Week 4 - Installations, Stained Glass, and Twisty boxes

Blank walls screaming for my art :P

 Art Prize install...

This week was peppered with lots of things – highs and lows – as per usual (on sometimes a daily basis). One big high point was being able to travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan with my dad and install my work at ArtPrize. 

That's juice. 

That was a HUGE deal – though, to be honest, I was feeling pretty worn out from school and starting to get a cold so it was a bit tiring… but luckily I have the best dad who put up with all my crabby sick whining and helped me set everything up. I am truly miserable company when I’m sick, so this is a shout-out to my dad and my friend Sarah who both helped with install for the many hours it took my cold-pill-addled brain to do math and hammer nails– you were the best people I could have asked for to help me make my artwork look fancy and level and nice. I am indebted to you for always. If I won.. I would have bought you nice things..

On that happy note, the week at school started off in the high school art room. I did not have any lessons planned for the elementary school on Monday so I stayed in the high school room allllll day. And worked. And blasted music. And ate snacks. And worked worked worked!

 

I threw my hat in the ring to work on a pinch pot bowl with the ceramics students and was pleasantly surprised to find I do not totally fail at clay! I like my little tea bowl… I’m excited to glaze it in the coming weeks.

The majority of my 7^th graders started gluing their tissue paper into their stencil designs and were hitting the whole project out of the park! Mr. Keller and I were hanging them on a clothesline across the room to dry – too funny. Art laundry, anyone? Truly the project was really starting to come together nicely by the end of the high school art day. And then it was time for me to hit the clay. Hard.

I was developing a lesson from one of my conference freebies – a lesson plan from Amaco glazes that utilized an extruder. Now… if you know anything about Ms. Kanak you know that she is a little.. tiny.. bit afraid of working with clay. This lesson looked really cool, though! Students could use the extruder with a square die in the middle to create a hollow box-type form. After installing the extruder one student pushes down on the lever to force the clay through and the other twists the clay as it comes out of the bottom. There were some difficulties… like Ms. Kanak used clay that was too wet so it just fell apart. Attempt two went better – after some SERIOUS wedging of the clay – but I should have had someone to help with the manipulation of the extruded clay cause uhh… I only have two hands and not a lot of patience with clay in the first place haha! But in the long run – the very long run. Like 5 extruded pieces later – I ended up with a workable couple of chunks and stored them for samples. I made sure to make a passable example along with a what probably should have been pitched example… I began to create surface treatments with my examples as they dried out more. 

 

My tiny teacher’s sample was mainly to demonstrate surface treatments and textures that could be incorporated into the final designs. I also had some time to work on the next project for 7^th grade, sugar candy skull portraits. More on that later...

Tuesday was back to work as per usual. For 7^th grade, it was a work day. The majority of the students moved on to their tar paper stencils, except for a select few who were either working very slowly because they were distracted (or distracting others) or they were absent and catching up. And still some other students just tend to create more complicated designs than others and are now seeing the consequences of complex art production! Not that I’m complaining – it’s great to see them so engaged in their project.

Students were really struggling with their volume levels so we repeatedly taught voice levels and expectations in the middle of their work time. I do not mind talking while they work, but some of them were basically yelling across the room for one reason or another. I think a big part of it was early finishers – they did not bring activities to work on. Some of them had books to read with them or their computers, but most of them were just sitting bored, waiting for something to do. 

I had the students who finished their project (or so they thought) glue the opposite side and do touch-ups. When they were done gluing I asked them to write about their piece. “Why did you choose to depict this? What is special about this place/object/idea?” There were several times where Mr. Keller and I were reminding the students of the classroom voice levels and they did not earn music. I spoke to all of them at the end of class, after they were cleaned up, and explained my expectations for their behavior and in turn their work ethic. They’re almost all hard at work; they just need to keep their voices quieter while they do so. There were also a couple of behavioral issues between students, which were remedied by proximity and redirecting. I am going to make some seating chart changes for this group, I think. There are a couple of students who seem to be making more problems than they are solving with their behaviors and talking.

