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The Mural Club painting the outdoor mural at the 29th Street Community Center!
Color is everywhere this summer. The 'Transformation Mural' in the Barclay School designed and painted (mostly) by students just finished up, there are art classes that are taking place every day inside the newly renovated 29th Street Community Center, and an outdoor mural is shaping up next to the entryway. It's exciting to see a building that was vacant only a couple months ago, become vibrant with color, kids and art! 

I teach Sprout art classes and Visual Journaling for Middle School students once a week at the 29th Street Community Center. A year ago I went to an MAEA (Maryland Art Education Association) Journal Junkies workshop. Eric Scott and David Modler have explored the Visual Journal as a way of personal documentation both in their art practices and teaching.  Their book, 'The Journal Junkies Workshop; Visual Ammunition for the Art Addict', includes ideas for techniques and art prompts to build up a portable life museum (visual journal). It was this Journal Junkies experience that inspired my Visual Journaling Class. I think that the Visual Journal is a supportive scaffolding that so many types of art-making can happen within. For this age of pre-teen and young teenagers it is important to have a venue where questions can be asked, ideas can be documented and relationships can be examined.  This week we focused on associating emotions with specific colors. After making a chart that mapped color/emotion combinations, we created abstract paintings utilizing our colors to express feelings about a specific situation that we were currently going through. One of my students made a painting to tell the story about her changing relationship with her older sister, and how that relationship was effecting other aspects of her life. This artwork will become a part of the visual journal.

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Abstract emotion paintings with color associations.
 
It all takes time. It takes time becoming part of a school community, getting to really know students, and understanding what they need. It takes time to build trust and to develop a consistent classroom environment. 

During this year's time, I have gotten to know many students and understand some of the backgrounds they come from.  The interactions I have with students is my favorite part of teaching. It has been exciting getting to know them individually and collectively. Barclay does have challenges they are facing, but what shines through to me is the sense of community among students and most teachers. The willingness to help each other out and move forward. 

What I have given this year in teaching is an awareness of community and structured, comprehensive art problems that connect with the life of the student. I have given my positive 'let's go for it' attitude, and have introduced new opportunities that focus on student individuality and achievement. 

What I have gained this year in teaching is respect and empathy for my students, a broad understanding of the school,  its bureaucracy and current issues that schools are facing throughout Baltimore City. I have gained respect for teachers who teach all day and then teach after school programs. I have solidified my teaching philosophy.  I have gained classroom management strategies and have found the importance of consistency and honesty in teaching. 

It has taken time, but I feel confident that I know Barclay as a school and community. And I will miss my students very much. 

Now, Summer programming! 

This summer I'm teaching three classes and painting a mural at the newly reopened Community Center adjacent to Barclay. Summer art making fun.......Bring It!! 


 
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Uriahn's art car. If you hadn't noticed, that's a tiny little camera at the very top that can record the journey of the car. Uriahn is in Pre K.
As my students and I are finishing up a year of Art Enrichment, and looking back on what we have done, I notice that the units I've taught relate to each other. A few blog posts ago I reflected on how learning can be connected with life and how we, as educators, can more fully engage students in that process. The Community Art Collaborative program (which I'm a part of) has an annual festival to bring students from around  the city together and exhibit their artwork. As I am preparing the artwork I'm noticing a common theme: the artist in the 'real' world. Each unit connects to the roles of the artist within our society. When we made our Art Cars, we were looking at the artist as the inventor; when the K-1st grade students put their relief sculptures together into one giant colorful sculpture, we identified the artist as a collaborator; when we made a collage about our imagined journey flying over Baltimore we became an artist that told stories through pictures; and students in the project Speak Out, advocated for themselves as valued individuals. These students became the artist as an advocate. 

Perhaps it is through this lens that we can identify the artist as having specific responsibilities within our current society. By giving a purpose and real life connection to the art problems we present to our students, we can validate the arts as meaningful to our young people both now and as they move forward into their adult lives and take on roles in our society. 
 
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All community projects change  along the way. If community project outcomes were exactly the same as planned I would be wondering if community had a voice at all; and the project SPEAK OUT was no different.  

As a brief reminder, SPEAK OUT is a community arts based project that uses a series of digital photo workshops to teach upper elementary and middle school kids about photography as an art form and tool for expression. As a result of this project students created photos of themselves to express their personal values. 

The biggest change of SPEAK OUT is what the final photos are advocating for. I had planned for students to 'speak out' about issues within their school, what they both valued and needed for a productive learning environment. Instead, photographs became about the values of each student. 
This change came naturally and it is what the students were most interested in sharing about. 

After thinking about this change I realized that students were in fact speaking out about their schools. When Rayne wrote "Smart" on the chalkboard for her photo she was sharing something that made her significant as an individual. But Rayne also represents many Barclay School students, who did not necessarily participate in the photo workshops.  'Schools should reflect the quality of our students'. In this way, this project came full circle to exhibit the glowing values of Barclay students and, simultaneously advocate for a glowing school to match. 

