mezerins

Kelley, I am not sure I have spelled your name correct. I really liked your blog. I wanted to "comment" on it but could not do it by clicking the "comment"(?) Still working on understanding this "Blog" thing and determined to get it!!  I liked the idea of the perceived "mistake" setting the artist in a possible new direction! I will definitely use your ideas with my students! Take care!

Strategies for safety and trust in the classroom

(This is a response to the post below)

In the art classroom, it is important that kids feel safe to make mistakes or to try something new, even if they are not sure they will succeed.

To that end, one strategy that I use is simply to celebrate our shared learning experience at the end of class (either during our "wrap-up" session or when the students' general classroom teacher comes to pick them up). I verbally acknowledge that "mistakes are great opportunities to learn," that they are okay, and that I often learn more from overcoming a challenge or making a mistake than I do if there are no difficulties along the way.

I also stress this expectation throughout the year: that mistakes can often lead our creativity in a new direction. If a student (for example) makes a mark in a painting that they didn't intend to make (esp. if the mark can't be easily erased), I confer with the student regarding how to let that mistake lead their thinking in a new direction. Thus, they are not just trying to "fix" the mistake, but allowing it to change their thinking. I don't know how many times students have responded after they have finished their artwork, "I actually like it better now than I did before I 'messed up!' " The other option, of course is to discuss "creative fixes" for these situations, using the medium at hand or another artistic medium to allow the student to see their initial vision through to fruition. After all, it is their choice whether to change their thinking or to find another way to achieve their planned result.

A good fictional book to promote this concept is Ready to Dream by Donna Jo Napoli (2009). The story centers around a young girl who loves to create art; but other factors cause her artworks to turn out differently than she meant for them to (i.e. turbulence on a plane, something tearing her paper, etc). An adult artist helps her to see that these "mistakes" can inspire her to think about her art in new ways.

Welcome art teachers

Welcome art teachers of Oldham County Schools!  The purpose of this blog is to help us better foster creativity, confidence, problem solving skills, and appreciation of art in our students.

As we experiment with the blogging process, I suggest a preliminary exercise to familiarize ourselves with the blogging process.  The topic of this conversation exercise is the creation of an environment of safety and trust in our classrooms.  This topic, one of our goals for our district art programs, will allow us to get conversation started while familiarizing ourselves with the process of posting and commenting to other posts on this blog.

Once you have gained access to this blog, please do the following:

1. Create a New Post on this blog, elaborating upon a strategy you use in your classroom to promote an environment of safety and trust.
2. After reading some of the posts, "comment" on at least one.

In the future, I suggest that we create New Posts when starting a new topic of discussion, whereas we should create Comments when we are responding to a previously published post.  Does this seem agreeable to everyone?