After 7^th grade it was back to the elementary school to finish up one round of Dot Day projects! The students were able to add details with marker and were encouraged to use pattern, line, shapes, outlines, overlap – the whole pile of art terms. They did a great job! And they all made very handsome and beautiful dot people as well. I was very proud of their work and they were excited to take their dots home to show off.

Wednesday was a very productive work day for all classes! Everyone was making major headway with their projects and things were really starting to take shape. Sometimes a work day is the best thing for students- time to process and think about their art is invaluable, especially if they are working on personal themes or ideas. I tried to encourage all of my advanced students to incorporate their interests into their work as much as possible. Ceramics students should use favorite patterns or techniques, painting and drawing students should either work from memory or create their own source images – originality and sources are important. We should be encouraging students to make art about what they care about – not necessarily what we see as being ‘worthy’ of reproduction or product.

7^th grade provided a complete turnaround on behavior! Students came in to the classroom quietly and picked up their materials to work. Students that were already finished with the assignment took their seats. I pulled up my presentation for the new lesson: Day of the Dead sugar candy skull self portraits – kind of a mouthful, but the students were excited about it. I reminded them of my behavior expectations before I started the presentation and they were all engaged and participated in the class discussions and questions I presented. The objective for the day was to find a minimum of 3 images of sugar candy skulls they could use for inspiration or reference. After they found images they needed to do an interest inventory – aka write down hobbies, foods, favorite things etc. that could be translated into visual symbols or shapes. When they completed those two tasks they would be given drawing paper. After the presentation I distributed xacto knives to the students who needed them and provided tar paper for students who were moving to the next step in the stained glass project. I told them if they could work quietly (voice level 1) for ten minutes that they would have music playing in the background as a reward. We had some disagreements on choice of station, but teacher says what goes through the loudspeakers! Students followed the direction and remained quiet for the 10 minutes, working diligently on cutting out stencils, researching, and gluing. A couple of students arrived late from taking a test so I caught them back up using the presentation and the teacher sample I started. I emphasized the use of symmetry in their skull designs and showed them how to transfer and trace their skull in sections. About 3 students started work on their skulls today.

Steps:

Step 1: find 3 images through research of Dia de los Muertos

Step 2: type or write up interest inventory

Step 3: raise hand for activity approval by Ms. Kanak

Step 4: begin drawing – think about symbols, logos, objects – how would you translate your interests and hobbies into visual language?

I have two students in this class who are reluctant learners. Student 1 keeps to herself and works quietly, but she is easily discouraged and tries to do ‘easy’ versions of the project. She kept presenting me with her drawings and ideas and I kept pointing out the white space on her paper – she didn’t like that. But she went back to her images and started drawing all the same – eventually filling up the white spaces with images and patterns.

Student 2 is a reluctant learner as per the dictionary definition. He looks for shortcuts, constantly becomes distracted from his work, becomes discouraged easily and threatens to give up, and bothers his classmates with talking and touching of their projects. Most of his classmates keep him in check or they physically remove themselves from where he is sitting so they can work without being bothered. Today Student 2 was, for lack of a better term, whining about the assignment and was repeatedly asking when we were leaving, when we had to clean up, if he could quit…. Quitting is not something I want to encourage or allow in my classroom so I stood firm. I told him he could take a five minute break and work on the other assignment. His response “but I am going to have to come back to this, aren’t I?” YEP. When he realized that he went back to work on cutting out his tar paper stencil and with 40 minutes left in the block he completed it! Not without some more moaning and groaning, of course. But he did finish the stencil and then moved on to gluing the tissue paper… which he struggled with. He was too busy bothering the girl sitting across from him. I redirected his behavior back into the project and looked up to notice we were nearly to the clean up time. I told him to clean up his area and prepare his stencil for storage, which he did, and then he returned to his seat and chatted with some classmates who really wanted nothing to do with him. Students were given an earlier clean up time because of the messes made from cutting and gluing. They put up their chairs and we had about three minutes of wait time at the end before the bell rang so I gave them time to talk and visit with each other. I thanked them for their good behavior and sent them to their next classes. 3 students started work on their skull designs, 2 students were gluing and cutting tissue paper today, and the remainder of students were working on finishing their tar paper stencils.

