Thinking about time.

I have recently fallen back in love with the old-fashioned paper calendar for my students. It all started last term when I realized not enough teachers seemed to be talking to the 9th graders about how there were only three weeks left until their first final exams as high schoolers. We do so many things online here at my school, including calendaring, and I think that is a great way to stay organized and on top of things...for me. For some teenagers, though...I think they need to see it in front of them and be reminded of it everyday. I'm not big on deadlines. I rarely give deadlines for the projects we do. I let them work at their own pace, but that does not mean not being aware of time at all. There is an end at some point. The end of the term arrives. So I made some paper calendars (last term on the left, this term on the right) and I pointed to the date at the beginning of class and then made a big deal of crossing the day off at the end of class. It seems to be helping already this term, especially for my seniors who are preparing for their show at the end of the year. The end of the year sounds like a long way away, but if you check the paper calendar, it's, like, tomorrow.

Less talking, more sign reading.

Unless you teach (which you probably do), it might be hard to imagine exactly how irritating it can be to answer the same question 18, 25, or 30 times in a row. I often make signs to help me avoid having to talk about silly details, freeing my brain up for the good stuff. In the Senior Studio class I teach every spring each student is busy making their own work, so on some days, they just come in and get to work. On those days I spend my time with them one on one, and so, everyday they come in and say, "Are we meeting or can I get to work?". In response I made this sign which I can flip around to communicate with them. It's working and I can now think just a little more clearly.

The organized teacher is the happy teacher.

When I left NYC five years ago I wondered how I would organize my classroom without a good dollar store nearby. Bins are the art teacher's savior after all. Recently, I found a great, almost dollar store nearby...this picture brings me great joy.

What does good teaching "LOOK" like?

This term, more than ever before, I'm wondering what does good teaching "LOOK" like...literally?

The students I'm teaching this term are the most independent and self-sufficient kids I've ever taught. If I let them, they would spend the entire term on one project...and maybe I should. This behavior, which I would have given anything to have in my classroom in Brooklyn, has left me feeling a little uneasy here in Massachusetts. Are they bored? Are they unhappy? Am I doing enough? Some days it sure doesn't "LOOK" like I'm teaching very much. I anticipate this happening more and more the longer I work here. This year's seniors have been working in my room consistently all four years of high school...so they know how things work and they are busy working on their work. Good, right? I will be writing about this more and would love to read your thoughts.

differentiation...is exhausting.

we talk a lot here at my school about differentiation...figuring out how to reach each student with their various learning styles...how to create a learning environment that allows each student to thrive. i feel like this is something i've always been concerned about. i've always felt strongly that the kids should be making their work, not mine. so many schools you visit and all the art on the walls looks the same.

so especially at the junior and senior level i make every effort to design projects that are open-ended, that allow each student to find their own personal solution. i am also pretty loose with deadlines, introducing a new project every week but allowing them to finish them at their own speed. this can be tiring (for me) because at any one time each student might need to be using different materials or need a different kind of feedback. i took all the photos you see below in the span of about 2 minutes and all the students are in the same class...and yes that IS a blow torch. wait till you see the results.

the plan...

i came back from new york to find my room a disaster and little evidence that my advanced class got any work done at all while i was gone. they are juniors and seniors. they had assignments to complete. they have class last period on friday. in every way they are in trouble.

i saw the mess first thing when i came in yesterday and it made me very sad at first. then i got angry. then i realized that maybe i've gotten a bit lazy...a bit soft...since i started teaching at a private school. in brooklyn i never would have run a class in the relaxed way i've been running this one. i'm asking them to do very independent work and to work with very big ideas and i've given them very little structure in which to do so. they sit wherever they want, roll into class and get started on their own, and unfortunately, they're also a hilarious group of people. so they laugh a lot and i laugh a lot...this is not inherently a bad thing...but things have gotten out of control.

it occurred to me that if we are trying to master "progressive teaching" at this school maybe we need even more classroom management than we needed in brooklyn.

so i have instituted "the plan" which is basically they way i ran my classes back in brooklyn.



and of course i gave them a pretty good lecture. my life (and theirs) has been changed. they seem happier. they're making better work...and lo and behold i'm able to better record their progress because i can actually hear myself think while they're in the room.

