Week 9 - Teaching as if Life Matters

Developing a Mission Statement 

Researching the how-to's of writing a mission statement, it became clear that conciseness and brevity are key.  Neither of these being my exact strong points, I created a word cloud to analyze as many of my blog posts as I could squeeze in. After filtering out a few common words, here's what stands out the most: for, have, with, students, them, they, you and are. Seems like a good foundation...here's what I have for now:

Facilitating art experiences for students in order that they can both relate to AND find their place in the world.

Cultivating Classroom Kinship – Relationship With the Human Other

 Summary – The perception one holds of themselves as teacher has a direct correlation to their relationship with students. The authors propose that all living things are interrelated, that social conditioning leads to division and perpetuation of viewing oneself as separate and disconnected.  To be very concise, the lens through which the world is viewed critically affects the way one connects and relates to the world. The ability to see this interconnectedness is the first step in transforming not only education, but also the world as a whole.

Consider the word "teacher". This is long, sorry, I started relating to the concept with a story that just kept growing…The earliest memories I have of the word teacher are associated with my aunt. (Who, incidentally, I believe I omitted from my genealogy tree.) My aunt started her career in a one room school house, and progressed to retire from the district I attended, after a career spanning over 40 years. As a child I recall that, unlike my homemaker mother, my aunt dressed in professional attire and had a huge collection of accessories. She spent summers attending classes, and had a glamorous profession in my eyes. I loved, admired, and aspired to be just like her. When I actually started school I remember having a reverence for my teachers. I was so anxious to please them that I was the model student. Through all of my k-12 education I would have to say that there was a distinct separation between "us" and "them". When I became a teacher I was proud to have reached that pinnacle. Naively, I envisioned myself in that revered position, complete with the snappy wardrobe, an abundance of costume jewelry, and many pair of cute, but sensible, shoes. Those things seemed to serve me well during those days of student teaching. However, when it came right down to it, once in the actual trenches, this business of education was a whole lot messier than it ever appeared outside looking in. I think the experience of being a parent prepared me a tremendous more about interacting with children than any of my pre-service experiences.  During the past five to seven years I have heard much talk about the role of teacher changing from that of Sage on the Stage to that of Guide on the Side. The new definition makes sense of me, I don't want to be the Sage, it carries too much responsibility. Instead of reverence, I'd rather be treated with the type of respect you afford your parents… or at least something along those lines. I'd rather be seen as the person who introduces new ideas for consideration, and provides a safe place for the exploration of those ideas. I enjoy being a nurturer. I love the role of being a VTS facilitator, and completely embrace the idea that I can take in the observations of my students and not have to be the all-wise, all knowing "teacher". I learn both from and with my students.

Truth-speak - I believe that truth speaking has evolved as a natural manifestation of my experience in this program. That's not to say that I have completely adopted the practice, there are many times when I just react to the situation, whatever the case may be. I really dislike when students are talking when I am demonstrating a technique, or giving the parameters for a project. Lately I have found myself looking directly at the offending student and telling them that it frustrates me when they talk while I am talking because it makes me feel disrespected, and I worry they won't have time to do their studio work. When I have a student who is having a bad day I usually pull them outside the classroom door and ask them what's going on. Sometimes it's lack of sleep, or worrying about a parent (remember, these are military dependents), frequently, it's about something that happened in the hallway, or in their classroom. For the 'trouble-makers' or those kids from hell, as the author describes, sometimes they are surprised and oftentimes sullen. I just talk to them like I would my own kids, "What's going on, I'm concerned?" They are completely honest and more often than not, one, the other, or both of us end up in tears. I'm pretty sure this is truthspeak!

