It’s been a while…

It’s a new year and I am feeling like myself again. It’s been years since I have written on this blog. I’ve been gone healing. My husband of almost 30 years unexpectedly passed away.

We were happily married and he was my best friend and biggest supporter. It’s been four years since he passed away and a lot has happened. I sold our home and moved closer to our only son. I have started teaching again after a year off. I’m teaching at a charter arts-based 7-12 school and I am the 8-12 art instructor. I am navigating my current students through a Choice-Based Art program. I am learning a lot about how to rebuild my life and how to rebuild and implement my Choice Art practice in a program that was teacher-directed. I had a very strong and successful Choice Art program at my prior school. I had a small art studio, limited storage, but great resources. I currently have an amazing studio space, great storage, but limited resources. I am learning a lot about myself and how to deliver the quality program I am used to delivering to my art students.

Personally, I have undergone a great transformation. I value things differently. I was broken into a billion pieces after my husband passed away. Everything I knew was gone, all the plans we made disappeared. I am an artist but I couldn’t create anymore. My artwork was always heart-centered and spiritual. When he passed away my heart was broken and I was lost. For a time, I could not read, write, or taste food, I was numb. I walked around in a haze and it took a year before I started to see the light. I relocated and changed my whole lifestyle. I walked 10,000 steps a day because it was the only thing I could control. Soon my two precious doxies, 22 and 16, passed away. Everything that was in my prior life was no longer with me. I fought through depression and feeling defeated. It was dark days but I am a fighter, I knew my late husband would want me to shine again and keep living.

I had a wonderful life and everything I wanted. This was my new chapter to write, rebuild, and place the people, things, and routines in my life that helped me rediscover myself. I briefly, had a fun and sweet relationship that proved to me that I could love again. I discovered new emotions and who I was becoming. I learned who I need in my life. My best supports have been my son and his wife and the strong women who are in my life. I continue to focus on bringing more strong women into my life. I developed a healthy exercise routine and a good diet. I adopted a sweet little doxie through one of my artist alumni. Tallulah has been a bright light in my life. She helps me navigate meeting new people with her happy adorable spirit. I get to love her and she loves and protects me.

This journey as a widow isn’t for the faint-hearted. I do not wish it on anyone. Discovering oneself after being a partner to someone since 18 has been eye-opening. I am not the same woman I was, I am forever changed.

I have slowly transitioned into a more secure individual with goals for myself. I have gained a tribe of strong friends. I am still building my community in the town I live in, and I am beginning to make art again. I am hopeful I will buy a home this year settle my art studio and begin my artistic journey again.

My professional life has changed. I maintain balance more than I ever have. I do give to my students but maintain clear boundaries and focus on myself. It is good to remember to take care of yourself. You cannot be good for anyone if you are not solid yourself. I love working with my young artists. They fill my mind with new ideas and they challenge me daily. I love seeing them discover, try, fail, and rebound in beautiful ways. This is what life will demand of them when they gain more life experience in the world. I look at my art students differently than I had before. I want to protect them from the harsh realities of life but at the same time, I want them to become self-confident and happy. I want my artists to know they are enough and the world can be tough but they are tougher.

I know this is an art education blog and I have been absent in my writings, but I do hope someone sees some value in this entry. I will try to write more about the implementation of Choice Art in my new school soon.

See the good in the world and shine the light for others,

Joy

Collaborative chalk mural brings us together.

“We have to get messy to make it beautiful.” – Art Educator Joy Schultz

We have been participating in a local city chalk art celebration for several years.  It supports a local organization which support students with funding and scholarships to continue to go to college or to supply arts educators much needed supplies.  The Thea Foundation was created by two parents who lost a talented artist daughter named Thea.  Her legacy lives on every day in the hearts and minds of young artists and dedicated arts educators.

