Paper Bag Monsters

Something I have struggled with in this program is the feeling that we, as young newly educated teachers, are the expectations for us to do something fun, new, innovative and exciting in all aspects of our teaching. I have spent hours trying to find exciting new things to teach my students, or exciting new ways to teach the subject they are currently learning. During this practicum I was trying to find something fun for the students to make during Art class that was Halloween themed. I did not want it to be super messy and a big clean up (just picture 24 grade 1's with paint.......). I am not a huge fan of puppets, but the students were soooo excited about them, and to create their own with artistic freedom made them even happier. I did give them criteria for the assignment: they needed 5 colours, eyes (1-10), a mouth around the flap of the bag, and to use both crayons and glue on construction paper. I did not capture any of the students creations because I allowed the students to take them home that day. 
I was given the rest of the afternoon and the students were able to share their monsters in the circle at the carpet with the class and state 2 things about their monsters. Their monsters ranged from a cat, spiderman, zombie vampire, and I believe one was a monster ballerina (it had a tutu and a tail.....). Was awesome to see the students artistic freedom at work!

Here was my inspiration: (from pinterest of course haha)

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/159385274281953401/

Simon Sees in Fort St. James!!

Time for some more local promotion!
My hometown is not always so great when you compare it to other cities, however when I look back on my childhood, and when I am away for long periods I realize there are a lot of special things about this small community that I miss in larger cities. One example is the outdoor activity of dog-sledding. I have volunteered for over 13 years with the Caledonia Dog Mushers Association, and this allowed me to assist a camera crew show called "Simon Sees" based out of Vancouver this past winter (Feb 2013). The crew came up during our annual qualifying race (a 3 day mush race and sprint races) for the Yukon Quest (Canadian version of the Iditarod - longest dog sled race in the world). The crew created a short video to help promote my community.  I learned so much being able to see what goes on behind the scenes during these types of shows, how these cameras work, the trial and error process. Television and film making, which is definitely part of the art spectrum but is often left out, is so important for students to understand and respect. If you are doing drama with students, try not to overlook the film and television part of it, which is often what many students will find more relatable as well.

Here is the resulting video:

Simon Sees Fort St. James in Winter!

p.s. I am the one in on the blue Polaris with the white helmet :)

T-Shirt Book Art

I am constantly using Pinterest to find new and exciting ways to teach lessons, different activities, etc. that I can use in upcoming practicums and in my own classroom. I have found with older students, it is much more difficult to have these students become excited to read. And how does this link to an art blog you may be wondering? Well, here is the idea I found.......

This teacher had students select their own books to do a project on. They did a presentation to the class, sharing their books with the class without giving away the ending. Instead of writing a report on the book, which has become so standard, and sadly boring, for students, this is a unique way to link it to both art PLO's, and let the kids have some fun. The students were able to present their project by wearing them! Students were all given a t-shirt, and created a summarizing image on the front, and on the back of the t-shirt was information about the book. Such a unique and fun way to have students share and do a book report, and a fantastic way to incorporate Art. Art in the upper grades can become pigeon-holed, and not utilized as cross-curricularly as it should. This is a fantastic idea to have students to do some interesting Art with Language Arts.
For more information, see:
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Students As Photographers

I recently read an article about how Photographers today are dying out, and that we should inform the younger generation that if they want to become professional photographers, that they will need another job, and will be unable to make a career out of it. This is probably true today, however I do not think that destroying a child's hopes and dreams early on can do nothing but harm to a student. Children should know the realities at a later age, but should that mean we do not allow them to follow their dreams, especially if that is photography? 

Photography is a very important piece to the Art world, it can be just as expressive as an artists painting. Photography allows people to see into real situations and places around the world, and to share that moment with the artist. 

While indulging in my obsession with Pinterest, I stumbled upon a Scavenger Hunt you could do with your students. Almost all students today have phones with cameras, and having them do this scavenger hunt allows them to finally use their phones for school. Students can then share their images with the class afterwards, showing the differences of how each student chose to approach the assignment. You can see into the lives of the students, what perspective they took, what images they chose to capture, etc. 

Street Spirits!!!

Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a workshop about Street Spirits. Street Spirits is a youth driven social action theatre company. They go across North America (primarily in Alberta and BC) performing audience interactive performances that raise awareness about issues in our society, and through interaction with the audience generate solutions. Their shows discuss a variety of topics including alcohol use, family violence, racism, sexual assault, poverty, peer pressure, homophobia, and more. 

This theatre company would be fantastic to bring into your school for a class presentation, school wide assembly or small groups to deal with issues that are arising within your school. It is a great way to provide students with a safe outlet to discuss and deal with serious issues and demonstrates how the arts can be used to help deal with issues that arise in students home lives and at school. 

At a recent visit to the Two Rivers Art Gallery here in Prince George, I was introduced to the artwork of Maureen Faulkner. The exhibit on display was titled "Cake: A Travelers Journey". When you first looked at the images, they did not do much to inspire me. Of course they were very skilled paintings, but I thought 'Well, its just cake. Now all I want it some cake". However once reading the excerpt beside each of her pieces, you realize how much of her life story and the pain she has experienced in her life resides within those images, images of Cake. 

www.princegeorgecitizen.com

Her images of cake describes her struggles with weight throughout her life, and how the cakes she paints all have a piece missing, representing a friend that has passed away. A series that was also in the exhibit was titled 'Rehab Cake Series 7: A week with friends'. The series chronicles her experiences with 7 different friends going through serious health crises. 
This exhibit opened my eyes to how we can not always see what the artist is trying to portray through their artwork. We often have to look beyond into the fine print. 
I enjoyed this exhibit because it depicted how someone dealt with serious situations in their life through a very unique artistic way. 

Promoting Local Artists

I think it is important in the arts to provide as much of a local link as possible. This allows your students to make more of a personal connection to the artwork, as well as to allow those students who have artistic aspirations to realize that if someone from their hometown can do it, they can as well. Often when people incorporate local artists, it is artists who have wrote literature or created physical artwork, but less common are the local musical artists that we can present to our students. As we are lucky enough to teach the 'Beiber Fever' generation, it is important when talking about local artists, or any art in any form, to try to sometimes have younger artists with whom the students can make a connection. 

Cody Karey grew up in Fort St. James (my hometown), and is a terrific example to use with your students. He is a young artist that students can relate to, and sings a cross of pop and classical music (described as the next Josh Groban) that many students in your classroom may enjoy. Here is his new single!