How does Finland's Education Become the Best in the World?

As Michigan students take their MEAP tests this week, we are reminded that the United States education system is too tied to testing. This article about Finland's education system is a good reminder that we need to focus on critical thinking skills and encourage life-long learning.

"Education is looked upon as a life-long process in any job. People are generally much more educated in any trade or professional jobs than they are in other countries. They do an excellent job in having the highest work force readiness of any nation"

New content coming soon

I can't believe it's been a month of hiatus already! Your patience has been amazing. I have a ton of information to post and will hopefully start up again next week. Thanks for all of the support!

Hope for the First-Year Teacher

A fellow teacher wrote this up summary of a great article on traditional vs. non-traditional teaching methods:

"The Educational Value of Creative Disobedience," is a fascinating article in Scientific American (July 7, 2011) in which Andrea Kuszewski explores the difference between traditional educational methods and those based on arousing curiosity.

Kuszewsji described a study which compared "a group of students taught by an inexperienced instructor, but one that utilized hands-on demonstrations and student involvement...and a similar group taught using traditional methods (lecture) by a highly rated experienced professor." The result: "increased student attendance, higher engagement, and more than twice the learning in the section taught using research-based instruction."

"The quality of the instructor didn’t have nearly the impact on student learning that getting the students actively involved in the learning process did. Just by moving the students from passive observer to active participant, you are lighting a fire in the brain—making more connections across association areas, increasing plasticity, and enhancing learning. Not only that, students that are more actively engaged are more intrinsically motivated to learn—no bribes or artificial rewards needed, just pure enjoyment of learning."

Ok, back to the job hunt. . . Thank you for your patience. I promise to post more soon!

Be back soon!

I need to take a hiatus and will be back soon. Thank you for your patience.

Arts & Activities: Online & Free!

Did you know that you can read Arts & Activities online? Here's a link to the September issue. Their web site and magazine has so much good information, I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already. Last I knew, they offered student discounts to NAEA student members.

Books (More Books)

Last month I linked a list of great books for the elementary classroom. Today I stumbled across EduGuide's Annotated Bibliography of Art Books for K12 Grades. I love reading and all students seem to enjoy reading books about art, especially when starting out a new unit.

Setting Up A Classroom

It's that time of year when teachers get to head back into their classrooms to start setting up for a new year of learning. How do you go about making one room meet all of your needs? Choice Literacy posted an article about just this, "Room for Beliefs: Linking Classroom Design and What We Value."

Reggio Emilia schools consider the environment to be the teacher. Reggio is a choice-based education system for early education. This Design Share article, "Artistic Codes in Early Childhood Education" shows how the environment can help students construct meaningful learning. The information in this article can be applied to any classroom and to learners of all ages:

It embodies Reggio educators' belief that children are resourceful, curious, competent, imaginative, and have a desire to interact with and communicate with others (Rinaldi, 1998, p. 114). They believe that children can best create meaning and make sense of their world through living in complex, rich environments which support "complex, varied, sustained, and changing relationships between people, the world of experience, ideas and the many ways of expressing ideas" (Cadwell, p. 93) rather than from simplified lessons or learning environments. They also believe that children have a right to environments which support the development of their many languages (Reggio Children, 1996).  

Most art rooms have some kind of table set up for every day working. The teacher's desk is often hidden off in the corner since we're not really sit-at-the-desk kind of teachers. However, we need a demo space, a place to present art, a place for critique, a place for supplies, a place to let work dry, etc. With so many needs, it's important to set goals and then evaluate your space to make sure that your classroom is working with you to and not becoming an obstacle.

Visual Journaling

Check out Michael Bell's video on Visual Journaling. The journals are incredible works of art on their own and they really help the students get warmed up, master subject matter, organize ideas, work out color/composition choices, and store notes/keepsakes, etc. Journals like this also help show the progress the artist makes over time. Imagine looking at senior journals compared to freshman journals. I have many journals from my college years and I refer back to them frequently. This is such an amazing tool and learning aid for students at any level.



For more information on creating visual journals, check out the Journal Fodder Junkies blog and/or read the Journal Junkies Workshop book.

Happy Birthday World Wide Web!

Today is the 20th anniversary of the first web page. Want to see it? Here you go. The way we see it now is different from the way everybody saw it back then because the browsers are so much more sophisticated. We still see the default Times New Roman type, underlined blue active links, underlined purple visited links, no navigation (other than links), no graphics, and no design. What we don't see is the gray background that was the default on the old browsers (modern browsers let come with white background as the default and allow you to change your settings) along with the primitive buttons. The internet has come a long way since going public in 1991. I have been lucky enough to be along for the ride since 1992 or 1993 thanks to my years at Michigan Tech, coincidentally the first school in Michigan to get the World Wide Web.

Freebies!

