Nov 12, Learning by Heart, Forward -Structure

For our final book we are taking a wacky, fun filled detour into the educational style based on the teachings of a nun. Enjoy and remember what it was like to teach art before any state mandated tests or the emphasis on STEAM.  If you have not figured it by now I teach like someone who plays the accordion, fully extended or open and then closed in  or intimate.
I am interested in your take on this book. It was a surprise for me and I know of no one who has used it so I really do need your feedback.
Enjoying the week off and keep working on your final project.

Oct 29th, The Last Lecture, IV -VI

I understand that we could have read this book within a week. I have read it before within a week but I really wanted time for you all to think and feel and maybe contemplate the stories. For me I am always intimated by the kind of professor Randy Pausch was. The hard working science person who understood grants and huge projects and how data was useful. The kind of professor that as an art professor I always feel I am being compared to/with. It is hard enough in Art Education to be put on the side because I am not a "studio" artist but when it comes to the University and to Academe, art can not compare to the "real" work of those who are in science, especially computers. Once I over come my own self doubt I embrace the teaching and life lessons he shares and I am reminded we are actually all then same if we follow our dreams.

So for this week, share your favorite antidote from this section of the book. In addition what is the one lesson you try to give your students and why. Go beyond elements and principals, go beyond a certain technique unless your story is based on that lesson. If you are not teaching right now, project and share a lesson you find important for yourself.

Oct 24, The Last Lecture, Introdution - pg 104

When this book first came out in 2008  it was a huge success. I decided to use it in this class because of the intimacy and joy it represents. It is another view of learning, teaching. We will take it slow. I know you could read the whole book in one sitting but I hope by breaking it into two weeks you will allow yourself time to reflect or recover if the stories are too intimate.
After responding to the reading the extra question is: what do you wish a professor or teacher had told you? What life advise would have helped?

If you have looked at the outline of the class you will notice that Nov5 says TAEA. This is the state wide conference for art education. I realize some of you will not be attending so this is a time for you to work on your final project. After TAEA we read "Learning with Heart" which is a funky, joy filled book of art making ideas. Then you have between Dec 3-10 to turn in your final project and the 150 word essay over your project.

Oct 15th, Sentipensante Pedagoggy, chapt 6,7

As Rendon wraps up her book I was moved by her poem "Who Am I" ( I apologize for not being able to figure out how to type it in its original language). It reminds me of the "I Am From" assignment we give all our students, grad and undergrad. If you have not been in a class that was started this way it simply a matter of beginning each sentence with the words "I am from". It is about food, places, people, memories. So mine might read:
I am from barbed wire fences and guard dogs
I am from a tribe of vagabonds in uniforms
I am from a West Texas beauty who never believe in herself
I am from an East Texas football player that flew beyond his dreams
and so on...

After responding to the two last chapters share your "I am from" thoughts. If you have already done one, remember this is a new time and you have grown or there is a new aspect of your being you can share. A minimum of 25 lines.

Think about the new (maybe old) ways of learning that have been represented in this book. Consider your sensing and thinking...go beyond the obvious.

Oct 8th, Sentipensante Pedagogy, chapt 4, 5

As you read this week's assignment I trust you are able to insert art when every another subject is the focus. This class is about the art of learning and how as artists we are always teaching and hopefully always learning ourselves.

The use of the word "invalidating" haunted me long after I finished re-reading these two chapters.  Old memories of being shamed in a classroom or in my home flooded back. I come from an alcoholic home and after years of therapy I understand the depth of family pain from this disease. I now know that the anger was a cry for help and it was not personal. As for the classroom I still feel the insults were personal and very directed. In high school and in college, especially while working on my MFA. It seems as if it was a badge of honor to be mean and cruel and heartless. I know I too fell into this model of critical dialog at times. I carry with me the awful  words I used toward others/their work as I hold on to the words said about my work.

What I try to remind myself is to simply ask "who made ruler", "who is reading the ruler" you are using to measure yourself. When I can give myself enough time to figure out the two above questions life is better and more art is completed.

I was lucky that when I entered the field of education, my first teacher was Ed Check. I was not only encouraged but supported in my outreach projects and approaches to teaching art. It is not easy to go against the norm and I would never ask anyone to risk their job over a social justice issue but l do believe you can do both.

So after responding how you felt about these two chapters share (if you are comfortable)  to the following:
1. Have you ever felt invalidated in an art class?
2. Is there a person or persons that help with your self confidence?
3. Is social justice or  a particular social theory  part of your creative work?
4. Is there an artist who works with social issues that you admire?