And the rewards continue...

Today was fantastic. I always knew it was going to be hard my 1st year teaching. I knew this to an extra extent because enough people told me what I was stepping into for a classroom. And I don't mean this disrespectfully but I was about to be handed 375 kids out of 550 that were used to a classroom where they could get away with anything and nothing, and most their projects were more or less started, created, and finished by the teacher in the room. Meaning they would start a unit and the teacher would jump in and complete the task - the only thing the student had to do was put their name on it. Again, no disrespect-to each his own but after hearing this from teachers, students, and parents-I knew it would be tough. One of my theories in art is that the best art is created on your own with your own planning and imagination - it's rewarding to look at a piece you made and know it has you "written" all over it, regardless of skill or knowledge.

That said, my year started tough. A number of my students put up a defence and became defiant to my theory as well as procedures that involved classroom/time management. "We've never had to do our work before." was a constant statement made. By the end of the first project, the students were started to break out of the mindset but not 100%.

And then today. Of all days, the last day of the week for the kids, I had a student, one of my most defiant students, leap up, completely out of her stool and squeal with the biggest smile on her face that I have ever seen. The conversation below followed:

Me: Whoa! What's the excitement about?
Student A: It's...it's awesome! It looks great. I just reallllllly love it!
Me: That's great, can you give me a reason? (Of course, I'm smiling.)
Student A: (About 3 minutes of trying to come up with words but just a smile.
Student B: Dude?
Student A: Because it looks so goooood - and I did it. I did it all by myself and you didn't do anything for me - you just showed us how and I...me...I made it! Ahhhh! (Followed by some crazy excitement.)
Me: Wait, so you're telling me you LIKE doing your own work?
Student B: I love that you make us do it ourselves, it's awesome making it.
Student A: Mine is just so cool - I didn't think it would be this cool but it is!! It really is!
Me: Do you know how exciting this is for me to hear?
Another student: Miss J, it's exciting for us!

I didn't fabricate that conversation at all. I ended the discussion asking the students if after 4 weeks they had started to understand how important and rewarding it is to create on your own, with your own ideas. Most of the students started talking about how they were proud of the work they were done and how they loved hearing from other teachers about their work because they actually did it.

Now. I've had a lot of rewarding moments within the last 4 weeks - but after today, this one has taken the the top slot. Knowing that the kids are warming up, that they are starting to realize the point and the process of art is fantastic. And seeing some of my most defiant kids get the point - getting excited about making art and doing their own art - make me even more excited about teaching. I love my job. I love the bad and the good - but I especially like the good.

1st Year Rewards

After a good, fun weekend - this Monday started off great. The kids did something over the weekend to get into gear and I cross my fingers now that it stays that way tomorrow.

I did have to share one big reward.

A student came in after school to show me more than a dozen paintings he did at home using watercolor techniques I introduced in class. Not only was the fantastic to see but the effort and excitement by this student was beyond rewarding. It was thrilling - and the work was beautiful.

I just had to share. :)

I ♥ my job!

Success.

I was trying to be extremely productive during some extra free time today. The sixth graders were on a field trip, therefor opening up a lunch duty and period out of the day I could do things. Thus, I had the idea to start hanging projects up - starting with 8th grade, doing 7th tomorrow. So I head to the commons and start to prepare the pin board wall. And I turn off the step up and lose my step, thus falling. Now while it was unfortunate and very, very painful, it was hilarious so feel free to laugh. On the other hand, it only felt slightly bad during the day. Now as I sit at home, it kills to walk. We shall see what tomorrow brings. As for the hangings? The custodians helped finish my job and it looks great. Take a look. (8th Grade Silhouettes) Click on the picture and it will enlarge!

And so it is...

Nearly a month down, and I can say I'm still breathing and I still have some life to me...*pinch*, yep and I'm not dreaming. The year has been great to me so far (mind you it's weird to say 'year' when I have a ways to go) and the projects are rolling along steadily. With two classes of 7th graders, two classes of 8th graders, and a period each of 5th and 6th grade - let's just say...I'm surrounded by young, hormonal pre-teens all day, every day except for Saturday and Sunday and even then, I live with three college men - that's saying something.

My 5th graders are diving right into color theory and material expectations - so far they've mastered using markers, colored pencils, and paints. They'll hit the finale of this unit by creating a project using a particular color family that describes a particular noise/sound/music using design shapes and outlining in black. In the end it's a lesson in Kandinsky's music-related and colorful paintings.

My 6th graders are learning all about Georgia O'Keeffe, first in lesson and then applying what they learn to their own paintings by picking out plants and flowers that are colorful to paint and using watercolors to paint them. They learn all sorts of techniques like salting, masking, wet on wet, scratching, blotting, and watercolor pencils.

The unfortunate thing is that I see 5th and 6th graders once every six days so they spend a lot of time away from me and we often get stuck reviewing a good chunk of the period. :( On the good end of that is that I see them all year unlike my 7th and 8th graders who I see every day for only a trimester.

My 7th graders are chugging along, already having completed their first project - a lesson in the Principles of Design/Elements of Art. After a few exercises, they apply what they know using bright pastels on black large paper. These turned out 50x better than I expected (not because of their ability but because I had never taught this lesson before) and I can't wait to show them around school. They are now working on Optical Illusions. Every few days we view new illusions, all the while they are creating their own using technical designs and their very own name - one of my favorite units.


7th Grade Principles/Elements Project

My 8th graders are also well on their way, after completing their silhouette project during which they practice outlining detail, learning the history of silhouettes, and enlarging an image of their choice using grids onto black paper. After using color families to make a blended background, they then cut their image out and paste it on their paper. These look great - very cool. They're now stepping into their ceramics unit (the messiest) that they've all been eager for.


8th Grade Silhouette Project

In conclusion,

Current Challenge: Getting students to do their homework (i.e. printing a picture to bring to class).
Current Success: Students leaving class and discussing what they learned today.
Current Thoughts: I love this job.