As I try to get my materials in order for a potential job, I stumbled across this great list of free things at the Incredible Art Department including the New Teacher's Survival Guide (PDF). The list at the Incredible Art Department is awesome and includes freebies like posters, artwork, books, magazines, and technology (printers and computers). The survival guide has a lot of good advice and ready-to-go worksheets like self-assessment worksheets and class grade sheets. There's a ton of material packed inside.

At the end of January, I ran up to my local book stores and bought every art calendar I could for $1 a piece. I'm missing some of the masters because those sold out, but still managed to score lesser known artists like Inuit and Woodcuts.

Any other tips for freebies or cheap classroom resources? Does anybody extreme coupon? Write for grants? I'm always looking for ways to be resourceful and to maximize my budget.

Inspiration: Science

I love NPR's Science Friday. Maybe it's the fact that I went to Michigan Tech for four years, or maybe it's their storytelling, but the stories are always interesting. Last week's story was on cephalopods (octopus, squid, and cuttlefish) and their ability to camouflage. Even if you're not interested in the science, watch the first 20 second of the video below. It's fascinating.



How does a science video about an octopus fit into art education? Easy. I'm a big believer in integrated education rather than breaking everything down into subjects. It's not like we go to the grocery store and only do math. No, we are using science, art, language, etc. Life is integrated and my feeling is that education works better when it mimics life. So... here are four lessons using this video:

1. Elementary: Students can paint the underwater with tempera and draw in their camouflaged cephalopod with oil pastels or cray pas.

2. Middle School: Students can paint the background, underwater elements (rocks, leaves, etc.), and the cephalopod. They will then cut and glue together their underwater scene.

3. High School: Students will draw the transformation process using colored pencils.

4. Middle or High School: Students will sculpt the hidden cephalopod in clay (ceramic or air-hardening) and will glaze/paint to complete camouflage process.

Matt Damon's Speech from the Save Our Schools (SOS) March

Inspiration: Crayons

These sculptures are a cool example of using traditional art materials in nontraditional applications. In this case, the artists are using crayons to make sculptures rather than to draw or color. It can be used to create a linear effect by using the crayon on its side, or a pointillism-like effect by using a cross section, or it can create a pointy effect by using the sharp tips.

Yet another artist, actually carved the crayon into mini sculptures:

Rose Art Crayons vs. Crayola Crayons

I've seen a lot of the melted crayon artwork in different classrooms, but this made me giggle -- Scientific Proof That Rose Art Crayons Suck:

Great Books for the Elementary Art Classroom

I recently came across this list of 76 great books for the elementary art classroom. The woman I student taught with suggested starting a lesson with a culture (Africa, Inuit, China), an artist (VanGogh, Matisse), or a book. Books are also used to supplement the first two choices, so this list should come in handy for anybody teaching elementary art.

 

Laid-Off Art Teachers Turn to Their Craft to Express Themselves

The New York Times ran an article about laid-off art teachers exhibiting their artwork after being laid off from their teaching jobs. If you're in the Chicago area, the show runs through July 30 in the Flat Iron Building within the Wicker Park neighborhood.

“Redefined” is the brainchild of Cezar Simeon, 47, a former first-grade teacher at Lloyd Elementary School who was laid off last summer. Mr. Simeon does not teach art, “but I was really ticked off when I heard about all these art teachers losing their jobs,” he said. “Art isn’t something you can test for, but it teaches kids problem-solving skills.”

Don't Call It A Comeback: We've Been Here for Years!

Ok, so that's a total ripoff of the LL Cool J song, "Mama Said Knock You Out," but it's true. Detroit is a struggling city. It has high drop out rates, low literacy rates, and many of the public schools are bring closed in favor of charter schools. Despite the bleak appearance, PBS's "Is Detroit the new Brooklyn?," illustrates that it may just be the land of opportunity. . .

New York Times featured a story in its Style section about the onslaught of hip, young urban pioneers streaming into downtown Detroit. These “creatives,” as they are being called, are taking advantage of low rents and the opportunity to recycle this abandoned, blank slate of an urban landscape into something new and exciting. There are restaurateurs and entrepreneurs of all stripes living alongside environmentalists and urban farmers.  The city, according to the Times, seems like “a giant candy store for young college graduates wanting to be their own bosses.”

Just three years ago, Forbes placed Detroit on top of its list of America’s Most Miserable Cities. But in a stunning turnaround, this month Forbes put Detroit on the cover as one of the Best Places for Doing Business, calling it “a land of opportunity.”

Inspiration: Jasper Johns

Happy Independence Day! On this auspicious day,  I would like to share some three iconic paintings by Jasper Johns. The first two were painted using encaustic, which is painting with hot, pigmented wax. It goes on thick and is very difficult to control, especially since it hardens as it cools. The last one was created using paint and stencils. PBS Masters wrote a wonderful bio -- it's well worth reading.