How has my consciousness about teaching expanded since the start of this course? How does it relate to my goals? Teaching nearly 450 students on a three-day rotation, and having an active role in several different building committees, it is easy to get wrapped up in the process of just getting through the day. Easy to lose sight of the real reason you are there. There were portions of this weeks reading that I had to read repeatedly, and some of it is still a bit “out there” to me. However, when I read, “ What if we viewed each young person as whole, complete, brilliant, - each a manifestation of the love and life force that animates existence?” (p 113) It reminded me that every student is someone’s baby, something I always try to keep in the back of my mind. I think this course has caused me to value that one-on-one relationship with students. I think it makes my goals for changing the district art curriculum from E & P based to one of meaningful making even more important than before. This newly deepened relationship makes me want the best for them even more than before! 

Anything else - Like I mentioned, I found some of this book to be a little "out there", however, I'm pretty open minded. I read this chapter on a layover in major airport. I love the sport of people watching and mentally practiced being at one with the individuals I encountered walking to my gate. I was the man with the handle-bar mustache, the father with the young infant, the obese woman in the wheelchair...I set aside the 'otherness', as best I could. It was a little staggering, and certainly a different way of looking at the world. This book makes want to know more about the power of social conditioning.

Week 8 - Reflection on Responses

Erika,
During one of Juan Carlos Castro's presentations at MAEA Spring Conference he mentioned having to leave his class of AP art kids to sub briefly in an Art I class. Thirty minutes later, when he returned to class, his students were actively engaged in the task he left them with. It was then that he realized that he had realized his goal. So, for a first year teacher, I think your observation is incredibly astute! Although our student populations are very different, I can identify with the sense of urgency you feel. Our time with them is so short and our content is so critical! Well done!!!

My Reflection
As an elementary teacher, I think I hover a little more closely, my fly eyes attuned to the scissor wielding kindergartener, the water cup bearing first grader, or the heart-broken fifth grader. My initial observation of Dr. Kathy Unrath was of how Mother Hen-like she was, how proud she was of her students and how protected they were under her wing. It's a fine line we walk, finding that balance between hovering and helping. It changes from class to class and student to student, day to day and moment by moment. I envy the teachers who get to see their students grow, mature, and make their way into the world.

Afterthought
I posted this in the morning and then this afternoon, a parent of three of my former students who moved away several years ago made this post to my facebook page:
Driving home from Sunday School morning, Rourke all of a sudden started yelling.. "THERE IS MRS LAMME!!!!!!" I hated to break his heart and tell him that you were still in MO. He looked at me and with those eyes of his....he then said " I miss Slamme Lamme"

Reading those words seriously brought ears to my eyes. My students move on at such a rapid pace, and there's always new ones to take their place. It's easy to get so caught up in the turnover that you forget the ways you impact developing lives, even in a short space of time. What a precious reminder! (PS It also made me wonder if I have a doppelgänger out there someplace!)

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To Ginia,
I'm a big fan of steampunk. This past Halloween I had a blast crafting steampunk costumes for my husband and I. The idea of an 'alternate history' is fun to imagine and there's something so appealing about the way gears the way they mesh and interact. I found myself wanting to see the back of your figure, wondering about the mechanics of your wings. Your noticing that you have included an aspect of nature in each of your art works makes me want to review my own to see if I have any consistent themes. I agree with Katie, you've done a great job. I too, want to see the finished piece. PS You can order bags of real gears from Amazon if you would like to incorporate some mixed media.

My Reflection

Upon initial comparison, I noticed that there was a common theme of "ways" running through my pieces, but then as I continued to look I made the following observations:
      There is no representation of my head in any of these portraits. I think this is consistent with my belief that what I do is not about me, but more about ways of thinking.
       Each piece places some emphasis on hands, or as in the case of the formalist teaching represented on the outer frame of my lineage tree, a lack of hands. The hands represented are extended and offering.
      This may be a stretch, but my most recent portrait contains a circle of focus from which the beams radiate, the center image contains a repetition of circles, focusing on the lessons I teach and the world to which they connect, and last, my lineage tree shows my torso covered in the knitted rows encircling me, a representation of the people who have touched my life. I see this repetition as symbolic of a desire for unity and connection.
     Now I'm wondering the responses I would get if I were to VTS these three images side-by-side. What's happening in this image my classmates???