I love participating in this event because it’s our first public art collab.  It starts with the first art club meeting when we decide a theme and brainstorm visual imagery to support the theme.  I let my student art club directors take the lead and I support them by moving the idea along.  I am lucky to have a well-trained and dedicated student leader, Junior Celia, for year two.  She was trained by her older sister who ran the art club before her for two years.  I strive to have the current leader mentor another future leader as the second year begins.  This helps maintain consistency and a lot less training on the spot from year to year.  The student leaders, Celia and Sophomore Bella, feel much more in control of the group and step-up in wonderful unique ways, with their own ambitions, to help the art club be engaged in the school and greater community.

Our theme this year was “Unity” and we had all of our members draw up many variations on the theme but we had lots of images that overlapped.  I needed someone to pull all the concepts together to help tell our story and support the theme.  Junior Madison was excited to contribute to the project but would not be able to attend the actual chalk mural event so she volunteered to pour over all the students ideas to create a cohesive design.

We combined our ideas with the lower school and middle school students to create one large design.  It was a hot sunny day and we had some students arrive early but needed to leave midway to attend other responsibilities so our students needed to work together to finish the final design.

We had students stop and evaluate the mural while it was evolving and they checked in on one another to see if they needed help.  The communication was between the art students of all ages was supportive and helpful.  The other two art educators and I made sure students took water breaks and sat in the shade for a breather.  I love that we had photographers pop by and ask to take photos of our students at work.  You could see the pride each student had in the mural.  We overheard comments about all the different world flags we added and the wonderful hot air balloons created by our youngest artists.  I love all of it but I was mostly struck by the students at the end that suggested that they hold hands around the globe for a group photo.  Right then and there, I realized they truly understood the purpose of the mural and the meaning of our theme.  “Unity/United”.  I could have not been more proud.

“Unity” Chalk Mural created by Episcopal Collegiate School art club students 1-12 grades – Art Educator Joy Schultz

 

The Opening Matters

We all want to start on the right foot.  We want our students to feel confident in enrolling in the art course, the students want to know they can be successful and gain new skills.  In a Choice/TAB studio class it is important that students grasp what is student agency.  What is required of them to be successful in the studio?  I started this past week with a collaboration project and also an icebreaker piece.  I build in assessment tools for me to gauge what the confidence level, skill set, and interest is in the course.  I believe in launching into using all the terminology and techniques needed to establish the expectations for the work. For some of my students, I might as well be speaking a different language, but I assure my students they will pick up the information quickly.

Here are my goals for the first week of class:

#1 Create a safe environment and work on a collaboration to help set the tone and share procedures.

#2 Set the expectations about original works and how to achieve independence and skill building evidence.

#3 How to document and research effectively for success.

#4 What is success in a Choice Based Studio? How are you assessed?

#5 Know the WHY in creating.

I am in the middle of setting the standard for creating original works and how to document progress, plus demonstrate skill building.  We are still using Sway.com to document and I am requiring more written reflections within the portfolio documentation.  Artist Proposals with Artistic Targets will help the artists set goals for the concepts they choose to create and Themes will also guide the concept shape.  I created student based assessments to help each artist decide to what degree they would like to develop their levels of content on the Sway link.  I am striving to support my student artists to be as independent in their process as possible so I can spend my time scaffolding their learning to level up their skills.

I have curated content on my student learning management platform to support the development of each project. Because my courses have multi-level students, in the studio at the same time, I also utilize studio mentors.  I find this to be very empowering for everyone.  It is exciting to see students engage in helping others achieve an individual voice in their art work.  We are off to a solid foundation and I cannot wait to share what we are creating.

This week we are dedicating student works for our school permanent collection with a wonderful reception.  I’m excited we are beginning to collect works from our talented artists for the history of our school.  This year we are going to make a call out to alumni artists to participate in an art show in the winter.  The school will then select a few for purchase to add to our school art collection.  Hoping to capture a few current works from our talented alumni.

Good luck on your start of the school year.  Enjoy the eclipse!

NAEA16 Chicago

I came back with a new “twist” from the carefully crafted presentation I prepared to share at the National Art Convention on my Transition to a Choice Based Studio.  It is proof that if you have something to share and you are passionate about it, you can share it with or without technology.

