Creative Minds: Maintaining Order in the Art Room

Maintaining Order in the Art Room

Creative Minds Out of School is an after school art program written by Cathy Wiseman Topal and developed by Davis Publications (which also publishes SchoolArts Magazine) for the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership in 2010.

In reading through the introduction of the Educator's Edition, I was taken by the section, "Maintaining Order in the Classroom," and thought I would share some of it with you here. Cathy's advice is great as a refresher for veteran teachers and a help for new ones:

Engage students from the moment they enter the classroom. Pose a question about the works of art. For instance, "Can you guess from all the visual cues what we will be working on today during our studio art class?" Or present them with some kind of problem to figure out, such as "How many warm colors can you find in the painting in the front of the room?"

Begin to demonstrate the use of a new tool. Hold up a book that you are about to show. Keep discussions short and to the point.

Keeping students on task. The best way to keep students on task is to keep them engaged. Sequencing the introduction of materials can be magical. Each addition is a new provocation. It is equally exciting to add a slightly new concept or challenge as students are just about to complete one phase of a project.

Roles of the teacher:

Stimulant Role. Exploring and discussing works of art, introducing materials, tools and approaches, encouraging exploration and discovery, and having students share their ideas are all ways to spark interest and engage young artists. These are all aspects of creating a worthwhile, inspiring and comfortable environment for creative exploration.

Model Role. Students look to educators to model behavior (consistent, firm, positive, fair) and interest in and enjoyment of the subject matter.

Other Effective Teaching Strategies

"Catch" each student doing right, kind actions and producing interesting, creative work. Reward positive behavior as much as possible.

Honor and respect the intelligence and the work of students and other teachers in the program.

Whatever the lesson, take a few minutes to try it yourself to explore, work out logistics, and build your enthusiasm.

Develop a signal for getting students' attention when you need it. A bell, a flick of the lights, or a hand-clapping rhythm are common signals that teachers use to encourage students to "Stop, Look, and Listen."

Seating

Seating arrangements can make a big difference. Making groupings beforehand is a way to mix students up and encourage new relationships. Taking an informal approach - letting students sit wherever they wish might work. However, sometimes cliques form and a few students are left out. Consider beginning with grouping.

Early Deadline for NAEA Convention Proposals

Because the 2012 NAEA Convention in New York City is scheduled for March 1-4, an unusually early date for the convention, the deadline for submissions for proposals is also earlier: May 15. The theme for the convention is "Emerging Perspectives, Connecting Teaching, Learning, and Research."

You can fill out the proposal forms online, but remember that the reviewers will be evaluating the proposals with the aspects of the theme in mind (though your proposal doesn't need to fit all three). You might also want to consider a joint proposal with one to two co-presenters; this might increase your chances in getting your proposal selected. You can also submit two proposals, not just one.

Don't be shy - submit and share your good ideas and successes! And New York City will be fantastic!

Welcome to Stacy's World

SchoolArts Magazine is published in Worcester, Massachusetts, though I live in Denton, Texas. Most of our work is conveyed over the Internet or by mail, but I visit the office several times a year to meet with the staff. In fact, I am on my way back home to Texas as I write this.

While I was in Worcester, I had a wonderful opportunity to visit the classroom of an art teacher I met at the recent NAEA convention in Seattle. Her name is Stacy Lord and she teaches art at Worcester East Middle School. She graciously invited a group of us from Davis Publications (the publisher of SchoolArts) to see her room, despite the fact that she was out on Spring break.

Her room was in the basement of an old school building (I think Stacy said it was built around 1920) and I was enchanted as soon as we stepped inside. The floor was wonderfully spattered with years of paint and there were all kinds of art centers, art materials, and works in progress in every spare corner or space. Signs of her effective classroom management system (both visually and literally) were everywhere, addressed through humor in many cases. I especially liked her yellow line on the floor that delineated her personal space where students were not to cross!

It was easy to see that her room was clearly inviting and non-intimidating to her middle school students. You'll be seeing some articles from Stacy, for sure, in the coming year in SchoolArts.