      

Post Modern Portrait

Post Modern Portrait – the process

Last spring I attended the MU Art Ed Symposium and participated in the Dirty Pictures Workshop Olivia Gude presented. I wanted to capture the play and spontaneity similar to that I experienced that day, but decided to give the experience a digital spin. So, I grabbed a pair of dice from my desk drawer, opened my computer’s picture library and invented an image selection game. Starting with the most recent images I selected whatever number I rolled, and then proceeded selecting images which I placed in a folder. My age was the determining amount for the total number of pictures. If I got stuck in the middle of a chunk of the same type of images I skipped forward and I reserved the right to roll again if I landed on an image that I just didn’t want to use. (My game, my rules!)

I ended up with a folder of images that I didn’t know exactly how I was going to use, but they were a pretty good representation of family, friends, projects, places, events, and me.

Then I ran across this magazine cover and loved the look of the mosaic of images.

I downloaded AndreaMosaic, http://www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/ a free photo mosaic generator and began to play. The program is a little clunky, and I’m definitely a digital immigrant…took me a while to figure it out.

This was my first attempt, all of those little squares are my pictures…

Then I read through my blog, reflecting on my thinking thus far. That motivated me to experiment using my paper doll self-portrait.

I searched, Gudesque, for familiar shapes, and noted a number that resembled hands. I printed a copy and outlined them in black chalk and tried coming up with some text, but I just couldn’t seem to sum up everything I wanted to say in a few brief words. So, I headed back to my blog and there, early on, in my “tree”, I came across this description “I am also greatly influenced by random people with whom I feel a special connection. I’m struggling with how to put this into words, but when I find one of them it feels as though we were molded from the same mold or as if I’ve encountered one of my people. This connection transcends age, and gender, and involves more than them just being a creative individual. Even if they are very different from me I value and treasure their thoughts, this hard to describe link encourages me to broaden my perspectives.” AHA! This is the exact vision of myself I want to reflect in my teaching! I want my students to become my people, or at least expose them to our ways! 

Wanting to tweak the image a bit more and to add the text digitally, I turned to http://www.picmonkey.com . I played and played, using up three days worth of valuable plan period. I didn’t do much work with students in the room, I just couldn’t concentrate. I did, however, manage to work under the observation of fellow staff members. I left the hands as suggestions, and if you look closely, you can make out “I’M HAPPY” buried in the layers. I really like that!

I loved the colors in this version, but could never replicate them, sometimes that happens. 

This was my final version, but I'm still drawn more to the first. Any suggestions?

Week 7 - Reflection on Responses

Karen,

This week found me viewing my classroom through the lens of Gude’s Postmodern Principles too. I pondered them again while composing my response yesterday, and though this was not my first encounter with these Principles, I can’t seem to stop thinking about them. How do I measure up? Where do I fall short?

This is long and rambling, but hopefully I bring it around…I started typing and it just took on a life of it’s own!
My district conducts learning walks where a team of teachers, usually from another building, and district instructional coaches pop into your classroom for 3-5 minutes. They carry around an iPad with an excel doc open and immediately after exiting your classroom  go through the document evaluating evidence of : Use of Marzano Strategies, Objective clearly posted, Student understanding of the objective, Student work posted (with scoring guide), Cooperative learning, ISTEM activities, Product or Project based learning, etc ad nauseam. This reflective practice supposedly gives a snapshot of learning within the building. Perhaps it does, but with building goals linked to the use of these strategies, more often than not, teachers make darn sure that they are demonstrating as much of this evidence as possible on the day of the Learning Walk. In my opinion, it’s a highly orchestrated dog and pony show that kind of mirrors Gude’s description of the dispirited teacher. There is no trust, teachers aren’t actually taking ownership of the practices, but instead, demonstrating evidence of what they know the Learning Walk team wants to see. I agree with you, “Anxiety and resistance are ever-present daemons for both teachers and students.” This holds true for all of education, doesn’t it? I find myself wondering how the standards based criteria for the new Model Teacher Evaluation System will actually support learning versus foster a generation of teachers who go through the motions.

