Teaching for Artistic Behavior
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Upended

7/10/2020

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Our students' lives have been reshaped.  They were abruptly pulled from school and launched into a virtual world of learning.  They have seen fellow humans demand the end of systematic racism and abuse of power.  They have seen loss of life and income.  They have seen a nation divided.  Their world will never be the same.  No matter where you fall on the spectrum of each of these life changing events it is our duty as art teachers to allow and support our students voices.  I can’t think of a better time than now to teach process, ideation, refinement, and reflection.  Whether you are teaching in face to face, digital, or a hybrid model our students deserve their voices to be heard.  As you approach the next school, I’d empower you to think about how you can empower your students to express their own artistic style/voice.
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Embrace the Shake

3/22/2020

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Hey RQMS students.  I hope all is well and I miss you tremendously.  Artist Phil Hansen once said, “Perhaps instead of telling each other to seize the day, maybe we can remind ourselves each day to seize the limitations.”  I feel that this is more true than ever. Our world has been shaken and we now find ourselves in an unique learning experience. Most of us have lost access to the traditional art supplies at school and may be completely limited in what we have at home.  While at first these limitations may cause you to stop making art, I would encourage you to see what materials you have around you to supplement your art supplies. Prior to us leaving, one of my 8th grade students was grinding up grass to make a green watercolor paint.  Other artists have used abandoned coffee as paint. The world around us can provide us with all sorts of different art materials. I’d encourage you to use this time to create art with whatever you have around you. Please feel free to tag me in Instagram @art_with_mr.beach or post your work to SeeSaw.  

Be safe and keep in touch. 

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Let's Make Art!

1/16/2020

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We are two weeks into the 3rd quarter and we are in an art room!  Let the media exploration and work begin! 
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The Student is the Artist

1/16/2020

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I have had a recurring trend circulating around me the past few weeks and it always brings me back to one of the three sentences in the three sentence curriculum, “The student is the artist”.   
 

Drawing was never my passion. I draw when I need to but it is not my go-to media.   I had one drawing class at UNC and developed a small tremor in my hand during my teaching career. If I am drawing, rarely will I thumbnail sketch.  I don’t keep a running sketch book and would rather collect ideas digitally. 

While I often feel like a fish out of water when I am surrounded by drawing artists, I remember that there are others that plan with blocks, materials, digital, and a variety of other media.  As teachers remember that there are kids that do not draw in your class. How can you provide them with options to be successful without the need to draw?

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Depth, Complexity, & Art

10/28/2019

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I’m currently trying to add depth and complexity to my students reflection prompts. Here are the questions broken down by day.

Tuesday (Big Idea):
  • What was your BIG IDEA for your work today?
  • What new thing did you learn today?
Wednesday (Detail):
  • Describe what you did today?
  • What details separate your work from the work of others?
Thursday (Over Time):
  • How has your work changed over the week?
  • How do you envision your learning to impact your future art making?
Friday (Multiple Perspectives):
  • What was your intended meaning behind your work?
  • How could your art be interpreted differently by someone else?
http://envisiongifted.com/s…/understanding-depth-complexity/
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September 26th, 2019

9/26/2019

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Thoughts

Looking for feedback:

I currently teach 6th through 8th grade students in Colorado. Class sizes are 38-42. This semester I am teaching in a standard high school core classroom while my building is being finished. I am not allowed to do anything messy that might damage the room. Currently I offer my students cardboard sculpture, drawing with pencil, marker, colored pencil, blocks, digital art through their Chromebooks. This is only the second year that our school is in existence. Only a few of my students had me last year. The majority of others have not had art before or if they did it lacked freedom of choice. Up to this point in the semester students have covered the 8 SHoMs as well as the artistic thinking process and a few media demos. Many students grasp what it means to be in a TAB classroom (What do artists do? They are the artist! The room is their studio, with limitations) Those that struggle are really looking for guidance. Without completely giving them the answers as well as maintaining the TAB philosophy I created the attached Google doc. The doc has our required Know/Do/Show that are tied to Colorado Standards. I feel that this will allow freedom for those that get it while providing guidance that are still finding there way. I'm hoping that a few of you can take a look and give me pros/cons with this system. I really just need a second or hundredth set of eyes. I do know that I don't want to provide themes and feel that this may be where I need to go.



Thoughts?
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Do I Teach Art?

9/10/2019

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 As a middle school TAB teacher, when I think of all of the teaching I do throughout the day the majority of it isn’t teaching art. Sure, I use art as a medium to teach the 8 SHoM’s. However, those translate to everyday life no matter what profession. I use art to teach students how to think and view the world through multiple lenses. I teach students how to put trust in themselves and own their quirks. I teach students how to redirect their energy into something more productive. I teach students how to learn based off of their interests while filtering out false information. I teach students to believe in themselves when seemingly no one else does(I always believe in them but they don’t always see that right away). I give them pointers and run demos but in the grand scheme of things “art” is such a small percentage of the actual teaching that I do in the day.
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Impacting My Students

8/27/2019

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At the start of this year we were asked "When the year ends, how will you know that you left an impact with your students?" 

To answer that question I needed to think about what my students will walk away with.  This line of thinking brought me back to my mission statement.

Inside my classroom students are empowered to find their own artistic voice and are allowed to express themselves in a safe environment.   Incorporating student choice into my art curriculum has increased student engagement and motivated students to continue their learning outside of my classroom.  As an art educator, I know that I have successfully motivated my students when they create art outside of class requirements and bring new ideas into the classroom.  Young artists in all of my classes are expected to express personal beliefs and values, develop craft, envision new ideas, understand the arts community, observe the world around them through an artistic eye, engage and persist through challenging tasks, stretch and explore with new ideas and media, while reflecting through the entire process.  Student learning in my art room branches across multiple disciplines through self-directed projects. Each learning experience should incorporate gained knowledge from their core classes, in class demonstrations, and their own personal life experiences while creating meaningful and purposeful art. It is my goal that all students select challenging tasks while applying their learning to these art pieces.  The ability to self-direct their learning, manage time and behavior appropriately, work individually and in teams are all essential skills that students will need when they enter the workforce. Creating art through a Teaching for Artistic Behavior and Choice Based Learning approach allows my students to receive and grow these skills in a safe and engaging learning environment while meeting their own personal needs.

