Last week, while teaching my students the art of the kumihimo weaving, I had a boy who absolutely refused to try the technique.

I supposed it seemed difficult, as he had been absent the first day of the project so he missed the part about how to set up the loom. I had made a loom for him and gathered his string the previous class period, so actually it should've been easy to pick it up and move the third one from the empty slot over and over and over again until it was long enough to become a bracelet. The hard part was done, all that was left was actually implementing the braiding and repeating the process, using perseverance. 

When I first handed him his loom, he exclaimed that he was going to make his into a cat toy.....which meant that he was going to take all that yarn off of the loom and do something else with the it and ignore the new skill that I wanted him to try that day. 

As an art teacher, this was one of those really, really, really hard moments. 

On the one hand, he had a creative idea and he was excited to make something. On the other hand, the room was set up for bracelet making, the supplies were ready for him to try a new skill and he was refusing. 

This is a student that frequently refuses things that seem hard. If he doesn't think he will be able to accomplish the task, he says what he would rather do. He also argues about why his idea is better and questions why he can't do what he wants to do. 

I struggled in this moment because he DID have a creative idea....and maybe it would've turned out great. But I had a plan for the day and I was frustrated that he wasn't as excited as I was to try something new. 

This was one of those moments where I thought a lot about a TAB art room. For this particular student, a TAB room would be the best thing ever. He would be free to choose his material and his subject every time and not be forced make what everyone else was making. 

I have dabbled with TAB a couple of times since I moved to the middle school, but my classroom just isn't designed to store that many different kinds of projects, or set up that many different materials at the same time.

As an art teacher, I can totally see the benefits of a TAB curriculum, so I try to implement that way of creating at least once a semester. Since I only have my students half the year, I felt like I was opening a new station every week, and then closing everything and starting over in January....just when we were getting going, it was time to start over. Also, my 6th graders did not take it seriously. They just wanted to play every time and never got into what they were making and it was discouraging. 5th graders definitely thrive in a TAB environment. 

In a TAB or Choice Based studio, students are encouraged to use their own creativity. I have read many articles about how the public education system has squelched creativity in students. I even wrote my Master's thesis on this topic. 

In that moment with that student, I felt like I was squelching his creativity. 

We sort of went round and round.
I told him that I wanted him to try a new skill.
He told me that he would rather be taking the MAP test.
I told him that this activity would be good for his finger muscles and his hand eye coordination and might even be relaxing.
He told me the hated art and music and only liked P.E.
I asked him if he could do whatever he wanted in the gym, or did he have to participate in the game they had set up for the day (bad mitten, mat ball, basketball)?
He said that this week, they could choose between two games and my class was stupid and the project was stupid. 

Obviously, we were getting nowhere.
Now, we just have a few weeks left.
I know he will push back against some of the things we have planned. 

I'm sharing this story as I think about the benefits of a choice-based curriculum verses a tradition art classroom where the teacher plans every aspect of the project. 

I like to think that I give my students tons of choice on each project....they can choose their own yarn colors, they can select an animal, they can pick what color of paper, they can draw whatever design they want in the background....but the truth is, maybe that isn't enough for them to buy in anymore.

Students today are given very little options in their educational decisions.....everyone studies the same thing at the same time, regardless of their individual interests. Sure it is easier for the teacher, but do the students truly connect or make lasting memories. 

For Valentine's and Easter, we had a 'catch up' day. If students were done with other projects, they could use supplied materials to make whatever they wanted to take home. They could make a collage, use origami techniques, draw, make a little paper sculpture, using materials we already had available for other projects. We used paper scaps, color sticks, scissors, glue sticks, etc. Students were happy and I gave them a participation grade a they went out the door with their creation from the day. Since some students truly needed a full day to get caught up on other projects, some students were not able to have this 'free time'. The main rule was that they had to make SOMETHING or work on other work. If they did not want to make something to hang up at home, they could even make a card for someone for Valentine's Day or Easter. 

Even with all that freedom, I still had students who walked out the door with nothing.....one boy was in tears because his creation didn't work out and he wadded it up and threw it away. 

​In this case, I wanted him to try a new skill, even just for a few minutes....and he wasn't ready. By pushing him too hard, did I create a kid that will hate art forever? If I just let him do whatever he wants every time, am I really preparing him for the future or am I just setting him up to fail later. Just because something is hard, doesn't mean it isn't worth trying. Just because it isn't your favorite, doesn't mean you shouldn't try a new skill. 

I try to give my students LOTS of different types of things throughout the semester. Sometimes we use yarn, sometimes we use paper to make collages, sometimes we paint. My hope is that they will find something that they enjoy, but they might not like every single thing we do...and that is okay. 

After creating the Chalk Stencil designs as a way to introduce chalk, messy procedures and cutting to my 5th and 6th graders, I couldn't shake the idea that they would make a great background for a collage. 

