Maps

This project really confused me at first but I finally decided on what I wanted to do and it ended up being fun.  I wanted the map to represent my "map through life."  I considered what I value most and wanted to portray that through the art.  I decided that relationships and loving bonds between my friends and my family is what will be my guide through life.  That is why i made the maps into a wreath of chains or bonds and how they are all connected together in my life.  Its a bit on the cheesy side-- but there it is!

ABC Scratch Board

I loved making my own scratch board!! I know you can buy them, but making them was really neat!  We took paper, and colored the paper with heavy heavy crayon covering the entire paper.  Then, we took black Tempera paint, added a tiny bit of soap, and painted over the colored paper.  We let it dry, and then took a little tool and scratched away at the paint revealing the crayon below.  I was really happy with how mine turned out-- but i thought it was cooler before I added the "textures" in between the letter.  I am still happy with it though.. it was a very good project.

Wire Sculpture

This wire sculpture is a turtle!  It was a great learning experience to have to create these sculptures with a "disability"  I made this turtle blindfolded and was able to create it just by feeling the wire.  Some people made their sculptures with big snow gloves on, some were "deaf" and did whatever they wanted with the wire (because they couldnt hear the instruction). The interesting thing was, however, that despite the different disabilities, at the end, it was nearly impossible to tell who had a disability and who didnt.  It was a real eye opener to see that there are peojects out there that everyone can participate-- it doesnt matter what sort of difficulties are out there.

My AFrican MAsk!

I loved making this mask sooooo much-- it might have been my most favorite thing we did! We made these masks out of milk jugs, masking tape, shoe polish, paint, and raffia!!! I loved how authentic they looked and how cheap they are to make.  This is a very applicible project for students to do.  It was nice also, to research some african masks and see how they are alike!

African Masks

These are some pictures I found while researching Masks-- These are all from different groups in Africa.  Some look really similar to what I actually made in class-- that was exciting!

Google Sketch-Up

Google sketch up was an amazing descovery for me! I love how this kind of art expands the realm of possibilities for students!  It presents a whole different kind of experience than any other.  They must think of the WHOLE picture-- behind the building, in front of the building, inside the building.... It made me really open my mind to what I wanted to create.  It made me visualize the 3Dness of it all.  I had a hard time at first visualizing what I needed to do to create what I wanted and eventually I got the hang of it.  I think this is an EXcellent tool for teachers and their students...

Pinch Pot

I thought the pinch pot was much easier and much more satisfying than the coil pots!! My pot was super awesome but... when I finished forming it and I was setting it down on the table, all of a sudden all of the sides started sinking and it became a very wide-bottomed, short-sided bowl! Its ok though, I think it looks alright, and the sun I stamped in the center is really cool! Children would probably LOVE working with the clay! It was a good experience!

Coil Pot

I've got to say-- I am not a very good pottery maker!!  I really struggled and had to start over a million times! The coil pot was harder than I thought it would be and it didn't really turn out how i would have hoped! It was still a good experience though-- I would like to see if I would have liked it better on a wheel... probably... I have always wanted to try using one of those~

Yarn Stamps

These yarn stamps were so fun to make!! I loved getting my fingers dirty!!  We took yarn, soaked it in elmers glue, and put it on a little piece of cardboard and let it dry!.. We made them to stamp into our clay pots on a later date (like petroglyphs).  I  ended up only using the sun to stamp into my pot because I realized that my music symbol would be backwards-- and I didnt love the girl stick figure I made.  It was an awesome way to personalize our pots and make them unique to us!

Watercolor Resist

The watercolor resist was a very fun project.  I wasn't too pleased with how it turned out for me- but it was a really fun idea! I wish mine was more whimsicle like Van Gogh's Starry Night is.  I thought the pastels were a blast though-- I even went out and bought a set of my own!! I loved mixing the colors for the watercolor wash in the background! It was fun to see what everyone else mixed up to be a "night time sky." 

