Arty On

I love it when students keep me accountable. While I am trying my best to run a very student-centered, choice-based art studio, I am finding that I sometimes start to slide back into my teacher-centered ways.  Letting go of control is harder than I expected and the classroom can quickly turn into a 3-ring circus where the teacher is the ringmaster commanding full attention rather than directing it towards the real stars of the show (students, aka, trapeze artists, clowns, contortionists, lions...).  I mostly catch myself before it becomes the "Dana Show", but am also trying to train my students to let me know if I'm drifting in my purpose. From the beginning of last year, I shared with students a personal goal during their class periods: to talk less and let them work more!  I have trained myself to be aware of when "the wiggles" set in and I've talked too long.  I try to limit whole class discussions/reflections to 5 minutes maximum.  I know the student

When I first started teaching using the PYP framework, I didn't really know what I was getting into.  I was fortunate enough to be hired by a school who was willing to take a teacher with no experience in the PYP, support me with professional development and mentors, and surround me with knowledgeable colleagues to observe and learn from. I would say one of the best, but least talked about, advantages of teaching art using the PYP framework is the ability to focus on the emergent curriculum .  " Emergent curriculum is based on the premise that children are most successful at learning when curriculum experiences account for their interests, strengths, needs, and lived realities.   In emergent curriculum, both adults and children have initiative and make decisions. This power to impact curriculum decisions and directions means that sometimes curriculum is also negotiated between what interests children and what adults know is necessary for children’s education and developmen

I write this post after a week of taking the time to appreciate the positive happenings going on in the PYP art studio (and in general) at my school.  We're 9 weeks into the new school year, which means the "honeymoon" phase has worn off.  Group dynamics have shifted in classrooms, students and teachers are settling in to their comfort zones.  We are all feeling the effects of a new routine, sleep schedule and daily demand on our minds and bodies.  After weeks of saying "yes" to new opportunities, we might be feeling overwhelmed.  Viruses from summer travels have taken a tour of the school and been exchanged.  It can be easy to fall into old ways of doing things because they are comfortable and easy.  I find that this is the exact time that I need to stop and be more aware of what's happening around me...throughout the school, with my colleagues, among students.  I need to focus on the positive, appreciate others, and maintain a growth mindset. There is a

"I strive to be mediocre," commented a teacher friend of mine in one of the first conversations we had over a year ago.  As we sat in the staff lounge at lunch getting to know one another, discussing teaching styles and aspirations, I was surprised (and relieved) by her candor.  It doesn't seem like the type of reply that would inspire or leave a lasting impact, but it has guided and helped to enrich my approach to teaching, learning, and living in the past year. To start off, let's put some context into this comment.  "Striving to be mediocre" to her meant that she wasn't the type to come in on the weekends or be at school into the evening hours.  She wasn't signing up to be on every committee and you wouldn't be seeing any school related emails from her outside of school hours.  It did mean, however, that she was one of the most efficient teachers I've met, using her prep periods to plan, collaborate, and document learning.  But school

How does a choice-based classroom allow for student artists to develop their ideas in a meaningful way?  This is a question I am currently experimenting with and offering varied solutions for in my PYP art studio. For the most part, I'm finding that there is no end to the ideas that students want to investigate.  However, some of them enter the art studio with so many ideas that they find it difficult to stick with just one.  They are enthusiastic, they are motivated, and they want to try it all!  They ping pong from here to there, experimenting with one technique, then collaborating on another, engaging in making mistakes, and finding out what they like and don't like as an artist. I love this about running a choice-based art studio. However, I also wonder what the limit of these explorations should be?  At what point does a student need to choose a topic, medium, or technique and explore it more in depth?  What is the role of the teacher in ensuring a level of commitm

"It's like I'm a real artist today." (G3 student comment as she made the choice to use an easel to create for the first time.) "Wow, everything is so organized.  We should keep it that way." (KG student commenting to his peers as the class took a tour and observed all of the new materials available to use.) "So I can spend the next 9 classes on just ONE artwork if I want to?" (G5 student considering the options available to her as she decides how best to spend her time in the art studio.) "I like it this year, because we used to save all of the good art materials in the store room, and now we get to use them!" (Art Teaching Assistant comment about the variety of materials available at one time for students to create with.) As students begin the new school year and are introduced to our choice-based, student-centered approach in the art studio, their comments say it all.  The overall feeling to the start of the year

Ever feel like you're in a funk?  Like there's something not happening that should be?  Not that anything is wrong, but just that something is...missing. I had this lingering feeling last year about my teaching practice.  I was teaching PYP visual arts at the International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP) and after 5 years of experience, getting to know the PYP, establishing a rapport with my students and colleagues, I had the premonition that it was time for a big change.  Not in schools, not in what I was teaching, but in HOW I was teaching it.  I realized that I was stressing out and spending my time planning Units of Inquiry that were lacking...something.  That sometimes, despite my best efforts to allow for student choice and voice, the exhibitions of student pieces ended up lacking...something.  That even when I had a super supportive admin team that appreciated both the process and product of art making, our curriculum was lacking...something.  While that "something&qu