Reflection
Since creativity does not exist in isolation behind the closed doors of the art room, what if Learning Walks evaluated the type of teaching that truly fosters the development of creativity? What if they measured the really important things like relationship and trust? What if student work was exhibited, not with a scoring guide, but with a student reflection of process and perception?
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Ginia,
Each week I look forward to reading your response because I enjoy seeing your interpretation of the lesson.  We are all in the business of communication; I look to see what juicy tidbits from your world I can carry over and fold into mine.

This week I had to laugh when I read your description on using “I can statements”. This is the fourth year that my district has required implementation of these statements. We have been told that the use is twofold, students know what they are supposed to be learning AND outside visitors can step in and clearly see what learning is supposedly taking place. I frequently find that I have to dumb down what I want to say in order to make it fit the format of “I can…” I feel like I am cheating when I list the skill students are working on but oftentimes that’s what I do because it’s the easiest thing. When your goal is to foster and embrace diverse ways of thinking it is oftentimes a challenge to sum up in a short “I can” statement. I frequently stand at the whiteboard writing them and laughing, to myself, how ironic that the very structure designed to support student learning can, in fact, carry such strong capacity to stunt it instead.

 
Reflection

Rereading both of these reflections, I notice that I have honed in on what is wrong with education. It seems that everyone wants a magic formula for ensuring the production of well educated, productive, and happy members of society. No magic recipe exists. In my opinion it cannot because humans are individuals, unique in ways that go beyond comprehension. Gude repeatedly referenced the book On Becoming a Person by Carl Rogers. Could it be that an education system which promotes the development of creativity via psychological safety and psychological freedom (p 34) be the closest we could come in terms of such a magical force?

Week 7 - Playing, Creativity, and Possibility - Olivia Gude

Kindergartener's depiction of Respect

A common pretense in the field of art education is that the practice of art making fosters the development of creativity yet Gude asserts the majority of art curriculums falls short when it comes to the development of “deeply personal creative behaviors.” (p 32) Skill and vocabulary based content standards leave little room to support the growth of meaningful making. Referencing the book, On Becoming a Person, by Carl Rogers (1961) , Gude tells us that the key components for creative growth stem from: play - the freedom to experiment, “openness to experience” - a willingness to consider possibilities  and the ability to “trust one’s own processes and perceptions”. (p 36 - 37)

My response - One of Liv’s personal goals is to be more articulate. She said “ I want to absorb the readings so well that I can recite them, quote them, and be able to use them to articulate.” What a powerful goal! If I could only absorb one reading to that extent, I would want it to be anything written by Olivia Gude. Internalizing her wisdom would provide great ammunition in my ongoing battle for curriculum change. The art teachers in my district met last week after hanging our annual art show. All of them would argue that their lessons develop creativity, however, three out of seven said that their projects were “directed” and left little room for students to do anything on their own. This was in regard to a report card standard, and the teachers saw nothing wrong with their practice. One of them even went on to say, “Over the years, I’ve learned that you cannot get quality student work without showing them what to do, step-by-step.” Yikes! As if quality student work involved making pretty pictures to hang in the hall! It would be nice to imagine that this is an exception, however,  a quick check of student work posted to artsonia or a look at the most popular art teacher blogs will reveal that though this type of art teaching should have died out a long, long time ago, it is, in fact, alive and well. In my case, it even threatens to outvote my attempts at being a change agent. Hence my need to channel Gude at will!

Where /when do you notice “discomfort” when you are teaching? Gude gives the example of a teacher whose frustration stems from student inability to fearlessly engage in the act of art making. Conversely, students are frustrated because they have no experience with the process of open-ended meaning making. She goes on to describe an equation of frustration: students half-heartedly going through the motions of producing art + teacher focus on the students who “get it” = shallow end product + teacher who blames student attitude. In the end, it’s a fail / fail situation.

