End of Year Art Show

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:

Art Teacher vs. Artist

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?

Workshops Aplenty

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!

Attitude!

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.

Now Presenting: A Crucial Step for Surviving Kindergarten

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

Going in Circles

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!