7th Grade Art

I'll admit it. Middle school is the grade level I struggle with the most when trying to figure out how to run my choice-based classroom. It is likely because the makeup of my classes vary wildly from year to year. Some years I have all the students who aren't enrolled in music, and other years it is opposite band. Some students actively choose are over a music class but most are in there by default. The size of the classes in the last four years have ranged from 6-19 students. Each semester I end up waiting to see the makeup of the class and then responding to it, offering the level of choice that I feel the students are ready for and typically giving less direction as the semester progresses.

This year I had a fantastic 7th grade class. There were only 9 students in the class and they were pretty artistically motivated. I was able to give more freedom earlier on than usual. We had a loose pattern of an assignment that started with an open-ended prompt followed by time to work on independent projects. Some students kept coming back to their independent projects throughout the semester and others would complete multiple projects while their classmates finished up their assignments. I saw a lot of collaboration from working together on constructing sculptures to sharing ideas and inspiring each other.

I am looking forward to seeing what these students create as 8th graders!

We went through a lot of cardboard!

This flower was gifted to the kitchen workers and brightened up the lunchroom for the rest of the school year.

A couple of students even explored digital paintings using photoshop and a graphics tablet on the left and procreate on the right.

K-12 Curriculum Planning

Since I will be starting a new teaching gig this fall- PreK-12th grade art teacher in a school district closer to home, I've been spending a lot of time this summer working on curriculum. I was able to spend a day shadowing the previous art teacher at my new school last spring so that I could get a feel for things, ask questions, etc. I took notes on the curriculum she had been using, which media she covered at each grade level, etc. With Kansas working on adopting the National Core Arts Standards and their new direction focusing more on student choice and making artwork that is personally meaningful, it seemed like a good time to reexamine EVERYTHING.

I had spreadsheets started for K-6 that I helped write in my former school district. Our process was basically to look at one standard at a time, one grade at a time, and write an "I Can" statement for each. So, we were breaking the standards down into student-friendly language and sometimes putting them in smaller pieces. I used the same process for 7th grade, 8th grade, HS proficient, and HS advanced. Then, I took the standard and "I Can" statements and put them in a table with a row below each pair where I've been writing how I will make sure we meet the standard. I've made notes to myself about discussions, processes, and assignment prompts. After I finish up the HS advanced standards, I will start to go through the notes I took about the last teacher's curriculum and see what fits in with the new standards and my goals. 

It's going to be an interesting transition for all of us, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Summer Plans

School's been out for a few weeks now and my family is settling into a summer routine. The end of the school year was extra chaotic as I had to pack up all of my belongings and resources from both of my schools and haul it home until I can move into the art room at my new school. My garage is at capacity with all the "stuff" from two classrooms and everything that was in my art room at home while we wait for the necessary furniture to finish the remodel.

I don't know how typical this is for other people, but sometimes it's hard for me to relax as soon as something is over. I think it's just part of me being a Highly Sensitive Person. So for me, it's not like walking out of school singing along with Alice Cooper and leaving it all behind. This year was a little harder to transition into summer with leaving behind two schools I've loved and lots of work friends whom I will miss, but I'm glad Facebook will help me keep in touch with them and their families. I came home after the last day of school and started painting that night. It was my little art therapy session and after I worked maniacally to finish it, I felt a lot better! I only wish I'd been able to get to my watercolors in the garage. I really enjoy watercolors, acrylic, and oils, but I would have preferred watercolors for the translucent poppy petals.

So now, my summer plans...

Curriculum- I decided not to take a graduate course this summer so that I can focus on preparing for my new gig. I've spent the last 6 years teaching about 800 K-6th grade students a year and will be moving to a much smaller school district where I will have PreK-12th grade, but less than half the students. Most of my day will be spent with high school- 5 high school classes a day, 1 middle school (7th grade one semester and 8th grade the other), and 1 elementary class a day. I took notes on what the previous art teacher covered so I'm kind of working on a transition with what she's covered, what I want to cover, and what the new Core Arts Standards include as my state is working on adopting those.
Be an artist- I also plan to keep working on my own art and doing some small photography and design jobs. My husband works nights so on the nights he works, after I get my kids to bed I spend a couple hours working on something. Sometimes I go paint, sometimes I put something on Netflix and work on my computer. I've also designed a mural which will be painted on the practice board at the tennis courts in my hometown in the next few weeks. That will be done in the mornings before it get too hot and humid!
READ!- I love to read. In the school year I don't usually allow myself to read a physical book because I get kind of obsessed and want to read instead of doing things I really need to be doing. I've listened to a few audio books while working and read a few hardbacks so far. I have a couple of academic books I want to try to read and take notes on to start working on research I may use for my final semester of graduate school including Classroom (Jaquith & Hathaway, 2012) and Engaging Learners through Artmaking (Douglas & Jaquith, 2009).
Garden- I'm excited to watch the progress of my butterfly garden and the vegetables in my raised beds. This is just the second year I've grown food and though the excessive rain fall has made this not a typical year, I still keep learning things I should do differently next year. The trick will be to remember it...
Family time- Most importantly, spend time with my awesome family. They are one of the biggest reasons I applied for my new job. I will end up with almost 2 extra hours at home during the school year. Though nobody ever said that taking care of 2 kids was easy, it's pretty great to have the opportunity to be a stay at home mom 2 months out of the year.