Student artworks will be on exhibit at the 8th Annual Wide Angle Youth Media Festival at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore from May 15th- May 24th, 2013. 

 
Connecting LEARNING with LIFE.

I think that it is our responsibility as teachers to enable our students to connect their learning inside the classroom to life beyond. This is one major reason why I am interested in the intersection of community art and art education.  Making this connection or 'jump' is challenging considering the very limited amount of time I have with my students and the confinements of the classroom space. But without connecting learning to life, learning isn't really learning at all, it's disconnected information that students have no real interest in engaging with. As a new teacher I am of course still practicing this and trying to find new ways to make experiences within art relevant to my students. I have found that storytelling can be and effective  tool for tapping  into the emotional intelligence of youth and can create memorable and applicable learning. 

I began an ocean habitat mural with my students K-1st grade students. We read Mr. Seahorse by Eric Carle and talked about the varying shapes that made up each fish that Mr. Seahorse met throughout his day in the ocean. We cut our own shapes and noticed how multiple simple shapes can be combined to create large complex shapes...in this  case becoming, fish. Students started their fish, but I noticed soon that students were becoming dis-engaged, and not using their best efforts. With this in mind, I included a context for the mural, a story that students to be a part of. 

During our next class time together I shared a story. First I gave each student a paper-cut pair of goggles I had pre made. This enabled students to automatically become a part of the narrative. I informed students that we were all going to take a dive into the ocean. Showing students a sequence of printed images as visual aids, I continued narrating our adventure and periodically asking questions. We passed coral reefs and an underwater hotel.  We met many fish and had to escape from a sea monster, and we finally found an old tattered treasure chest. Students were encourage to hypothesize about how we might escape the sea monster, and what treasures may be in the treasure chest. This approach to the lesson allowed student to take on an active role in the story and imagine their own adventure. 

Using the story as a platform for the lesson, students proceeded to make a drawing of themselves as a diver and a drawing of what they might encounter on their underwater adventure.  We organized our divers and objects in our collaborative mural. We discovered that all of our scuba divers became part of one big underwater adventure. It was very 'Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus'. 

This storytelling approach is and integral component to my teaching philosophy, and helps to relate learning to real life scenarios. 
 
This semester I have been fortunate enough to have been awarded two grants to fund a community arts project for my 4th through 8th graders.  This project, called Speak Out!, allows students to visually express their identity and personal values through photographic portraits. This spring the portraits will be a part of a traveling exhibition. The Barclay school is partnering with Wide Angle Youth Media for this project.  

It is my hope, for Speak Out!, that students  develop confidence in using a camera to create portraits and also  take pride in showcasing who they are. 

Speak Out! comes in response to a current, city-wide initiative to pass a bill that will fund the renovation and rebuilding of all Baltimore City Public Schools within the next ten years. As Jimmy Stuart, Co-President of the Baltimore Education Coalition said, our schools should reflect our quality of our students. Speak Out! will show the quality and character of students at Barclay Elementary Middle School.

Check out some photos from our first photography workshop. A thanks to Carey Chiaia from Wide Angle Youth Media for facilitating this!  Also, thanks to illustration artist, Mika Nakano, for designing the letterhead. 
 
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Izayah carefully painting her relief sculpture.
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I think there is a lot to be learned watching really young children making art. Many of them don't have the fear yet of "messing up".  My young students care most about the art material itself. Playing and experimenting with different colors and textures. It's tactile and visual and experiential. They are always so enthusiastic to make any kind of art! 

The picture here is of my Pre K painting their straight and curved relief sculptures based off of the work of Louise Nevelson who was an American sculpture artist known for her large scale monochromatic sculptures. Her sculptures contain both straight and curved shapes. My units for this age group primarily focus on understanding and using the elements of art. Within all art we do, of course there is space for choice-making and creativity, too!

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This is Anthony. 
Here he was making his straight relief sculpture. When he first showed me his idea of stacking up straws and other straight materials in order to begin to build a tower, I questioned his idea because I was worried that the materials would not be securely glued down and would collapse when we painted it following week. When he was finished he showed me again. He had carefully stack the pieces with dots of glue in between. His sculpture was solidly put together. Anthony even added a perpendicular piece to the board with a foam square at the top as a flag. He started a trend at his table and, in the end there were four relief sculptures with towers! This scenario was a reminder for me as an artist and teacher to take risks, and encourage others take risks forming new ideas as well. 

 
The Barclay School is considered a community school. This means that Barclay creates and sustains partnerships with local organizations. These connections give students extended educational opportunities and  enable them to get involved within their neighborhoods beyond the walls of school. Through my placement at The Barclay School, I have also found opportunities to collaborate with several community organizations. 

