Continuing at WVSA

I unfortunately missed this week of field experience due to the stomach flu but prior to that I have been having a really good time at WVSA. It is clear that it is a really special program. There seems to be a high level of warmth and connection between the students and the teacher. The small class size really helps; giving both the teacher and students time to interact with each other.

I am impressed with the level of self-motivation on the part of the students. For the past two weeks they have been busily working towards their show which opened last Thursday. Each student seems really focused on his piece. They are given a lot of freedom to talk, move around, listen to music but nobody seems to abuse the privileges. They seem to be really connected to their teacher laughing and joking around with him but everyone seems to know what the boundaries are and they alway return to their work.

I have to say it is pretty impressive. At first glance the physical environment seems chaotic. Supplies and artwork are everywhere. The students are frequently laughing, singing or joking but underneath the surface this classroom seems to have a very organic structure that keeps it together. My best assessment at this point is that it stems from the mutual respect between teacher and students. The students in this program are treated like working artists and, as such, they seem to assume the responsibilities that go along with it. This program has made an impression on me and there are definitly things that I would like to try to incorporate into my own future classroom.

SEEC

The Seec Program is a preschool program with an object based model for learning. The classroom was tucked away around the American History Museum and enjoyed a most arresting view of the Mall and the Washington Monument. The space is probably not as a ideal as the program had to accommodate it as opposed to the other way around and there was plenty of room for the children but not partitioned in any fashion. There where three teachers per class and the classes are coordinated so that they are usually coming and going from the museums to avoid overcrowding. There was plenty of opportunities for different modes of learning and choices and they all looked thought out and inviting. the unit that was being discussed was dinosaurs and the teachers used different areas to give children to learn in the mode which appealed to them. The Table-top activities had plastic dinosaurs and a water pond for the children to play in and the reading area had several books on the subject, and the children would get to visit the natural history museum! The circle time was enjoyable and it was educational to watch the teachers weave different learning experiences such as practicing and sounding out letters into the discussion. The language that the teachers used encouraged children to make the right choices and they were quick to redirect children that where disruptive or needed support. SEEC is a great program and is a wonderful addition to the mall and the community.

Open-Option Class #2

After a 3 hours of action-packed fun with 6-9 year old art-lovers on Saturday, I was pumped for 3 more hours with 10-13 year olds. However, they were not as excited as I. The second class, for slightly older artists, was a version of the class for the 6-9 year olds. Theoretcially, the gallery conversations would be more eloquent and thoughtful and the project would be more elaborate and innovative. However, this was not the case.

The preteen class was quiet, unconfident, unpassionate, and unenthused. Only a few comments were made or questions answered during the gallery talk, and most of the respondent were the same few kids. They were inexplicably more inhibited, both conversationally and artistically. Perhaps their shyness is because this age group is slightly more inclined to thinking things have to be right and good. That is, they are realizing that if one cannot do something well in school (i.e. answer a question in Social Studies), he could not try it at all. Whatever the reason, the tweens were quiet as mice.

Once in the ArtLab, they opened up a little. They began to speak to one another. Still, they were more concerned on (what they thought was) social success than artistic growth. They were fairly reserved when we came around asking about their concepts and processes. Overall, their projects were good. However, there was a larger range in effort and 'goodness' than with the younger class. Some students tried harder, some tried noticeably less hard, and some were in the middle. I must admit, I expect this class' results to stand out more from the previous class', even if only because of the differences in motor skills. I should emphasize that the projects were still very good.

Another difference between the classes was Mary. Her enthusiasm and efforts dropped slightly by the time the second class started. She expended a lot of energy with the young group, and I do not see how she could sustain those efforts for 6 straight hours of teaching. Also, I think people assume that the young the students, the harder they are to teach. I believe that difficulty peaks with adolescents, and the 6-9 class would be (and is) easier to finesse than the tweens.


I am very excited to go to the next classes in April and see what new lesson Mary has. Also, I would like to see if the behavior/enthusiasm of the age groups parallels that of last week. I'll let you know what I discover.

Open-Option Class #1

For my open observation experiences I have been going to see the Hirshhorn's Artist at Work with Youth classes. These classes are taught by Artist-in-Residence Mary Colbe. Each semester Mary teaches 6 Saturday classes based on one of the Hirshhorn's large shows. This spring the classes are inspired by the Louise Bourgeoise show and concern fears, families, and dwellings.

The first class I observed was for 26 kids (age 6-9) and their parents, who tag along. Mary and two colleagues started the session by taking the crew through the Bourgeoise exhibit. They stopped at 3 or 4 pieces and discussed the significance as a group. Mary would open by asking questions to the class about what they thought the piece was and meant, and then spoke about the piece in relation to tackling fear and embracing family. Mary and the students were equally enthusiastic, and many positive comments were made in the galleries.