My morning started by arriving at the assigned room at the convention center.  I enter the room and there is no projector or screen.  No problem, the NAEA assured that all rooms would have a projector and screen in every room.  So I wait a few minutes… time passes and I don’t see any tech people around to get some assistance.  Next jumps in two educators that take super hero action to help resolve the situation. One is calling anyone she can on the phone to get tech support and the other runs all the way from the fourth floor in the North building to the support desk in the lower level of the Lakeside building.  NO Results- but not from lack of trying.  Thank you friends. (Tim Bogatz and the wonderful lady I could not remember her name in my panic state)  So resourceful as I am, I head into a room a few doors down and swipe the projector from the other room that was not using it.  I was halfway to my room when one of the convention workers stopped me and said I could not take it out of that room.  Even after I explained my plight, he did not agree.

Imagine walking to the room that has every seat filled, people sitting in the isle and down the sides of wall, plus people still trying to enter the room.  I was sweating already from running around and now- stress sweat is no fun.  I contemplated making a run for it, not presenting, or standing tall and just do it!  I decided I’m doing this!  (Self-talk:Hopefully, I can engage and inspire this group.  I’m an art educator and I do this everyday for over 26 years. ) I open my PowerPoint as my guide and encourage everyone to look at my Instagram or Google me for all the content I have online as a reference.  At this time I didn’t have my presentation uploaded on the NAEA16 app but you bet I did after the session.

I was very sequential in my presentation and very clear on how I came to my organization of the running of a Choice Based Studio.  I shared a few stories about my students and tried to paint pictures about my studio with my words.  The audience was engaged and asked great questions.  I maintained my composure and delivered.  I wanted to share so many great visuals and videos but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.  I lived through my worst nightmare.  I believe I had an out of body experience while standing at the podium.  After I presented I had a rush of teachers asking me so many questions and I was able to share a portion of my presentation on my laptop.  By the time I left the room, I was uncertain if I did a good job.  In fact I felt disappointed, frustrated, and angry.  I took a few minutes to calm myself down before I spoke to anyone about the tech issue and I made sure my presentation was uploaded immediately.  It was uploaded so I spread the word about it on the convention app and Twitter.

 

For a while I just wanted to crawl into a hole.  I traveled alone and I didn’t have anyone to talk to about this unfortunate experience.  I was feeling really bad.

Then a woman came to me and told me she learned so much from my session.  I was pleased but I couldn’t help but feel she was sensing my disappointment and was being kind to me.  I appreciated it but it really wasn’t what I planned.  Trust me, I am a planner and super organized so this was a hard pill to swallow.

But then more comments were posted on the app about the session.  I was at first terrified to even look at it.  I’m so glad I read a few comments.  The comments were positive and supportive. Then a few more messages popped up through my email and my other social media sites.  Okay- maybe I can finally admit to myself that I accomplished what I wanted to do in spite of the situation.

Thank you for all who attended my session and who spoke to me in person and posted comments on the convention app and on social media.  It was reassuring that I accomplished what I wanted to do.  I am grateful.

 

 

 

 

Studio Time is the Best Time

Landed in Little Rock around 11:00 PM and I was wiped out.  The National Art Convention was great but a marathon with early morning sessions and loads of miles to almost run to attend all the selected sessions was a challenge.  You add in the time zone difference and it totals up to bring me coffee and tape to keep me awake!!

I wake up on time to get to the morning commute on to heavy traffic and of course someone caused an accident to make the backup worse.  This was not the homecoming I was looking forward to.

I pull into school, park in my usual spot, and pull out of the back of my car my computer, purse, and school bag.  I’m still tired and I had not had a cup of coffee yet.  Then all of the sudden to my right as I pass the carpool drop off, a huge squeal from a car was heard.  It was one of my students and she almost blew out her Dad’s eardrum from her enthusiasm to seeing me back at school.  Her Dad rolled down the window and said, “I guess you’ve been missed!” and he smiled.  I was only gone one day and of course Spring Break the week before.  My art student bounced out of the car and helped to carry my bags to the studio, the whole time telling me all about what a week she had and how she could not wait until I got back.  I go to the second floor to my studio and I see six of my artists waiting for me.  They ran to greet me and give me hugs.  In the center of my desk is a chocolate candy on a stick in a shape of a paintbrush from New Orleans, a place one of my other artists’ visited over Spring Break.  My studio was a buzz of excitement of everyone trying to get my attention and to share with me all that I missed in their lives since I saw them a week ago.  I was so incredibly happy to be back in my studio and looking and listening to the chatter of my artists.  I belong here, I belong with these students, they need me, and I need them.  I am so fortunate to have found a place where all that I put into my students; I get out of them as well. 