Watercolor Techniques

I was able to learn different watercolor techniques through this project.  It was super fun to have foods there and create what they tasted like through watercolor!! It was a nice excuse to have good food there! I really enjoyed the different tools you can use to create "textures" and designes with watercolor.  Salt over a watercolor wash, alcohol drips, and a wax candle were fun things to use to create abstract, neat things.  My favorate box that I created was the one that looks like some sort of solar picture from space- it turned out neat.   I think that was the wheat bread I ate. hahaha

Collograph

We had the oppertunity to go outside for this project and find bugs to look at and draw.  I found a bee!!!  We did this exercise to observe typical body parts of bugs close up. Then we were asked to make up a new bug and cut the pieces of the bug out of cardstock paper and stack them on top of each other to create a COloGraPH! Then we took ink, and printed our bug onto a paper! We also rubbed Crayons onto the bug as another means of making prints of our bugs!  This project became a little tedious because I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be!!! my bug has a really cool body though if you look closely... (O: 

New Word Calligraphy

This project was supposed to be a stamp that we put on our bamboo paintings! I thought it was a really neat idea!  We took a tiny piece of styrofoam and made our name into something that resembled a chinese character.  We carved it on the foam backwards, colored it with red magic marker, and stamped it onto our bamboo art! It turned out great! I love how authentic looking it is!

Chinese Brush Panting

This project was really really fun! We used authentic style brushes to make the authentic style chinese bamboo paintings!  We used black water color- rather than ink- because that was what was available to us.  I think it is awesome that we could make do with waht we had and it still turned out awesome! We had the oppertunity to use authentic rice paper, which I did, but the ink absorbed differently than the paper we were practicing on, so it didnt turn out the way that I had hoped it would.  I have posted my practice piece of paper as well because I liked it so much.  I brought the practice paper home with me and one of my roommates brought over a girl from China.  I had the paper sitting on a desk, and I had forgot I had it there and the Chinese girl was like "Wow! Who does Chinese calligraphy?! It is bamboo!"  she was sooo excited and so was I- because she knew what it was supposed to be!!!!

View Finder Drawings

I found it really difficult to use the viewfinder because as I was drawing things (especially the elephant) I had a really hard time making things so huge that were close to me and things so small that were further from me.  I felt like it really taught me that my previous ideas of how things should be proportioned sometimes outweighed the things that I actually saw.  Eventually I gave in to drawing what I saw through the viewfinder (an ENORMOUS elephant ear) and looking at it now, I can see how it really does look good despite my frustrations while drawing it. 

Grid Portrait

The Grid Portrait was probably one of my favorite things we have done in this class! I have never done anything like this before and I was really impressed with how easy it was once you look at the picture in little boxes and just draw what you see in each box. (originally we tried drawing our face from memory, then from looking at the picture, then with the grids) I just used a normal #2 pencil for this piece- as well as my finger to smudge the pencil and shade it.  This assignment really helped me look at things as little pieces and not just the whole huge thing I had to do.  I am pretty happy about how it turned out- though my eyes are a little too far apart!! hahahaha its ok.  I will just have to make another one someday!

Picasso Head

The Picasso Head was a really neat project-- we were asked to draw a picture of someone in the room without looking at our paper, and without picking up our pencil.  Then, we traced the lines we drew with a thick black marker, and colored in the spaces with the patterns from our previous assignment  (The 8-Design Squares).  This "Picasso Head turned out really cool looking!!  I loved how different they all turned out- but they were all really abstract and interesting!  It was a good project to discuss colors, textures, abstract... and much, much more!

8 Design Squares

For the eight design squares, we were told to use colored pencil and create a large texture, a small texture, complimentary colors, analogous colors, warm colors, cool colors, and two "wild cards."  I really liked how these turned out--- especially my "large texture" box and my animal print "wild card" box!  We didnt know what we were creating these designs for when we made them, but then they became the patterns to use in our next project of the Picasso faces!

