In Like a Lion...

March has come roaring in like a lion.  As we work in the art room at AMS, the wind is whipping around the back fields and I would not be surprised to see a house, a cow or a mean old lady on a bicycle flying through the air or between the goal posts.  It’s hard to believe that we sent home progress reports this week, marking the halfway point of third quarter.  It will be spring break before we know it and then, that long stretch until summer time will be upon us.

Every year, at mid-year, I get a new bunch of students.  I enjoy working on a semester rotation although there are always students that I wish that I could keep all year long.  The point of exploratory classes in middle school is to explore their options, so I have to let them come and go.  I usually intend to do the same projects first and second semester but that is rarely the case.  For whatever reason, last semester was rough and I didn’t enjoy very much of what we did.  This semester, I feel like starting over fresh and new.  

I usually start with line and color and move pretty quickly, particularly with my students in 7th and 8th grade.  They all should be able to remember these simple concepts, so we review and do one project that kind of does a once-over on the elements of art that they have studied previously.  This semester, I chose a simple, non-objective project based on the work of Ukranian/French artist Sonia Delaunay.  It’s fairly easy and I am able to set my expectations for craftsmanship pretty straightforwardly with this project.  It requires patience and perseverance, but there really isn’t anything much to it other than measuring correctly, following the color patterns and being neat and not ‘scribble-scabblely’ with their coloring.  Once we get the lines and circles drawn out, we can spend class time coloring and listening to music.  It’s pretty relaxing and the end product turns out pretty nicely.

Here's a few examples:

We are currently doing an artist research project and I have been shocked and surprised by how excited my students have been to work on it.  Usually, when I bring up the prospect of doing any kind of research, I can practically hear their eyes rolling in the back of their heads.  This time, I made a couple of examples of the finished product and stuck them up on the whiteboard in front of my class.  Several students, in each of my classes asked,  “Do we get to do this?” more than once.  It’s cute, it’s fun and I knew I had them with it.  I’m not gonna lie and say that I came up with the idea on my own.  On one of the several art teacher facebook groups I am a part of, someone posted a similar project where they had their students do a ‘hero’ in a similar fashion.  I just took the concept a little bit further, put some other ideas together that I found on Pinterest and created my own templates that worked for my project idea. One of my most difficult classes was the first class that I taught the lesson to, and I was being observed by folks from county office that day to make matters worse.  Somehow, the luck of the gods was on my side and the entire class was engaged, having meaningful discussions about the project and doing what they were supposed to do.  We are still working on them, but here’s a sneak preview of my examples.  I enjoyed it so much, I made four.  I know, right?  When my students finish theirs, I’ll do another post so you can see them.  They really are so excited about them.  It's so much fun listening to them talk about and discover information about artists for the first time. I love hearing their thoughts-everything old is new again. Also, I remember why I took French when I was in school. They have no idea how to pronounce some of their names...it's funny and I am sorry Mary Cassatt and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Bob Ross, my only Funko Pop! artist character has become our classroom mascot!

Students can choose to do the project in 3D.

Or they can do the project in 2D, like Vincent, shown here.

My examples, Frida, Pablo and Jean-Michel are done in 3d.  Students trace the Funko Pop! outline onto card stock using our light table, color, cut it out and attach it with paper springs.

Pablo is also in 3D.  

Second Semester

The second semester of the 2015-2016 school year is almost upon us.  Let me tell you, my friends, I am so ready for a do over!  This first semester has been a difficult one, for reasons unknown to me.  Sometimes, I suppose things can be rough and we might not even know why.  On a daily basis. Every. Single. Day.

One of the great things about being a middle school art teacher is the chance to start over with a fresh batch of kids not long after the new year begins.  Usually, I will take my first semester and change a few things up but for the most part, I'll repeat all the projects I did in the first half of the year.  Not this year.  Not at all.  While some of the projects that I did were tried and true and pulled out of my magic bag of tricks I just haven't been thrilled enough with any of them to do them again in the second semester.  That being said, I do have a plan.  In an amazing move that has surprised even yours truly, I have planned all my lessons out, even to the point of having a lesson plan written for every project until state testing starts in the beginning of June.  IKR?