My schedule was a full one and in every class and in the hallways students remarked they missed me and asked how was my trip.  Our deadline for turning in our garments was the next day but a photo shoot was set for the end of the day, lots of last minute finishing was going on in the studio all day.  My art studio looked more like a closet or a recycle bin but the studio was humming along like nothing was in the way.  My students adapt to all the crazy activities I host and the commotion actually makes my studio the place to be so I am okay with that.  I have students popping in all day long to check in with me on all the latest stuff going on in sports, news, school, or just a new haircut.  There is a lot of trust, kindness, affection, and admiration in my studio.  It is a feel good place and expectations are high.  Is everyone achieving at the same level all the time?  Of course not, it’s a high school and I teach teenagers.  But I must say the relationships are healthy between my artists and me.  It’s about teaching art but it’s also about building up young adults.  There has to be expectations, benchmarks, celebrations, accountability, and lots of humor.

This weekend was the first weekend in a long time I was able to stay at home, in my house.  I did very little…well in perspective of my life…if you understand my life.   I did catch up on sleep and that was the most important part of my weekend.  I am able to reflect on my past two weeks and plan out the next three without feeling sleepy.  I accomplished a lot this week, one student Award for a Fashion Scholarship, a nice letter from Bill Clinton for our work to support Haiti, a gift from Indonesia with supplies for a batik project, all of our garments have been sent off for the Recycle Runway Show, and I completed an interview for Little Rock Family magazine on all the Service Learning work I do with my students.  I have Congressional works to submit this week and our big State Art Convention and Contest coming up next.  Finally our big Curbside Couture Fashion Runway Show…it’s going to be amazing.

My life is a wild ride but I the rewards far exceed any of the dips in the road.

Opening up a new school year!

When the teachers return to the school, to begin reopening for a new school year, it usually follows just after several restless nights and weird dreams.  It’s just one of those things we learn to expect before we actually get into our classrooms.  Strange dreams about showing up in pj’s, or for some reason we cannot find our room, and we are late to class.

Well, that has passed for me, (thank goodness) so now I am twitchy with anticipation of seeing my students and getting into new exciting lessons.  I spend my days in meetings about school housekeeping and then the remaining time organizing my studio.  At night, I brush up on my ice breakers and revamp or recreate new lessons to engage my students.  I strive to add new twists to how I start my early assessments.  Not only to inform me as to where my students skills lie in each course but to design experiences that heighten the engagement of my students to tap in to their dormant creativity.

My Studio

This summer I found and purchased a cool Balinese street puppet and this has reignited my interest in puppets and marionettes.  Thankfully, I have a Sculpture class with some really great students who will latch onto this assignment and run with it.  I will share the progress we make on our Global Exploration of the art of puppets and marionettes.

Bali Street Puppet

I am also excited about having a new sewing station in my studio for the first time.  We have a full scale Curbside Couture Fashion Club so this is a good addition.  And by popular demand I have launched a Photo Club with new photography challenges to execute.   I am really blessed to have such enthusiastic art students who like to spend time with me outside of school.

Pink Sewing Machine Station

This will be my 24th year of teaching and I am feeling really great about the direction of my program, students, school, and volunteer activities.  I will be doing several speaking engagements this year.   Two at the NAEA14 Convention in San Diego, California.  I am so happy to be able to share the success I have had with my students.  I am also going to present at the Clinton Presidential Library for Arkansas Teachers on the benefits of the educational opportunities that are offered.  Plus, I will be presenting a book review to our Upper School faculty about Teach Like A Pirate.  I like how it has inspired my teaching and how the book offers new ideas; hooks to add to the teaching experience.

