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...

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. ...

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 ensuri...