Most of my elementary students will eagerly go wherever I want to take them. The majority readily engages in VTS discussions, and I try to design lessons that have a real life connection for them. They tend to be excited over new processes, media, and techniques and it is easy for me to feed off of that excitement. I do experience frustration stemming from seeing 430 students on a three-day rotation with no passing time between classes. I am often the last person to leave the building. I feel over-worked because I am overworked! I make a conscious effort not to let that fact define who I am and what I do though. Most of the time I am fairly successful, I like my job, and I feel like I am making a difference. J When it comes to actual discomfort, as much as I hate to admit it, it would probably be the scenario Gude describes. I only have a few students who would fall into the “never gets it” category, and as shameful as it is, after a repeated number of failed attempts, upon reflection, I think I do unconsciously tend to give up on those students. An example of this would be one of my fifth grade boys, who I will call Martin. Martin is an eleven-year-old, African American boy, new to my building this year. His work is sloppy and rapidly executed. Finished products are the level of work of a much, much younger student and he makes no attempt at meaning making. He is sweet and polite, always having a big goofy smile on his face, never failing to greet me with a “Hi, Mrs. Lamme. How you doin’ today?” Yet, after repeatedly trying to engage him, and after offering a number of modifications to no avail, I have resigned to the fact that he is lazy. He does the bare minimum and I focus more of my attention on the rest of the class. I don’t know how to meet him as he is!

What inhibits my creative development?  For many years I have joked that I prefer the acquisition of art making supplies to the actual process of making art. That being said, I would like to say that time inhibits my creative development, in all actuality, I think it’s more a matter of discipline. I have no problem being creative, and dream-up, at least in my mind, wonderful ideas. Seeing the ideas become reality requires focus and commitment. Once I’m in the flow I hate being interrupted. I can work for hours on end, not stopping to eat, drink, sleep, or even go to the bathroom.  I abhor outside interruption. I enjoy the process of sorting through what works, the tension of solving the problem.  It’s a highly satisfying experience which borders on mania, but it’s also very draining. I don’t find it as rewarding to work in smaller increments of time, though it is frequently my modus operandus these days.  

I do share my work with students, but, unlike Amy, I rarely work alongside them. They are too needy, and my administration would frown on it.

Week 6 - Reflection on Responses

Adair,

I think we all loathe seeing and hearing ourselves in video! Yet, your response is very honest and observant. I was reading your account, thinking “sounds good, me too,” and then I got to the part where you mention only having students for 30 minutes twice a week. I’ve only ever had that little amount of time and it was with kindergarten. Oh my goodness! By the time they are seated, and you’ve conducted VTS, and instruction / discussion is there any time at all left over for students to work? It would make me feel very frustrated and rushed I am certain. Is your administration supportive of the arts? Would they be able to change or modify your schedule for next year? There’s a lot of research which clearly defines the amount of time it takes for the brain to focus and refocus. Sheesh, your sarcasm might stem from the fact that you have to teach in such short chunks of time!

What are you required to assess? As I have complained time and time again, my assessments are all skill based. I don’t document it, but just walking around the room, viewing work in progress gives me a good idea of how well they are retaining the technical stuff. You mention that you use a lot of VTS. That’s where I see the most evidence of what I consider the juicy stuff…critical thought, collaboration, flexible thinking, evidential reasoning. In my opinion, written tests fall short when it comes to measuring the things that the arts teach. If I remember correctly, this is your second year of teaching. Your lesson sounds interesting and engaging. My advice would be to b-r-e-a-t-h-e, relax, and enjoy your kiddos - both you and they deserve as much.

PS I have always hated teaching positive and negative space too, it’s super confusing!

