One month in

So...Middle School rocks!
I am so happy in my new position. I have ENOUGH planning time to ACTUALLY DO MY JOB. This is huge, because in past years I had very little prep time and was staying after school for at least an hour or more every day to catch up on grading, photographing work for artsonia, and hanging work in the halls. I've even, for the most part, had enough time to write my lesson plans while at school instead of bringing them home over the weekend. I'm happy and my family is happy because they actually get to see me and I'm not super stressed out all the time.

Middle Schoolers are funnyyyyyyyy. I love my kids and their questions and stories and jokes, and generally behavior has been pretty good. I've only given one demerit so far, and had to yell only 2-3 times. I haven't cried out of frustration or exhaustion. I've laughed a lot and worked through some difficult behaviors with a good sense of humor.

Also in middle school, I can expect them to do a lot more with writing, vocabulary, and image analysis. We've got a routine going called "Quiet 5", where they come in, get their sketchbooks, and immediately get started on a quick warm-up activity. It's really helped with behavior and learning concepts. Just hearing me say something does not instill it in their brains. But writing things down, and drawing examples is working, and I can tell because of the quality of their written reflections at the end of projects.
Here's a glimpse of what's been happening in My Blue Art Room (which isn't blue anymore, but whatever, it's lilac now but I'm not changing the title of my blog, so plbbbt!):

My 5th graders made a name collage ala Ellsworth Kelly by collaging the letters of their name, measuring a grid, cutting the pieces apart, then puzzling and collaging them back together in a random way. They learned about contrasting and complementary colors, We also talked about emphasis. Not everybody got that, but the student who made the one above did! She added the black diamond to make her letters feel pulled into the center. I took all the squares from a class and combined them into collaborative displays like the one below:

 My 6th graders learned about radial symmetry and created these name mandalas. They first drew their name to fill a tissue paper square, then repeated it in all 4 corners. They also learned about analogous colors and selected a limited palette for their designs. I have them arranged in the hall to flow through the colorwheel.

 I haven't photographed any 7th grade projects yet, but we're doing 1 point perspective with their names. And 8th grade is reviewing the elements of art and using the letters of their names in a Calder-inspired stabile sculpture.

Here's a glimpse of what's coming down the pipeline: 5th grade colorwheel paintings, the grade 2 -pt perspective lego paintings, and 8th grade fake advertisements. Did I mention I actually have time to do things like make new exemplars?!!

And my favorite part is when my 8th grade portfolio prep group comes to visit me at lunchtime twice a week! We are currently doing pencil drawings of still-life objects. This crew is planning on applying to the Creative and Performing Arts High School which requires a portfolio audition, and I'm trying to give them time to prepare. They have to be done by  December, which will be here before we know it.

I miss my little guys at the elementary school, but so far so good with middle school kids. (as long as I can manage to keep a straight face)

some more name monsters

I just can't get enough of these symmetry name monsters. I managed to work through my pile of work to photograph a little bit this afternoon. Considering that Tuesday is my toughest day with 6 classes, no prep, and after school art club, that's an accomplishment!

The third graders are moving along nicely with their newest project too. Everyone has fish-themed work at the moment.
 I always see my 3rd graders first thing in the morning- and they arrive so fresh and ready for their day. I wish there was some way to see every class first thing- before their days are bogged down by tests, and squabbles, and trooping all over our 3 story building to get to classes. I'm fresher first thing too- no chaos has occurred in the room, no children have broken any rules yet, no projects have gone wrong. It's hard to not let the events that occur in one class spill over into how I deal with the next class. Painting with my Kinders and first graders the last 2 weeks has been rather stressful, as there's always another class ready to walk in the door as soon as I've got them cleaned up. What I wouldn't give for 5 minutes between classes! We'll get into new routines soon. But next year I might hold off on the paint till I know my little ones better, and they get accustomed to art room expectations.

Time and Pace

All of my classes are in the midst of projects, so no blog-worthy pictures this week. We also had a schedule disruption with a mid-week day off for the holiday. It's interesting seeing what impact schedules have on the experiences kids have in the art class. I already feel like my 4th grade project has taken too long, and I'm very ready for us to move on. I thought my first graders would be done this week too, but realized nobody was ready for painting yet. There's got to be a balance between pace and creative attention. Moving too fast through a project makes the art little more than busy work. Moving too slowly can cause frustration and lack of interest in why we're doing an activity. I want our projects to be rich in exploration of ideas, provide enough time for all students to have an opportunity to accomplish something successfully, but also keep us rolling through the year with lots of artistic experiences.
In Art Club, I offered the kids a chart of possible activities- they voted, and the most popular item was stuffed animals! Guess what we're starting off with next week?