|BCWMS VISUAL ART & DESIGN||
Getting to Know You
As we finish the third week of the semester, I finally feel like I have names memorized and am starting to get an understanding of my students personalities. I feel so fortunate I am an art teacher because I have some great visuals to rely on when it comes to getting to know my students and place names with faces.
The first thing we did in class this term was create portfolios and use the Design Thinking Process for creating each letter to represent interests and personalities. Some students used a substitution method for their letters, where they replaced letters with objects that look like them. Some students used a mosaic method, where they used multiple objects to form the letter. Some students used both. Not only does this project help me get to know my students better, but the large format letters act as name labels that help me match names with faces (rather than calling out, "Hey kid."). It is also the first project students upload to Artsonia, which is something we will do many times before the semester is through.
As a way to get students thinking about contemporary art issues, we watched the video below about the history of Graffiti shown below and then students created their own names and used Photoshop to put them in interesting places.
Building a Base
I have been posting a lot about the TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior) model that I use with my 8th grade students. For 7th grade this year, I have kept the curriculum pretty traditional and allow for some choice and variation as we learn how to use tools and methods for making art during the semester. 7th grade students got their first real dose of Photoshop skill building this week as we worked on and finished our Profile Collages, seen below. This assignment is a great way to get to know students and learn basic tool functions while working with Photoshop.
Here is a sample of a Graffiti Name project we did earlier in the week as well as an abstract portrait project that stemmed from the portrait party that occurred last week.
Don't forget to help 7th grade student, Arminda, and vote for her work as Artist of the Week!
Tests and Names
One thing I have learned over the course of my teaching career is that sometimes you have to adjust as you encounter different situations.
This week set us up with a snow day, two hour delay, and a day where the internet was not quite working... despite any snags in original plans, my students were able to accomplish ALL of the tasks set before them and they did so with great attitudes and winning results!
Today students took their pre-test and followed up by creating their name on Graffiti Creator - all on Moodle. This is our second day with the computers and I am already in awe of the speed and proficiency students are accomplishing tasks. I am excited to see how much more we are able to produce as a result of this infusion of technology and can't wait until students start filling their Artsonia online portfolios with the results!
Here is some video of a graffiti artist who uses a reverse method to his work - cleaning away the pollution to create his images.
Teaching Visual Arts since 2004 and making images since picking up a crayon.