Teaching by Example

When I started developing and writing the Art is Elemental curriculum, I became frighteningly aware of the waste and wastefulness in my work life. It inspired me to take action in my classroom. Last year I invested in a bunch of IKEA dishtowels (79 cents each - they were 49 cents when I started doing this at home a couple of years ago.) I have the towels hanging by my sink. I change them daily (more so if needed) and I wash and fold them over the weekend to restock them on Monday. There are still paper towels available for the really gross jobs.

I wasn't sure if it would work or if it would really make a difference or not...but I gotta tell ya, IT DID! The kids use them, they feel much better on your hands than the cardboard-like paper towels the school provides, and it became second nature for all of us. My garbage can barely had anything in it at the end of each day (no lie!) and over the course of one school year, I figure we maybe went through 4 rolls of paper towels!! How crazy is that?

I was kinda expecting that I might lose steam for this endeavor, (people who know me, know that I'm a tad compulsive) but I stayed motivated by just looking at my garbage can! I think actions like this are a simple way we can teach by example. I'm about to start year #2 of my "resusable hand towel system", but this time I only need to purchase a few more! Reuse & Reduce, the investment has already paid off!

iphoto books!

Creating a book to document, celebrate or share your students’ work is easy and fun to do! If you use a mac, your iphoto has options built right in! If you use a PC, there are lots of resources, like Shutterfly, that will assist you in creating books using pictures you already have.

I developed a lesson for my sixth grade students that had them using Yann Arthus-Bertrand's Earth From Above photographs as inspiration. The students reacted and responded to several of his photographs and created their own interpretive tempera batik landscapes. In addition to being inspired by Bertrand's photographs, the students also learned a little bit about where his photos were taken and where those places exist on our planet.

I really loved the paintings and found myself drooling over them and their luscious textures and colors. My students enjoyed doing them too! My appreciation for Bertrand's work and my gratitude for the inspiration it provided me and my students, left me wanting to thank him directly. I had never made a book in iphoto, but I knew it would be the perfect thank you gift. Turns out, it's super easy to do and was only $39 for a beautiful, customized, 20 page, hard cover book! How great is that?

When we go back to school in September, I'm going to have my students sign it before I send it off to him! I think they will be thrilled to see their work published in a "real" book that's going to find its way into the hands of the artist they studied in class! It's not just good manners to thank the people who inspire you, it's also a good lesson for students to see demonstrated!

Click here to see examples of more students’ work. A complete PDF e-booklet of this lesson is included in the NEW Kiickstart Tempera Batik DVD, available this October!

Art in Our Schools

Over the past several months a committee at the New Jersey Department of Education has been reviewing the NJQSAC, DPR process. The goal of this review was to streamline the accountability process. Sounds like a good thing right? Well, I'm not so sure about that.

NJQSAC is the process NJ schools go through every three years to demonstrate they are providing the proper instruction required by the state. It's a lengthy, time consuming process that no one likes, but in my opinion, it's been kind of a "good nuisance", because it keeps art programs (and other special area programs) in the arena with the other core subjects. It validates and acknowledges all of the subject areas and their role in preparing 21st century learners.

If the changes they are proposing go through, the two tiers would be:

TIER 1 (STAYS MONITORED): Language Arts Literacy, Math, Science, Social Studies and World Languages. These content areas will remain as part of the NJQSAC District Performance Review.

TIER 2 (WOULD NOT BE MONITORED): Visual and Performing Arts, Technology, Health and Physical Education and Career Education. Under the new changes, these content areas would no longer be monitored through the NJQSAC District Performance Review.

It's a sensitive issue, because this is the first attempt, by any group, to prioritize content areas, defining some to be "important enough to monitor", and others "not as important".

A public hearing on the changes is scheduled for August 3RD at 3 PM.

Email the NJ State Board of Education Office

and ask that all nine content areas be included in the DPR under Items 14, 15 and 16 of the proposed District Performance Review.

Click HERE to send a message. You will be provided with an editable form letter.

What's at risk??? It's my concern that this type of change to the core content areas in the state of New Jersey will make it easier (and acceptable) for school districts to reduce course offerings and cut programs in the Tier 2 subject areas. In education, things that aren't "required" have a funny way of disappearing.

If students don't have to have certain courses to graduate, as required by the state, they're easier to cut because they are deemed as unecessary. I don't know about you, but since when has a holistic, well-rounded education ever been UNecessary???

got ideas?