I assisted at the elementary school but did not teach on Wednesday. I used that time to prep for my other lessons and project ideas..

Thursday was a bit hectic.. we had our block schedule so we had double-time for drawing students and I took the opportunity to plan new lessons and projects.  First grade were finishing up their Dot Day projects, adding lines and details with markers. They did an awesome job – lots of mustaches. I dunno what it is about mustaches.. but elementary is all about them. 3^rd grade were starting Brain Machines, which is a lesson I developed recently. The challenge was not the lesson objectives themselves.. but the lead-up to work time. One of the steps was to have the students STAND STILL in front of a lamp so we could trace their silhouettes onto paper…. Lesson plans coming soon!

After brain machines were in storage for 4^th grade it was time to bring half the fifth grade back to finish up Life maps. I have a lesson plan coming for this soon!

Week 4 ended at NMU, where I was attending my student teaching seminar. We basically went over the syllabus and talked a little bit about how things were going in our individual classroom placements… if I am being completely honest I would have benefited more from teaching that day instead! And it would have been more fun and organized than dropping everything to travel. Anyway, couple of posts coming up with individual lesson plans (with pictures!)

Thanks for reading, come again!

Ms. Kanak

Week 3 - Catching up, slowly but surely

Moving right along.. right into October!? That.... that's madness.

 I am doing my best to keep up with the ever-quickening pace of weeks that pass by but between lesson planning, lesson review, reflections, homework and laundry and things I am pretty much at the mercy of the elements. So my goal will be to post once a week or more if time gets away from me. Hope that's all fair.. it's the best I can do. 

Hello there, normal sane people!

 The MS/HS art room was bustling with activity this week - everyone was moving on to canvas, boards, bigger pots, more slabs, you name it. Lots of different subject matter happening in the same classroom, too. Super good opportunities for cross-curricular and research-based work. Yay!

Ceramics students were working on stamps and pinch pots, drawing students were working on blind contour drawings..and my art survey kiddos were moving on to a new project!

Demonstrating objective “ I can draw an original stencil”

Students entered classroom ready to work. Students who were finished with their kaleidoscope drawings turned them in and took their seats. Students who had not completed their kaleidoscope were finishing those today.

I handed back worksheets from last week to the students who were ready to reference for their project planning. I showed students the section of the presentation for creating stencils. Answered questions and demonstrated how the stencil should work when it is completed. Taught students positive and negative space using a simple exercise:

Placed chair in middle of floor.

“What is this?”
Students answer, “Chair, stool, etc”

“And what is surrounding the chair?”

Students answer, “Air! Space! Nothing!”

“Right, so the chair is the ‘thing’ or the object which has positive space. The area and surroundings of the chair are the negative space. The object takes up space and interacts with its surroundings. What I want to see in your stencils is the exploration of positive and negative space. Remember, your negative space will be filled with colored paper and designs, so make sure you have a strong outline for objects and separations of color.”

The rest of the period was work time and the students behaved and talked quietly enough to earn music playing in the background. All students were engaged in their projects and worked past clean up.

Goals:

Set clean-up alarms for self to remind students! Should not be letting students out late.

Tuesday was pretty packed with lessons by yours truly, just saying... 

Art Survey (7th Grade) students had a work day today for their stencils and kaleidoscopes. The majority of the students had an idea of what they wanted for their stencil designs so they were drawing and planning. We reviewed positive and negative space for their drawings and I caught up some of the students who were finishing up their kaleidoscope projects.

The stencils were to be drawn as follows:

Step 1: complete worksheet

Step 2: acquire manila drawing paper

Step 3: use ruler to create frame (border) around edges of paper

Step 4: draw design – try to touch all four sides of the drawing paper

Most of the students were halfway done with their stencils by the end of the day.