the thing is classroom management is not only about keeping the high energy focused and the shy kids safe...it's also about creating a working environment for yourself. i think we forget that sometimes. i have to be able to do my job which involves some level of concentration. it's much calmer around here this week and i feel better able to do my job.

duke comes to school for a day.

i brought duke to school one day this week. 

he was quite the celebrity in the studio and it was fun to see my teenagers acting like little kids around him. 

he made everyone so happy and at one point he even went over and laid down next to one of my students who struggles quite a bit with painting. every now and then this student would reach down, give duke a pat, and then keep painting. it was truly dog therapy. 

i wish i could bring him to school everyday. he definitely lightens the mood which has been heavier than usual as we approach mid-term.

one of my students even made a painting of herself playing with duke. 

above the sink

yes, they're in high school and yes, they need this. they are not yet adults...or professional artists...not yet.

some ideas about scheduling and routines

our schedule, although at times frustrating, really feels like a gift to a former public school teacher like me. i see my students four days a week, three of those days for one hour and one day for two hours and ten minutes. in new york i learned that routines are my friend and i continue to use them here as much as i can.

my intermediate drawing and painting class meets monday, wednesday, thursday, friday. so i decided each day would have a separate purpose. and since monday is all on its own at the beginning of the week...and the fall of 10th grade is dangerously close to 9th grade and they are still let's say... hmm hmm..."maturing"...i thought something should happen on that day that doesn't have to tie in directly for us to get going on wednesday. so the schedule i created goes something like this. 

on mondays we "drop everything and draw", also known as d.e.a.d. (they like that). 

on wednesdays i introduce a more in-depth drawing or painting project. 

on thursdays they have their 2 hour block and they dive into the more in-depth project. 

on fridays they decide how to use their time best, either to work on or improve homework assignments, finish major projects, or make up d.e.a.d. assignments they might have missed due to absence.

my ultimate plan is that i will use wednesdays to introduce a new project each week for about 6 weeks (half the term). the projects will take longer than a week to complete so by the middle of the term they will be working more independently. the focus is on the final portfolio of works rather than on individual assignments. we all start together but we finish at different times (at our own pace). no due dates. things can always be worked on more. 

i started to think about doing this when i was visiting my friend julie who is a middle school montessori teacher last fall. i visited her school and she told me how they don't really hold class per se. the students move along at their own pace and i thought...duh. maybe i could do that in my classroom. now, montessori students have been "trained" to do this, but i have small classes and the support to try it so here it goes. 

will they be able to handle it? i'm not sure. last friday was a little rough. what i've alrady discovered is that the stronger students are moving more slowly and the weaker students are moving more quickly. i'm not sure i like that. 

i'll keep posting the tactics i develop to combat...socializing during the time when they should be moving ahead, tracking their progress, having critiques with people at different stages, etc.

nesting.

i realized that maybe the reason i was having trouble getting into the nuts and bolts of planning for the fall term is that i hadn't worked on my classroom yet. nesting is usually my way of getting down to business at home and in the studio. so, like my dog who circles three times before laying down to feel more at home, i started cleaning, organizing, and moving furniture around.

i have to pack up my whole room at the end of every year so i started going through all the supplies. the supplies live on these blue shelves during the year.

i keep everything organized in color-coded bins. i learned to color-code everything while teaching elementary school. and you may think they only help little kids but it has really made a difference for my high schoolers. it at least ups the chances that maybe things will get back where they belong.

this is our "living room" and yes i realize how luxurious it is to have a designated discussion space in my classroom. it makes such a difference. if i could give one thing to art classrooms across the country. the students are so much better able to focus on what they are saying to each other when they are in a physically different space than where they made their work. it worked for us when we were in graduate school so why wouldn't it work for high schoolers?

i continue to add works of art made in class to this wall. this is something my high school teachers did year after year. in fact i think one of my paintings may still be hanging there. it meant a lot to me to be part of the continuum and i think it makes a difference to my students as well.

all of this "nesting" is about creating classroom culture...something i first remember being important when i was in elementary school myself and began studying its importance when i was in the hands of the masters, my own high school teachers. i finally experienced its effects first hand while i was teaching in brooklyn. the room continues to evolve over the course of the year and year to year...more to come.

rules or norms?

i keep hearing people referring to rules as norms lately. have you heard this? what's the difference between rules and norms? and should i feel bad because i have copies of these rules posted around my room?