Mrs. Powers Disappeared!

Yesterday was a big milestone! I was setting up a project for the art foundations classes (freshmen) when Mrs. Powers, at the very last minute, decided she wanted to alter the project again. At first she was concerned about making the project too complicated, and then all of a sudden she wanted the project to have more elements to it. She tried to google other art projects and she told me to do the same, although I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking for. Eventually she gave up and I was able to proceed with the original project. She had me do a demonstration for them, which I actually enjoyed because they seemed to get more enthusiastic about the project after watching me do it. There was also a lot less confusion. I think overall, the students were pretty successful with what I had assigned them. Today I am writing from the cafeteria, because when I arrived at Mrs. Powers' classroom after my AP class, the door was locked and Mrs. Powers was nowhere to be found. After waiting about ten minutes, I went and talked to Mrs. Lumsden and she then talked to Mr. Lee and I was given permission to take the students to the cafeteria. No art for them today, I guess. It’s too bad because we had something fun for them planned, but I suppose that can wait until tomorrow.

First Lesson!

Today, I drew examples of the project that I would be teaching the middle school classes. Everything went smoothly; I drew each step and photocopied it so that the student would have a reference if they ever got stuck. However, I showed Mrs. Powers and she got the feeling that the project was too complicated for the 8th graders. I can see why she would think that, but I also feel like maybe she is underestimating the middle schoolers. But maybe not. They do have an attention span of about 8 seconds....Lucky for both me and Mrs. Powers, the 8th graders are on the 8th grade trip for this week, meaning that A block is now a quiet and peaceful block as opposed to chaotic and loud. I have certainly developed a a sense of favoritism for certain classes. As I have mentioned before, portfolio consists of about 5 students, all of whom are very mature and have a deep respect for the arts. I find I can teach best when I am able o treat the students as equal. I also gave my first real lesson today. Mrs. Powers left the classroom for me to teach the students about monoprinting, and getting their attention was a lot easier than I thought it would be. They seemed pretty enthusiastic about the project, although I don’t think they are comfortable enough with me yet to ask questions about the project or ask for my opinion, as they often do with Mrs. Powers. I’m thinking that this will change over time, and eventually they will treat me as they would Mrs. Powers.

Outnumbered

Yesterday, Mrs. Powers had me make a powerpoint presentation that I would eventually show the 8th grade art classes. I am going to teach them 2 point perspective (a method of making 2D objects look 3D). I made it in such a way that the end result would be several 3-Dimensional buildings, so that the middle schoolers could be able to create their own fantasy cities or towns using the 2 point perspective method. After I finished, however, Mrs. Powers said that she thought it would be easier for the 8th graders to start off just writing their names using 2 point perspective. It made me realize that Mrs. Powers constantly has to modify certain activities she has planned in order to make it more simple and easier to execute for the lower grades. Mrs. Powers also had me research another print making technique that I knew nothing about. It must have taken me an hour to find a valid step-by-step process of making the prints online, and even after I found it and tried to execute it, I noticed that the directions weren’t entirely thorough and I had to figure out how to do some of the steps on my own. Again, I realized that there are many difficult setbacks that Mrs. Powers must encounter when she tries o find a new art project for her classes to do. Yesterday, Mrs. Powers also left me in charge while she worked on something in the teachers workroom. If I was left alone with people I knew, this would be no problem, but it was very uncomfortable being left alone with a bunch of kids who all knew each other and didn’t really know who I was. When they asked if they could go to the bathroom, I had a feeling that they were going to take advantage of the fact that I was out of my element and try to skip class while on their “bathroom break”. Luckily, the students came back from the bathroom after a couple minutes, and I was relieved I wouldn’t have to be the ‘bad guy’ and tell Mrs. Powers about how they misbehaved. This is yet another thing I noticed; Mrs. Powers has told me many times that she hates confronting students about their bad behavior, and yet she is forced to do it on a daily basis so that she can maintain order in her classrooms.

First Week of Score

My first couple days of SCORE were fairly uneventful. Humanities week was happening at the same time, so many of the classes that I was interning with were sent to the auditorium for presentations. Whenever there was a new class, Mrs. Powers took a couple minutes to introduce me and tell the class a little bit about who I am and how I’ve been involved with art during my high school years. Right off the bat, Mrs. Powers asked me if I would teach her classes about monoprinting, which is a form of printmaking. I then spent the next couple of days experimenting with monoprinting in order to be able to tell the classes the best approach for making a monoprint. I noticed several things while I was in the art room. First, I noticed that people who were taking higher levels of art classes, such as portfolio or AP art, were much more well-behaved, probably because they were taking the class more seriously (and also because they were generally older - juniors and seniors). Today, I sat in the art room with a middle school class for the first time. It was as if they had much shorter attention spans than the other high school classes; they were loud, disruptive, and rude. Mrs. Powers gave four 8th graders detention, and I have never seen Mrs. Powers give out detentions before. For the art foundations classes, I noticed the students, who were underclassmen, were also not treating the class as they would treat their core classes. Mrs. Powers had assigned them a paper to write on a certain artist, and not one student had completed the paper on time. Most of the papers were poorly written, and one paper was even entirely plagiarized. I can see how difficult it must be for Mrs. Powers to teach so many students who aren’t willing to put in the amount of effort it requires to excel in her classes.

SCORE Outline

Thesis: Art in school curriculums, particularly high school curriculums, has been greatly misunderstood and therefore is first to suffer during occurrences such as a budget cuts.

What is considered art? (background)

• Art and something that triggers emotion
• Can be anything in the form of music, theater, or visual arts
• Can be viewed by many without the need of a voice
• Ask Mrs. Powers for students’ definitions of art

How art has affected me

• My experiences within the classroom taking classes such as portfolio, drawing, AP studio art, etc.
• How it has shaped how I think and perform tasks

Why is the art department suffering?

• Often considered less important than other classes
• Elective/Not a core class
• Arts are fun, therefore misunderstood to be unimportant

How is the art department suffering?

• Often the first departments to be cut when budget cuts loom, a levy doesn't pass, or a wage dispute arises
• Ask Mrs. Powers about how art needs are put on the back burner
• Students who sign up for art are often taking the class because it is an “easy A” rather than because they have a legitimate interest in it
• Describe what I learned about the art department during my internship
• Discuss research

What can be done to help

• Teach people the importance of art
• Arts can teach us about historical periods through visual arts, music, dance, and drama
• Art is a universal language; unites people of different cultures, ethnicities, and abilities
• Enables people to see the world and human condition differently
• Stimulates thought
• Livens the world up - makes things more aesthetic and pleasing to the eye

Why help the art department?

• Many careers stem off of an art education or depend on a background in art
• ex: Book publishers, magazine editors, photographer, filmmaker, fashion designer, etc.

Further Topics to Explore

• How is art viewed outside of school?
• Is art in college the same as art in high school?
• How are the classes similar/different

Relevancy to the wider world

• Art within schooling has a great effect on student who are interested in the arts
• Without being introduced to the arts properly while in school, people may never learn how they can apply their skills or education in art to their lives in the future