During Covid, faculty made videos to send out to keep a positive spirit in the strange epidemic times we found ourselves in.
A Peek into the Art Room of 7-8th Graders in a Mixed Media Class Making Plaster Cloth Orbs that They Will Paint and Decorate
Each trimester I often make a slideshow presentation of student art projects and views into the art classroom. It is fun for me to look back and enjoy the memories and fun we had.
There is just so much art that has been generated in the art room! I never get tired of looking at student art and creating slideshows to view it in a fun way.
I have enjoyed filming various activities at school events like these sumo wrestlers on a field day. Melissa Hayes was one of the wrestlers, but I don’t know who her opponent was.
For each of my film classes, I make a sample video to show students one way to go about it. I also show student samples from previous years. This is an example I created about a day in the life at EPS where the goal was to film moments at school. I projected the process as I worked. Each class day we would do a few steps at a time such as adding titles, or editing clips, etc.
Paul Hagen, multiple faculty members and I gave presentations at faculty meetings to promote expanding how EPS used technology. This video was one that I put together from internet content that inspired me.
Before we had the wonderful big monitors across the school, a group of faculty brainstormed what we wanted, and this video was my way of showing what having monitors on the walls could look like and different things we could show on them. I asked different people to pose and pretend they were watching content on a monitor.
In 2018 I presented this Art Meets Tech PowerPoint presentation to a national audience at the convention that was held in Seattle at the downtown convention center. I received a nice response from art teachers who saw my presentation.
Since my beginning moments at EPS, I have been filming and taking photos of life at EPS through my lens. Most of my images and videos are from the art rooms, but I have also taken photos and videos of colleagues and fun moments as I come across them. This is one of my favorites when Ryan and Jordan were hanging out in the LPC.
I enjoyed running an EBC local art trip for several years, with different faculty chaperones.
I enjoyed making video trailers from parts of my film students videos to show at assemblies. This is one example.
Faculty members Eric and Michael were in a fabulous band called Rainier Dust Squad and I went to several of their performances. I’m an avid fan of Eric’s guitar magic.
Oliver took my Art Meets Tech class when he was in the 5th Grade and I had fun interviewing him about his experience in the class and how he continued his learning on his own after the class ended. I used this interview in my presentation at the NAEA convention.
It was fun to interview Oliver, now in his senior year in 2023-24, about his music interests and the different EPS classes he has taken that have influenced him. We reflected back to 2018 and my first interview with him.
Each year faculty create video speeches for the senior video that is shown at the senior dinner. This is an example of one. In 2022, I created one for Asher G, who I have known from his 6th Grade art classes up to his senior year art classes. I had a front row seat to witness his creative work and thinking. In the art room, I am able to get to know students in a unique way and there are lots of opportunities to talk and create art together. We develop a wonderful art camaraderie.
I create a teaching sketchbook in every class each trimester. I draw live and project my drawing process and students copy what I draw and the art concepts I write. Over the years, my sketchbook collection is growing so I compiled each class into one thick book per class. So now I have 8 thick books with post-it-note-tabs that I refer to when I teach. I left blank pages so I can add new material. Each day that I draw in a sketchbook becomes a record of art concepts that I covered in class. Students get a graphic design lesson by designing their own cover and they find an inspirational art quote. I can use the sketchbooks to see if students are understanding the material, where their drawing skill level is, and I can create a quick seating chart by placing sketchbooks at tables if I choose to place students in certain groups. I ran into copyright issues with YouTube–thinking I had used copyright free music. So in trying to fix it, I created a strange blending of different songs, but it all beautifully represents the blending and chaotic nature of gathering and making sense of these sketchbooks so I’m leaving the audio as is.
This is a slide show showing students in the art room and their art projects created approximately during my first ten years at EPS starting in 2005. It is a walk down memory lane for me to see students and the different art rooms.
I presented my idea at an Evo of Instruction for a mid-term check form that made sense to me as a visual art teacher teaching trimester classes so that my students and I participated together in an assessment of their work and thoughts at the mid-point of the trimester. This project is still l relevant, and I do this in all of my classes. It is about a visual of text and imagery that students, advisors, and parents can see that documents what has taken place in the class. This approach seems more inline with what my art classes are about and tells a clearer story than my writing comments for only one trimester a year where that particular group of my art classes receive paragraphs written by me to try to summarize their first weeks in my class without seeing any visuals. I would rather spend my time with my midterm check form than spending more than a week writing comments for 70-80 students. Four 11 has recorded 2701 comments that I have written so far. Each comment takes me about 30-45 minutes each. Let’s see, if I have 70 students times 30 minutes each, times 2701, that equals—–too much time and energy spent, when I could better use my time for a more enriched document per student that they participate in creating as well. I present my idea every year at my yearly check in-meeting and also in faculty meetings when we talk about comments. I am still hoping that one day, trimester teachers can design their own relevant midterm way of assessing their students that they have only had in class for a few weeks, unlike a yearlong class where they teachers have had their students since the fall. This also makes sense for the Fine & Performing Arts as we are all so different from each other with unique ways of accurately assessing our students so they benefit, and can see for themselves where their skill levels are, and write about how they can improve and I can give them relevant feedback. My mid-term check form also gives students something to show that they can talk about with their families.