The Last Post

Of all the subjects that I will have to teach Fine Arts was the one where I had the least confidence. While aspects of Fine Arts had been a part of my life, in varying degrees, for many years I had no idea how to approach the teaching of the subject area when the time came.

I learned, of course, that the act of teaching is only learned by the act of doing it.

By far and away the most important outcome of this course for me was the change in my disposition or attitude towards teaching art. I recognized that teaching art is about having the right approach about it so that my students will recognise the ability in my classroom to take risks and to express themselves, within limits, as they see fit. The first principle, infusing our classrooms with the spirit of fine arts, mentioned in each chapter we studied will forever resonate in my teaching of this area. Never underestimate the creative power of students, never stifle it, always welcome it in as many ways as you can, and students will derive the maximum benefits from this subject area.

As I was considering what I would say in this my last post, I thought of something I heard many years ago and I finally managed to track it down.


It goes like this:
John F Kennedy said "the life of the arts, far from being an interruption or a distraction in the life of a nation, is very close to the centre of a nation's purpose, and is the test of the quality of a nation's civilization." He also said "I look forward to a nation that will not be afraid of grace and beauty… a nation that will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft… If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free.

Q.E.D.

Live Performances

One Professional.



I was privileged to attend see the National Arts Centre orchestra when it was in Prince George the last week of October. Vanier Hall was nearly full. The orchestra began by playing a new piece by a new composer. The conductor noted how difficult it is for new composers to be recognized, especially if their style is different from what people come to expect. Sound familiar, Emily Carr? I also understand that the orchestra divided itself up into teams which travelled to schools in the area giving clinics. Were I a band student, I can only imagine the thrill of having a professional musician come to instruct me on aspects of playing music.

One Amateur

The Drama 11 class at P.G.S.S., one student of which is my son, presented the renowned classic "Dracula Baby" in early November. Most of the class had no previous experience on the big stage. While the performance had its own unique peculiarities, I was impressed by students who could go out and present a relatively complicated production with only a few short months of practice. It strongly supports the notion that if we as teachers can suitably motivate our students in the areas of fine arts, they will be able to easily surprise us with their talents.

Teaching Art

I have neglected, but now remedy this delict, to write about teaching art during my practicum.

I observed little by way of art teaching in my preparatory visits to my school. Art was a Friday afternoon subject, sometimes bumped in the name of completing other work. The art which was done by the students was, however, prominently displayed in the hallways of my school and the students were proud to see their work on the walls.

I knew I would have insufficient time to teach the unit plan I developed. When my practicum supervisor wanted to come for the first observation I decided to teach an art lesson. I introduced my students to a new medium, being crepe paper with its colour bled onto paper with water. Like painting, but not as messy, and something that not even my cooperating teacher had seen done.

The purpose was to teach the technique and not the content, so I decided that pumpkins would be our subject matter.

Great fun was had by all. The students worked diligently and were very engaged in the project. Learning a new technique was a challenge that they readily accepted.

I know I had great fun both teaching the technique and then buzzing around the classroom helping and urging where necessary.

From this lesson, I learned or had reinforced the need to constantly challenge students to keep them interested and engaged. When I have my own class, I think the first lessons will be showing the students a variety of novel techniques to do art. Once that is done, then I will give the students leeway to select subjects for their work. I know that Art is inherently interesting and fun for students, but as our Art Show proves, the imagination of students is limitless and Art can teach or reinforce aesthetic ideas and appreciation in our students as well as entertain them.

Christmas Songs and other distractions

I really enjoyed myself at the pot luck today. I forgot how much fun it is to sing songs with a group of friends. I think our class owes a great big thank you to Liesbet. She will say that we ran with the ideas about our sing along but she took the initiative to begin the planning process for this entertainment and kept everything moving along. I think we should also thank the drummers, dancers, recorder players, masters of ceremonies and would be producer/director types for their unique contributions to this and the people behind the scenes like Shayla, Sara and Kirsten (sorry, after a year and a half you would think I would know how to spell her name) for their contributions of hardware, knowledge and time.

