From: MS GEE
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 3:44 PM
To: Mr. Janitor
Subject: wittle friends
Mr. ___________
Today I thought my entire class of 4th graders were pointing at me with a look of horror on their faces as I was teaching, but later discovered that they were pointing BEHIND me at a mouse that was crawling down the wall in the art room. There is a small hole in the ceiling above the black storage cabinets I think it may have came from.
Just wanted to give you a heads up!
Ms. G.
From: Mr. Janitor
To: Ms. Gee
Did anyone sketch the suspect?
During a 5th grade art therapy session:
“I just wish my mother would’ve… you know…”
“no, I don’t know.”
“you know, wouldn’t have had me”
“See, this is the problem. When things get rough, you get negative.”
“but it’s true. I wish I was someone else.”
“you have to love yourself. you have to be happy with yourself.”
“well, I don’t”
“Well, this what needs to change. When things start to go in a direction you don’t want them to, you turn into this negative person who wishes they didn’t exist.”
“so?”
“so, you’re being a coward. You turn into a big sissy when things don’t go your way and suddenly wish you weren’t in your own shoes. Are you a big sissy, S?”
“No. I ain’t a sissy I just can’t do anything right.”
“You can do things right, I see you do things right every day, and we’re going to start doing things right today by taking charge of the situation. You need to talk to your teacher and explain yourself and explain what happened. Its not even 9am on a Monday morning. Let’s turn it around, okay?”
“Okay, Ms. G.”
“So what is your goal for today?”
“to turn it around”
“turn what around, S?”
“my behavior and attitude.”
ended the session with a hug and a smile. Sometimes you gotta call someone out to get through. I wish I could take my own advice sometimes.
stay posi, ya’ll
The month of February brought a lot of confusion, disorganization, chaos, and ADD. I was hit with so many different things, from so many different people, that I could barely finish my lesson plans on time…or update this blog.
Long story short, if I would have known how much work/time/energy/heart break/money is involved with becoming AND REMAINING an educator, I maybe would have thought twice. Recently I realized that I am running out of time to obtain my Level II certification. What is Level II cert? Well, right now I have my level I. As an educator, I have 6 years to obtain 24 post bach credits or I LOSE MY TEACHING CERTIFICATION AND IT CANNOT BE RENEWED. So, graduate school is between 30-33 credits - why not do that? So, I am in the process of researching programs to get my masters in Art Education. Tyler looks promising. I should be enrolled by spring 2012. Kill me.
Other than that, I decided to write a proposal and see if my school would allow me to attend the annual National Art Education Association convention in Seattle, WI this March. Their answer? YES. I am being flown out to this amazing convention for 4 days, all expenses paid. How is that for being taken seriously?
As for my precious angels… they are okay. Well, they are amazing kids and I feel blessed every single day that I get to teach (and can now tolerate) k-5th grade kids. That’s over 480 students I get to know and love. Cool, huh?
Regardless, I realized today during this magnificent snow day (yo, where da snow, Philly? streets are clear…) that I haven’t uploaded any work in awhile. New trimester, new things. Also, some old and finished students works from last trimester that I never had the chance to show you! So, here you go
Here are the finished Egyptian relief tiles I did with 5th grade last trimester (who woulda thought mold making with 5th grade was possible?)
3rd graders explored clay techniques and the Japanese art of Gyodan:
And one finished 5th self-portrait using a grid/value (inspired by their research on Chuck Close)
I was like a drill sergeant during this project… that’s why the results are this impressive. I am too serious sometimes. “I DIDN’T GO TO COLLEGE AND STUDY ART AND EDUCATION FOR 4 YRS TO HAVE ALL OF YOU COME TO CLASS JUST TO DRAW WHATEVER YOU WANT AND NOT LEARN ANYTHING.”
2nd Grade “Batik”:
4th Grade explores ancient Maya in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month (LOVE THESE. BLINGBLANG):
For black history month we did some amazing things:
kindergarten did MLK dream quilt pieces and learned how to create a border!