My reflection
One year, three or four years into teaching, I had kindergarten for 25 minutes at a time and, as if that wasn't bad enough, I had a class and a half of them at once. It frustrated me to no end. Every time they came to my room it was just crowd control, I accomplished very little in the way of teaching. I complained long and loud to my administrator, but it was only when I got the 36th student and had not one single amount of space to squeeze another student in, that the schedule was changed. I would hate being an administrator, hate having to figure out scheduling which best accommodates everyone and is most conducive to learning, I think it would be a very difficult job. I like to give them the benefit of a doubt, but sometimes such as in Adair's case, it seems as though specials teachers are sometimes regarded as highly paid babysitters. It sends out a clear message to the building and has the potential to seriously impact school climate. It's difficult to want to collaborate when you feel like you are the stepchild of the building. Of course, I am making a lot of assumptions here, and for Adair and her student's benefit, I seriously hope that I am wrong!

Thinking back over my past few weeks and my stress and struggle to work all of the extra stuff in, I think I would do well to practice my own advice to breathe, relax, and enjoy. It's easy to get so caught up in all of the extra stuff, that you lose sight of the big picture.

Katie,
Is your administration aware that students are being withheld from class by the classroom teacher? According to DESE " Each elementary student will receive instruction in art, music, and physical education for a minimum of 50 minutes in each area each week." It doesn't bother me if a teacher needs a student to complete a test once in awhile, but sometimes if you give them an inch, they will take a mile. Last year I had a first year teacher who was always keeping back students, or worse, keeping them long enough so that they missed the instructional part of my lesson. I went to my administrator and he was the one who brought up the DESE requirement. Something to think about. It's a clear case of an educational system that values, as Sir Ken points out, one type of intelligence.

My reflection

I should point out that before going to my administrator, I first tried approaching the teacher, to no avail. Additionally, the same administrator, when pointed out that I was teaching more than the DESE limit of 750 students per week told me that it was out of his hands. If I recall correctly, it had something to do with the state not fully funding CSIP (Comprehensive School Improvement Plan).  

I seem to be on a theme this week, but with MU suspending the undergraduate art ed program, this blatant devaluing of the arts is like having a sore spot in your mouth where you just keep sticking your tongue and every time you do, OUCH, it still hurts! It’s something I have struggled with for years. It’s always seemed to be a huge uphill battle to prove the importance of the visual arts. As I said in my post this week, “We have the potential be an expert representation of the way 21^st Century education could and should look!” How do we best demonstrate that to the rest of the educational world before it’s too late? On a side note, how do we eliminate or change the deadweight amongst our profession who are dragging us down? We can no longer justify, as if we ever could, cookie cutter art…another story for another day.

Amate Bark Painting

Pre viewing observation - I think this class went well. The students seemed mostly focused and engaged. Most of them were attentive during the lesson and participated in the discussion. They generated a lot of ideas in recalling ‘Things We Celebrate’. They were interested in the Amate Painting and asked if they could touch it. The details on it are small, so after my instruction I allowed each table to come up, one at a time, for a closer look. I explained that they would be using their artist’s journals to plan a celebration painting. They would choose a memory of a celebration and: write or mind map the details that would convey the narrative for their painting and they would create a rough draft. I asked that they include action figures, as they have been working on this skill, and it is a standard that I am required to access for report cards this quarter. They seemed excited, but after journals were distributed, several students seemed to have trouble recalling exactly what they were supposed to be doing. I was surprised that several of them were drawing stick figures even though they have spent the past three class periods drawing figures. I returned to the whiteboard and demonstrated how they could use a graphic organizer and did a very rough sketch of how a rough draft could look. I used my wedding as my celebration as I felt it was one they could not copy.

