Latest / K12ArtChat the Podcast / Episode 266 – Back to Basics Art Teaching

Transcript

Episode 266 – Back to Basics Art Teaching · K12ArtChat the Podcast

• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone, I'm Matt Grendler.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm Laura Grenler, and today on K-12 Art Chat the podcast, Matt and I are going to reflect on sharing studio wisdom with each other, building stronger connections as a community, and back to basic art teacher tips.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: So Laura, um, it's just you and I.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, it is.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um they're always interesting because we actually haven't done one of these in a while.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't, I actually we I don't know.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Did we do one that I don't know?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know what the last one is.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard for me to kind of keep up with time and space these days.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: True.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: True.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: I which is why I think we're gonna talk about it, the topic that we're in.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um we really were talking this last weekend about just the wisdom that we all share as art educators, and how having our connections to each other and sharing together really improves all of us.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: And really sometimes it's just the basics.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we do and oftentimes have uh some of our art teacher friends over for round table art making.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: True, and these kind of topics come up, you know, what works, what doesn't work.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it got us on on this idea about getting into building community a little bit stronger and connecting a little bit more and sharing more specifically around tips for each other.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: True.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and even on Instagram, uh tried something new and went for a video post and um just all about uh art teacher tips and things like that.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: So and it was just an off-the-cuff, you know, give it a shot, taking a risk kind of thing.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, Matt, just to start with, what is one small non-negotiable routine or classroom hack that saves your sanity in your uh art studio with your students?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, I would say probably one of the one of the best routines that I have um is one that I learned quite a while ago.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um actually learned while uh you were the coordinator.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um I know, right?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: So um and it's it's visual thinking skills or strategies and using the ideas of you know visual thinking and just kind of looking at a piece of art without having to give all the bio and all the information and all the background stuff and then say, okay, now we're gonna talk about it.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that was um definitely.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, to me, that was very eye-opening and thinking about just looking at the Project Zero resources on uh Harvard's Project Zero and then the excellent work of Ellen Winner and just uh Louise Hetlin, all of those people that really, you know, um there's so many more names.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm leaving some.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: But just thinking about saving that sanity is that you don't have to know it all, right?
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: When you use a strategy like that and you get kids asking and thinking and wondering out loud and thinking about what they're perceiving or what they're knowing already without backloading all that information, it means that you don't have to be the expert about that artwork.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and you start to see, I mean, as the educator, and I've you know, I've done this this type of routine or similar routines before, and I've seen it year after year.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: You always see those kids that really just want to just dive into it, and then they like you see their confidence build just in the fact that you're like, you know what, I've never heard that that particular response before, or I never really thought about it that way.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when the kid kind of kind of does this this double take or this kind of back, like, what are you talking about?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And you just see this air of confidence just kind of build in them, and the rest of their peers start looking at them differently too, because they're like, Oh, I thought you were just the strange kid, and you actually have some really good, you know, in-depth thoughts about things.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just it it's really interesting to watch that happen.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: You are a middle school teacher, every child is the strange kid.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: True, you're right.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: They all look at each other and they're like, What I yeah, anyway, um, wouldn't change it for the world.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, that's something that saves me on the regular, especially when starting something new.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So um I, you know, starting out the school year, we're we're we're approaching this.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: You you start thinking about levels of stress, as you were just mentioning at the top of the show, about not sure, you know, what day it is, kind of.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we talk we kind of think about some some wellness or workflow for that wellness.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And do you have any like habits or tips that kind of help you and your time and energy in high stress weeks or months or whatever?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever they are.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my tip for managing the stress is don't do it alone, right?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, know who your people are.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think that that's huge.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh always have that peer that you can trust.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Find that person, find your person that's on campus or is going through the same thing.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a another middle school art teacher that is at a school nearby.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be on your campus.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: But having that go-to person as a thought partner, I think, is a huge wellness strategy um in managing stress.