Pulling from this I know that I will have impacted my students when:
*  I have built strong relationships with all students
* Students left art feeling like they were an artist and found their artistic voice 
*  Students felt safe in my room
*  Students were able to approach me with sensitive issues
*  Students are making art outside of my class and are excited about it
* Students are excited to take art again the following year
* Students understood the Artistic Thinking Process
* Parents are excited about their students excitement towards art
* Higher LPS scores than last year
* I saw growth in all students

To start making these impacts I have changed my doorway greeting.  Every student will have the opportunity to fist bump me as they enter the door.  Making this physical connection while welcoming them through the door should help build a strong foundation for our relationship.  In years past I was frantically scrambling to make sure that the room was prepped and ready for the next class. In combination with connecting to students at the start of the class I want to make an honest effort to find the positive in all students and send home more letters/emails celebrating these successes. 

Here is to an IMPACTFUL year!

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TAB and an Impact Mindset

1/18/2019

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Teaching art is tough.  Large classes, students that may have little to no interest in our subject, and several outside influences beyond my control can add a huge amount of stress to my plate.  Teaching with a TAB philosophy can add an entire new level of stress as well as new challenges. There are many students working on a variety of different projects. Multiple media is available.  Students are constantly moving around the room. Classroom management and structure must be firm to keep these in check. Teaching with a DBA approach would make teaching easier on me but would ultimately be detrimental to my students.  It could be easy for me to sit back and say “I’m doing my best” when things are not going smoothly. This week I’ve been tasked to look at my practice and evaluate how my teaching and TAB affects students’ learning and achievement.

What is working well:
  • Providing student choice and voice has allowed me to get to know my students better and faster.  This has also opened a dialogue between my students rather than me spewing out information to them.
  • I am able to address individual student needs as they create art that is truly meaningful to them.  
  • This structure allows me to set the ceiling of expectations high.  All kids are challenged at their level and are able to find success in their work.
  • Students are engaging in the artistic process outside of class.  I have seen countless students, including former ones, uploading non required work on their own time to SeeSaw.
  • Students are commenting on others work in a constructive manner.
  • We have hit the ground hard with the studio habits and artistic thinking process.  Students are understanding the why and how better.

What needs improvement:
  • I want to grow the class culture by including more class critiques.
  • Many students are still learning the expectations and consequences for their choices.
  • Some students will require more effort from me to “Not opt out”/find their artistic path
  • I need to find a stronger way to summarize learning at the end of the day/week.

Things to keep in mind daily:
  • My fundamental task is to evaluate the effect of my teaching on students’ learning and achievement.
  • The success and failure of my students’ learning is about what I do or don’t do. I am a change agent.
  • I want to talk more about learning than teaching.
  • Assessment is about my impact.
  • I teach through dialogue not monologue.
  • I enjoy the challenge and never retreat to “doing my best”.
  • It’s my role to develop positive relationships in class, staff rooms, and beyond.
  • I inform all about the language of learning.
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Nirvana, Oblivion, Amnesia 
Christine, 8th Grade
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Class Structures

1/10/2019

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Fellow art teacher Julie Uken-Rasmussen and I were chatting today about class structures in the Middle School TAB class room.  That got me thinking. It’s the start of the second semester at Quist. For all but a handful of my students this will be their first art experience at Quist.  Many of these students are also not used to a choice based classroom. Setting up strong structures will be incredibly important for these students to find success.  These structures that need to be put in place are covered in our first “unit”.

We look at:
*What is the first thing we do when we enter class and other routines?*How we take care of and use supplies?
*How do we turn things in and use SeeSaw?
*How do we share our thoughts and reflections on our work/experience?
*How do we use the SHoM's and Artistic Thinking process?
*How do we interact with our classmates?

Quist uses a 3x3 unit planning system.  My 3x3 for setting up these structures can be found here.

In coordination with my schools policies I need to have my own structures to make sure that the class runs smoothly.  Grades need to be entered weekly. I collect two data points as part of my weekly requirements. The largest percentage of points comes from student self reflections and goal setting. For goal setting, students need to have a plan (any of the following: sketches, idea board, reference material/video tutorial, verbal or written communication.) They need to reflect weekly (Vlog, Blog, Website, SeeSaw, or a Google Doc). They also need to post their work to SeeSaw. This semester I am looking for a mid work post and a final post. Students are "graded" on did I set a goal and show growth towards it, did I post to SeeSaw and did I reflect on my process.  There is a participation grade "Engage and Persist" but that is weighted at 0% and mostly for my records on whom needs more attention and guidance. Grading is a huge can of worms and I may dive into this deeper in another post.


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    Mr. Kelly Beach

    As an art teacher, it is my goal that every student will leave my classroom with transferable skills that will allow them to be successful in whatever career path they choose. It is my mission to teach students to make careful observations of the world around them, find problems that need to be solved, envision a solution, and engage and persist through the problem solving process while constantly reflecting on their work and progress. Students are enabled to embrace their strengths and interests while sharing their own skills and ideas with their classmates. Through a Teaching for Artistic Behavior process, students embrace leadership positions and become teachers themselves. I feel that it is my job to encourage students to take risks, step outside of their comfort zone, explore new possibilities, and express their individual view of the world through the art making process. ​

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