Maybe it is because I also got my teaching certificate in English, or maybe it is because that is how I am wired, but I cannot imagine having Art without the writing that explores the intent of the artist. I also cannot image Art without the time and space to interpret and explore ideas other artists present. 

Today in class students spent some time on their Artist of the Week entry. For this, they login to our classroom Scholastic Art Magazine and select an artist to discuss. They then use evidence from the artwork as well as the reading to support their thoughts about the work. This resource is thanks to the gift of generous donors who gave to our DonorsChoose request earlier this school year.

Here is an example of the type of responses students submit:

I was able to get another photo of the 2015 Scholastic Art Award winners today. Everyone was excited to get their certificates and celebrate in the success of each other. 

Today was an awesome day. I got to spend time celebrating the accomplishments of my students with their families and other talented teens from around the state of Michigan. I am so proud of this group of kids, who have raked in the most recognition in BCWMS history, and know their creative futures are bright as they take this honor and build many more great things upon it. 

The part that brings me the most pride form this year's award-winning works is how little I had to do with their making. This may be a funny thing for me to admit, being that I am their teacher, but what I mean is all of the winning works were based around broad themes I gave to students in which they designed, planned, and executed works from their interpretation of that theme on their own. I may have assisted with feedback, demonstration of skill, and supplying both time and space to do it, but the creative ideas were solely theirs. 

This would not have been possible without the support of the entire Visual Arts team at BCPS, including our Administrative team and Byron Center Fine Arts Boosters. I also have to give a major shout-out to my professional learning community of Art teachers from around the world on Twitter and Facebook that has encouraged me and my students with great feedback along the way.

Check out the highlights from this afternoon's ceremony: 

So many things have happened this week, it is kind of like the semester is just blurring right past me! First, I am excited to say that Empty Bowls is only three weeks away. We finished the big bowl to be auctioned off at the event to the highest bidder this week with signatures from the BCWMS team. 

Students are also finally glazing their bowls, which will be given away at the event as a reminder of those we are helping. 

Students also finished their videos and animations this week, in preparation for the Meijer Great Choices Film Festival and Digital ID PSA competitions. This project was funded as a result of a MACUL grant. Here are some of the student pieces:

7th grade students also worked on the computer this week, learning more about how to use Photoshop as they shared their interests and likes in their profile collages (see a full gallery of images here): 

8th grade students started planning out their first major project on Identity this week by learning about artists who employ this theme, seeing past student work, and sketching out their own ideas. We also worked on some drawing methods that they could use, too. 

Dual Enrollment students worked with the concept of motion for their last assignment. Here are some examples of the types of images they made: 

Students are continuing to work on their videos (which will be complete on Monday). Some are getting done a little early, so I have challenged them to create an animated GIF using work from the other BCPS Artsonia school galleries and upload it to Schoology for a badge. 

Here are some of the results so far: 

This project was inspired by students from Apex High School in North Carolina who did this with our students a couple of years ago. Thanks again to Ian Sands for the idea! 

Students are working on videos that are being created to inform their peers about making quality choices both in life and online. This project is funded through a MACUL grant that helped us purchase cameras, tripods, and other accessories like SD cards. Videos will be complete just in time to compete in the Meijer Great Choices Junior Film Competition, The Digital ID PSA Challenge, and the DAFT Film Festival! 

Before filming, animating, or editing their films, students brainstorm ideas based on the topics outlined in the competitions. We also learned some basics involving the process on the CheckThis poster found here. Students then worked together to create a script, make a storyboard, and plan a production schedule. The best part of teaching this is explaining that you do not need to film in order (rarely any film gets made that way) and seeing students group scenes together and plan out how they are going to divide up the work. Students document the process by making notes on their storyboards and production schedules each day to track progress and see what is left to do. Students will be creating the footage for the next few days before putting it together in iMovie, editing, and submitting it to the various competitions. 

Tonight was the Michigan Art Education Association Region 9 Highlight Show at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Parents, teachers, family, and friends flocked to the GRAM to view the best K-12 student work from Ottawa, Allegan, Ionia, and Montcalm, and Kent Counties on display throughout the museum. This was the first year all six Byron Center Public School buildings were represented with student work on display.

Four students from WMS were recognized at the show and three will have their work move onto State adjudication. I am so proud of the work my students did and it was incredibly fun to share their success with their families this evening. I also want to extend a special thank you to all of the BCPS administrators who attended the reception, especially Superintendent Dan Takens, Assistant Superintendent Kevin Macina, and Curriculum Director Kari Anama. Our students and I are thankful for the support we have from our school leaders and look forward to continuing the tradition of excellence as work moves onto the next level of competition. 

As we finish the third week of the semester, I finally feel like I have names memorized and am starting to get an understanding of my students personalities. I feel so fortunate I am an art teacher because I have some great visuals to rely on when it comes to getting to know my students and place names with faces. 

The first thing we did in class this term was create portfolios and use the Design Thinking Process for creating each letter to represent interests and personalities. Some students used a substitution method for their letters, where they replaced letters with objects that look like them. Some students used a mosaic method, where they used multiple objects to form the letter. Some students used both.  Not only does this project help me get to know my students better, but the large format letters act as name labels that help me match names with faces (rather than calling out, "Hey kid."). It is also the first project students upload to Artsonia, which is something we will do many times before the semester is through. 

As a way to get students thinking about contemporary art issues, we watched the video below about the history of Graffiti shown below and then students created their own names and used Photoshop to put them in interesting places. 

I am very excited that I have the opportunity to teach Dual Enrollment classes through Kendall College of Art and Design. This semester I am teaching students an Introduction to Photography course where they will learn a variety of ways to capture images. Our first assignment was all about perspective and point of view.  The results offered a variety of solutions that showed new aspects of the everyday. 

In addition to formal assignments, I have been giving students challenges that help them better apply the concepts being discussed during class lecture and in the reading. 

We had two snow days in the last week, so I challenged students to take pictures that characterized the snow. Here are two examples of the types of images students made when they were stuck home from school due to the snow days.

We are moving onto our next assignment, which deals with the concept of motion. Last class we went over a variety of photographers who use this concept in their work and then discussed the basics around the use of shutter speed to capture motion. Although they do not have to specifically incorporate any panning motion images in their next assignment, I wanted to challenge students to do one with people and the other with an object. Here are three results: 

Although I love being a part of the art making process with students, it is always fun for me to see what they are working on once they have left my classroom. One of my former students, Tommy Sadler, who received an American Vision for a Photoshop piece he made in 8th grade, has recently been recognized by local TV stations with the following video of Lake Michigan: 

Tommy has created several videos that can be seen on his YouTube channel and one of my favorites is this one of fireworks that ends with a Happy New Year's wish to all.