Positive Self-Identity

Helping to foster a students sense of self-identity is something that is important not only to the students self identity but also their identity in their artwork. That is something I think some art teachers forget to teach sometimes, that the work itself must have meaning to the student. I've known a lot of students in middle school, high school and sometimes college who still haven't figured out that art must have an identity or be dynamic in some way. Some students can't see past the point of being able to draw something realistic, and as an art teacher we have to be able to help the student realize a broader view of their work.
As art teachers we will be one of the first adults to expect students to speak openly about their identity. Many teachers and adults just expect students to absorb knowledge without having a response to anything. The art room can be a place where students come to just relax and let their minds open up. Getting students to think about things that have actual meaning to them can be very empowering. Some students don't even realize they have an opinion until you force them to think about things. Other students already have their identity carved out and know they can use art to express their thoughts. It is at this point when teachers have to find a middle ground between fostering that sense of identity and also making sure the student can express themselves without fear or judgment. I keep thinking about classroom management and how to keep a positive sense of community in your classroom. I think the same ideas apply to helping a student develop their identity through their artwork and to their peers.
Many of these things could be achieved by having open discussions about contemporary artists and the reasons behind why they created art the way they did. Having students see examples of artists whose work is genuine can help them understand similar situations when they encounter them in their lives.

Collaborative Project

I would want to create a collaborative project that every student involved would feel invested in. Sometimes I feel like collaborative projects can frustrate some people because the more forcful, extroverted artists tend to take charge and the shier artists don't get as much of an input. I think if it were a project that made the student create something completely on their own and then assemble them with the other students work in the end.
I know I talk about photography a lot, but it might be interesting to see each student involved create photographs that are entirely their own and bring them all together in the end to see the final concept. I kind of touched on this idea in my first lesson plan, but it could easily be changed to be a collaborate project since in my lesson it kind of already is. You could scale the lesson down and make it so every school in a district would contribute their work (such as a series of photographs) and display the work at each school. It could be paired down even more to say a few students from each class, or many classes combine their work into this same model.
Digital photography would be a fairly easy collaborative project to display because students work could be shown as a slideshow or displayed digitally without printing on paper. If students did print images then they could still be displayed in each school in the district or in the main hallway if just one school is involved. If photography isn't the medium and say each student did a painting or sculpture each piece could be photographed and displayed digitally just as easily.

27 a. James Van der Zee

American Legioneer, District of Columbia, 1937
This is a James Van Der Zee photograph depicting a decorated soldier, and perhaps it is an image of a relative who was also in the service that he is looking at in the photograph. This image conveys pride for the man who serves for a cause he believes in. When you look at the photograph the viewer sees the positive side of war; pride, fighting for a cause and striving for peace.
Boy with a Toy Grenade (1962).
This image by Diane Arbus shows the dirty, corrupt side of war. This young boy at first glance looks goofy and innocent, but only after you look more closely, you see he is holding a grenade. War might be fought to bring peace, but the people it affects may be too young to understand the gravity of what war really means.

Art Advocacy

Art Advocacy was something I wish had been considered more when I was in high school. At my school, if you wanted to take an art class, it was because you were the one who took the initiative. My art teachers were football and soccer coaches who let the kooky artistic kids do their own thing while they prepared for that day's practice. That being said, I really had to teach myself what Art Advocacy really meant, and also decide that I was going to be radically different than my own art teachers.
In my own district as an art teacher I want to show the entire student body that the work that art students produce should be just as recognized as any sports event. Instead of shelving work that my students produce, I want them to display it in the school for everyone to see. If displaying artwork isn't an option in my district I think it would be interesting to hold "art shows" maybe on a bi-monthly basis that would showcase student work even in my classroom. I think it would be fun for my students to be able hand out a leaflet to their peers like a show opening that would invite them to come see student work during passing time or a free period. What I would love even more would be to do something similar to the trimester art show we saw the previous school do.
The risks in art advocacy are that art in itself can be controversial. Displaying work publicly is something that has to be carefully considered. I think asking your students to consider their audience before choosing what artwork should be displayed would be an good way to keep things calm between the arts and other communities in the school system.
One thing I have thought about quite a bit lately are ways to tie in my lessons in art with other things students might be learning in their own classes. I know growing up I always found it helpful when I was learning about something in one class, and talking about similar yet opposing views of the same topic in another class. So I think it would be interesting to join forces with other teachers by asking what lessons they are teaching and if they would like to tie their lessons with a project my students might be doing in their art class. For example, if a history class was discussing a period that generated some poignant artwork, I could talk about those pieces in class and then create a project that would tie in with what they were learning in that class. Those are thing that I think help students absorb information, when they can associate something they learned with something they themselves created. Plus it wouldn't be a bad idea to show other teachers that I want to include their thoughts and opinions in my lessons.

"Guess who's comin' to town. 'Santa?' No! The Harlem Globetrotters!"