Post viewing observation -I used the video setting on photo-booth to make my recording. As soon as I began taping I had several boys jump up and goof off in front of the camera, immediately after I explained what I was doing and why. I had asked them to please ignore my computer. The very first part of the video is of me snapping at them. The next thing I noticed was wiggliness…if feet were not jiggling, legs were swinging, and hands sweeping across the tables. Several students were off task every single time my back was turned. I couldn’t believe the amount of horseplay! Not surprising, these were the students who didn’t understand what they were supposed to be doing. I seem calm and patiently return to the board to demonstrate what I expected. Some of the same students were still off task. One boy complained three times that his pencil lead was broken, each time I had calmly responded to go get another one. The third time I even remarked, “Wow, you’re having a tough time with pencils today.” Watching the video, I observed that his pencil leads are breaking because he is bouncing his pencil eraser side down on the table top and catching it. When it drops to the floor the lead breaks. Any time my head turned remotely towards him he stopped! Grrrrrr! I felt like such a sucker. Having students come to the whiteboard was a spur of the moment response to the energy level in the class. It gave them a closer look, but also allowed for some controlled movement. I think it helped a little, it certainly did not seem to hurt anything. This class doesn’t have recess until after specials. At this point in the day they have spent 2 1/2 hours in the classroom, have had lunch, and a bathroom break or two. Cold and snow have kept them indoors for weeks on end. Maybe I need to do a brain break activity as soon as they get into my room. I only have them for 50 minutes at a time, but 40 or even 30 minutes of focus would beat 50 minutes of partial to no focus! I have already made some changes to seating arrangements as a result of this video. The classroom teacher has shared that she has been experiencing similar behaviors. The dynamics of her classroom changed dramatically when a new student moved in. Previously this class had a real sense of community to it, now; she related that she is teaching them the value of integrity.

On a positive note, I notice that I incorporate a lot of art vocabulary into my instruction, I think I use a "just right" amount of direction, and I make connections between both real life AND what students are doing in the classroom. My main goal was to seek out ways to make to make my skills based curriculum more meaningful. I think students related to the concept of using art to illustrate a celebration.

From a Student's Perspective

I’ll try taking the point of view of Kee, though this part is a little tough for me. He sat close to the camera, is a bright and attentive young man who is always on-task. I tried to imagine the thoughts that might be running through his head as I observed him in the video. - Wow, I can’t believe Mrs. Lamme yelled at us for making faces and waving our arms at the camera. I’m a little embarrassed. It was so cool to see ourselves on her computer. That bark paper looks pretty interesting. I wonder how they make it. I wish I could see the celebrations better. My family celebrates all of the stuff that people are saying. I’m going to think of one no one has mentioned. I held up my hand and said “Fourth of July”. Mrs. Lamme wrote it on the web she’s making on the board. I wish that Kamden would leave me alone. He keeps poking me and trying to talk to me while Mrs. L is talking. I’m going to ignore him. So I’ve finally got my journal, and I’m going to use my dad coming home from Afghanistan as my celebration. Kamden is bouncing his pencil all over the table and he keeps marking in my journal. I don’t want to get him in trouble, but he’s really bugging me. I remember a lot of details about my Dad coming home. I’m going to make my drawing about the banners we had up and all of our family happy to have him home. I’m pretty good at drawing action figures. I hope no one laughs when they see I'm showing my Mom and Dad hugging in my picture. Sheesh, I wish Mrs. Lamme would stop sharpening pencils long enough to catch Kamden bothering me. She’s walking around talking to people now, maybe she’ll notice that he hasn’t done any work.

A final note - Between MAEA Spring Conference, NAEA Convention, (I’m presenting at both), the Youth Art Month Show, and my district’s annual art show I’ve got a lot going on. I have felt stressed, and it really shows. I’ve video-taped myself many times before. In this one, I’m not very perky or excited. My affect takes neutral to a whole new level. I don’t think it would be fair to myself or my students should I fail to take this into account!