Visiting Stacy's room has also prompted me to begin a new feature for the coming year, spotlighting art teachers' classrooms. If you think you have an interested or unusual art room, send me some images of it (but don't clean it up first!), and your room may be featured in SchoolArts!

Reconsidering SchoolArts' ClipCards

SchoolArts' ClipCards feature has been in the magazine for some time; they were originally suggested by Laura Chapman. Each month SchoolArts offers one each for Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle School, and High School levels.  They follow a standard format with headings of The Art Problem, Objectives, Materials, Procedures, and Assessment and show only one image.

As we begin to plan next year's issues, we would like to get some feedback on them. What do you think of them? Do you use them? Do you save them? Do you have any suggestions as to how we could improve them? Would you be interested in writing some? Please let us know your thoughts!

May/June SchoolArts: Ecology

So far my students haven’t complained about all our bird-themed projects this year.  We’ve explored birdhouses, mixed media birds, clay owls, and other birds in nests, penguin collages, and prints. This all started when I received a grant to purchase enough recycled birdhouses for my entire fifth grade. A considerate company called GreenBird makes these from recycled paper. (Good for Birds. Good for the Earth. Good for You.)  The birdhouses are intended for actual use but the questions they prompted for exploring ecological issues may be their most lasting value for my students.

There is a reason canaries were used in coal mines; birds are often the most susceptible of creatures to environmental toxins from fertilizers and pesticides and to loss of habitat. For all these reasons, birds seemed like an engaging focus to approach a theme of Ecology, the study of the way that living organisms interact with their environment. And it seems clear that humans have most impacted our environment, for better and for worse.

I adapted some of GreenBird’s instructional materials as questions to guide inquiry with my students: “What are some positive things humans do to the environment around us?” “What are some negative things humans do to the environment around us?” “How have artists depicted these concerns? And more specifically, “What can you do to make the world a better place for birds?”

One of the artists I featured in our study of birds was Mark Dion, a contemporary artist (guest speaker at NAEA in Seattle in April and featured in April 2011 SchoolArts) whose work investigates ideas of nature through ecological issues. Birds appear in a number of his installations, known for their combination of natural science collections with taxidermy animals and found objects. Dion’s admiration of Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon provided me with additional ornithological artists to include in our classroom inquiry.

Now I’m back to bird watching out my window, hopeful you will use Mark Dion’s tools of humor, irony, and metaphor and SchoolArts’ articles this month to explore ecological issues with your students.

GreenBird

Judging for ArtBreak

The past few days I have had the honor of being one of three judges for ArtBreak, the "largest student arts festival in the South," a regional arts exhibition, performance, and competition that takes place annually on the riverfront in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was a full-circle return for me, as I taught art in Shreveport twenty years ago and participated in ArtBreak with my students every year at that time.

It was gratifying to see how well (and how long) the arts have been maintained and appreciated in North Louisiana, as this year will mark the festival's twenty-seventh year as a showcase event for arts programs in Caddo and Bossier Parish schools.

Fellow art educators Eric Orr, Mary Ann Boykin, and I had over 1800 entries to review in the visual arts for grades EC-12 and chose a best of level and three juror's choice awards for every grade, plus separate media awards for elementary, middle, and high school levels. Kudos to ArtBreak and the Shreveport Regional Arts Council for championing the arts in education!

Spotlight on an Art Teacher: Rama Hughes

One of the best things about being editor of SchoolArts Magazine is that I get to meet so many wonderful art teachers who clearly and mightily engage, motivate, and encourage their students. At NAEA in Seattle I met in person an art teacher who has recently come to my attention.  His name is Rama Hughes and he is an elementary art teacher who lives in Los Angeles, California.

Rama is also a graphic artist and cartoonist with a great sense of humor. At NAEA he was passing out copies of the little cartoon book you see here. Just by looking at it, I know I would love to be in his class!

Rama's first article for SchoolArts was "How to Draw a Comic" in August/Sept, followed by an advocacy article, "On Art and Education," in January 2011, and "How to Host a  Portrait Party" in April 2011. You can see more of Rama's work on his website, including drawings of famous artists he has done in his distinctive style. I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of him in SchoolArts!