Busy days are good days

Today was one of those days when you don’t sit down, even for lunch, and then you had students stay after school to work in the studio.  At the end of the day you sit, both wiped out and energized, and feel like you had just blinked and the day passed. 

I had one of those days today.

3D Design had a great discussion on what shapes identity.  Well, those that were interested did.  It’s week three of school and students are relaxing back into themselves and showing their true personalities.  I really hate seating charts in high school.  At 16 and 17, and third or forth year in art, I thought they’d be a little more interested in their art.  It’s interesting how it only takes 2 or 3 student to change the entire dynamic of the class.  I may have to break down and assign seats.

I’m giving it one more week to see if my subtle methods work before I get into reorganizing where students get to sit.  I see a combination of entitlement, lack of goals, disregard for others, ignorance of common courtesy and a “going through the motions” attitude from a small percentage of my students.  So I have a plan.  There was a homework assignment tonight (Wed.) due the next class (Fri.) that students had to complete.  The assignment was to take 3 of the categories we, as a class, came up with that shape a person’s identity and expand on how those categories relate to their own situations.  For example if one category was “family” then students were to break that down into how their family has shapes their identity.  While students are working on their individual art projects I will call each student up to show me their homework.  At this point I have the opportunity to speak discreetly to the students that seem to be, let’s just say, a little distracted.   This is when it’s good to have students working on their art creation after a class of discussion and homework assignment.

After 3D Design my next class was Advanced Art and Honors Advanced Art class. AA/AAH has twenty students in all, each working on their own 4 or 6 panel window identity project, and each needing a different type of assistance.  Then there are 4 students doing an independent study in the room as well.  Everyone is at different stage and needs an assortment of supplies.  So needless to say, the classroom was a hopping.  Clean up time was a rush because I often loose track of time and ten minutes didn’t cut it today.  There’s another teacher and class in the room the next period, and I had to get to my duty station.  Now that our budget was cut, and so were positions, it’s part of the teacher duty rotation to cover ISS (In School Suspension), study hall as duty.  My duty is to cover ISS.  It’s not a bad duty over all.  I can work on lessons, grade, or finally check my email for the day, while I make sure those in confinement are staying on track of nothing or make up work.

The day flies when you never sit down.  When I look back on the day I had many students find surprise and success, frustration and determination, expectation and responsibility.  I helped someone discover a new ability they didn’t know they had.  I encouraged a student to keep going with their idea.  I recognized and cheered a student for their great creation.  I managed to get a class of 25 to all participate at some point in the group discussion.  As exhausted as I was when it was all over I can at least look back and call it a good day.

Restarts and reflections

There comes a time when you just have to say "this just isn’t going to work at this point."  You put it away and go for plan “B”.  The thing is that I don’t often come up with plan “B” until I’m getting frustrated with plan “A”.  This is the point I’m at now with the relief portrait project for my 3D class.  After starting over for the 3^rd time on my own example of a relief portrait in card board I came to realize that there are more variations or methods than the one that works best to be able to begin this project with my students. 

Now I go back the the project examples I found on line at Incredibleart.org http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/high/Jeanie-Logo.htm

Instead of creating a Bas Riel Self Portrait, students will create a relief Indentity sculpture using their initials.  The artwork would be three layers, or more, and their relief would look something like I sketched below.

By changing the final product I will need to also change the artists I will present to the students.  I still will take their photo next class, but they will also have the opportunity to bring in several of their own pictures of friends and family as well.  Because their are 25 of them I will have their photos scanned if they are not digital while they are doing their investigation of color symbolism.

Reflections on Processes

Well I have survived in-service week with a feeling of success and apprehension.  Success in that the workshop (in-service training for the county art teachers) went well.  Apprehension in that I'm not sure I'm ready for the students on Tuesday.  Working on getting my classrooms and plans ready, my independent study for grad school, coaching field hockey and running the kids around to their orientations left me exhausted and stressed by the end of the week.  So to De-stress I decided to do some art.  Well, art in that I continued working on my samples for my 3D Design 1st student project.  After I had spray painted the relief face yellow the paint started to peel from the card board.  So wait for it to dry, scrape off and go at it with green.  I wasn't getting the result I wanted so I decided to test out adding tissue paper to join the different levels.  Didn't work.  So then I stepped back looked at it.  Well it was Supposed to be a portrait of my daughter.  It looked like a really old version of her.  Maybe it needed more height to bring out the cheeks and not be so flat.  Added a few more layers, painted them.  Still not happy.  I had been working outside because of the spray paint.  It was getting dark so I put it away for the night and I'll go back to it today.

Needs work, still looks like old lady

Seems too flat still in the face

Edges of the relief

Even though I was not so happy with the way the artwork was going the process of working on it calmed my brain enough that thoughts of how to continue to build my lessons began to flow through my head.  I had originally thought that I would steer my students toward using one color of paint for their surface treatment.  In the style of Louise Nevelson, they would build with multiple boards and use color to unify the entire work.  Well.... Students will be using all boards to build their relief sculpture, not various materials.  So in essence their work is unified my the building material and using only one color isn't so nearness for unification.  While I still want to discuss and have students investigate the symbolic meaning of color with this project, the use of multiple colors may actually enhance their artwork.  The variety in color may actually express more about their personality than a single color.  But how to do it is now the question.  I think I will revisit the tissue paper idea, but also experiment with paint too.  The only problem with paint is that because of having 25 students in the class, tempra paint or spray paint is my only option.  Acrylic and oil are out because of the amount that would be needed and the cost of the paint is too much for my budget.  Maybe I need to start by spray painting the entire sculpture with white.  This may make the colors more vibrant than painting directly on the brown card board.