So for the students having art 2nd semester, we looked at the artwork of Chris Uphues. I created a slideshow with examples and talked about how he is a current, working artist. I explained how he sells his designs, creates murals, and also sells paintings and small items like patches. We started they day by watching this catchy, sweet little youtube video and then looked at the slide show. 

I was afraid students would find his work too babyish, but for the most part everyone was on board. Especially since they could make 'cute' food or hearts. I spent time teaching them how to fold a piece of paper in half to make a symmetrical heart. It is incredible how many students have never learned that technique. I'm hoping it will pay off when we start a big mask project later this year. 

Students could make any design they wanted, it just couldn't be too simple. Ex. one heart with a smiley face. I showed them how to draw two eyes, fold the paper and cut the exact same shape out that would match. Sometimes students get frustrated that they can't make the same shape again. 

We used glue sticks to attach the various pieces. If they finished with their main collage, they were also required to make one for a mural. The purpose of the mural: to make people happy. 

Once they made their shape/food/face, they had to show it to me for 'quality control'. I would not let anything that was sloppy or messy go on the mural, they had to erase pencil lines, draw things in sharpie and make sure stuff was glued on well. They would not be getting their pieces back, but everyone's would be hung up. 

I hung the murals and a few selected collages together around the building. They make me so happy to look at. 

Following the plan I had used for the Christmas Pets in Oil pastel, I designed  a project to use basically the same ideas for my 2nd semester students, but we themed the animals to go with Valentine's day. 

The main differences, were that instead of just black background, I offered turquoise, purple, pink and black. Also, I had foam heart tracers students could use if they could not free-hand the heart. I also printed out several extra cartoonish images of animals holding hearts so we could reference those.  Several surprised me with their way of figuring out how to make a 3-D box for their pet to peek out of. I also told them they could make it for a family member if they weren't sure what they would want as a pet. 

This was a very successful project because most students were engaged in the process and happy to follow the directions. One student, chose not to color the entire dog, and did not even try to finish the eyes---so he cut it out just like this and glued it to the background. This would be an example of a '1' on a scale of 1-3. He made an attempt, and drew the dog nicely, but did not follow through or finish the project using the steps provided. 

Every semester, I try to incorporate optical illusions. My 5th and 6th graders love to make optical illusions. I created a smore flyer that they can access via iPads to see lots of links to videos and idea sheets. I've also assembled a collection of videos that I will show at the end of art during clean up, or to introduce the unit. Here is a link to the good ones that are safe for kids, because many of the optical illusions videos on youtube are restricted. 

Last spring, I had students use a 9X9 square, draw a heart or trace a cicle in the center with white chalk. Then they drew curved lines on the surface of their shape and an EVEN number of 'rays' coming out of the center. Then, they colored their shape so that the outside of the stripes were darker, and the center was brighter (using white) so it would look more rounded. They also added a little bit of willow charcoal towards the center of the rays and blended it in so it would look darker in the backgroud, like the shape was floating. 

Sadly, when I went to collect this display from the mall, many of the images had been smeared by tiny fingers. This was th display the day that I hung it. Two weeks later, the ones on the bottom were all ruined by little kids touching them or brushing up against them. I will never take chalk art to be hung in public again. 

Chalk is very messy. I always set up a couple of water tubs, cut some watercolor paper, and have students shake the extra dust into the water. Instead of blowing it into the air---this traps some of the dust and I can lay the water color paper on the surface and pull soem abstract looking marbled prints off the top. 

One of my goals this year was to incorporate as much technology as possible without compromising art-production time. I have done that by using QR codes in art centers, and also by teaching students to create animations.

Over Christmas break, an awesome fourth grade teacher in my building asked me if I would be willing to design a Valentine's project that would be ready in time for parent-teacher conferences that her students could combine with a writing project using an app called Aurasma.

As soon as I looked into Aurasma, an augmented technology app, I knew that I had to get on board with the project. Also, this project allowed me to meet one of my other goals for the year: collaboration! It allowed me to collaborate with a classroom teacher on an art project.

Basically, students can record themselves reading (something they wrote) and when the app is opened on top of the their artwork, the recording plays. Sort of like how a QR code will take you to a link or recording, this app allows you to use any image in that way. Her blog (link above) explains it a little better.

For the art project, I decided to incorporate many layers of materials.

Week 1
Students brushed watered down glue on to a piece of paper and covered it with squares of tissue paper. I encouraged them to smooth down the tissue paper.

Week 2
At an art center, students painted black on top of the tissue paper. They could make a heart-shaped-frame, paint lots of repeating hearts, it was up to them. The tempera paint a really cool texture and allows the color to show through, especially if it cracks on the surface.

Week 3
Some kids RUINED their beautiful tissue paper with the black paint so I gave everyone an opportunity to add oil pastels on top. This also added a cool texture and layer to the project.

None of these activities took an entire art time, so it was easy to squeeze them in...even though we were working around snow days!