I can well remember singing Christmas Carols in my class, during school assemblies and of course at the mandatory Christmas concert in elementary school. I know this is verboten now, but impromptu group singing does have the tendency to raise your spirits. Even the most self conscious singer can feel anonymous in the group. We should, and I will, urge students to sing something to see if they feel the same way about it.

Our Trip to the Two Rivers Art Gallery

Considering today's trip and last year's outings to the Art Gallery I must say that I enjoyed today's trip more. I do not know if it was the novelty of the gallery, as I had just moved to Prince George, or if it was because today we had discussions and were treated like educators and not our students but I got far more out of today's adventure.

I am not surprised that there was tremendous variety in the art we saw today. Artistic expression occurs in many ways, whether it be the haunting photographs of Nathalie Daoust, or the provocative photographs of Teri Herbert. It was enlightening to see the range of response of certain members of our group to the photographs of each and the ways in which photographs which some felt too dark for young students could be transformed into the playful activities of mirroring the images in the photographs. It all goes to show that artistic impression is capable of many interpretations and approaches.

All in all, it was an enjoyable diversion for me during this week of many deadlines.

Music, part II

It has always been my hope that I could use music in the classroom to instill in my students a reflective disposition. I know this is contrary to the idea that music should be used to allow students to make meaning of the curriculum they are otherwise exposed to, but when I think back on the music that I was involved in, or which had the greatest impact on me, it was not the ability of music to allow me to understand other parts of the curriculum which was of greatest importance, it was the ability of music to help me understand myself that was important. When I think back on all of the really interesting, and in some cases great, music that I still listen to, either literally or figuratively through the music in my mind, it is music's ability to calm, to inspire and to motivate that still occurs and constantly amazes me when it does. We are always urged to help our students develop and refine the skills of meta-cognition and I think that because music has an ability to make the listener stop and think that it is important to make music important to the lives of students.

The proof is in the pudding

Or in my case, the doing.

Thursday was a busy day for us all. And by busy I mean stressful. In fact, this whole last week has been busy. And by busy I mean stressful.

One of those sources of stress transformed itself into something else.

The research platform project was one of our tasks. This week, about Tuesday, my energetic and ever organized Ms. Crofts, and I were completing our project and decided, because we were focusing on Robert Davidson, a First Nations carver of amongst other things totem poles, that students would be motivated after hearing about him to draw totem poles. So, to be authentic, we designed our own totem pole.

Totem pole designers we are not. But the act of designing, sketching and colouring became to me a source of enjoyment and stress reduction. These simple acts, and the diversions they provided and the need to use our creative brains, rather than analytical or otherwise, allowed me to relax. The pride or at least satisfaction I felt when the project was completed was uplifting.

Let us be able to provide our students with the same experiences on a regular basis when we are in the classroom.

Singing grammar

I saw this resource used, with variable success. It does show that there are resources out there for us to use which allow fine arts to be used to teach the curriculum in a meaningful manner. The blurb below is from the publisher of the book.

Singing Grammar is part of the Cambridge Copy Collection. It is a resource book of supplementary materials for the teaching of grammar through the medium of song. It contains eighteen songs, each with a specific grammar focus, and is suitable for students from elementary to intermediate level. For each of the songs there is a clear page of teaching notes followed by a motivating song worksheet, a grammar exercise page and a fun grammar game for classroom use. The material is especially suitable for younger learners but could also be used successfully with adults. * songs specifically written for different age groups and levels * a variety of musical styles * step-by-step instructions and tips for teachers * a range of exercise types * photocopiable worksheets and games * useful pop music glossary * alternative karaoke or slow version for each song * songbook containing lyrics and chords.

