Thinking Like an Artist

There is a growing pattern in the professional development of teachers to move away from an emphasis on pedagogical skills to thinking like domain experts. In many ways the idea is not new, yet the application is intriguing. Science teachers spend the summer being scientists working in university lab- thus learning the fabric of science. Math teachers spend their time learning and working math. Perhaps the most established of such ideas is the Writing Project. In the Writing Project each participant is encouraged to write and see herself as a writer, as a result, the logic dictates, she is more likely to teach writing, understand her students process, and finally help them identify themselves as writers.
The question that started emerging in our work is whether that is also true for teachers who are charged with teaching the arts in their classroom? We envision trying to foster Studio Habits of Mind with teachers as a way of transforming their practice. I think this may be a transformational piece for classroom teachers who are not formally trained as art specialist. For them (and me in all honesty) the last time they were engaged with any sustained effort of art making was in school (K12).
There might be a catch that must be considered: can elementary teachers who are asked to teach all, or almost all, subjects be domain experts in all these areas? Can we really expect depth of understanding and real experiences in Math, Art, Science, Writing, History etc.? I am excited about this idea but as I look at the larger context and being able to scale such practices up- I am sure we can scale our pedagogical ideas up (VIEW) but as for teachers thinking like artists, I am not so sure anymore.

Back in Action

A few weeks ago I watched a presentation on a video podcast out of TED Talks. In this particular one the speaker stated that the apparent failure of instructional technology in making large achievement gains is linked to the fact that most studies are conducted in "high achievement" schools. His point was that in such schools technology cannot make much of a difference. In struggling schools, however, it may make tremendous difference. It started me wondering whether that was true about arts integration too.
That is, does arts integration help students in lower achieving schools? In a way it's an empirical question we'll be able to answer this year.
On the other hand the arts are very different from technology. Class and professional status influence exposure to technology much more than exposure to the arts, especially creating art. My sense is that middle class/professional parents are much more likely to expose their children to technology than arts (sadly). So, the question is still open waiting for some data to shed light...

Thinking Statewide

Just before I go on vacation I had the chance to work with the teachers on the Sheldon Statewide project. The teachers who showed up were fantastic to work with. Ideas flowed and I am interested in seeing the lessons in action. This year I hope we can actually video classrooms in action and record teacher thoughts immediately after they engage with arts integration. The idea is to get as close as possible to the action without being in anybody's way.
At the same time I was looking around the room and observed how essential the conversations between content teachers and art teachers were. What we tend to forget is that we speak very different languages and have a very different view of the classroom. In many ways we do not see the same kids as some of our students act very differently in the art room and the classroom. For us to be able to make integration work in our schools we must make these partnerships more permanent. The effort of understanding each others language and emotion will pay off only if we continue interacting.
If you have any ideas about sustaining collaboration I'd love to her about it.
The blog will be back the last week of August- ready to start another year of arts integration.

Arts Wall

I was invited to participate in the process of developing ideas for the Sheldon statewide art education program.
The language arts focus will be on poetry but that's not what I wanted to write about this time. In the discussions the idea of using word wall to focus students' work in the language arts. It struck me that we can in units use a parallel arts wall. So what can be part of the arts wall? Well it really depends on objectives and accumulated ideas.
The arts wall can have basic shapes lines or textures, color wheel, a list of techniques (for example tissue, taping, and salt in a unit using water color as medium). The idea is to represent things on a an arts wall using both words and artifacts- so it does not just become a word wall of arts words but actually something different.
Another part of the art wall can be reproduction of art that fits with the subject matter, for example scenery when discussing foreground, middle ground, and background. If for example students are exploring a museum (in person or online) they can bring examples to the classroom arts wall and explain to their classmates why they think it belongs (oral rehearsal). I like even better reproducing parts of art in a way that allows a focus on technique o detail.
Moe about the statewide will probably emerge after the workshop on July 28th and 29th.