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other thing I um, and I know this might be unrealistic because I remember having little ones and it was completely unrealistic, but when I was able to, um, or even now in a different phase of life, when I'm able to start my day early and block out the first hour for myself to get my day formulated in my head and kind of think about my priorities for the day, my time to do a breathing check-in with myself, you know, taking that time for myself in the morning um is really key.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, that means being not at home.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, that means being in the classroom early or being um in my office early now.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, that and I say that I understand it's not realistic because I remember having to get kids to daycare and I remember having to get them dressed and fed and all of those things.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember having to do duty every, you know, Monday morning, which Monday morning was awful.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I just those kinds of things I understand there there are real challenges, and I'm not trying to say that, you know, yeah, that that's real.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: But I do think if you can find that that morning hour for yourself to cur carve out, like just kind of getting your mental like outline for the day down, it will help tremendously.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's my turn to ask.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's your turn.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: You go.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, uh I was just thinking about you know mindset in general.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um how do you get kiddos?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because this is a question we get asked all the time.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: So how do you get kiddos that are stuck?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Or um, this actually came up with our friends the other night too, just that, you know, they are stuck or hesitant and make decisions because we have um, I think we're all in this place with kids that they because of standardized testing, they're very much about getting the answer right and doing what's next or following a rubric to get the best grade.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: And they're really hesitant to take risks or to try new things or to make a decision by themselves.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so, how do you get kids focused on that process and and less worried about the product and get them making their own decisions and just help them be less hesitant in general in the room?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, for me, um if you've heard this podcast uh for a while, if you've been a longtime listener, um you know, one of the things that I love to do, and at least it sets, you know, we talk about not sweets and it's not it's water bottles.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's all good.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, one of the the the non-negotiables kind of is how I start out my year, which is I started out with kids realizing and thinking about um creativity and what that really means because you gotta kind of break that down.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that once I realize that it's not just about skill and what you're capable of, or at least my my own perception of this, um, is that it's a level of thought and it's a level of process and a level of trying and a level of error, and that creative critical thinking, I guess, is the best way to really kind of say that.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: But um, is you know, I use the the the art dice game that I use and my 30 circles just kind of like, hey, this is this is this is real, this is what creativity is, this is what makes an artist an artist, is the the process, their process.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: So really hitting that early.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, you start to see that.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like at first, they really don't believe you until you really get into some more things down the road.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then one of the other things they do later is when a kid's like, what do I do next?
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: What do I add to it?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: What else can I add to it?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Well, actually, you're the artist, you make those decisions, and to see them kind of take aback a little bit and they're like, No, I'm not.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And especially like early on with me, if they haven't, you know, had me yet as their teacher, then by the time they've had a couple years with me, then they're then they're able to kind of really feel more confident in making their own decisions.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think too, you know, I definitely use the ask your your peers as well.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know what, use the resources in the room.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: All artists talk to other artists and they get input and feedback from other artists.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you're all artists in this room, so you're sitting at a table with four other people.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: How about you get four other perspectives?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, back to the non-negotiable.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: One of the non-negotiables is giving feedback, but giving it in a way that is going to say, here's how you can change something, not just like, oh my gosh, it's ugly.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: So constructive feedback that is actually supportive and helpful.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and specific.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think that that's something we have to teach kids too.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, uh is it your question or is it mine?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think, well, you started ahead in that way, so I'm gonna let you go ahead and ask anybody.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: I I want to answer it too, but um, you can I'll ask it to you and then you can I'll answer it and then I'll answer too.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: But I think the other one of the key things that I mean, a lot of these questions are things we get asked a lot.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and one of the things we get asked is how to streamline um what's a tip for like streamlining the cleanup, getting the materials out to students, space setup, um, and and not, you know, spending all of your own money on your classroom for all of that.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: I I mean I think that varies by teaching style because we all teach in such a different way.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, how do you like there are times that things that I learned when I was teaching elementary was I was walking around the classroom giving more instruction as I'm passing things out, you know, or or things like that, because I didn't have the space to be able to say, okay, everybody, you know, one person from every table come up and get it.