Rut

I've been teaching at the same school for four years now and found myself desperately needing to change it up.

Some things I did to start getting out of my rut:

*purchased materials I've wanted to use, but never did.
*got some new lesson books
*redecorated the art room (the kids are real excited about that one)
*started blogging again

Cross Curricular Approach

So ofcourse, if we are doing our jobs our students are learning social studies, math, science, and literacy along with art. If you really want to incorporate what the students are learning in the classroom with art check your state standards for math, science, language arts, reading, and social studies. Also you can ask classroom teachers what units they work on throughout the year so you can incoroporate that into your art curriculum.

I Hate This Project!!!

Every so often I hear this from a student. Sometimes a group of students, sometimes a class! So what do I say to that? I generally try to listen to see why the student dislikes the project. Maybe they feel that their drawing skills aren't up to par, maybe they can't stop turning clay into mush with water, maybe they just have a short attention span. If the students struggle across the board, I try to adjust to meet their needs. If it is the same student who always complains, I take their criticism with a grain of salt.

The Power of Siblings

Something I have been trying out recently is enlisting the help of older siblings of challenging students to help me understand and tame behavior issues. This is something that didn't work much at first for me, but as I have worked with the same community for three years the students are more respectful and responsive. I may ask a sibling a question like "What's your brother like at home?" or "Your brother was acting naughty yesterday in art, what's the best way to reach your parents?" By asking simple and general questions about the family and home life I can find out for example that "dad is tougher on discipline "or that "my parents are breaking up." Responsible older siblings can also help out when you cannot reach the parents.

A Sense of Humor

Especially in sticky situations where emotions are running high, a sense of humor can help. Even a sense of acceptance. I have had to diffuse situations by making a joke or just "understanding." It can stop a fight from happening or someone's feelings from being hurt.

Questioning

I'm currently taking a course in differentiated instruction at UNLV. Right now we are focusing on questioning skills as teachers. My next lesson plan project must include questions that relate to Bloom's Taxonomy, are divergent, and literal. Check out this link to provoke better questioning http://questioning.org/Q7/toolkit.html I will be sure to post the project on the blog as soon as it is finished.