The last activity we did was an introduction to the Xacto knife contract, designed by yours truly. We read over the rules of using the xacto knives as a class and talked about each one in more detail. Everyone signed a safe use contract and turned it in.

Ms. Kanak’s Xacto Knife Rules and Student Contract:

n  I will use the Xacto knife like a pencil.

n  I will practice cutting on the materials provided when instructed to do so.

n  I will only cut a line I am comfortable working with.

n  I will use the Xacto knife safely to protect myself and others.

n  I will remain at my desk when using the Xacto knife.

n  I will tell Mr. Keller or Ms. Kanak if I need help with my Xacto knife.

I, ________________________ will uphold these rules to participate and learn how to use Xacto knives as creative art tools.

                        Signed: ____________________ Date:_____________

I had the opportunity to re-teach my failed (okay, not failed, but painfully awful) Dot Day lesson to the other half of 1st grade. Thank....God.

1^st Grade Dot Day Lesson Reflection (September 15^th): Class section 1B

Mr. Keller explained to me that he would be sitting with one of the students at the back of the room. He said “I would just have to wait and see why.” More on that later..

Students were quietly lined up in the hallway and I greeted them at the door, holding up the sign for “voice level zero”. They returned it and walked quietly to their seats. Initially there was some confusion as to where they were supposed to be sitting but I had a copy of their seating chart and we quickly sorted that out.

The first thing I did after getting their seats fixed up was to introduce myself to the class. They remembered who I was and realized that I was the teacher for the day as soon as I started going over the art room expectations on the board with them. They all quickly came to understand the importance of raising their hands, being silent or working quietly, and being patient when waiting for directions.

After we went over rules I asked them to come forward, up closer to the SMARTboard. They sat on the floor story-circle style and we looked at the same slides from my Dot Day presentation. However, this time we only focused on learning about shapes, learning the name “Kandinsky,” and tracing shapes on the SMARTboard. All the students did a really good job raising their hands to answer questions and waiting their turns to come up and participate. Most of the kids were getting wiggly at that point so they went back to their seats and I called them over for the demonstration of their project.

Step 1: choose paper dot from back table

Step 2: choose 3 colors of paper from boxes

Step 3: return to seat and wait for instructions

I dismissed 2 tables at a time to get their supplies and quickly realized they had a little too much time to wait. My co-teacher pointed out that I needed to watch how much ‘free time’ I gave them between instructions because that’s when they tend to get distracted and into trouble. Sure enough, once the paper was on the table some of the kids just HAD to start cutting, gluing, moving things around…

I brought them back for the next part of the demo, which was to teach them about overlap and shape placement on their dots. We learned the words “freeform” and “overlap” as well as reviewing the different types of shapes we saw in Kandinsky’s work and in our paper shapes. Again, they did a pretty good job raising their hands to ask questions and waiting their turn. I again went over voice levels with them to make sure they would work in voice level 1 or lower. The student that Mr. Keller was sitting with began acting up at this point. He was taking objects from his neighbors, talking loudly out of turn, refusing to work, saying his papers were “butts” and “butt cheeks” and saying and doing other inappropriate things. The student next to him started reacting to his behavior and began misbehaving as well, putting papers on the floor, climbing under the table, talking out of turn, and bothering people around him. Soon after, Mr. Keller took the first student out of the room and to the office while I worked with the rest of the class.

The main takeaway from that interaction was the question: What would have happened if he or I were the only teachers in the classroom? Would there be a call made to the office or would an aide come in?