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: And no, that you did not have the space for that.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: I did not have the space for that.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, now in middle school and even high school, you know, you can kind of flex that based on the kids, based on your teaching style and and kind of like that.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think that's really what it comes down to is kind of knowing your kids and knowing what they're capable of and knowing how you how you teach.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's it's finding a system, number one, and a system that it's not gonna look the same for anyone.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: If I taught elementary, I might have table leaders and I might have assignments for those kids.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: They love to, you know, a lot of them love to be the helper.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Or have a job.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, jobs are a big deal, but middle school, they're more reluctant.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I think middle school, high school, which is what I taught, I was always trying to teach them to fend for themselves away.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I also really was big on how I structured my tools and my setups and you know, in terms of safety and in terms of movement around the classroom as well.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I labeled everything and I didn't spend a lot of money on labels.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: I did not have a cricket.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: I got a piece of masking tape and a Sharpie and I labeled the heck out of everything, and that was cheap and easy, and everything was labeled.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then I uh I just you know taught the kids the expectations early and often and revisited it almost every day and had a system, you know.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but my goal for my my you know eighth and ninth graders specifically was to teach them to be independent and then thinking about systems and structures, like you know, if I was setting up um, you know, a paint station, I was really clear about not wasting and getting too much of your own or um and then like printmaking too.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: I had a printmaking station, like we're not gonna all do that at our own table because then we're wasting a ton of ink or we're waiting, you know.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: No, so like I was really thoughtful about those kinds of systems as well to not waste materials because sometimes, although you want to teach the kids independence, they will just squirt out all the ink or all the, you know, and it's like, oh no, no, no, no.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: No, squeezy bottles.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, squeezy bottles it's your end.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: In theory is great, it's a great concept, but then you think about ketchup and you think about all the things, it just no.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, Laura, I'm just kind of wondering, you know, why is it that that peer-to-peer uh teacher tips and simple things like that, why why does it resonate so deeply, especially with art educators?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, especially right now.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it's resonated deeply with us and our community and our field for a long time because you know, we're all just trying to figure out how to manage so much.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we're managing materials, we're managing students.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you are an elementary teacher, you know, a lot of our elementary teachers are teaching, you know, hundreds of students.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: You're a secondary teacher, you're teaching 180 to 200 students, and then you add on all of the materials that we're managing.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like we're just dealing with, you know, Google Classroom and Canvas and then like here's your worksheets and your textbook.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: We're dealing with all the different materials, and those materials are all in our standards and all those techniques and all, you know, it's so layered.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: I wish the world understood the amount of layers that an art educator um goes through to become an art educator and it's really highly proficient and can impact students on a really high level.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then the amount of work it takes to, you know, plan and prep materials and all of those things.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, in a day and age where art educators are being asked to do more and more and more.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: And when I say that, I'm saying, you know, all of the paperwork outside of the classroom and the lesson plans and the grading, you know, all the extras that are being added on by administration, all the testing, all of all of the add-ons.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: We live in a very saturated world.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it's and we need simple and we need to be able to get to how can we do this the most efficiently and effectively possible.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: And the best way to do that is to talk to other art educators and get what's working for them and test and try and get different perspectives and ideas.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, a long, long time ago, Matt and I started um K 12 art chat on Twitter.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's a hashtag, and we met up once a week and and honestly, it kind of started out of teacher tips in a lot of ways, like um what's you know, having conversations with other teachers around the country or the world and having you know what's working and what's not working.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really how the podcast developed because it was really about a community to support each other with um facilitating teaching at a high level.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: And art education is complex.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: All education is complex, but I'm I'm a proponent that art is more complex, and I think we need each other, and I think that community, um, you know, that's why that's why there's so many Facebook groups like the elementary art teachers and the middle school art teachers and the high school art teachers, and that's why we have a member organization like NAEA and all of your state organizations, because we need each other, um, and we need each other's expertise, and we need to support each other and learn from each other and grow together.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so um I think that's I that was a really long answer.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: No, it was it it was uh truthful, it was honest, it was no, it wasn't too long of an answer.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was what it needed to be.