Week 7 Responses

Week 7: Adair
- I understand having those students who just don't "get it". I try to give them extra help, but it's hard to keep re-teaching again and again and not end up doing it for them. One thing I've found that sometimes helps, is having another student who does understand explain it to the struggling students. The kids are better at "dumbing" it than I am.

- I find it interesting that your students are many time uninterested in the project to begin with. I am fortunate that in elementary most of my students are still excited about art. One thing my students seem to want, is permission to tweak/alter the guidelines. They like to plead their case and ask me if they can do something a little different. If it's acceptable, I usually relent. Do the older kids try to add their own perceptions as well?

-That is so sad that your students already have a set mind about their future. The only advice I can give is to show them ways they can use art in their manual labor career choices. I once dated a welder. He still liked to creatively weld in his spare time. He made me a really cool metal light with my name welded into it. It even switched on and off. Maybe the construction worker would want to learn about architecture design as well? The farmer could save money by advertising for his own farm with his own art.  As for the student who throws away his work, this always makes me so sad. Maybe you could take pictures of his work before you return it? At the end of the year, you could give him a CD and show him his improvement or write him a note about what you think he did well?

-Maybe your 6th grader has had a traumatizing experience involving cities (PTSD)? Could you differentiate his project? I wish you the very best in your endeavor to motivate all of your students!

Week 7: Burnt Toast
-I have a few Martins in my classroom. One thing I have done, that seems to help, is show off student work. First, I showed the whole class a student's project that was exceptional. (This student was in the same grade, but in another class). I asked them what made this piece look so good. This helped re-teach my objectives. Then, I challenged them to work as hard as that student had. Also, when I do have kids that are lazy, I make sure to acknowledge when they do well by holding up their work for the whole class to see. In elementary, they usually love the attention and it persuades them to work harder in the future as well.

-Is there any way you can explain to your administration that working with the students is a great way to model? You are not only showing them how to do something, but you are proving to them how enjoyable art is. You'd be promoting intrinsic motivation through the example of your own enjoyment and want to create. Just some "food for thought".