Last fall, in a community meeting about revitalizing the vacant Rec Center (which is on school grounds) John from Greater Homewood Community Corporation (GHCC) approached me about facilitating a community mural. We looked at the outdoor wall, and agreed that because the space was surrounded by row homes, this could be a fantastic site for a community arts project.

Kelly, my site supervisor and community outreach coordinator for Barclay, works through GHCC as well.  Because of her connections, she maintains high awareness of new opportunities for students and partners. 

I have come to understand, from being at The Barclay School, that dedicated community organizations (like GHCC and Wide Angle Youth Media, which I have mentioned earlier) can help to enriching the educational experience of young learners. That is why I'm excited to work with John and the community, this spring, to create a public work of art which tells a story about our community.  Stay tuned for progress on that mural! We'll be starting in April. 
 
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For the next few months my students are going to be investigating large themes through various art projects and explorations. Pre K will be lead through many material explorations, becoming familiar with the properties and pushing the limits of clay, paint, drawing materials, and paper. My very lively K-1st kids will look closely at, and use, the Elements of Art and Design, 2nd and 3rd graders will focus on various ways to create a narrative with their art (my hope is to include a strong literary component here), 4th and 5th grades will investigate their identity (wants, desires and dreams for the future), and finally Middle Schoolers will concentrate on what  defines their school and community including the role they take on within these contexts.  I have lessons that I'm excited to test out inspired by some of my favorite art educators (Peter London and Olivia Gude), and brand new ideas too. 

Many of my students are wonderful creative and critical thinkers. As I mentioned in my pervious post, I'm making it a goal of mine to focus on classroom management with my students so that the environment can allow for all of them to follow big ideas, ask big questions and continue to have fun! 


 
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To take on the NEW, we have to be BRAVE...just like this group of superhero Kindergarteners!
Be brave and re-imagine, redesign, refresh, regenerate, renew, and revive!

With the new year on the brink, and many exciting ideas brewing, I've decided to share some of my hopes for the art enrichment program jumping into this semester, Spring 2013. I have learned a lot from (and with) learners at Barclay this past fall. With this new knowledge I'm charging forward to remodel some of my classroom management strategies and learning objectives so that they fit closely with who my students are, what they need, and arising initiatives in education, today. 

Classroom management. I have been challenged by maintaining consistency within my classes of expectations and classroom procedures. I have noticed the importance of clarity for reducing mis-behavior. Clarity comes with consistency and transparency. One tip I've used and has been successful is being consistent with where I get attention from. Check out this video clip on the teaching channel. I think simple, clear visuals, reinforcing class expectations will also help both students and myself in maintaining consistancy of classroom management. I want the art enrichment classroom environment to be safe, respectful and fun for all of us. Classroom consistency will help students stay focused and (I hope) enable us as a class to take on more complex art problems. To clarify expectations both for myself and my classes. I've renewed my classroom management plan for the coming term. I've found it helpful to break the strategy down into sections: Philosophical Statement, Room Arrangement, Classroom Expectations, Classroom Procedures, and Positive Reinforcement. A BIG goal for this coming semester is to create a safe, productive and fun learning environment for all students. 

Common Core and Art Integration. I have been reading and reflecting about what the Common Core Standards means for our schools and classrooms in this year of 2013, and what role art takes on in this new initiative. This article from ARTSblog by David Coleman, one of the architects of Common Core, helped me to understand three of the overall foundational objectives that can be addressed through art. Knowledge, Observation, and Evidence and Choices.  

'New School Art Styles: The Project of Art Education' an article by Olivia Gude,  an article I recently read, presented strategic goals created by Tom Anderson and Melody Milbrandt. These goals, although not specified as Common Core-related in the article, support my idea of the Common Core objectives. These goals are: 
1) The use of discipline-centered inquiry
2) The construction of knowledge (rather than its passive acceptance)
3) Teaching and learning that make connections beyond school. 

It seems that Colemen's foundational objectives of the Common Core fit nicely into these strategic goals listed above. Anderson and Milbrandt's strategic goals, are going to be considered in the construction of art enrichment lessons for the coming semester.  

A new project that I have brewing and have just completed a grant for is going to break the boundaries of the classroom and be aligned with a campaign going on to rennovate and rebuild Baltimore City Public Schools.  In the community arts project Speak Out! students will research and respond to the Transform Baltimore Campaign. It will include middle schoolers leading an advocacy photoshoot for their younger peers, and enable them to becoming aware of the power of student voice to advocate for their educational needs. In this project students will inquire about this campaign and what it will mean for them. Students will construct their own base of knowledge so that they can be informed before they develop their opinion, and learning will go beyond the classroom, by speaking to community members, researching the campaign, and showing their advocacy photographs around Baltimore. This project will be a NEW case study (for me and students) of how Common Core can initiate student lead learning that transcends the boundaries of the classroom. 

An exciting start to the NEW year, all around!