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, and I think um I think that kind of brings us back around to like our mission, which is connecting the community, the wider community in our education, and just you know, making sure that there are free resources out there for folks.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I know that you just kind of got on social media the other day and said, like, hey, share your tips.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Can you tell us a little bit more about that idea and what you're hoping to do with that?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we we often struggle with getting students to buy in, especially when you have a piece of artwork that maybe they're not too excited about.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, ways to engage those kids, ways to get them excited about maybe a technique, you know, or um, you know, some kids have really bad experiences with uh styrofoam printmaking.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: So then they assume that all printmaking is that way and that it's gonna all have that same way.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: So my my goal was on Instagram just to uh believe it was uh Art Tip Friday or something like that.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it was just to see what people do, what's their go-to, what's their uh excitement for well, not their excitement, but what is their way to go to for getting kids excited when starting something new, when starting a lesson or um you know a project.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: So it just was really, really curious.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about visual thinking strategies and such.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, using, I asked them to, you know, use the hashtag of K12RChat.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um they could definitely tag you know people like Davis in there as well.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think it would be kind of cool just to see how it all gets um compiled and see what people come up with.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I definitely think that um kind of going back to the the hashtag idea, you know, it worked for a while.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna say that we are definitely not on Twitter.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: No um now known as X.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: We're not there, but um certainly on Instagram and um a little bit on Facebook, but not super much because um Instagram's good.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that and we're juggling life, yeah.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: So um, but Davis and School Arts are both on on Instagram, specifically school arts at school arts.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I really think um what we'd love to see is kind of a ground uh grassroots kind of campaign just to share more um in a really healthy, supportive way.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: So um I would definitely say share your um art education tips uh using the hashtag K12ArtChat and then tag at Creativity Department and tag at school arts.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um and hopefully, like Matt said, um Davis and School Arts can start helping us kind of compile a list um and see what we can do.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the other thing is, you know, school arts is free to all NEA members.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: So like just thinking about tips there, you know, most of their articles are written by classroom um practicing art educators.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so they are sharing their expertise.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: So that's another way people can share their expertise is to write for school arts and get out there and share their lesson plans.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: You'd be surprised at how easy it actually is, and it's not big and complicated, and you don't have to be all like super grandiose or anything.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: No the team at Davis really makes it really saying um shout out to our friends over there because they they they understand that we're busy, um that you are busy as art educators, and they they just want to get your expertise out in the world and support you in that um through their um publication, which is their monthly um magazine school arts.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: So um whether you want to share on social media or you want to write for school arts or whatever you want to do, we just want to kind of continue to build the community and connect everybody.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um we will be do that mostly through Instagram.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: And uh Matt's making a concerted effort as one of his goals this year to kind of get back into the Instagram game just to really help build and grow community.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, yeah, is there anything else, Matt?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, yeah, this was kind of seeming like a perfect segue into how people can reach out to us, maybe other than Instagram.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you know, they could reach out to us through email or uh, you know, Instagram message.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Instagram at creativity, or they could send us that email at the creativity at gmail.com.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we would love to hear ideas, suggestions, topics, artists, anything you're you know, you would like to hear us maybe to start talking about, we would love to uh take a look at that.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I honestly, and to that point, that the this podcast it exists for you and to support you as listeners and as art educators and the field at large.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, let us know what you need, um, but most of all, keep sharing with each other.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I do think it's important, Matt, to say that uh Davis also does us the solid of making sure that all of the resources for every podcast are on the free resources on davisart.com.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: And you can go under there and see every podcast and then the resources for the podcast there.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um and in general, um, they just do a great job of supporting us with that and making this a reality.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: So the other thing you can do as listeners is to make sure to subscribe wherever you listen to the podcast, uh, rate and review.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: It helps us keep the podcast going.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the more listeners, the better um chances have of keeping it going.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: So um make sure to do that for us and then you know share your tips as Matt has asked.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, get out there on the socials and share with us or through email, however you want to do it.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then I just like to end every podcast with saying thank you.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we really appreciate all that you're doing out there in the world.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and have a creative week ahead.