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!