Week 6 TED Video Reflections

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html

Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms

Robinson attributes universal education reform as being based on two things: an economy that we can’t begin to imagine or accurately predict, and a need to retain cultural identity in a global economy. He describes: the basic foundations of education, the birth and evolution of public education, and explains his beliefs why the current paradigm not only fails, but contributes to what he describes as “chaos”.  Although some manage to navigate successfully through this system, Sir Ken asserts that more often than not, education today promotes an extremely limited view of intelligence and rewards passive assimilation of knowledge. Although not claiming to be an expert, Robinson attributes the perceived epidemic of ADHD to education’s need to “numb” the child who responds naturally to the stimulation of their environment. He continues that the arts, with their ability to arouse a similar response, fall into the same category. Robinson contends that it is time to change the culture of education. He proposes that a successful new model will both value and nurture divergent thought and embrace a spirit of collaboration.

I love Sir Ken Robinson! Those of you who know me have heard of my guest list for a fantasy dinner party. In addition to inviting all of my dearest creative friends, I envision including my favorite respected leaders from the fields of education and creativity. I haven’t considered why they’ll respond to my invitation, but hey, it’s a fantasy. Sir Ken and Daniel Pink are at the head of the list; Howard Gardener and the late Elliot Eisner don’t make the cut. (Though I admire them, it’s a dinner party, they have to be able to engage in witty repartee and I don’t want to feel as though I need a dictionary to understand them.) Kathy Unrath and Olivia Gude will both be there. The point of my self-indulgent ramble is to illustrate the fact that Robinson comes off as both brilliant and approachable. The thing that stands out for me from this video is, and it’s a little on the scary side, it’s a consensus from our leaders in the field that education needs to change yet, as long as there is a top down mandate for standardized testing, it cannot. I know it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but could it be that our country doesn’t really want to produce divergent thinkers? Could there be a hidden agenda? While I’ve dared dip my toes into a messy puddle, here’s a quote from the movie Conspiracy Theory, “Have you ever been a place where hope was gone? Where all that's left is patience?” I’m not meaning to come off as completely whacky, but I’ve been in this field a long time. Every day I witness my general ed colleagues struggling to keep hope alive, but as I hear story after story about the ways they no longer have time for the fun stuff. Please tell me that I’m wrong, but as I watch them scramble to cram in fact after fact because it’s going to be on the test, and their professional evaluation depends on those test scores, doesn’t it make you wonder?

http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_laufenberg_3_ways_to_teach.html

Diana Laufenberg: How to learn? From mistakes

Unlike the educational models of the past where knowledge was transmitted from teacher to student, where information was contained within the walls of the school building or the pages of a set of books, students of today are faced with an abundance of information. Laufenberg posits experiential learning, student voice, and the embracement of failure as a new model for educational success.

 I watched this video in complete agreement with everything Laufenberg had to say. My grandparents and parents were products of the one room schoolhouse; my own family owned a set of seriously dated encyclopedias. I experienced the advent of technology, have witnessed the rise of the great information overload.

Two things from the video really stood out to me. First, I could not help but think of Visual Thinking Strategies and how VTS nestles perfectly into this new model. In a VTS discussion students build meaning based on personal experiences, there is a clear understanding that no one right answer exists, flexible thinking is supported, and the entire experience is conducted via student voice.

Secondly, when I attended college I was taught the ways to effectively dispense knowledge and to design meaningful projects through which students could respond, demonstrating their personal understanding of the lesson. It wasn’t a horrible model, but the teacher was still recognized as the expert. This intensified with DBAE, and somewhere along the line, art education was turned into a tidy little package that evolved around the elements and principles of art. I clung tightly to my life preserver of meaning! I had the ability to teach the E’s and P’s, but it wasn’t really what I signed on for. I’m overjoyed with a return to meaning; I don’t want the role of expert. I work every single day at redefining the perception of failure! Arts education is way ahead of the pack here. We have the potential be an expert representation of the way 21^st Century education could and should look!

Last week I noted that I identified closely with the description of the progressive tradition, but as I reflect on my response to this video, I’d have to say that perhaps I’m a substantial chunk spiritual - contemplative as well.