Fun Fact! Jasper Johns was a Simpson's character and did his own voice overs in #222 - Mom & Pop Art. [IMDB] [Wikipedia]

Jasper Johns. Flag. Encaustic, oil and collage on fabric mounted on plywood. 1954-55. Museum of Modern Art. New York.

Jasper Johns. Map. Encaustic on Canvas. 1958. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York.

Jasper Johns. Map. Oil on Canvas. 1961. Museum of Modern Art. New York.

I make a difference!

I love this speech by Taylor Mali! He does a great job communicating the passion most teachers share and the outrage at  corporate workers who think that being an educator is a step down. Breaking down the ways that teachers make a difference is a great motivation to keep striving to be better and to educate the public about all of the things we do.

Writing a Unit

As a student, I had three classes that required me to write a complete unit: two art-specific methods classes and one general curriculum class. Each professor had a different approach that required different outcomes. One professor shared readings on several approaches to teaching art such as Disciple-Based Art Education (DBAE), Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), Visual Culture, etc. He then asked us to select one and write our unit based on our choice. Another professor was a devotee of Sydney Walker's big ideas so we were asked to select a big idea (e.g., identity or change) and write two units based on the same idea: one for elementary school and one for high school. Davis Art created text books (Explorations in Art) that support this approach and we were allowed to draw from those lessons. My curriculum class unit was less focused on approaches to teaching and instead focused on planning -- outlining the unit, writing the parents a an overview letter, breaking the unit down into lessons, writing a calendar, scheduling work/readings/assessment, etc. It was very practical. . . and then you get in the classroom to student teach.

The units I wrote in college were nothing like the units I wrote while student teaching. Instead of a binder, the units were one page documenting desired outcomes, lesson overview, assessment, and sometimes a section on how-to. The content was mostly the same, except it was heavily edited to fit into one sheet. I was grateful for the break in writing and even more grateful that I had so much experience writing these much larger units because I knew what I needed to include and automatically thought about state standards, procedures, assessment, visual aides, and all of the other nuances that go into planning a complete lesson.


As a first year art educator, I ask you -- how do you plan out your first year? how do you write your units? I can see a combination of a calendar, a list of state standards, research material, visual aides, etc. Another idea is one I learned in my corporate life where you put everything on index cards or post-it notes and lay it out that way. Things are always changing in the classroom, so my future plans need to be well thought out (including trying to think preemptively about could happen), comprehensive, and flexible. Since I don't currently have a job, I'm currently just trying to build on the materials I built up during my student teaching so that I can walk into any job with some options while fleshing out a better plan.


If you have any tips, tricks, web sites, organizational ideas, or anything else that might help, please send them my way! My mind is open and I'm ready to go!

Art Heroes Radio

A friend of mine just introduced me to Art Heroes Thought Radio, "Conversations about living + working in the arts." The show airs Thursday evenings and the web site has posted tons of great stories on marketing, getting work exhibited, the advantages of hiring artists, public art, and so much more. Here's what the web site says it's about:

Art Heroes Radio features conversations every Thursday evening with established and upcoming artists, creative professionals and experts in related fields. Go behind the scenes with guests like Austin Kleon, Hugh MacLeod, and others to see how a successful creative career feels, how they got where they are, and how they stay on track even when success turns out differently than they imagined.

The focus of the show is advice for artists and creative entrepreneurs presented in a conversational format. Learn what works (and what doesn't) from artists and creatives who have pioneered new ways to build an arts career. The stories and ideas presented add up to an ongoing guide put together by and for people living and working in the arts. From business and marketing ideas, to discussions on how to cope with fame, fans or family, the show will cover all aspects of the artists' life. Learn how to grow, manage and maintain your arts career from those who've done it the hard way.

 I highly recommend checking it out - as an artist, as an art educator, as an art student. There are a lot of really interesting conversations packed into one site.

Dali + Disney = Destino

Did you know that Salvadore Dali and Walt Disney knew each other. Yep. Here they are, checking out a train:

Salvadore Dali and Walt Disney

They also made a movie together, Destino. It's a stunning surrealist movie that combines Disney's animation brilliance with Sali's surrealist point of view. I like to use it as an introduction to surrealism when teaching it in middle and high school. It helps kids understand the idea before they start looking at images of melting clocks. Surrealism is one of the student's favorite units and I love it when I can kick it off with strong visual aids.

Student Teaching: High School Edition

As promised, here are some of the amazing projects completed by my students during the seven weeks I worked at the high school. I had the following five preps every day: ceramics, sculpture, advanced 3-D, advanced 2-D, and art 1. Throughout that time time, I completed units on Photoshop (digital collage self portrait), fibers (felt sculptures), drawing (Chuck Close-style self portraits), printmaking (linoleum block printing and screen printing), and assemblage (Alison and Betye Saar-style sculptures). I assisted on the Claes Oldenburg-style enlarged sculptures and various ceramics assignments (bowls, boxes, rattles, and masks).