Music, part I

I remember my Grade One teacher, Mrs. McKenzie. I don't remember a whole lot about Grade One, except that we sang, and sang, and sang as she played the piano. There were actually three pianos in our elementary school, and more than enough teachers to play them. So you can well imagine what that school sounded like sometimes with three pianos and three or more classes singing or dancing or stomping.

I remember well another teacher, forget her name, but she played the guitar. She was fresh from teacher school, college, or whatever it was called. We sang the songs of the day--- We Shall Overcome, If I had a Hammer, Blowing in the Wind, Where Have all the Flowers Gone? and One Tin Soldier--- tells you a bit about the time I was in school and, I think, says something about her attitudes towards life.

If we want to be memorable to our students, why can it not be because of what we do to expose our students to music?

More on this subject later.

Creative Dance (?)

I have just finished reading our text on creative dance and as I did so I realized that when I did my survey of my fine arts experience I had over looked, or perhaps mercifully forgotten, my sojourn into the world of dance.

If we ignore my ill founded dancing at weddings and family reunions, too numerous to mention, and that unfortunate disco period, there remain two momentous experiences in actual dance that might be of note.

I can recall being a Penny Whistle flute during a Christmas concert of some antiquity. I cannot say for sure if this truly was an example of creative dance, as I recall myself as an eight year old trying desperately to remember the sequence of steps with my main goal of avoiding the other flutes. For those of you with children, or who will have children in the future, you can or will be able to appreciate the joy of attending school functions to watch awkward dancers and off key singers doing their best.

A better example would be my career as a Norwegian Folk Dancer when I was in university. Our group danced at numerous events. My favourite dance was the "Oxen Dance", a symbolic representation of two healthy males fighting over the attentions of a female. I guess if there is a good reason in this world to fight, it is to fight over the charms of a woman. Details on the "Oxen Dance", for those of you really interested in it, can be found at http://www.svenskhyllningsfest.org/folk_games.htm.

A picture for Keith

More musings on a Sunday morning

Musing one;

It is, to me, sometimes amazing, sometimes enlightening and sometimes scary how the introduction to the arts in this course has changed my perspective on things, even ordinary things like what I choose to read in the newspaper.

Following my weekend routine, I was looking through the Vancouver Sun from November 15. Usually I read the book reviews, maybe a bit about the theatre, but being newly attuned to things I looked at an advertisement for art and read an article about an art exhibit for an artist named Alan Wood.

Nestled in the advertisement was the website artists4kids.com. The link is http://www.artists4kids.com/home.php

There is an art gallery in Vancouver for children and proceeds from the sale of art goes to assist art education. There are also resources for teachers. I reccomend at least a brief review of it.

Musing Two;

Alan Wood is an immigrant from England who settled in BC an d works with acrylic and paper and is fascinated by landscapes, especially Canadian. He currently has an exhibition at the Winsor Gallery in Vancouver caled Drams and Memories. The website for that is http://www.preview-art.com/previews/11-2008/wood.html

Examples of his work. are found at the beginning of this etnry. Although subtle and refined, as befitting a 73 year old artist, these would be examples that any student could use for inspiration.

Photos referred to in my comment to Amanda

Miscellaneous Notes on an Art Show

"I dreamed a dream in times gone by... Then I was young and unafraid, And dreams were made and used and wasted." Fantine in Les Miserables, scene 5

Better late than never to record my observations of the Art Show.

Firstly, Willow did most of the preparation work so kudos to her.

Setting up the show was fun. Everyone found, and some actively looked for, work to be done. Everyone was upbeat and many hands make light work.

I was impressed at the great variety of the artwork. I can really see that some TCs stretched their imagination and the imaginations and the talents of their students to create the art. I can easily see how some of the projects, such at but not limited to, examples such as the geometric shapes and colour your own molecule would serve to reinforce ideas and concepts in the minds of the students far more firmly than review and instruction.

The extent and variety of techniques and media was astounding. I think that when I have a class, I will spend the first weeks teaching my students a variety and range of techniques and media so that they can more fully appreciate the options available to them. Then they can be let loose to express their imagination to the fullest extent confident in what they are doing.