1st grade study painter Alma Thomas and did their own Thomas inspired paintings with watercolor
2nd grade studied artist Jean-Michel Basquiat:
here is Terrance pointing out his findings in Basquiat’s busy works. We get a lot of use from this smartboard, let me tell you.
introduction/review of Basquait’s life/works
2nd graders started in crayon. They deemed his technique “thinking sloppy” which I thought ruled. We really got our Basquiat on because while working, we listened to 2 types of music, looked through books, and had the radio on (clearly this is not ideal for all the ADD kids I have… but I think Basquiat was a little ADD himself).
During our second week, we added paint to our crayon drawings. I haven’t photographed the finished products yet. I am extremely impressed with these though.
3rd graders did collage inspired by Romare Bearden (his love for Jazz music and his use of black history/harlem/black culture)
4th graders did symmetrical value portraits of famous African Americans (these are amazing, I will photograph SOON)
5th graders listened to the music of Bob Marley, dissected his lyrics, made the connection between Marley and MLK, and created collaborative drawings in response to the songs they listened to (One Love, No Woman, No Cry, Three Little Birds, Get Up, Stand Up, and Redemption Song)
I will update more frequently, promise! Have a great week, everyone!
I haven’t been posting, but that is only because before and after winter break is pure chaos. It is even more crazy now knowing that my 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will rotate and I get an entire different section from that grade each trimester.
Regardless, everything is cool. We began new sections with color theory and they are producing some bangin’ work. Things are still dramatic as always…. lots of nonsense my kids are constantly going through that I witness daily.
Apparently we are really aiming to have our new school (k-12 under one roof) built by September. Yesterday I was selected to represent my department and met all day with potential architects to discuss what we needed/wanted in the new building. It was a pretty formal presentation to 12 bigwigs… and a little terrifying. However, I am very eager to see if we will be moving next year. I sure hope so… because my artroom was not meant to be an artroom and it greatly affects our learning.
In other news, I just had one of ym 3rd graders, Cassidy, who can barely talk (I know) come up to me and say “Miss G., do you know I have a monkey bra on today?” Luckily after a year and a half of having her as my student I can understand her, and could understand that she was telling me about her underwear. Love how comfortable they are with us.
Anyway, off to finish painting a ridiculous backdrop. I swear I get asked to do the worst jobs.
more images/detail updates later.
<3 homie G
So after I posted about the Art Power program I started at our school, I created a slideshow with the images I posted below & descriptions and sent it to my principal, vice principal, guidance, and head of the board. The head of the board then sent it to a million other people and I received feedback like this via email:
“Dear Amber,
You are an amazing teacher. (school’s name) is a wonderful place because you put children first. Every student feels special in your classroom. You make every child feel like an artist! Thank you!
Regards,
so and so”
and from another big bad board member:
“This is wonderful! The children are so expressive through their art work. I like the way that she is helping these students through art to sort things out in their lives. She is gifted. This is a wonderful example of teaching one’s subject matter outside of the box and empowering the students to positively address things that may be on their minds. Ms. G. is an extraordinary teacher. I am extremely happy that she is a (school’s) teacher! Kudos to her and the students in the Art Power class!
Dr. so&so”
feels good. This is why I give my students as much praise as I can.
Last year I practically begged to begin a program, during school hours, where I could pull kids from their regular education classrooms and give them extra support via the arts. Towards the last trimester, the principal gave me the go ahead and 2 days out of the week I pulled kids desperately in need of the emotional support.
I called it “Art Power” (everyone calls it Art Therapy, but I’m not a registered art therapist so I’m trying to save my ass from being sued by using the cutesy code name) and I designed it to service those students I felt could benefit from therapeutic use of art materials in a small group setting.
It was successful. When kids had melt downs in their classrooms, they started asking for white paper and some drawing materials so they could “work it out” via a drawing. This was a shocking change, especially for those who would choose to get physical. Teachers began noticing a difference in the nature of their most difficult students - they had another form of communication. Once it was on paper and not inside them, they felt a sense of relief… even if it was a small and short lived.
