Studio Art Education: Encouraging Self-Directed, Reflective, and Risk Taking Artists since 1996.
Welcome BACK fellow staff members! Our Goals for Today are:
WELCOME BACK – Almost… The new year is upon us, and with that, new and exciting courses! Art Foundations has changed to Studio Art 360! We are going to explore and experience so MANY different approaches to making art while still focusing on the same standards and goals that help ALL the visual arts succeed! Painting is BACK! While the schedule may say Oils and Encaustics… the materials are going to be Watercolors, Acrylics, Oils AND Encaustics… touching all the bases!
There are MANY ways to stay connected with what is happening in the classroom. On a DAILY BASIS you can get my posts and see how we are approaching the day. Materials, goals, probing questions, reflections to challenge your learning and growth. Select the CLICK HERE to Follow (or enter your email if that is what it asked for – on the right hand side of the screen) for a daily hello and welcome from me!
If you are like me and enjoy the world of GOOGLE and all it offers – maybe you use GOOGLE CALENDAR like me and my family, you can add MY calendar to YOUR calendar. The calendar is just to the right of the screen and you can add it to YOUR’S by selecting the +Google Calendar image on the bottom of the calendar. Poof! Right there!
REMIND is another approach… I use REMIND (formerly Remind 101) to safely text information to my students and parents about the classes and things that are going on. Generally it is for “reminders,” “hello’s,” “don’t forget” kind of things. There are 3 different courses I am teaching – Studio Art 360, Painting, and Studio Art, each of them have a different code to text to so here are the numbers. In ALL of my classes you will text to the same number (262 757 7491) but the message is slightly different. Easy enough! I will be sharing this info on day one or two with all my classes and giving the opportunity to take out their cell phones and join the mission to stay informed.
If you have ANY questions… please feel free to give me a call at 262 492 9090 – this is my cell phone so… if I don’t pick up, leave a message. If it is during the school year, 262 534 3189 ext 7123. I can also be contacted via email at fkorb@waterforduhs.k12.wi.us. Enjoy the rest of the summer and I will always be here to answer your questions!
Frank
During the school year, I begin every day with a look at goals with each and every one of my classes. Our goals began, years ago, as larger ideas I made up off the cuff, in regards to what I was going to be working on during the hour of art. Times move forward and so do the ideas and understanding of how the National Visual Arts Standards worked in what I was doing with my students. Knowing about the information (a brain activity – Declarative Goal) and Working On the skills (hands on – Procedural Goal) became a more obvious approach to the designing of the daily goals for the students. As the new year approaches, there are new changes that have come about. The binders are changing to folders. Thanks to the art students from last year and the continual GREAT and HONEST feedback, the day to day goals have changed and are less about the repetition of writing verbatim or interpreting goals to answering open and thoughtful questions about the goals that are pertinent to the work and experiences at hand. The reflection about work and sketchbooks are also HUGE and really essential to the development of the thoughts and work being produced. I am VERY proud of the changes that are coming out of the Goals and look forward to helping our artists make great use of them.
Check out the Goals FOLDER pages HERE. If you have ANY questions or thoughts or COMMENTS – PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I am in GREAT need of your feedback. I look forward to the beginning of the new school year (and the new Visual Arts Standards!). Thanks!
Ah… The days of summer are quickly flying by. As I sit and listen to the neighbors mowing their lawns, the robins chirping in the trees, the wind rustling the leaves of the trees, and my daughter asking, “You still work over the summer break?,” I appreciate the time a bit more. “Yes, I still work over the summer break.” With the Common Core State Standards making significant changes to the rigor and curriculum of the core classes (Math, English, Science, Social Studies) the elective courses (hardly a term I enjoy when I think of the importance of all of our classes) are also in need of review.
As a professional artist and educator, one who firmly believes and practices looking at standards and setting goals, I was pleased to see that the National Arts Education Association was deep in the thick of it rewriting the National Standards for the Visual (and the rest of the) Arts. Dance, Theater, Music, Visual Arts all got a good going through in the redesign. What I especially enjoyed about the National Standards prior to 2014 was the ease in which they were laid out and written. While some students and I (along with a wonderful Student Teacher) met and worked to unpack the old standards a few years ago, we got a good feeling as to what they all meant. The ideas and philosophy behind the 6 over arching ideas. The NEW standards are broken into 4 sections with a few more standards underneath each heading… a total of 11 (which can be found on my site HERE, in the NAEA site HERE and HERE) give a bit more to think about.
Using the GANAG method of lesson planning (Goals, Accessing Prior Knowledge, New Information, Applying New Information, and Generalizing – Janie Pollock at Learning Horizon, http://www.learninghorizon.net/) is the tried and true process I have been using to plan and structure my lessons and the day to day of my classroom, the new Standards are going to ask a bit more of me this year. I am not complaining in the least. Do not get me wrong. The best thing any of us can do is look back at the progress we have made and revisit the ideas with new eyes and new goals (or at the least reconsidered old goals). The new standards will give me the opportunity to see that the art works my students are creating give them the larger picture of the importance of art in their lives and culture, as well as the skills and grit that are required to become successful artists and members of the larger society. As I have rewritten my webpage on the National Standards in the Visual Arts, I realized that the ideas that are behind them are very important, not only as a student of the arts (or teacher) but also in what the artist ought to be aware of as a professional. I know that I will be working to make certain that each and every day of the school year, the standards are the jumping off point for my art students and that they are fully aware of the importance and direction we, as a class, are heading in the pursuit of realizing and grasping those standards.