And as for dreams? Our students are young and full of dreams. We, as their teachers, must strive not to waste our students' dreams.

Remembrance Day Remembered

Poppy

Poppy we are but children small,

We are too little to do it all.
Children you may do your part.

Love each other is how you start.

Play without fighting.

Share your games and toys.

Be kind and thoughtful,

To all girls and boys.

I had a chance yesterday to attend a local high school to see its Remembrance Day assembly. I chose to go there because I was interested to observe the responses of teenagers to this day. I was told that the school presents the same assembly programme each year. I was impressed by the sincere attentiveness of the students to the programme as I feared that they might not be appropriately respectful. It seems, based on their comments, that Canada's involvement in Afghanistan has reawakened an appreciation for veterans.

I was taken back to the first Remembrance Day ceremonies that I attended when, dressed in my cub scout uniform, we marched in a parade on a crisp clear and cold November morning, down mainstreet and to the local Legion for the laying of wreaths. This occurred just a few short decades after the end of the Second World War--- my cubscout leader fought in it. It was a time when war was looked on with distaste, a reflection of the society at the time and its reaction to the events in Vietnam, yet Remembrance Day, while not a day to glorify war, was a day to celebrate the freedom of choice for us in Canada.

I also found this poem which was used in an elementary assembly. It is a simple poem that speaks to both Remembrance Day as well as social responsibility. I was told that while everyone knows there will be an assembly in the elementary schools, it "sneaks up" each year and often there is a scramble to put together an appropriate presentation.

I watched the ceremony from Ottawa. There was a change in the ceremony this year. Canada has one remaining war veteran from the Great War (the War to end all Wars [a misnomer if there ever was]) who is 108 years old. There was a Passing of the Torch ceremony ("To you, from failing hands we through the torch; be yours to hold it high") as this last veteran passed on the Torch to veterans of World War Two, The Korean Conflict, the peacekeepers of the 1960s-90's and the current forces in Afghanistan. As I watched this, I wondered what the young students think of when they consider Remembrance Day, aside from a day where there is no school. Will they relate this day to a day 90 years ago or to modern day? And what can we as teachers do so that World War One and all it stood for in Canada does not pale in significance like the War of 1812, a footnote in our history?

Making meaning on a cosmic scale

I was speaking with a fellow class person last week and she was mentioning that she was wondering how to make a grade three class dominated by males interested in deriving meaning from something space related. In an interesting progression of neuron firing I ended up telling her about this representation of all things Earth like on the Voyageur spacecraft. When these craft were sent into the cosmos they contained information designed to allow other beings who might happen upon them to firstly find us and secondly to understand something about us so that they would understand that we were sentient beings worthy of being contacted.

I checked all of this out when I got home. The link to all the information you would want is found at http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec.html. What makes this all relevant to this course is that I am beginning to make associations between aspects of the art and aspects of my life which I might not otherwise have made. While I may not yet be making progress in the acquisition of skills, developing the ability to see how the Arts assist in making things sensible is a good start.

The folks at NASA wanted to be able to educate and pass on information about the Earth and mankind to others. They decided (and here is the link) that the best way to do this was through images and sound. While some of the links from the page I note are no longer operational, it is interesting to consider the thinking behind some of the images of the earth and things on it and how they might help someone with no knowledge of the Earth to understand it. Even more interesting are the sounds chosen. Greeting spoken in 55 languages from Akkidian to Wu, images of the Earth, sounds of the Earth from wind and rain to heartbeats and laughter. Think even more closely about the music chosen and what the inclusion of Pygmy girl's initiation songs, "Johnnie B. Goode" by Chuch Barry, "Melancholy Blues" by Louis Armstrong and Beethoven's Fifth say about us as a civilization.

