The Beginning of the End of room 169

   Okay the beginning of the end sounds really bad. I'm not going anywhere, but my classroom is. You see my school is very old. It was built in 1961 and it currently educates great grand children of past alumni. My mother graduated from CHS in 1974, my bother in 1985, sister in 1990, and finally my husband and myself in 2004. CHS has the typical old worn out building feel. The classrooms and hallways are too small for our 1,300 students. Furniture and wiring is out dated and not up to code and the list goes on. In fact, the two art rooms and art lab aren't even art rooms. They were built as band rooms, so they are way too small and have no windows except for a window in each outside door. Don't get me wrong the two art rooms are big, but not really big enough. We also have an art lab which houses our 5 sinks, storage closet, kiln closet, and AP studio arts class. 
   The new building is currently being built on the existing school site. How can that happen you ask? In phases. They are taking down one hall/gym/everything  else at a time and building in it's place. This time next year, most teachers will be in the new building. YAY!
   I realized last year that I never posted any pictures of my classroom. I think it's because with it being my first year teaching high school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. I've always said that you can't really arrange a room the way you would like until you know what you will utilize the most. So papers piled and things got moved about and displayed on a whim. Beginning this school year was a lot easier. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. 
   I'm pretty proud of these old rooms. They have random furniture because again, these were not built as art rooms. All the mismatch of furniture has its purpose though. Let's take a tore shall we. 

My "main" classroom is 169. It's were I had Art II when I was in High School. This room holds so many memories. 

I am so thankful for this piece. It's a huge bar basically. It has a large counter with two cabinets behind and space to store things below. It even has electricity running to it. I take attendance here, students turn in work behind the counter, and I can set out many materials on it's large surface. Last year I had my Art I students paint some "Abstract" designs on it because it's gonna be thrown away any way this time next year. Currently I have Art II's Frayer Model charts of the Elements of Art hanging. 

 Behind the counter.

Beside my teacher desk (which I don't have a picture of…) I have my student "boxes", germX, tissues, and band aids. Thanks to this pin, instead of having caddies or baskets on the tables, I have boxes. The first person who comes in the room takes the drawer "box" out for the table. 

 Inside each box are supplies we use the most in class. 4 pencils, 4 erasers, index cards, sharpener, 4 sharpies, and post-its. I love these because I check the boxes after every class. Yes, every class. That's how you don't get things stolen. They bring them up, I check, and they put them back in their place. The next class takes them out as they come it. It's perfect!!! I'll get little containers later. One step at a time here people. 

 Then, beside my back door we have this old set of chester-drawers. It houses all my paper needs and my Art III's drying wrack. 

 These little beauties are our 3-D drying racks. They were made by a student's father many years ago. We don't have good 2-D drying racks so I utilize these for that purpose as well. I love how the selves can slide out. These will follow us to the new building… possibly. Currently they are still holding some miscellaneous things from the summer clean up. I'll clean them off when we get to painting. 

 My E's and P's wall. I don't like the ones you buy because I feel like you can't see everything on them. So I made my own at our teacher center. Underneath the black table clothes is a tired looking green chalk board. Ick… Below the board you will notice the paint chipping away because the "stuff" on the walls won't allow the paint to stick… 

 These are my class portfolios. I separate them in tubs and number them with each student's class number. 

 The other art teacher at my school Renee Gary introduced me to using filing organizers to stair step the portfolios to see them better. This also keeps them from falling down. 

 Part of the back wall with the "Student Gallery" and portfolio tubs. We're on a block schedule and have 4 blocks a day. Each teacher teaches 3 blocks a day. If you're lucky like me you get to teach 5 classes with two classes doubled up! Yay! (It's the only way we could have AP Studio Arts)

 These have saved my sanity. Class mail boxes. Students in Art I - III have their own mailbox where they keep their folders, sketchbooks, and various other materials. The cabinet below is from somewhere and is great for organizing materials. You can also see my class schedule. 

 Better look at the mailboxes, class expectations, and checklist.

 Now you can see the door to the AP Studio Arts room, aka the Lab. The little yellow cabinet on wheels is my paint cabinet. Filing cabinets for magazines I get from teachers, student abstract wood sculpture, rack for painting shirts, and random decorative table at the entrance. 

On around in front of my desk is my podium which I demo from. It has many shelves which hold all the materials I need for demos and my lady bug doc camera. 

 Here is the view of my room as you enter. My desk and long bar is to the right and painting cabinet and Lab door to the left. Yes, I do have a white board at the back as well. 

Now let's venture into the Lab where AP Studio Arts calls home. I have AP in conjunction with my Art III and Art II class. Currently I have 18 AP students. I'll be glad when all the tables match in the new building. 

This room is full of so many memories. It was the Advanced Art Lab when I was in school and we called it home. 

As you walk in to the left you will see our announcements board and clean up instructions 

 Student tables with table caddies because I do trust my AP kids a bit more with their materials. If they lose it, I don't replace it. (wink)

 Here you see the entrance to the lab and materials selves.