I was so impressed with the level of talent from students and was surprised that there weren't any seniors planning careers in art. Two extraordinary students won silver and gold keys from Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards in ceramics and sculpture. Check out this amazing work:

Mask (Sculpture)

Mask (Sculpture)

Rose with petal construction (Advanced 3-D)

Fish with petal construction (Advanced 3-D)

Monster rattle (Ceramics)

Mask (Ceramics)

Mask (Advanced 3-D)

Bowl with painted inside (Ceramics)

Bowl with painted inside (Ceramics)

Bowl with carved outside (Ceramics)

Fibers/felted wall hanging (Advanced 3-D)

Fibers/felted pod frontside (Advanced 3-D)

Fibers/felted pod backside (Advanced 3-D)

Fibers/felted ladybug - being dyed red (Advanced 3-D)

My experience at both grade levels has excited and eager to get into a classroom of my own ASAP!

Link Love: Supplies

Photo: MOMA

I'm always looking for places to get supplies both for myself and for the classroom. Michaels, Joann's, and Hobby Lobby all have good basics and offer 20-40% off coupons, but the following places are less crafty/more art specific:

• Cheap Joe's Art Stuff - I started buying painting supplies from them when I was doing my undergrad in Michigan's upper peninsula. It was pre-internet and we ordered via catalog. They still run great deals.
  
• Dick Blick - Blick stores are open to the public, however, you have to have an account if you want to order online. Their house brand of products are good quality and they give school discounts.
  
• Nasco - This catalog and web site are for art teachers. They recruit heavily to students.
  
• School Specialties - Not art specific, however, their basic supplies like markers, glue, and pencils are much cheaper than the alternative.
  
• Utrecht - I'm lucky enough to have a Utrecht store in my area so they're my go-to art supply store. They're great because they run good coupons for the home artist, offer school discounts, and produce high-quality house branded supplies.
  
• Wicked Good Farm - I was lucky enough to do a fibers/felting unit while student teaching thanks to my amazing friend Lee at Wicked Good Farm. She sent gorgeous white wool roving that was perfect -- clean from all debris, combed, and it didn't smell like farm.

Upcycling

I've noticed a trend lately with a lot of artists and craftspeople talking about "upcycling." This is especially big on Etsy. According to wikipedia, upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value. This is done all the time in the crafts -- quilts, woodworking, and mosaics all allow you to take broken pieces, leftover materials, and scraps to create something new, beautiful, and functional. With the exception of sculpture/assemblage, upcycling isn't all that prevalent in the arts. With everybody going "green," it's time to expand the upcycling trend to all aspects of arts and crafts. Check out what these artists are doing:

The folks at mijafiberart.com are upcycling old quilts to make works of art for the home.

Portraits of President Obama and Queen Elizabeth made from "unwanted objects" by Jane Perkins.

Bottle Cap Portrait of Chuck Close by Molly B. Right.

Fabric made from recycled keyboard keys by Jean Shin.

Design your own fabric

I'm not really into shameless plugging companies, but this is super fun. Spoonflower will take your design and print it on fabric for as little as $18/yard. If you have a small class or an art club, you could take this one step further and do soft sculpture or fashion design using student-designed fabric. Project Runway did this a couple of times.  Mondo, a former contestant, designed this print for the pants fabric and then designed an outfit around it.

Project Runway contest, Mondo, designed the fabric first and outfit second

The possibilities are endless: print fabric labels on one yard and cut them down to size, design fabric and make a sculpture using wallpaper glue to stiffen it up, use embroidery floss to create a composition on the custom fabric, create soft sculptures, line the back of shelving units in furniture design, create custom upholstery for furniture, fashion design, handbag design, book covers, altered books, dolls, jewelry, publish photos and mount them on stretcher bars, etc. SO many ideas! At the very least, you could do some high contrast black and white photos, put them on a colored background, and voila! you have a Warhol-inspired piece of custom fabric.

Check out some of these samples from the Spoonflower site:

patterns

faux granny squares

faux wood

tetris

 

pencil illustration

pantone color chart

high contrast black + white photo

Inspiration: Emily Barletta

While planning my fibers/felting unit for the advanced sculpture class, I came across this image by the incredible fiber artist, Emily Barletta:

Love at first sight: this is a close-up segment from a piece called Horizon

Working with a variety of threads, fibers, and materials, her work is graphic, bold, colorful, and always interesting. She works both in 2-D and 3-D with seemingly equal proficiency. I've posted more images of her works below, but check out her online portfolio or read her blog.

embroidery on paper

 

incredible, right?!