Technology in the Classroom

There are SO many ways to use technology in art education. “As technology expands and improves, younger children are becoming more tech savvy”  It is important to use technology for many reasons, one reason is: “As technology becomes easier to use and early childhood software proliferates, young children’s use of technology becomes more widespread. Therefore, early childhood educators have a responsibility to critically examine the impact of technology on children and be prepared to use technology to benefit children.”  Knowledge and literacy in technology is becoming a crucial aspect to master in our society.  Children should be exposed to it in as many positive ways as possible. Another reason to have technology in the classroom is because teaching could be more effective when using it.  Teachers could use a Powerpoint to post pictures of artwork, to give mini lessons and backgrounds on famous artists, to explain procedures so that everyone can see… Another reason technology is important to incorporate in the classroom is because "Students gain a sense of empowerment from learning to control the computer and to use it in ways they associate with the real world." Technology is valued within our culture. It is something that costs money and that bestows the power to add value. By giving students technology tools, we are implicitly giving weight to their school activities. Students are very sensitive to this message that they, and their work, are important.”  Using technology and sophisticated means to teach children, sends the message that school is important.  Some ways technology could be incorporated in the Art classroom could be with:

·         Blogs to post the children’s artwork and get the parents involved and interacting with you

·         Google Sketch-up

·         Powerpoints to present the projects (children can create powerpoints too!)

·         Youtube videos on artisis

·         Internet to research things about their art project

·         Email to remind parents about art events

*http://www.ehow.com/list_6071749_ways-use-technology-elementary-classroom.html

*http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html

*cct.edc.org

Arts and Crafts!!

I know that traditionally crafts were more about creating a functioning thing like pottery, woodwork, rugs, and baskets.  Now crafts are typically made not for functionality, but for the process of crafting.  I think with crafts, the outcome is less important than the process of creating. Some things I would consider a craft would be scrapbooking, quilting, and crocheting.  Art, on the other hand, is less about the process of making the art and more about the final piece and the emotion that is conveyed through it. Some things I would consider art would be a painting, or a sculpture.  However, I think arts and crafts are beginning to be intermingled.  Other mediums outside of clay and paints are beginning to emerge. Objects and things are being incorporated into artwork, and sometimes, the process of making the art brings the emotion that the final piece also has, therefore making the process art.  I think both arts and crafts are important in elementary art curriculum.  Children need to have the enjoyment that comes with crafts, and the fulfillment of creating wonderful things that comes with art.  Perhaps arts and crafts often overlap so much so that it is hard to determine the difference between the two.  Nonetheless, both have an important place in the classroom.

*tanglecrafts.wordpress.com/.../the-difference-between-art-and-craft/

Motivation

I am motivated by many things.  I am motivated by seeing myself do well and growing and expanding my pool of knowledge. I am motivated by grades and getting good scores and impressing other people.  I am motivated by fun and promise of good times ahead if I succeed.  I am motivated by negative things hovering over my head and threatening me.  I am motivated by goals and ambitions that I have for myself.  I am motivated by many, many things. Some things that motivate me might not be the best reasons for me to be motivated (fear, stress, fulfilling other people’s desires…) and some things are great reasons (goals, ambitions, expanding myself…).  I believe a lot of the things that motivate me, will motivate my future students.  When I am the creator of the motivation, however, I want there to be positive reasons why the children want to do well.  I will motivate them in as many positive ways as I can because I know that different people are motivated by different things.  I will have “fun” things to look forward to, I will have a grading system, I will have them create self goals, I will let them know when they are doing exceptionally well (perhaps even give their parents a call when they are doing very well),  I will spotlight exceptional things, etc…  I think children can all be motivated to their best, they just need the right kind of motivation. 

Artist Statements

Artist statements are little commentaries that accompany a work of art.  I think the best way to teach children how to write an artist statement would be to give them a worksheet with questions that they need to answer about their art.  For older children, the artist statement could be longer, for younger children, I would probably have them answer only a few questions about their art.

• Why do you create art and what does it mean to you?
• How does the creation of art make you feel? What emotions do you wish to convey about your art?
•  What do you call the piece and why? What materials did you use?
• What inspires you? How are your inspirations expressed in your work?
• What message are you trying to convey to the viewer?
• How is your work a reflection of you?
• What are your techniques and style?

I would instruct the children to answer the questions so that they all form a paragraph rather than a Q/A format.  Example:  I create art because I like to tell stories through pictures.  Being able to do that makes me feel like I am giving to others.  Creating art makes me happy.  This picture is supposed to convey a feeling of excitement. I call it “first rollercoaster ride” because it is a picture of a girl who is on a rollercoaster for the first time in her life.  I made it with crayons and construction paper….

