Turning over new soil

I’m wrapping up my school year and I will soon be emersed in my garden at home but I am also tending to my new courses for next year. I’ve scrubbed my tables, culled materials, recycled extra materials, and moved furniture around. After a year long journey of planning and presenting proposals, I finally have my ideas taking root in my studio. I have cultivated community support and I have enthusiastic students ready to jump in. After creating all my google forms, securing grants to purchase new equipment, and preparing supplies; I am feeling ready.  

 Tomorrow, I plan on revising my google docs, learning the Haiku management platform, brushing up my blendspace resources, and publishing my themes to post in the studio.  I don’t know what the whole year will look like exactly but I do know how I will present the new full choice program and record the evidence of developing ideas. I have plans created for public forums to allow my students to present their process, thoughts, and their projects. It’s my hope my students will inspire the greater community with what they learned and created.  

 I will continue to share my journey as it unfolds. All I can say is I am really excited to do this.

Art shows and Awards

Our school year is winding down and I am so busy pushing out the news, collecting artwork, and gearing up for wrapping up for AP and my seniors.  We have so many art receptions in a row it gets really busy.  It is the time of the year to reap the benefits from all of the hard work.

I always present a Power Point with music to show the whole school the wonderful work from the Spring Semester.  It is also the time I share all the honors and awards with everyone.  This is one practice that takes a lot of time to prepare but my students enjoy it so much.  I also take time to write down all the accomplishments and awards that was achieved during the school year.  I recommend you do this every year and either share it with your administration or at the very least put in a file to recall what happened over the past years.

Today was one of the last days we had with our Seniors in my Media Arts class so we celebrated by creating a fun photo shoot that included exploring Ben Heine’s Pencil VS Camera mixed in with a bright colorful parachute.  I find the activity of working together to make the parachute elevate above our heads and then sit under the colorful dome is a lot of fun, lots of giggling and amazing photos.

Our year was very successful at art show competitions and with our community service.

I am very proud of my students.  I am always impressed with what they can accomplish in a very short amount of time.

I have big plans for next year that will make all of my courses reflect more of a real life studio and closer to a full Teaching Artistic Behaviors Studio.  I have my 3-D printer coming and now if I can locate a program to help me implement the gamification workflow choice based project/job idea, I will be set.  I have a lot of research to complete and a studio to rearrange after my students leave for the summer.  I will be a busy art teacher.  I will let you know how my journey unfolds.