This is going to be an interesting school year with a new head of school and a new 7 day week- 5 period day schedule.  Each class will now be 65 minutes which will offer so much more time to immerse into the work we do in the studio.  I am also mentoring a new MS art teacher; I am motivated to have the experience be positive and a smooth transition for the art students.  In addition I am sending my only child off to college and my husband and I will be “empty nesters”. – Weird but we are adjusting.

The final bit to what makes this year a career benchmark year for me is the Teachers Award,  I received at the end of last year.  Still unreal to me…. but also pretty Awesome!

Outstanding Teacher Award Plaque

I wish all of you a smooth start to your school year.  I hope you find inspiration and share it with your art students.

My Summer Professional Development- Self Imposed!

Yes- I purchased REAL Books and I am reading them in between fishing trips, gardening, teaching fashion illustration classes, baking, cooking, painting furniture, and helping the local animal shelter.  My summers are about redoing lessons, finding inspiration, and fueling my passions.

I have four books read already and each one has been helpful in my quest to create Project Based Lessons.  I have to say Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess was my last book to pick up. I am so glad I did.  This book reads like how I think and how my mind creates new lessons.  I am creating ideas while I am doing all the above activities.  Truthfully, my mind never really stops striving to do a better job.  My motivation is an internal drive for self satisfaction not for praise, $, or recognition.  I do it because I do feel dedicated to the groups of students who are in my studio.  I love what I do:  writing/designing lessons, thinking of projects, and creating examples for lessons.  What I do isn’t really work.

One of my favorite parts of the book written by Dave Burgess is when I read the chapter on Passion.  I am a passionate teacher, artist, mother, wife, and art advocate. I cannot separate them.  I then read the next chapter about Immersion and I recognized me.  I am often hard to find in my studio because I am right along side my students. I’m into it!  You can find me dancing, singing, playing, laughing, and learning with my students.  I want them to love what they are doing as much as I do.  Yes- my students think I am “crazy” but they keep coming back!

I love the quote- “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

The list of ideas to craft a lesson was excellent.  I do several on the list but now I am striving to support the ideas more and achieve a few on the list I have not tried.   I have a list of ideas already created and a few lessons to start the year right.

If you are feeling like you need a boost I would assign yourself some good books to help ignite your passion.  Here is the list of books I read so far:

•  The Passion-Driven Classroom- Maiers and Sandvold
•  Catching Up or Leading the Way- Zhao
•  What Great Teachers Do Differently-Whitaker
•  Teach Like a Pirate- Burgess

Here is a link to another blogger who has identified a few more books to help inspire you too.

 http://schinkten.blogspot.com/  Check it out.  

ARRGGGG!  Feeling Like a Pirate Already!

Kismet

On May 17th I was awarded the highest honor a faculty member can receive at our school.  It was our Class Day Awards ceremony and I had my son a graduating senior in the audience, in addition, my husband, my parents, and my brother-in-law and sisters-in-law.  I was already feeling very nostalgic about my son and this graduating class.  It was a big day and I had a heavy but full heart.  I hung in the balance of near tears most of the week and this day was not helping.

It has been a full wonderful school year and I have accomplished so much in my new school, my new city, and my new art studio.  This graduating class was instrumental in following my lead and supporting the efforts to help Haiti and improve and heighten the visual arts in our school.  I am the only art teacher in the Upper School and I teach several different courses.  I love the variety and I cannot imagine limiting my options.  It has been hard work but I finally feel I am making some headway.  I work hard to raise the standards, expand my student’s experiences, and provide new exciting opportunities.  The opportunities vary in range from local art shows, local art competitions, charity events, and community based exhibitions.  My students excel in all venues and I am so proud of them.

On this day my son was awarded the Citizenship Award and I was filled with pride.  He sang in the choir a beautiful song and I began to cry as I heard his voice sing out to the audience.  I did regain my composure to award the Fine Arts Awards and my voice only quivered once when I announced some of my student’s names.  A few are seniors and they are moving on…I will miss their faces.  I listened again to the other awards and my son was awarded an AP Calc Award, super happy…. Wow!   I was thinking to myself, I will miss him in my daily life at school and at home so much.  But I know he is well prepared and excited about his future so I am very happy.

