A little over a week into my second year with a TAB classroom and the students are chomping at the bit to start creating. We have spent time setting up clear expectations which include collaborating with other artists. We had our first real TASK party, played the fuzzy creature game, and spent time exploring idea generation. Idea generation is something I saw as a weakness for students last year, so I knew I needed to make a change and spend more time developing these skills. One of the activities that students completed was to fill up an "idea sandbox" with ideas. It was pretty great because the next day, I was able to direct students to "Go play in the sandbox,' when they told me they didn't know what to do for the sketchbook cover. I think this will be a valuable resource for students as we move through the year.
I am also excited to be teaching a new class this year, Art Studio. Thanks to TAB, I was able to consolidate my Art II, Art III/IV, and AP students all into a year-long class. I am now able to offer three sections of advanced art so that it is easier for students to fit it into their schedules. This also enables students who have taken Ceramics to continue working in clay since I am the only teacher who does studio art at my school. In this new course, I look forward to building an authentic studio environment where students can share and grow together. I was beyond thrilled when I saw this happening yesterday already when a student shared her experience with different media with a classmate to help her decide what she wanted to do. Students teaching each other is an amazing thing. There are still a lot of unknowns and I have a lot of work to do. It can be overwhelming to decide what's best for the students, what order lessons should take place, how much and when to give them freedom, but I am confident that I am on the right path. I am enjoying the journey.
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AuthorMrs. Taborda is the studio art teacher at Oxford High School in Oxford, MA. This blog will document her journey as an educator and share the happenings of the OHS art room. Archives
November 2018
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