Music in the Heart of summer

Monique left last weekend. We've worked very hard and achieved a lot during the past few weeks. I really appreciated her thoughts every time we met, which was quite often even if not as often as I wanted to. Our conversations about music was a strand we followed all five weeks since it is a part of our grant, it is starting in earnest next year, and of course because Monique was participating in a music ed course.
I don't think we still know everything we want to do next year, but here is an idea we started developing. One thing you have to know Monique and I are very concrete albeit in different ways. That is why our conversations moved from big theoretical approaches to the nuts and blots of a unit.
In this case its a life cycle unit focused on the butterfly. The idea is for the students to integrate music in a meaningful way that supports learning about the butterfly, life cycle AND music. For example students can be set up in pairs, with a music instrument (ORF based but also keyboards etc would work). Each pair would be responsible for creating music to fit the stage in the life cycle of the butterfly. Each pair would record the music (on paper and/or tape) and play it to the group explaining why they chose this representation (Oral Rehearsal) . It could also be used for a game where the rest of the class tries to guess what stage it is and present a reason why they think there is a fit.

Interesting that Guy would say this today-- “exposure to rich experiences in different domains in our home and community is what makes us diverse and different contributing to the rich tapestry of society”
Today I got re-acquainted with one of those community members that contributes to the rich tapestry…
In 2005 I met Tom Palmerton, at the Lewis & Clark Visitor Center in Nebraska City. He is the sculptor of “Pointing the Way” a Lewis, Clark & Seaman bronze. It was a casual meeting as neither of us was interested in getting in the middle of the crowd at the Opening Program and were standing around outside the building with a few others. Once I realized who he was and what he had created, I began asking questions. He graciously explained his process to me and I knew that some day I would like to visit his studio in Brownville. Today was the day.
He is a 77-year-old artist (father and grandfather) that received his formal training from the Kansas City Art Institute using the GI bill. Originally from Council Bluffs, IA, he returned to that area and spent some time in Omaha. In the early 1970s he came to Brownville. His studio and gallery are in one of the historic Brownville buildings. He spends his days there creating and is usually closed on Sunday. But we called ahead, and he was happy to come and open it up for us (I was with my parents). He’s made many historical figures and many animals and birds. He also is quite a painter and has many framed paintings on the walls. He showed us both working areas—the room for the bronzes and the loft for the painting. He once again, graciously explained the entire process to me. (I think I have to try it to really understand it!)
Today he was working on the wings of a butterfly that will be part of a large bronze butterfly sculpture. The completed sculpture will be part of the Butterfly & Insect Pavilion at the Henry Doorly Zoo. Of course, I took an immediate interest in the subject matter because of our Arts LINC & Science Unit, “Living Things Grow and Change”. Sometime when I’m in Omaha, I’ll go the zoo. He already has several sculptures there. I’ll have to see art at the zoo!
A connection between art and science. A connection with a living and working artist. I feel like I’ve met a rock star.

Home and School

My Mom is visiting from Israel this week. I our conversations we turned to the importance of home environment to the development of visual art. The discussion started from my comment that Itai my youngest (2) seems to enjoys visual art activities (sometime on inappropriate surfaces such as counters, tables and the inside of my car). Art was never emphasizd in our house (though my sister became a musician) we visited museums but were not really encouraged to be actively engaged in any art form. In her comment I am not sure if my Mom meant that Itai will not really ever be an artist because we at home are not ourselves very artistic... This got me thinking about breaking the cycle of non-engagement. Since the home is so important in determining the disposition and capabilities of students, can school change any of that? This is true with language, literacy, and of course art.
As parents I can encourage Itai (and the rest) to be engaged with art, to feel safe trying new forms of expression and seeking out art. As educators our role is to provide the same experiences, environment, attitudes, and expectations that will support a relationship with art and literacy regardless of the home environment. We do need to understand though that our actions cannot erase all differences between home environments... there is too much to overcome.
And in reality exposure to rich experiences in different domains in our home and community is what makes us diverse and different contributing to the rich tapestry of society.