I came back to school in September to find that my schedule had be revamped to INCLUDE Art Power. I was given a half hour, Monday-Thursday mornings, to set up small groups and service children. I was blown away. In addition to all that time, I was also given a half hour in the afternoons, Monday-Thursday, to work with our 9th graders.
It took 3 months and a lot of collaboration between myself, administration, special ed, and classroom teachers to put together groups of students according to age and need. I kept the groups small, intimate, and I service children with learning disabilities (trying to up their confidence and feeling of success) as well as those with severe behavioral and emotional disturbances.
So what do I do? With the elementary students I have them engage in activities that encourage a lot of self-reflection and confidence building exercises. Sometimes, depending on the group and their background, I’ll do activities that pry into their personal lives. Just recently I asked my Wednesday group of 5 boys to draw me a picture of their family, or the people they live with, in any way they want. I discovered one of my very shy, reserved 2nd graders lived with his mother, sister, uncle, and someone by the name of “Mr. Man.” In his picture Mr. Man and his mother were drawn so close together that they looked to be holding hands. He did not know where Mr. Man came from or why he was staying with them. Interesting, to say the least.
Remember Jovaan that I wrote about in my last entry? His activity for Art Power this week was something I call “self card.” On the outside of the folded construction paper, students were asked to draw how they believed OTHER people viewed them. On the inside, they wrote/drew how they actually felt about themselves. I read what Jovaan wrote after he left, because he was in such an odd, quiet mood during our session, and I cried:
” I see myself as a boy thats very different. I see that sometimes I may not fit in here and there, but I always make a friend and thats what keeps me strong. Art is just a hobby to some, but to me, its a way to get out all thats inside of me.”
With my 9th graders I can get even more personal. I have a group with 2 girls, one who just lost her father to lung cancer and another who is 14 years old, but very mentally immature (intelligent, but on the social level of a hyperactive, dreamy-headed 2nd grader. For the group, I do a lot of activities that center around healing and self expression. This week, we did worry dolls.
Jashalyn did a worry for her friend currently in the army and stationed in Korea. We just completed a book making project where she used it as a tribute to her father. She still hasn’t quite come to terms with his loss, so I’m giving her assignments that will ease her int that realization (ex., draw me the earliest, or most clear memory you have with your father.)
With my other group of 9th graders, 5 young girls that have experienced abandonment and pain, we get into very deep discussions as they work. This week they created an envelope and wrote a letter to someone they haven’t communicated with in a long time… or ever. The follow-up discussion on these will most likely take 2 30-minute sessions…
I wish I had more time with them, but some is better than nothing. I don’t always know what I’m doing… but I did a lot of reading last year and this summer on art therapy, researched appropriate activities, and adapted a lot of my own ideas to make these brief sessions count. I was in a few groups similar to this in high school and they made me feel a lot less alone.
aside from art power….
I wanted to share this extremely awesome still-life by one of my 5th graders
I decided that since this trimester is coming to an end, I’d have my 5th graders practice their observational drawing techniques via pen & ink still life.
This drawing is by my student, Anthony. Anthony is severely autistic. At the beginning of last year when he was in 4th grade, before I had seen his IEP or knew he had autism, I gave a suggestion on what he could do to improve a drawing he was working on. He shut down, took great offense, and ran out of the art room crying. I put some pieces together and realized his needs. We are on good terms now.
Regardless, he is a very talented artist… very advanced in his understanding of techniques and materials. I never have to check on him during class, because he has everything on lock down from beginning to end. No other still-life, out of a class of 27, looked like this one. I hope you can appreciate the maturity in this.
Last night I couldn’t fall asleep, and when I eventually did I couldn’t stay asleep. I have dealt with severe emotional disturbances for as long as I can remember. I was diagnosed and treated for bi polar disorder at 13. Although I am much more in control of my emotions today, I still have a hard time dealing with this immense amount of pain inside of me. Sometimes I get so worked up and feel too much that my sleep and speech is affected. Sometimes even my writing gets odd. It is hard to explain… in short, I just hurt.
