Miniterm - An Exploration in Glass

Student applies solder to stained glass panel constructed in miniterm

You might wonder what "Miniterm" means.  Once a year, we step outside the traditional classroom and experience one subject in-depth with our students.  This year, I'm leading a glass miniterm which consists of making a stained glass panel, an individual and a group mosaic.  Then, we take a road trip to Corning, New York for a tour of their amazing glass museum.  While there, we'll get to sandblast, fuse and blow glass in a couple of mini workshops.  So, now the planning is done.  I have to wait until after Christmas to see if there are enough people signed up to make the week financially possibile.  I just need 12 students.

Thanksgiving and the Art of Cultural Exchange

My Japanese daughter, Chieko, demonstrates how to make origami

It's rather remarkable that a flat piece of paper, when folded in a particular way, transforms itself into a three-dimensional shape.  Emerging from the folded paper, cranes, boxes and balls take shape. Origami is the art of endless possibilities, and a traditional Japanese craft.  This thanksgiving, those around my table included my former Japanese foreign exchange student and her family.  So, while her six year old son and baby daughter tasted the traditional American thansgiving menu for the first time, Chieko shared  her Japanese tradition of paper folding after the meal.  Picture grown men and women hunched over the kitchen table carefully manipulating bits of paper into folded shapes.  Priceless.

Ohio State and the Symbolic Use of Color

To cap off our three-day week, we got word that Wednesday we're celebrating Ohio State Day with OSU spirit wear and blue jeans.  I have to confess that I've never watched an entire football game, despite serving in my high school's band and watching my daughter march in hers.  From my perspective, football games center around halftime and valiantly attempting to keep warm.  Yet, I'll blithely celebrate Ohio State Spirit Day tomorrow along with everyone else because we get to wear blue jeans! Beside a little pin,  there's not a shred of Ohio State regalia in my closet.    Happily, as an art teacher, I relate well to the symbolic use of color; so, scarlet and grey are on my wardrobe radar tomorrow.   I hope OSU has an amazing half-time show when they play Michigan this Saturday.

Unsung Heros and Charcoal Dust

If you're looking for job security in the cleaning business, punch your ticket for handling a well-loved art room.  Let your imagination run wild with the sheer depth of germs stirred together with daunting layers of ground -in charcoal, paint smears and dried glue.  Frankly, my students' efforts can't even come close to matching the determination of Mrs. McBride.  Loaded with a spray bottle and a Magic Eraser, the woman takes no prisoners.  My desks mutely surrender to her single-minded attentions once a week.  At the battle's conclusion, for 15 whole minutes, my room stands as a silent testimony to Scottish industry.  At minute 16, the bell rings, my students pour in, and the cycle begins again.  Thanks to Mrs. McBride, we get a clean slate once a week on which to create anew.  What a great spiritual metaphor for Psalm 51:7:  "Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." (NLT 2007)

The IPDP - A White Canvas

The deadline looms for my IPDP.  The daunting task of completing a five year professional development plan reminds me of staring at a blank canvas.  The surface is ready  to support either a brilliant idea, ...or not.  One college professor of mine encouraged us to "mark" our canvas with a swipe of paint to get past  the paralysis of actually starting the journey.  How do I mark this form with goals that are broad enough to cover unknown opportunities as they present themselves over the next five years?  I'll take a figurative swipe inspired by the clutter in my studio.

Goal one:  I'm probably not the only  art teacher with dozens of half finished works used as samples for techniques and demonstrations.  So, first on my list is to drink deeper of just a few areas of interest and take my refreshed results back to class.

 Goal two should probably focus on me figuring out how to use technology in the classroom.to enchance learning.   I already know how to use our fancy projector, cool document camera, and upload  students' work to a web museum.  As a presenter at a recent convention advocated, maybe I can figure out how to use this blog, and twitter to enhance student learning.

I feel like I'm on a roll inspired by a little internet research...

I dedicate goal three to more purposefully incorporating other disciplines as well as art history into my lessons.   I borrowed this idea from a college website describing one of their goals for their Masters program in art education. 

Goal four focuses on me reading more professional art education journals and reflecting on what others in the field are thinking - trends, assessments, etc. 

Goal five involves my school's requirement involving a plan for spiritual growth.  Even if I weren't a part of a Christian school community I'd want this anyway.

Ok, that's five goals, in five years.  I now sit back and wait for my LPDC to approve or request revisions.    

Trial by Fire - Advanced Art Meets the Paragon Kiln

Artsonia ID: Audrey1446 - Grecian Myth Mask

November 16, 2010

Today, I opened the kiln at school praying that the the first round of Grecian Myth Masks would be in one piece.  Twenty-five class periods representing half of our grading cycle were lovingly poured into a project I had never done before.  Talk about pressure - nine students, nine masks in total, and our mutual trial by fire had to commence at some point.  We'd done everything humanly possible to ensure a proper firing; from consistent thickness of clay , to making sure work was completely dry.  But, a kiln sometimes brutilizes  pieces with even small errors of technique.  One of my students snapped pictures of everyone's work for the record.

To my utter relief, the first firing went off without a hitch.  Second firing tomorrow.