I would definitely give the children an example, maybe for younger grades I would even write the artist statement and have them fill in key words.   I create art because_____________. Making art makes me feel _______ because__________. This piece is a picture about____________.... 

Artist statements will incorporate writing and have the children express themselves verbally as well as through the art.  They will have to explain their thought process and emotions which is an excellent skill for individuals to develop!

*http://www.ebsqart.com/Education/Articles/Business-and-Marketing/14/How-to-Artist-Statement/75/

Integrate Art

I think in many cases children are very hands on.  When they have the opportunity to incorporate arts with their other curriculum, children are able to absorb more.  Learning and retention will take place because they will be able to experience what they are learning first hand and have meaningful learning take place. 

Another reason arts are important to incorporate into other studies is because children typically associate art class with “fun.”  Children need to feel like every subject is exciting and enjoyable, EVEN MATH!!!  Having children do “art projects” that are enforcing their learning in other subjects will help them develop a strong foundation that learning is exciting and fun and enjoyable.  That foundation should help them as they move on to future classes and keep them motivated- and even entertained by learning.  They will come to associate learning (in all subjects) with fun, and what is a better motivator than fun?   

It is very important however, to not use the excuse that because art is being incorporated into other curriculum that it does not need its own time to be focused on in the classroom.  Art needs to be taught in a sequential, thorough way and incorporating art in other areas might not cover the important aspects that need to be covered.   Both integration and simply having an art class-time is necessary. 

Tools of Assessment

Formative-

·         Work together as a class going slowly and discussing each aspect of the process as it is happening to make sure the children understand and to help when needed.  You could have a class discussion on the important things you want to have emphasized in the artwork

·         Have the children pair up, or get into groups and have them give feedback and input on other people’s work based on the guidelines for the project.  Having them help each other should help them know what they need to improve on their own piece. 

·         As a teacher it is important to go around the room or have children come to you in a more personal setting and ask questions and give suggestions as well as telling the children what awesome things they are doing.  Have the children tell you about their art and what they like about it.

Summative-

·         Art shows

·         Class discussions

·         Critiquing

·         Rubrics

·         Journals

The most difficult thing to assess would be if a child were to produce a beautiful work of art; but the art created did not meet the requirements of the assignment.  In that case I would have to give the child a lower grade for not following the directions.  I would definitely praise the child for their creativity, I would explain why they would not be receiving full credit, and then I would give that child the opportunity to redo the assignment in a way that would give them the credit they deserved.  Part of school is learning how to follow directions.  When directions are not followed, learning (at least the desired learning) is not taking place.  Perhaps to make it clear for the children, and to keep everything fair and consistent, I would create a rubric for the children before they begin the artwork.

*Emphesis Art

*http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/WebExclusive/Assessment/tabid/1120/Default.aspx

*http://www.educ.state.ak.us/tls/frameworks/arts/6assess1.htm#sample

Classroom Critique

"The purpose of art criticism in schools is to develop students’ appreciation and understanding of how visual culture reflects the larger culture. Calling for reflection on the students’ part, and bringing together the students knowledge base, disposition, and seeking strategies, art criticism is a tool for the pursuit of meaning and value in art." (Emphasis Art)  For younger grades I feel like the critique needs to consist of all-positive reinforcement for the children.  I think it is important to simply conduct the critique in a way that the children are simply stating the things they like about the piece.  I would ask questions like, “What is your favorite part of this artwork?,” “What colors do you think s/he used best in this artwork? Why?”… I would direct the questions to incorporate the goal and successes of the artwork. If the artwork was a lesson on shapes, I would ask about shapes, etc.  Shirley Ende-Saxe is an elementary teacher who wrote some of her views on art criticism throughout the grade levels and had some good ideas!  To get the children talking, she asked a question about a piece of art a child drew, had the child come up, and pick who would respond to the questions asked about their piece. That worked for her classroom because the children had more to say when their peer was picking who would respond to the raised hands. For older grades, I would probably allow the individual being critiqued to say what they would have changed if they could about their piece and allow the other children to say what could have helped them do that specific thing differently.  It will be important to maintain a positive vibe throughout the room, yet I feel like children at this age would be capable of that. I would direct the questions to include more analysis prompting questions like “where do you think the focal point is?” or “what aspect of this piece was most advantageous in creating the desired outcome?”  Older children are probably able to go a little deeper and try to interpret other children’s artwork ; “Through art criticism activities in the classroom, students interpret and judge individual works of art. Interpretation is the most critical task of art criticism, but we recommend no prescribed order to follow.” (North Texas Institute for Educators)  Getting a feel for what the children in the classroom are capable of in a critique is important, as is asking questions that promote positive reinforcement and understanding of the techniques used. However, making critique fun and exciting will be the best way to get the children involved and learning.