Next, the group went to the ArtLab. Mary reiterated Bourgeoise's major themes. She then showed a project she made that was a home/box/cell that housed her fears. She explained that, like Bourgeoise, she could get a handle of her fears by examining them. She asked the kids to go make similar projects. They had a wide variety of materials and tools and an endless supply of creativity. We spent about two hours walking around to help the students and ask them about their projects. At the end of class, Mary had the students display their projects at the front of the room and let volunteers explain them.

The project were incredible. Each was more innovative and emotionally significant than the last. No two projects looked alike. The students worked as long as they could on the projects and many said they were going to do more at home.

To be quite honest, I was very afraid the prompt of 'your greatest fears' would end badly. I feared that those negative thoughts would upset the kids and make them dwell on negative things. However, the children all embraced the concept and all felt empowered. I believe the key to this empowerment was a direct result of Mary's incredible teaching style. She was incredibly genuine and enthusiastic and the students really fed off of her. Additionally, the young students whose parents would know about, register for, and drive them to an early Saturday morning class at the Hirshhorn presumably already feel the importance of art. Each of those students because they love art and love making art (as were the other ~60 kids on the waiting list for the class). They did not have to be convinced that what they were doing was fun. They came because they knew it would fun.

However, I wonder know how much that enthusiasm is related to their ages.

To be continued...

Round three at the JCC

Once again I went to the JCC to observe their art class for special ed adults. It was so different from last week when everyone came in late. This time we had two new people and everyone seemed to be on fire. They finished the projects before we were ready for them. The first activity was clay pinch pots. Everyone loves clay and they use the kind that needs to be fired as it is softer and many lack the dexterity for air dry clay. I worked with one guy in particular and he usually never does much of the work. He was very excited with the pot and would jab his finger at it every so often and would show it off to everyone who would look. It was cute and frustrating at the same time because I really did most of it. But it didn't matter to him so I guess it didn't matter so much because he enjoyed himself.

The second project was decorating paper masks. There is a Jewish holiday called Purim on Monday night and Tuesday. We dress up in costumes, have carnivals, and read from the book of Ester so making masks was right on cue. They were all excited about the holiday and we talked about what they were going to dress up as. They put out all sorts of materials like mesh fabric, feathers, gems, sequin, markers, puff balls, and a whole bunch of great things. The guy I worked with was very into the color red (at least he said it was red, I think he meant orange) so I would put materials in front of him, ask him which ones he wanted. He would pick it out, I would give it to him, and then I would ask him where on the mask he wanted it. He would point, I would put the glue down, and he would place it there. It worked out very well. The lead teacher then glued sticks on the back to hold and cut eye holes.

What really upset me was the lack of people to help out. I noticed that one of the new fellows kind of fell between the cracks and sat there with the lump of clay in front of him for 20 minutes. there is such a difference of ability. While my fellow was unable to use the glue himself, another girl created a delicately patterned mask which was really lovely and complex. She was actually enlisted to help another student but that doesn't happen often. I wish they had more helpers and could get some socialization going. Oh well, if wishes were horses....But the students love the clay and they love the holiday so all left in good spirits. We will see next week how they do coming of the holiday buzz.

2nd Week @ SAIL

Another fun filled day at SAIL. I am going to go with my original thoughts on this class from my first visit and say that the first visit last week was not an isolated case where the kids were just a little rowdy. This seems to be an ongoing behavior in the class. 

Once again we were invited to interact with the kids and participate with them in the art making. This was the 2nd and last week they had to work on their landscape collages. It became apparent in their art making that the intro given to the activity a couple weeks ago, was not sufficient. The kids did not seem to fully understand what a "landscape" was (or cityscape, or seascape), or very few children did. Nor did they understand what it was to make a collage. The children repeatedly came up to Mrs. Dorothy to show her their finish products at which point in 90% of the cases the children were sent back to work because "all the yellow space was not covered" (the paper given to work on was yellow). 

I thought it might have been helpful if the children had a little bit more of an explanation of what these collages and landscapes were, maybe be shown some examples from real life artists. It almost seemed like it was a task given that just had to be seen to completion. 

Another thing I found odd was at least 2-3 times I saw Mrs. Dorothy explaining to the kids how to use Modge Podge. Why did her explanation not work before? It had already been 1 week since they started the project. Not that she didn't explain it the first time but apparently it did not sink in to some of the students because they were using the modge podge as regular glue. They probably didn't understand it because the class was being rowdy when it was explained. 