After the student was removed one of his peers started acting up as well, but he was more manageable overall. The students worked at voice level 1 for the rest of the class time, producing some really nice Dot Day dots and being inspired by the work of Kandinsky on the board. Many of the students started to play with scale of shapes and overlap as they worked. Some students created representational objects, some of them experimented with symmetry and balance, and others just enjoyed the freedom to make whatever shapes and creations they wanted. And before long it was time to clean up…

This is my main area for improvement for both schools right now. I tend to get caught up in what we are working on and lose track of time.. this class was recoverable but I need to work on the amount of tasks children have to accomplish before lining up. I had them write their names on the back of their dots and start to put away their supplies. Each student was responsible for cleaning up their own paper mess and returning scraps to the proper sorted boxes and taking their seats afterwards. Some of the students helped their neighbors pick up messes as well. Students were back in their seats when their teacher arrived to line them up.

Goals:

Learn how to clean up with structure and order

SET STEPS FOR CLEAN UP 

After 3rd grade stopped in to work on imaginary birds it was off to 5th grade for a push-in lesson.

5^th Graders were required to write a letter to their new teacher during the first week of school. The letter was a personal introduction for the teacher as well as a way to list hobbies and interests:

Dear Mrs. L,

            My name is ___________. I live in _______ with my ____________. I have __________sister/brother. I have a pet ___________. His/her name is ________.

I am _______ years old. My hobbies include ___________, ________, etc.

            Most people think I am ___________.

Mr. Keller and I were doing a push-in, meaning we visited a classroom or grade and taught a lesson that pertained to what they were learning. I wanted to reuse an activity I did in my teaching reading class called a Life Learning Map. Instead of the map being about learning, I wanted the students to map out the subjects of each sentence in their letters.

We were working with the entire grade level AND, and there was a fire drill that day. I had barely finished writing out my letter to the 5^th grade when the alarms went off. Students lined up and followed procedure perfectly and the drill went off without a problem.

Students returned to the room ready to work and listen. I did not know all of their names yet so whenever I called on someone I asked for their name before their answer. 5^th graders were very receptive to pointing out the subjects in their sentences and marked up the drafts of their letters (the teacher had the final copies at home to respond to). After students were done with their circling or highlighting we allowed them to choose one color of construction paper for their map. They then returned to their work areas and started to draw.

Step 1: demonstrate highlighting/circling subjects in sentences.

Step 2: draw subject from sentence

Step 3: model possible directions of arrows on map

Step 4: distribute materials

Many students drew simplified sketches of the subjects from their letters, which is partially my fault – I did use a simplified sketch to demonstrate the project. But the good thing was they understood the goals of the assignment. Later in the week I was able to meet with half of the 5^th grade for a push-in in the art room (so I guess that would be a pull…?) Anyway, I told the students to focus on the details in their life maps. I reiterated that I had seen their other lessons and their abilities and reminded them that their work could be more advanced than what they were presenting. I also gave them the option to “go big,” meaning they could have a larger sheet of drawing paper. The expectation was that they would draw the same life map they had started but they would draw everything larger, nicer, and with more detail. Almost all the students opted to go big. Whichever students were not finished with their life maps had to bring them home to finish over the weekend for credit. However, in terms of grading we noted their in-progress work before anything was taken home for finishing touches. I did not see the second half of the 5^th grade til the following week, and gave them the same options to expand on their assignment. Details, quality, texture, and neatness were all informally evaluated. This group of students also had the opportunity to finish their work at home.

going big!

Wednesday was a huge day for the 7^th graders! We learned how to use xacto knives! 

It was also a block period so I had twice as much time with the class as normal.

I pre-cut pieces of cardboard for the students to practice with. Students came in and I asked them to grab their drawing boards and take their seats. I had the students gather around the table for my demonstration. The first thing I did was re-read the rules for the use of the knives off of the SMARTboard display. I demonstrated how to hold the knife safely and properly, how to un-cap the knife, showed students to always cut away from themselves and to place their hand above where they have started to cut to prevent injury or accidents. I then placed a piece of practice cardboard onto a drawing board and showed them how to cut straight lines, curved lines (remembering to turn the surface, not the knife), how to poke out shapes, and reminded them to only cut lines they were comfortable with. I reiterated the importance of using the knives safely and how the privilege could be taken away just as easily as it was given. Students listened intently and asked questions. I asked them to return to their seats.