 These are a life saver as well. A gentleman made these for the art department about 10 years ago after I left. The AP students keep materials in baskets and work in the cubbies. 

 In front of the cubbies is the tall studio tables. I sat at these very tables when I was here. Notice the paintings on the stools made my the class of 2000. 

 The sinks are located behind the AP cubbies. We have 5, but Mrs. Gary and I decided to separate them . They clog about half the time...

 AP easels and computer tables. You will also see the AP posters along the wall. 

 I began the AP Inbox this year. Right inside the door students can keep their portfolio folders and important papers. I will also place rubrics and important notes inside. In front of that is the AP basket where students turn in papers or exit slips. 

That's all for now. I do have more pictures that I forgot to take. So check back for an update. 

Gelli Plates, monoprinting, principles, and a critique

I absolutely could not wait to try my new Gelli Plates with my Art 3 students. I not only wanted them to experiment with the plates, but I wanted them to apply knowledge of the art principles. Earlier that semester I had given a pre-test on the principles of art and the results who poor… to say the least… Art 3 is a precursor to AP Studio Art and they must understand the principles and learn to identify them. 

Voila, a lesson is born. Monoprinting, principles, and a critique
Students were reintroduced to the principles of art using many visual examples. Then, in groups, they had to decide what principle(s) the image on the screen was displaying. This promoted discussion within the group and competition amongst all groups because I said winning table would be cleaned up by me :). Not only did they have a tell me what principle was used, but had to explain how it was used. Sometimes they would even point out a principle I missed and had to explain their reasoning for that. 

Next, came the demonstration of the mono printing process. First, I showed two youtube videos on mono printing which you can find on my Printmaking Pinterest page. Then, I demoed where the materials were and how to use them. What I love most about Gelli Plates is that you could use any kind of acrylic paint and other material to "block" the paint. This excited the students more then anything because the whole process is very experimental. 

Materials

gelli arts plates

paint pallets 

pallet knives

brayers

7"x7" printing papers

scrap paper

bubble wrap

found objects

scissors

forks 

Q-tips

I allowed them one day of "play" so they could experiment and make some random pieces. Also, because the plates of 6"x6" I cut plenty of 7"x7" papers for them to use. 

At the end of the "play" day I introduced the project. 
They were to choose 4 principles and create a print for each. They used their sketchbooks to draw out some ideas, but many of them kept experimenting and would decide on the principle after the print was made. This was fine with me because they still had to identify the principle. So either way they were applying that knowledge. 

Finally, after the projects were complete we broke into our critique groups. Students placed a post-it next to each print to identify the principle they used and how that principle is being used. Peer critiqers were to write whether the principle was successful or not, why, and what could they have done differently. 

Overall, it was a successful project. Students learned their principles, argued their ideas, and learned mono printing. Though, I do think you need that day of play because students will want to use their own ideas more then the principles. Also, some of the "play" ones can even be used in their project because they realized they were using a principle of art. 

Critique Groups

I remember my first real experience with a "critique". It was freshman year of college 3D design class. The instructor had us all put our work out on the tables. We had time to walk around and inspect each piece. Then we sat back to "talk". As our piece was put on the spot, we had to explain our solution to the problem. Just when you thought you were finished with your explanation... you were far from it. Kym Dummons would stare at you like, "tell me more". She was the queen of wait time. She didn't have to say a thing, her eyes would pull more information from you. I used to think of it as intimidating, but as I took more of her classes, I realized she was giving you time to think. The same thing applied to the feed back you received from peers during the critique. Once the people who wanted to speak were done, Kym would look from person, to person, to person. I swear she would wait for 5 minutes before moving on. It's like she was summoning our thoughts from us. I learned so much from those critiques. 

I want my high school students to get as much from critiques as I did. They need to understand that the critique is not a way to "show off" their work, but to embrace it. I want them to see that it's okay to make a mistake or to see that their ideas are not stupid. I do many different kinds of critiques in my classes. Many great ideas can be found on my Critique Pinterest page, but I wanted more from my Art 3 kids. So I introduced Critique Groups. 

I divided my students into groups of 4 that were not their "table mates" and by skill level. I wanted to have at least one Advanced, proficient, and emerging student within each group. I determined their skill level based on a drawing test given the first day of class. This way they could have conversations with people that could help them and bring out their inner teacher.  I gave a copy of the critique groups to each person for them to put in their folder. Critique groups are to be implemented during certain phases of a project. For example after the drawing is done before the media and halfway through the project. 

Today's critique took place at the halfway mark. My bell ringer was to get into Critique Groups with their projects and then I explained the following: 

I told them they had 5 minutes to discuss while I monitored. If I saw people just sitting there, I would start some conversation. "What do we think about Joe's picture? What did he do well? How could he make something better?" and so on. Once they saw what I expected they were able to carry on. I also encouraged students to bring their sketchbooks just in case they wanted to show someone a technique. I heard good conversation and helpful tips. I think it uplifted those who needed uplifting and helped those that were highly skilled use their talents to help others. One group even passed the projects around the table so they could each get a good look and talk about each one. I kept the time short because this project is running a bit long, but I am loving the results thus far.