kiddies very new to school in general (I've been told that many didn't even go to Pre-K), but they almost certainly have not been sequestered with twenty other excitable children on a too small stage doing structured art lessons. That is not to say that all my classes are bad. Most of them go quite well, in truth. But the ones that don't...those are the ones that really get me.

When I was in school, my professors touched upon the Love & Logic style of teaching. We were even required to get the book for class. But, it was never something that I truly understood. We didn't read much more than a few passages, and talking about it in class proved a bit too abstract to digest. It's something that I need to attempt to put into practice to really get the gist of. Well I kept that book, and I've been reading it more and more voraciously as the days pass. You see, I don't want to be the teacher who yells all the time and who must resort to threats and bribery to gain a shakey control over her students. I want to be the teacher whose students CHOOSE to behave, because it's my classroom and because they are making good choices (an oft used phrase in our school district's classrooms).

Having sworn to immediately attempt to put into practice Love & Logic, I went so far as to highlight important parts of my book and even take notes, as though I were back in college! But it helped. Today was the day I only have 3 classes, so it seemed easy to start off with. And it is also the day that I have the kindergarten class I consider the second most unruly. Here's the rundown:

At the elementary (1-4) I had only a 1st grade class. They are currently doing a Kandinsky based project meant to introduce them primarily to lines. It was one of the better behaved classes. I began conciously trying to use Love & Logic phrases (or Thinking Words, as the book calls them) when speaking with my students. I tried to give both the class and individual students choices several times during the class (for example: "You may choose to use a minimum of three lines up to a maximum of all the lines we talked about. It's up to you."). I also tried to use the strategy detailed in the book for garnering my class's attention. Using a phrase like, "When everyone is sitting quietly, I will be glad to tell you what we're doing today." Seemed to work pretty well.

After this, I left for the Learning Center to teach my two Kindergarten classes of the day. The kids are doing sponge monoprints this week, and focusing on basic shapes. So, painting. (And let's keep in mind that I do not yet have any drying racks--unless you count spare bookshelf space.) Right off the bat, I made a few mistakes in terms of procedures. For one, I could not find the rags I intended to use in class for clean up and had forgotten to bring the ones in my classroom at the other school. This means that clean up involved a stop at the bathrooms to wash hands. Having never needed to do this before, I had only the vaguest of ideas on procedure, gained by idle observation of classroom teachers as I went to pick up my class of the day. The first class, having been mostly calm, was relatively okay. But my last class....well. Back to that in a moment.

As I said, the first class was pretty well behaved. I began by using the same strategies that I did for first grade. I had some gratifying successes as well. A couple of boys were pushing each other and horsing around in line on the way to class. I stopped the line and spoke to them calmly. I said, "Boys, we're supposed to be making our quiet signs in the hallway. Do you think you will settle down better here or at the end of the line?" Of course, no 5 year old wants to go to the end of the line! They both felt they could calm down where they were--and they did. The class as a whole went well. They were all highly excited to paint (it seems like all these kids want to know is if they will be able to paint), and they responded very nicely to my strategy to get them quiet. I didn't have to raise my voice unneccarily at all. Then there was the mild chaos of clean up, as mentioned above.

The second class started out just as well. I had a few more talkers in this one and a couple who liked to get up and wander (and mess with other kids' art, sadly), but everything went rather smoothly until clean up time. While nowhere near the level of chaos of yesterday's class, it was still rather bad. I still did not need to really raise my voice (though I will admit to curbing the urge to yell once or twice), and we managed to get lined up and to the bathrooms alright. This is where it was just awful. They were loud and crazy, and their teacher came to help me out because she could hear them down the hall. Talk about embarrassing. And yet, not, because I was frankly kind of relieved!

I was just worn out after that, and again, tense and headachey. But something about trying with the Love & Logic helped me to be less stressed and upset than I would have been otherwise. Tomorrow will go more smoothly, I think. For one thing, I'll have my washrags!

An Introduction, of Sorts

2009-09-08T23:10:00.002-05:00

For anyone who may stop by, let me first welcome you to my blog. It's purpose is this: to allow myself an easy method for reflection and to perhaps give others ideas and help in their own classrooms.

When I was interning this past Spring, one of my standing assignments was the completion of several journal entries throughout the semester detailing my experiences during the course of the internship. I was to examine the good, the bad and the ugly, as it were, and if so desired, my thoughts and feelings as well. I discovered it to be a highly useful tool for improving my performance as a teacher and a wonderful way to organize my thoughts. Having been long accustomed to blogging about my life in general, I felt that blogging about my classroom experiences would be no hardship, allowing me to continue the "journaling" experience more easily.

In addition to reflecting upon my teaching, I want to use this journal as a place to put lesson plans that I create and, hopefully, find successful. For any future visitors to my blog, I hope these things are both enjoyable and helpful.

Moving on...

Somehow, it seems that I would have done better to start this blog before or during the first week of school, so as to better record the events therein. But as most ought to know, the classroom can be pretty crazy at the start! Well it's now heading into the third week of school; I finally feel able to start this thing up.

So maybe a bit of a recap is in order?

As a new teacher, there were several things to take up my time at the beginning of the school year, not the least of which was packing and moving six hours away to my new home. I have found myself rooming with the other art teacher at my school, which has been fortuitous. From inservices to paperwork to lesson planning for that first week of school, life was a chaotic mess. Much of it is a blur now as I focus on other things.

Perhaps one of the most daunting tasks I faced was, believe it or not, setting up my classroom. Now, coming into this position in place of a previous teacher, there are certain things that are different from how I would have imagined. First, my current room was, at the time of my interview earlier in the year, a music room. So some things had yet to be moved to the NEW music room. Easily taken care of. Secondly, I had to utilize my new teacher budget and buy office supplies. As many know, braving Wal-Mart at the height of the Back-to-School sales pitch is a long journey, fraught with peril. I had to learn all about requisition forms (and word to the wise, the office secretaries are smart ladies--they know the answer to a great many things), bringing me to my third task: inventory.

I currently teach at two schools: the elementary (grades 1-4) and the learning center (Pre-K and Kindergarten). I had to visit both places and make a list of what supplies I did and did not have (or perhaps that should be DO not have, as I am still waiting for my final supplies to arrive). When you come into a teaching job, at my district at least, you rely on the person(s) who preceded you to handle things like ordering supplies for the new school year. So while I had a great many supplies, there were still things missing which I felt I needed in order facilitate a more productive and meaningful art experience.

This is where, while waiting for my supplies, I have to think outside the box. I have hardly any white drawing paper right now, but there is more pink paper than I can shake a stick at. So that can be used for pre-sketching and free-draw with no problem, saving the better quality white paper for the "actual" projects.

There is also the decision to make on what needs to go with me in the afternoons when I leave to go teach Kindergarten. For one thing, at the learning center, my classroom is on a stage in the cafeteria. So, no, not technically a classroom as most people know them. I have no sink readily at hand and no drying racks or counters. This is another area where I must think creatively. And at the moment, I'm still trying to get it all figured out!

As I go, I feel like things are getting easier to manage (though maybe a little more slowly with Kindergarten). I think that so far, I've found that feedback is worth more than gold. Being able to bounce ideas off of and relate experiences to other teachers has been a wonderful help. But that is a post for another time.