I even redid my art newsletter that I send home in the beginning of each semester.

Here it is.

I'd love to know: If you are on semesters and have a whole new crop of students the second half of the year, do you do the same things or switch things up?  Does the weather play a role in the projects that you do?  Does state testing interrupt your routine?

So tell the truth, who is looking forward to Spring Break already? 

Ah, NC beaches are the best!

Second Semester

Mid-Term, second semester is almost upon us.  While the rest of the (north) east coast is still digging out from a record amount of snow fall, we in the south east are preparing for what might be the only snow that we have this winter.  Last night, it was windier than I can ever remember it being since I've lived here.  I am pretty sure that something flew into the side of my house but I have been afraid to venture out too far to inspect any damage.  My garbage can blew over, several large clay pots are now fodder for mosaics and the little things that I had hanging on my house are now on the front porch floor.  It's sunny and 31° here in North Carolina today but the weather is supposed to turn blustery late tomorrow afternoon.  Further south in Atlanta, they have already closed schools, I am assuming to avoid last years disaster where students and teachers ended up spending the night at school because of road conditions.  Me?  I am hoping for an early release and a 2-3 hour delay, the holy grail of teacher (and student) days.  I enjoy the chaos, the change in schedule and the excitement that snow brings to the south.  And the no-make-up-days.  Which around here, are Saturdays when we are fresh out of teacher workdays.  I think that we have one or two left this year. 

I've been doing this art teacher thing for a while now and honestly, it should be easy.  I should have a stockpile of lessons so fabulous that I never have to find another lesson plan or project again. Whether I am teaching classes that are one quarter or one semester long, I ought to be able to pull out a file that says something like "Year 3 Rotation" and have my whole year planned.  I'm just not that kind of teacher.  I get bored easily.  Every year, my classes are different, even the grade levels that I have taught before.  My access to supplies changes from year to year and my motivation for doing certain projects ebbs and flows. Some kids are really into painting, some are into 3D, some would rather draw in pencil all day.  Some of my classes like those big crafty projects like paper making or print making or papier mache'.  This year, I bought some of these Straws and Connectors for the kids to use when they are done with their projects. I have been thinking of doing a STEAM oriented type project in the spring and thought that they might be a good exploration activity before doing one of those newspaper tower projects. I may have some engineers on my hands.  They can't wait to use them and some of the conversations that they have had when building towers that touch the art room ceiling (14') have been intriguing.  I am looking forward to spring when I can put them in groups, have them work together in teams and take them outside where the sky is the limit. Literally.

Lee and Adam hit the ceiling.

Zachary and Sa'Vion and their tower.  I apologize for the picture quality but apparently there was a filter on my iPhone camera and I didn't realize it until it was too late.

My point is that I am trying to come up with projects that spark the interest of my students.  That can be easier said than done when you teach middle school and everything is lame. (Is that even a word anymore?  Ratchet?  Sucks? [mizzsmiff frowns on this synonym] Lamesauce? I dunno.  Whatever.) Interest + curriculum + integration + materials = no easy feat. 

So far this semester, I did the same two projects that I did last semester but I am thinking that I am done with the rest of the stuff that I did the first half of the year.  It's not that the projects weren't good or successful, I am itching to do something different.  I tend to feel more "arty" (painting, drawing, teaching technique and methods) in the fall and more "crafty" in the spring (bookmaking, papier mache', experimenting with materials).  We have tomorrow off for a teacher workday...President's Day.  I'm still not sure what we will be doing on Tuesday.  Something will come to me, it always does.

But I'm kind of hoping for a snow day.

In the meantime, here is a short iMovie of the last project my first semester students did. We talked about line and movement and planning.  It was a quick art project that took just a couple of days but I think that the results were nice.  The project itself is all over Pinterest, but I found it here.