When I was younger, my Mom worked at a pharmacy that mostly dealt with Nursing Homes. Patient's medications were packaged in little refillable boxes called "cassettes". I remember having to clean these out every once and while when things got busy. While it was easy to do, I was easily bored. Not too long after I remember doing that, my Mom's pharmacy hired a man named Charles to clean all of the pharmacy's cassettes. It turned out that Charles had a disability, and while I'm not entirely sure what it is, I know it is a defect in one or more of his chromosomes. While Charles does have many health problems, he is a very dedicated worker, and he made friends with every single person in that pharmacy, especially my Mom. Charles and my Mom instantly became buddies and to this day calls our house at least twice a week just to chit chat. Unfortunately Charles has no other family living near-by to care for him, and his Mother's health is fading quickly. He talks about where he might have to live when his Mother dies, but he has a strong community around him to make sure he his happy wherever he might end up. His sense of humor is his best quality and his idle threats of "making you go sit on the roof" or "calling the authorities on you" is his funny way of letting you know you are special to him.
To be completely honest I really don't know very much about how to specifically teach someone with disabilities. I do know however, how I interact with Charles and it is amazing how many things he knows and does, he always has something interesting to talk about. So I can imagine sitting down and getting to know a student with disabilities just like I would get to know any other student in my class. Once I got a handle of what skills the student was capable of, and what things they wanted to accomplish, I know that student could get along in my art room just fine.

The title of this post is one of Charles' funniest quotes (he has many)

Alter Ego

Self and Alter Ego 3k

My alter ego's name is Alice, I am tall, thin and I have long dark hair. My mother grew up on an Apache reservation, and my father was born in Austria. He moved to New Mexico when he was in his twenties where he met my mother. They married and moved to Albuquerque, where I was born in 1985. Although my father is Jewish, my spiritual beliefs are more similar to my mother's, who still practices common Native American beliefs. My spirit animal is a silver fox. I am a photographer who mainly photographs for National Geographic. I just returned from a 4 month stint where I was photographing the Australian Aboriginal people. Unfortunately many jobs don't pay well so I work as a celebrity/portrait photographer when I need to pay the rent. I am a very independent person who doesn't like being tied down to one place or another, so I travel frequently. I fall in love easily but the guys I fall for are never strong enough for me, so now I date whoever I want with no expectations.

The qualities that best describe me are: assertive, idiosyncratic, playful, solemn, truthful, courageous, constant, arrogant, proud, daring, progressive, opinionated, humorous, bossy, maverick, cynic, believer, realist, bold, enlightened, ethical, ambitious, ruthless, stimulating, passive, determined, casual, altruistic, relaxed, stoic, energetic.

GLBT, whew I'm glad they abbreviated it...

So, GLBT was a term I learned today, among many things I read in ch. 7 of Adolescents at School. I kind of had to step back a bit because this was a huge subject I hadn't really considered before. How would I handle it, if one of my students came out to me? I know how I handle it personally when I meet people who have a different sexual orientation than myself, but this would be a student who was looking for guidance. I suppose I would initially ask if they would like to talk about things, and preferably in private so they would feel more comfortable. I would just sit down with the student comfortably so they can open up and tell me what they need to say. I wouldn't make any judgments about what I heard and I would try to understand what they were feeling. If they hadn't come out to their family and friends I would first ask if they would want to, and if they did, how would they feel about it? Would it be accepted, or would it be difficult to do? These are all things I would let them explain to me, but primarily letting them speak and get it off of their chest. I can remember being that age and even now, just eager for someone to talk to, someone who could potentially help you. After we would be on the same page, I would try to gather information from counselors, and also see if this was a discussion the student should be having with someone more qualified than me. However I feel that if a student "came out" to me specifically I would do everything in my power to help them feel better about their situation. I would never pass off another student to someone else, I would always be there for the student in any capacity I could.
I suppose if the student and I regularly met I would be able to show them ways to feel proud about who they were, that a person can be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and also be just a person. Their sexual identity has nothing to do with the person within, who they are at the very core can is what is important. Once they feel comfortable with themselves, they can find a way to do whatever makes them happy. Even if it is being a doctor, lawyer or business executive. (If any of you Weeds fans caught that sentence up above, please understand this was a very deep subject so I had to throw a little levity in there). Being an art teacher, I do think it would be appropriate to signify specific artists who were GLBT, to show the student that we remember these great artists for the things they made and did with their lives, not their sexual orientation. Just a handful of artists I would mention would be Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dali, Keith Haring, Andy Warhol and Frida Khalo. These are all great artists who are in turn great examples for those dealing with the struggle of identifying their sexuality.
One thing I read in Adolescents at School, and what I am going to remember and do first thing for my classroom will be to post a "Safe Space" sticker on my door to let students who know what that means, feel comfortable in my classroom.
Anyway, as I was researching artists I found some great images, so I thought I would post them. ;-)