That time of the year is upon us and the Advanced Placement Studio Art Exam grades are in… I hope the portfolios make it back in time. I am, as always, a bit surprised by the evaluations… this year especially surprised. While the year was filled with great ups and some downs, the production of the portfolio always fills me with pride in the workings of the young artists. I am VERY proud of all the artists (whether you took the exam or didn’t) in the final products that you assembled. That said, more than the products that you have produced, I am proud of the process that you went through in the learning how to make your art. I saw NEW and BOLD ideas come out of the hands and minds of the AP Artists (and to be honest I CANNOT understand the rationale behind some of the scores that were reported). Stepping out of the box, out of the expected and “traditional” or “textbook” of the art room is what I encourage – and cannot talk about enough.
Congratulations to all of WUHS AP Studio Artists and be proud of the work you have produced. Take a look at the scores, take a look at the portfolios you created and reflect on the strengths and the shortcomings to try and understand the final numbers. If you have any questions, do not be afraid to contact me… I can try and work through the questions with you.
As the summer comes upon us, I took in the opportunity to see a couple of wonderful art shows (and to help celebrate my Birthday – 42 if you are keeping score). The first exhibition I saw was the WASSILY KANDINSKY exhibition (Link Here) at the Milwaukee Art Museum. This was a GREAT exhibition of works from the early part of his career while he was experimenting with Impressionism and Post-Impressionism up through the Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter), back to the Impressionist works through his works as a Bauhaus teacher and artist. WHEN you get a chance to go and see the work (there is NO OPTION here… you HAVE to go and see it – ask for family / student discounts). ALSO – Here is the LINK to the Kandinsky Inspired works the artists of our class created on Oil Pastels earlier in the school year. I bought the exhibition catalog (of course) and was NOT able to make photographs in the show so… (shhhhh…) here are a couple of images from the catalog.
And the OTHER Show – This is a bit more local and accessible for everyone in Waterford, WI… I have taken the Drawing Student’s COMMUNITY Art Exhibition, special thanks to the Library Director Pam Belden and the library staff, and installed the COMMUNITY EXHIBITION (Link Here). The final works for the 2014 school year are based on the artists of the American Regionalists (Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, Edward Hopper to name a few) as well as their personal photographs and studies of the community of Waterford, WI. Some of the images are VERY recognizable – Waterford ICONS – as well as images that are more PERSONAL to the individual artists. Please visit the official website (Link Here) to read more and go to the Waterford Public Library to see the works in person!
PLEASE – Give our artists some of your thoughts on the bottom of the page (comments). I will share your thoughts with the artists as the new school year starts up! ALSO – Subscribe to my blog page and continue to follow the arts and ideas as the summer goes along and the new school year begins up! Enjoy the summer!
And OTHER GREAT Maker Movement Resources and Sites
I will be attending the InterActiv 2014 Technology Conference at UW-Whitewater and will be holding my VERY OWN LOW TECH MAKER FAIRE over the lunch break. I am NOT SURE how many (if any) will participate, but I will be documenting the WHOLE THING and I will be gathering and supplying materials and ideas – moderating the ideas there. I will begin with a MAKER FAIRE definition and then open it up to all those who are interested in participating in the event. That evening I will be moderating along with others from the #WHSoc20 teacher group a conversation about the day, with images and the like (after I have had a presentation with the Waterford Union High School Board about the White House Social event from May 7, 2014). A LONG DAY but well worth it!
MY CHALLENGE TO YOU IS SIMPLE! One hour – that is all… Community and Improvement is HUGE. Making things that can add to the community is ALSO a great big part of what I encourage and teach. So, here it is:
A recap of my earlier post:
On June 18th, President Obama will host the first-ever White House Maker Faire to highlight how the Maker Movement and the increasing access to the hardware and software tools it takes to make just about anything, are unleashing new learning opportunities for students and opening new pathways for kids to get interested in STE(A)M. (Check out my students work based on STEAM HERE!)
The 18th will also be a National Day of Making, and we’re encouraging citizen makers around the country to get involved in their communities or plug in virtually using #NationOfMakers. Attached is more information on what you can do to celebrate making on June 18th.
Follow the action online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/makerfaire.
#NationOfMakers or via maker@ostp.gov.
Maker Luncheon at the Technology Conference? Perhaps there is my answer!
What can YOU do to promote the movement?
MAKER FAIRE – June 18!
I am TORN… Technology Conference or Gather a group for a COMMUNITY MAKER event? Follow me on TWITTER @fjkorb to see what my decision is… I do NOT know what to do!
On June 18th, President Obama will host the first-ever White House Maker Faire, to highlight how the Maker Movement and the increasing access to the hardware and software tools it takes to make just about anything, are unleashing new learning opportunities for students and opening new pathways for kids to get interested in STEM. (Check out my students work based on STEAM HERE!)
The 18th will also be a National Day of Making, and we’re encouraging citizen makers around the country to get involved in their communities or plug in virtually using #NationOfMakers. Attached is more information on what you can do to celebrate making on June 18th.
Follow the action online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/makerfaire.
#NationOfMakers or via maker@ostp.gov.
Maker Luncheon at the Technology Conference? Perhaps there is my answer!
What can YOU do to promote the movement?
Q: What do you like best about this class and / or teacher?
I did not pay these kids to put these words out there. While these are not ALL of the comments about the BEST things the kids took away from the year, these are some that caught my eye. I strive to help EACH and EVERY kid become engaged with the work they are producing. Creating visual art that means something to them is an experience that I do not think they get in all their classes. While the ideas behind the COMMON CORE will encourage teachers to make the work REAL WORLD and pertinent to the child’s life, I have been seeing that as a part of the EVERYDAY of the ARTS for years. What was the BEST part of my year? The ingenuity and teamwork the kids developed, on their own, within the boundaries of the class and assignment, but on their own. Great job!