Then the Trustee stepped up to read the award and he begins to mention bits and pieces of the award winner’s accomplishments and whispers fill the area surrounding the students.    Then it hits me…he is talking about me.  I am unable to breathe and I say to myself breathe and live in this moment.  My colleagues closest to me begin to tear up and this is not helping me maintain my composure.  So I decide to keep breathing and look out to the audience.  I spy a parent and trustee of one of my senior students and she is crying through her smile.  I look to my students below and they are all smiling and several are crying too.  At this point I glance to my family in the crowd and I see my husband.  It takes my entire self-talk not to get sick or break out in tears.

I accomplished something that I was always hoping to achieve.  I did it!  I stood up and accepted my award and I did not cry.  I did have damp eyes but I stood proud.  I really believe I made a difference in my student’s lives and I was accepted into my new community.  One of the things that was said during the reading of the award was the mention that,” I was a transplant Arkansan from Milwaukee, Wisconsin”.  I was touched that I did break through, I broke out, and I made it!

The Jackson T. Stephens Faculty Award-2013 winner is Joy Schultz.  I will be able to go to Haiti now with the award money to see the BeLikeBrit Orphanage, something I really need to see.  I will be able to select another enriching professional development experience too.  I am just not sure what that will be.

Right now, I am satisfied and looking forward to spending the summer with my son before he leaves for college.   I will refresh and begin a new school year ready to take on the world!

Wow! What a wonderful way to end the school year.

Finding rewards after a long school year.

At the semesters end we all are exhausted and have lists of things to complete before we can be off on our summer adventures.  We need to stay focused on our students and remember what is truly important.

Relationships with our student’s and celebrating successes our students have achieved by our combined hard work.

I have several things to be celebrating as the year wraps up.  One is the acceptance of two of my seniors heading to SCAD to explore an exciting fine arts education.  Plus- four of my younger students will be enjoying SCADs summer art experiences as well.  A bonus is one of my talented Juniors was awarded a scholarship to attend the Rising Star program.

Second is a request from our Congressman who was so impressed with my student’s photography submissions that he asked to display three of my student’s works in his local and DC office.  Two in the local office and one in Washington D. C.  This is so wonderful for my young photographers to get kudos for their hard work.

Third is one of my artists is donating a photograph to the local permanent art gallery collection at the Psychiatric Research Institute.

Photograph donated to Arkansas PRI Hospital- Artist Nick Simmons

 This makes me so proud that one of my students was selected and is donating his piece without a prize award for his contribution.

 Fourth is all my students who have donated time, energy, and talent to support local and International charities with their art.  I have dozens of orphan portraits to send to Haiti to the BeLikeBrit orphanage.  I also have five Home Plates to submit for auction in the Fall to help support local children’s charities.

 Fifth is the completion of three separate successful Curbside Couture fashion shows. We brought awareness and excitement to our community.

 Sixth are my students having confidence and works to sell on their own Etsy stores. Excited to see them taking control of  opportunities and learning about business.

 Seventh is completion of a fourth year working and continuing our work to help Haiti with our Homes for Haiti project.

  Eighth is all the beautiful art works that competed in local art shows.  Winning awards are great reinforcement for their talents but completing original pieces to showcase is a reward too.  I especially love to hear compliments from viewers and smiles on my student’s faces= priceless.

It has been a very busy school year with so many projects completed; artists’ works developed, minds expanded, hearts opened, and one proud art teacher.  Phew!  Yes- there are days I am stressed out and exhausted but I need to reflect on the accomplishments.

 Focus on the students because they are only in my presence for a short time and I want it to be worthwhile.

To all the art educators out there finishing up AP Art portfolios’, firing up the last kiln firing, returning art work, and hugging Seniors as they walk out your door.  We have an important job to do and we will be gathering strength soon enough, so take time to write down all of your accomplishments and reflect too.

Celebrate!

   We  need to be ready to inspire next year’s students.  We have a very important job to do.