I passed out the cardboard practice pieces, making sure each student had their drawing board on the table underneath it. I then distributed the knives one table at a time and waited until everyone had cardboard and a knife to let them start working. I instructed them to cut straight lines, practice cutting long and short lines, and curved lines. I required them to write their name with the xacto knife and then I had each student hold up their cardboard for me to check. After their names they were required to cut at least one circle on their cardboard, repeating the check process. When they were comfortable with the knives and done with their practice pieces they capped the knives and put them in the center of their table to be collected. I collected the knives and students threw away their cardboard and returned to work on their stencils. As class approached its end a handful of the students were ready to use the xacto knives on their stencils. A few of them received tar paper and cut out their final ‘frames’ as well.

a foreign concept: 7th graders working quietly

Some more progress shots from the high school advanced painters!

Back at the elementary school my 2 advanced students were working on still life drawings. I told them to bring in personal items to make the exercise more interesting -- as you can see, they're not too crazy about the idea.

I wanted to snap some in-progress pictures from my advanced students' work: 

two vastly different working styles- texture details vs. color blocking

portraiture emulating Kehinde Wiley's work

fur texture study - acrylic

This lesson looks ridiculous... but it actually went really well!

Zones Collage Faces

Students will create collaged construction paper faces using restricted color schemes, as assigned by the Zones of Self Regulation.  

Grade Level: 4^th grade

Time: 2 class periods

  

Key Artistic Concepts:

Play, portrait, collage, line, shape, color scheme

Lesson Objective(s):

Students will use collage to create faces which pertain to a specific Zone of Regulation. Students will use a restricted color scheme to create a collaged portrait of a face showing emotion. Students will discuss the different zones and identify the corresponding emotions.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed on the following: use of restrictive color scheme, use of details

Key artwork/artist/artifact: teacher’s sample, Zones presentation

Steps:

1. student chooses color of construction paper from back table

2. students can choose colors of scrap paper which fit into the color scheme of their zone. Return to seat. Write name on paper.

3. cut out circle from construction paper (face shape)

            4. cut and glue shapes onto face shape to create details and features

            

Reinforce low voice level while working. Reinforce raising hand.

Detailed Instructional Plan:

DAY 1: Students should be reminded of classroom expectations. 

Lesson objective(s) for the day: Students will view and discuss the Zones presentation. Students will mimic/act out the emotions shown in the Zones chart before starting their collages. Students will create face collages following presentation and discussion.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions:

Knowledge: (cognitive) emotions, Zones of Self Regulation, expression, color schemes

Skills: (psychomotor) facial expression, cutting, gluing, arranging 

Instructional Strategies/Activities:

1. Presentation 

2. Dismiss students by table to choose color of construction paper

3. Activity 1: cut out circle/face shape from piece of construction paper. 

Write name on back

4. Activity 2: allow students to gather scraps within the color scheme of 

their chosen paper color

5. Students can arrange and glue scraps onto their face circle to create facial features, expressions, hair, eyebrows, and other details, being mindful of the movement of the face when it is forming an expression.

Detailed Instructional Plan:

DAY 2: Students should be reminded of classroom expectations. 

Lesson objective(s) for the day: Students will be continuing to add details and shapes to their faces, keeping in mind their color scheme. Students will be allowed to add more details with markers in their color scheme.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions:

Knowledge: (cognitive) emotions, Zones of Self Regulation, expression, color schemes

Skills: (psychomotor) facial expression, cutting, gluing, arranging, drawing

Instructional Strategies/Activities:

1. display Zones chart

2. demonstrate adding details with markers

3. work day

4. students arrange their faces to match the placement of Zones 

            Informal critique (Which one is convincing? Why?)

            

Teach students to turn their marker tip while they draw to create different quality of line and line thicknesses. Reinforce low voice level while working. Reinforce raising hand.

Art Materials List:

9 x 12 Construction paper (red, blue, yellow, green)

Construction paper scraps in different hues of colors

Scissors

Glue sticks

Markers

Ms. Kanak