*http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+elementary+critique%3A+talking+about+children%27s+art-a09048848                                                                                                                                            *Emphasis Art 

*http://www.art.unt.edu/ntieva/pages/teaching/tea_comp_artcriticism.html

Why teach art?

            There is an article in the New York Times by Robin Pogrebin I really appreciated concerning this question.  It is well understood that fine arts in the education curriculum greatly improve performance in other subjects.  As was reported in Pogrebin’s article,  James S. Catterall, a professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that students who had more involvement in the arts in school and after school scored better on standardized tests.  The article, however, suggested that this argument is not good enough;“any superintendent is going to say, ‘If the only reason I’m having art is to improve math, let’s just have more math.’” (Pogrebin)  Researchers from an arts-education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education decided it was, therefore, important to find other justifiable reasons to support the cause of keeping art in the curriculum. “The researchers found that ‘Students who study the arts seriously are taught to see better, to envision, to persist, to be playful and learn from mistakes, to make critical judgments and justify such judgments,’” (Pogrebin) " In a curriculum crowded with academic subjects and factual learning, art is a welcome means of learning about oneself and the world. " (Emphasis Art) These kinds of skills will be crucial for children to have acquired by adulthood. They need these skills to succeed in life, and if art can help develop those skills, taking art out of the curriculum would be doing the children a great disservice. A web page from the University of Michigan suggested another aspect of the importance of having fine arts in the classroom that I hadn’t thought of.  “As a child progresses through school it is increasingly difficult for parents to be involved in helping with homework and schoolwork in general. This is because in many instances, parents lack or forget the knowledge that is required to assist their children in subjects such as math and science. Art provides a means for parents to be involved because they tend not to feel as intimidated by a lack of educational background in the subject. Art projects can be an excellent means for parent to encourage and become active in their child’s academic life.”  Parents need to feel like they are part of their child’s education so that they can consequently enforce the idea that education is important.  When parents never get involved with their child’s schooling, it makes the child feel like education is not important them and they don’t push themselves to succeed. Art in the classroom provides so many opportunities for development, and opens doors between parents and children concerning education.  I understand the value of art, and will supplement it in my classroom as much as I can. 

*The New York Times, Book Tackles Old Debate: Role of Art in Schools, Aug. 4, 2007, Robin Pogrebin

*University of Michigan http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.burba/why_have_art_education_                        

*Emphasis Art

Mandala

This is my Madala.  It was super fun to make! We were asked to make it have radial symmetry, we were asked to inorperate things in our life that we love.  I love music, I love gardening, I love the change of seasons, I love birds, I love the ocean...etc... We were also told to use markers and create a different sort of texture with them.  I didnt want bright markers on my pretty pastel looking thing, so i decided to take a paper towel and color it with marker and then smear my mandala with it.  It looks like chalk on my mandala but it is really marker.  I loved how this turned out-- it really came out nicely. 

What is Art?

It would be difficult to find a definition of "art" that is applicable to everyone.  Art is such an emotionally based, abstract idea almost, that it is hard to discredit something that someone finds artistic.  If an individual thinks something "unusual" to be art, how could you defend that it couldn't be art because "an animal or a baby made it" or because it wasn't created at all?  You couldn't, because to that person, it IS art. I can, however, explain how I define art for myself.  I view something to be art when I feel an emotional response to something that I see.  I see art when I simply pay attention to life- a beautiful building that someone designed, graffiti on the side of a cargo train, a picture that a child has created, a lovely flowerbed, the mountains, a sunset... For me, everything is a creation of art if I just pay attention to it; made by animals, children, people, and God.