7th Grade Art of Conservation

Every year my 7th grade class, which runs second semester, makes artwork for either the Jr Duck Stamp Program or the State Fish Art Contest. Both programs teach about conservation through art and pull in a lot of science. We are able to cover a lot of drawing skills as well and it tends to build confidence so I love starting with it. 

On the first day of the unit, I ask students to draw a duck/goose or a fish and I don’t give much more instruction than that. I tell students it is their pre-assessment so I don’t offer any help or advice other than “do your best”. It’s so much fun to look at the before and after for each student at the end of the unit. It’s not usually the same animal but you can still see so much growth!

Here are the finished artworks from last January! The situation will be a little different this year but I'm going to figure out how to make it work.

This drawing placed in the State Fish Art Contest last year!

Non-Traditional Mosaic 2 Ways

In the spring semester, I had too many 7th graders to fit in my room and follow Covid protocols. The solution was to divide them into two groups and they would switch every other day between my room and another teacher with a free period's classroom. I had the choice of synchronous or asynchronous and decided that I would rather do asynchronous than try to teach on zoom and in my classroom at the same time. I tried to design a digital project for the group in the other classroom that would coordinate with what was happening in the art room. We weren't able to get as much choice as a normal semester but I think it was the best solution given the circumstances.

This is one example from 7th grade art! The digital project was a Google Drawing mosaic and the project in my room was a paint chip mosaic collage. Below are some of the digital mosaic artworks:

This also reminds me I need to send pictures to the local farm and home that donated all the paint chips! I saw an old display and asked if they were getting rid of it. They gave me a whole bag full of outdated chips!

The mosaic collages proved to be a challenge for some students mainly with time management. Some didn't quite pay attention to the size suggestion and cut their paint chips too small or chose an image that was too detailed. The students who put in the effort to finish did an awesome job.

Students could choose any color background that would show through as the "grout". I tried to use rail board or something sturdy when we could.

7th Grade Choice Ceramics

One of the questions that always comes up when discussing Teaching for Artistic Behavior is does it meet the standards? The answer is yes! TAB can work really well with the National Arts Standards.

When I was planning my 7th grader's choice ceramics project, I used 3 standards as the focus:

VA:Cr1.1.7

I can apply methods to overcome creative blocks. I can use different approaches to solve problems.

VA:Cr2.1.7

I can demonstrate persistence in developing skills with various materials, methods, and approaches in creating works of art.

VA:Cr1.2.7

I can develop criteria to guide making a work of art or design to meet an identified goal.

I explained to the students that we were going to discuss what they think makes a ceramic project successful and then they would work together to decide on criteria for success- this is the identified goal from VA:Cr1.2.7. The students said the main success points for them were:

1. Details to make it look realistic, like adding textures

2. Coloring makes sense

3. Stable- stands or sits how it's supposed to

4. Smooth seams and stron attachments

As the students brainstormed, I recorded what they said and then printed the finalized list for reference. 

We looked at Oldenburg's and Thiebaud's food pop art before we started the project so that students who were more comfortable with having a starting point could use food as a theme. Others came up with their own ideas and checked with me before starting to work.

I made a rookie mistake when firing their projects. I had recently fired to cone 5 for the first time and programmed the kiln too quickly to notice that it said 5 instead of 05. Their projects were... a little crispy. A few melted and they were all dark brown. Thankfully they were very understanding and ok with painting with acrylic instead of glazing! I won't make that mistake again!

2022 Junior Duck Stamp- 7th grade

I just wanted to take a minute and share some of my 7th graders’ artwork that was created for our Art of Conservation unit. We learn about conservation and duck stamps before students create artwork in their choice of media using observational drawing skills. It is a good confidence booster since we cover skills that are helpful for realistic drawing since we all know students at this age tend to lose interest if they have trouble translating what they see. I also use it as an opportunity to demonstrate multiple painting and drawing media that students can choose from. I can’t wait to share the news from the contest as soon as we get full results!