Every creative person I know understands that the creative process is a circuitous route. Looking at seemingly unrelated things can give you some of your greatest ideas! I've noticed that my best ideas have almost always come to me when I was doing something else...like taking a shower, sleeping, working in the garden or by allowing myself to think around the idea that I'm hoping to find. It's harder to get a good idea when I have to have it NOW. Time, space and air help me. It's why summer is such a wonderful gift, not only to my stress level, but also for allowing ideas to flow freely. It's far less stressful to get lost when you aren't late for something, just as it's far less stressful to think around an idea than to think hard about it with a gotta have it now sense of urgency.

One of the best ways I know to "get" ideas is to be receptive and open to letting them find you. It requires us to relax, and believe that they actually will find us! There's action involved in this, it's not passive, but the action isn't in the form of a direct attack on getting an idea, it's done more in the form of looking at stuff, reading, journaling, sketching, talking, listening, making lists, writing things down, taking a nap, etc. - circuitous!

Today is the halfway mark of summer vacation. How lucky I feel to have a job I enjoy and the time to find new ideas to keep it fun!

when TRAsh becomes ART

The RMS Plastic Installations - JUNE 8, 2011

Inspired by the school-wide art theme, "Art is Elemental" the RMS students rescued plastic utensils from the garbage during their lunches from September to June. The dirty utensils were "thrown away" in a special container, and were washed and decorated - ready for their new life as Art.
Fifteen middle school students were randomly selected to participate in the installation project and created three temporary murals using over 1,200 decorated utensils and over 1,700 plastic lids! The RMS Plastic Installations speak to our society's reliance on disposable plastics.

Watch the video!

Click here to see more photos and to read the students’ statements.

Art is Elemental

In addition to rewriting the high school curriculum, I'm also writing the Middle School Art curriculum...I'm calling it, “Art is Elemental”. I meet my middle school students for a maximum of 22 class periods per year on a rotational cycle – on days 1 & 2 or days 3 & 4. It adds up to be about 15 hours total per year…wow, right? It’s such a short amount of time at such an important age, that I wanted our time together to mean something more than just “creative fun”, but of course, I also wanted it to BE creative and fun! I came up with the Art is Elemental theme, so that I could teach “big ideas” in a short period of time without my exploratory cycle class being a total drag. The learning experiences are structured so that my students gain knowledge about important environmental issues and then get to synthesize their understanding by making art. It’s a perfect combination that I’ve really enjoyed so far!

Over the course of three years, we will focus on earth, water and then fire/air, and address issues like conservation, pollution, waste & wastefulness, recycling & upcycling and sustainability. Once the rotation is complete, I’ll start the cycle all over again. Each grade level will learn about all of the elements and many environmental concerns associated with them, just in varying orders. Last year, all of our activities were centered on the Earth!

The essential questions that drive my planning and curriculum writing are:
Does art make you think about yourself and society in new ways?
How do artists use their creative skills, talents and ideas to influence how we view the world and our surroundings?
Does an individual have the power to make a lasting difference?
In what ways is our society more advanced than those of the past?
In what ways might we be moving backwards?
What can you do that will positively impact the environment?
How are things, events or people connected to each other?
If we don’t change, what will?

To get you inspired to think about weaving environmental themes into your own lessons, here are some terrific resources I find useful:
http://www.thinkgreen.com/second-life (short video I show my kids)
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/howstuffworks-recycling-aluminum.html (short video I show my kids)
http://www.terracycle.net
http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com

Our Bowls are Full

Hunger in America. The statistics are alarming. For one in every six Americans, being hungry or without enough nourishing food is a real concern. For children, the current national statistic is even more grim - one in four children can’t rely on having enough to eat.

Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger and was created by The Imagine Render Group. The basic premise is simple: Artists, educators and others work with the community to create handcrafted bowls. Guests are invited to a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a cash donation, guests are asked to keep a bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world. The money raised is donated to an organization working to end hunger and food insecurity.

This year, my art students, the NHS and the student council students, hosted their third dinner! As of 2011, our community has donated over $12,000 to The Foodbank of South Jersey, as well as over 60 gallons of leftover soup to a local soup kitchen, and hundreds of dollars worth of canned goods to a local shelter. This is a big shout out to my colleagues, Paul and Maura for helping to make it happen, and to my students who keep me smiling!

There are many organizations all over the United States that would benefit from an Empty Bowls event that you could host at your school, church or community center!! Helping others feels good, teaches an invaluable lesson and reminds us that being part of a community involves working together to impact change.

To learn more about our HTHS dinner event, click here.

Some other great links to inspire you to get started:
Philabundance
Feeding America
Share our Strength
Bread for the World
End Hunger Network
World Food Day – Annually on October 16th.