My point, and I think I have a point, is that when the decision was made to represent the Earth in a way that made sense and gave meaning to others, images or the visual arts and sounds and music were regarded as the best way to do this. Kind of makes you think that all of the stuff in our textbook about emotive learning and the Arts as meaning makers might have a strong base to it.

Me, as a soprano

Yes Sherri. I sang in a choir for three years but then I grew a moustache and other changes occured and I was no longer a soprano. Nor could I sing (well) anymore but as you may have noticed that has not stopped me.

I see you grew up in Northern Alberta. I grew up in Northern BC so probably our home towns were on the same circuit for some of those underrated bands I mentioned. And yes, the first stereo I bought had both a record player and an 8-track. In fact, I once owned a 1968 Dodge Challenger which came equipped with a FACTORY installed 8 track. I owned in in the late 1980's and had to go home and go through all of the old stuff in my closet and actually found a few 8 tracks to play in it.

Where it all began

I suppose that if we are wanting to see how attitudes and values change over the course of this blog, it is important to know where it all began.

I was fortunate enough to have a Grade One teacher who played the piano and lead us in singing daily. She was a substitute teacher, but we had her for most of the year because the original teacher went on stress leave shortly after I entered her class.

Fine Arts, for me in elementary school revolved around music and drama. We sang regularly and also put on the mandatory Christmas concert including spoken word, the singing of songs from then popular musicals like "Oliver" ( "consider yourself at home, consider yourself part of the family...) and the big production which was "A Christmas Carol" when I was in Grade Six. An extravagant musical production in which I sang the part of Harry Hawkins, the Rag Picker, in my soprano as it was voice. I also danced as a penny whistle flute, but that is a whole other story.

Music and Drama constituted Fine Arts. Visual Arts was not of great insight, although we could tie die and batick like a damn.

Once in Junior High, art did become more visual and less musical and dramatic. It was largely unstructured. We did dabble in ceramics as Peace River clay is world renowned.

Art, as a subject, became an elective in about Grade 10 and branched off into Drama, Creative Writing and music, including Band and Guitar. I never followed these branches and art was of limited importance in my education. Such exposure to fine arts as I enjoyed came from attending concerts by notables like The Stampeders, April Wine, Sweeney Todd and Trooper.

Once in university, Art became prints which we bought to take up space on the walls of an assortment of residence rooms and apartments. Flags hung in windows were of particular significance, for some reason. University did open up some opportunities to see new artists and their stylings, like The Nylons, Chuch Mangione and The Sex Pistols. There were some great theatrics in which I was involved at university, but nothing that can sensiblly be discussed in mixed company.

Following all of that formal education stuff, I found my thoughts and involvement regarding Fine Arts drifting to Drama, Musical Theatre and some Visual Arts. I have seen Les Miserables three times, Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon twice and a variety of other musicals like Showboat and Cats and Bard on the Beach on occiasion. I have always wondered how I could incorporate the beautiful music and lyrics of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon into elementary classes, even as background music during silent reading, given the bawdy content. I have, of course, also visited art galleries in every major city I have visited including Athens, New York and Ottawa.

I feel, however, that my art background is deficient. I view my strengths, if I have any, in Drama and musical theatre and have always hoped that I could use music, which I find both relaxing and powerful in evoking memories, which I used when I studied for many years, to educate classes in the beauty of music and the greater beauty I find in lyrics.

So I approach this course being many years out of school and feeling that such hobbies as I have do not include much which is included in this area, but with an open mind to the possibilities. I keep thinking that as I canvass the wide range of material which could be dealt with in this course that I will have a few "ah ha" moments, and sometimes wonder what they will be.

I say all this merely as preparation for the journey which lies ahead and which is why I view this blog as searching or seeking for my hidden inner self.

this is another experiment

I once had a turtle named Theodore. He found peace in a white thing.

trying a picture

this is simply an experiment.

I am finally here

I am, as you know, technically challenged but I am now here. Where I really am at, I do not know but I will be starting a journey which will take me to places which exist only in my imagination.