Also at the table I was sitting at I had to tell the kids (at least once each and a couple of them I had to tell more than once) that they were not to swing their hands around in animated gestures while holding scissors or run/walk around the classroom with their scissors pointed out. Granted the scissors were kid's scissors and pretty dull. I just would think that when you have a group of young kids (even old kids) that you would stress in the beginning that the scissors are to be handled in a specific way. This was not mentioned once to the class as a whole.

I know I sound very critical of this classroom and the instructor and I am not trying to be that way but these are just my observations. I will say that this week was a little less rowdy and loud than last week. Amanda suggested to Mrs. Dorothy (after the first class and before the second) that instead of having all the materials out on the floor for the kids to come after that the materials be passed out by the teachers instead so the kids never got up from their seats. This seemed to work well. Such a simple idea that nobody had thought of before  I guess and with three adults in the room (not including Ingrid, Hernan, and I) this was not a hard task. 

One last but important thing happened at the beginning of the second class. Two of the kids were fighting for a seat, eventually the seat was taken away and both children were told to find a new seat. So one of the boys goes for one seat and the other goes for the one across the table but then last second decides he wants the same seat the other kid chose (odd?). And they fight again.  One of the children starts to act up slamming his body against a wall and saying things about the other boy. The other boy gave up his seat without being told to and went to another chair (yes, there were a lot of empty chairs). But by this time the other boy was already being very disruptive and probably didn't even notice that his friend had given up the seat to him. 

Basically, Mrs. Dorothy told the class to ignore him, he began to play with the flashlights he had found at which point Mrs. Dorothy called his main teacher down to come and get him. In the mean time Mrs. Dorothy and everyone else ignored the boy. Another teacher came to get him, of course he didn't want to go and the teacher grabbed him by his upper arm and pulled him out of the room. He got out of her grip and I saw him run up the stairs and away from her as she ran after him.

It was an unsettling experience for me. I am not sure how I would have handled such a difficult situation but I am pretty sure I didn't like the way it was handled. At the same time I can't offer an alternative option. I wonder what I would have done had I been in Mrs. Dorothy's situation. You can't let the boy go on disturbing the class and ruin the experience of the other kids. But at the same time I wouldn't want to take away art making time away from the boy either. Obviously this kid is a troubled kid who probably has had discipline problems before. I think next week I will ask more about how they handle things like that and kids like that, both in the classroom and in the art room. 

EDIT @ 11:30 p.m.

To go back and try to  make this sound a little less critical as all the above I will say that Mrs. Dorothy does have amazing patience with the level of noise and commotion in the room. I would probably break down and cry.  And to go back and comment on what I wrote above, I did read Michelle's past reflection on her first day at SAIL during the last rotation and learned that Mrs. Dorothy has in fact presented some artists who work in collage prior to the students beginning their own. Just goes to show me I don't always know the full story!

Week 2- MLK Elementary

This week was a little unusual because of Monday's unintentional snow day. While DCPS had a two-hour delay, Mr. Hill alerted me to the fact that they had six students show up- in the entire school. As you could expect, many of the students were riled up from their day of playing in the snow. The younger students in the first two classes were drawing pictures of the snow "at night" on black construction paper using the new Crayola 'Construction Paper' crayons. The kindergarten class was SILENT as they worked. I, honestly, have never observed a group of students being that diligent about their art making. Mr. Hill seemed to have created the perfect storm of art making for that day and that class. The second group was a little rowdier, talking and a little more restless when they got to the class, they stayed that way throughout the art making portion of class. At the end of their class period Mr. Hill held up their pictures and the kids talked about what was going on in the picture. The kids didn't have to say if it was their picture, but it definitely made them feel special that everyone was talking about their art. What I thought was interesting was that Mr. Hill paid particular attention to not talk about the ones where kids didn't follow directions- but that he made clear that it wasn't because he didn't like the art but that they didn't put their name on it, didn't include snow, etc. I thought it was an interesting way of ensuring that students would try to meet the objective of the assignment in the future, without hindering the creative experience.
The third group was the third grade students, who Mr. Hill was attempting to have play pictionary. This did not work that well. The girls seemed to get the objective of the game pretty quickly, but the boys were really not understanding how the game worked. This experience really highlighted how the students interacted with each other. The girls have such a great difference in size, it is easy to see how the pecking order has been established. As for the boys, the 'cool kid' was quickly picked unanimously to go first. As the game progressed it became obvious which boys were vying for the 'second in command' position of the social hierarchy. They acted out, cracked jokes, and were generally all over the place. There were a few boys who genuinely enjoyed the game and really wanted to play- while the other boys were ruining their experience.