When my alarm went off today I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack. I dressed myself and sobbed. On the bus I picked at my fingers and contemplated calling out sick.. because I FELT sick and alone and shaky. Then I saw my kids and I knew they needed me after a 3 day break from school. However, when I noticed one of my most amazing 5th graders acting a bit off today during Art Therapy… I couldn’t bring myself to comfort him. I asked him “Jovaan, what’s up? you okay? you look sad.” all he could to was shrug his shoulders and say “I’m just… I don’t know.. not with it.”
Now let me tell you, Jovaan is my bright light. On dark days he is my brightest light and often keeps ME “with it.” His enthusiasm and his love for me as another human being pours out of him constantly. Today, his spark was gone and all I could do was rub his nappy little head and tell him I was here if he needed me.
Today I felt like a failure. My fear, my anxiety, my loneliness… it all got in the way of a very special bond I have with a very special young man.
For a select few, a break from school is not a something to look forward to. One of my usually optimistic students said to me recently that she was scared to go home. I held her and we both cried a bit. I said, “listen, when I was your age I was scared to go home, too. It doesn’t even feel like a home, does it?” she shook her head and I went on “but look, when you’re older you can make your own holiday any way you want. Have hope. I did, and now I’m here with you.” I walked her to her bus and before she got on she latched on to me. From her window she smiled and waved goodbye.
This time of year, when most of you are warm with your families, some of us are very much alone. I am very close to my students, and right now, most of them are in panic mode. 5 consecutive days off for Thanksgiving isn’t anything to celebrate.
There weren’t really holidays in family. My mom celebrated by trying to cook while under the influence of meth and vodka. If the meal actually made it completion, everything just tasted like butter. My dad used to say to me “I don’t give a shit about holidays, just another day to me.” If you got enough of us together in a room for more than 15 minutes it was a guaranteed brawl. My mom would be pulling someone’s hair out of their scalp, easy.
I am 23 years old, an educator of over 400 children, have lived on my own for years and years, and still I am terrified to visit my father over christmas break. I don’t know if I’d ever admit that to my students, though.
On a brighter note, here are some recent projects:
5th grade studying ancient egyptian art. We made clay molds and to produce plaster tiles
wish I could trust the internet enough to post pictures of my kids’ faces. The picture I have of Sameen’s holding this tile was awesome. He was cheesin’ real hard. LOVE seeing them that proud!
pulling tiles!
old, but PLASTER SUGAR SKULLS FOR DAY OF THE DEAD!!!! luv this guy’s teefs
I wish I didn’t get as frustrated as I do. I never YELL directly at my kids, but I do raise my voice (it is an art room with 27+ children all talking at once). I’m worried that my loud mouth might scare my students from time to time, although I never observed any of them seeming anxious.
Regardless, after all of that nonsense went down with my 5th grader, I felt a little broken for a bit. I had a big conference with his mother and it was pretty awful. He almost confessed to lying but his overbearing, pushy parent prevented that from happening. I guess I’m over it…. I’m sure I’ll be dealing with a lot more ridiculous bullshit as the years go on.
Currently in art class we have the following:
- printmaking with Kindergarten (using fresh leaves and Styrofoam plates)
- Day of the Dead skeleton paintings with 1st graders (love having my wittle puerto rican kids pronounce “Dia de Los Muertos” for the class)
- India Batik scarves (with crayon, tempera, and paper) for 2nd - Finishing up Ojo de Dios (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_eye) weavings with 3rd grade and then moving on to Native American art
- 4th graders are exploring the ancient Maya civilization and creating reliefs in gold foil
- 5th graders JUST finished their chuck close portraits, painted their background with bright acrylic paint, and are now moving on to sugar skulls for Dia de Los Muertos.
some pictures:
The art room gets a smart board!!!! Here are the 4th graders discussing the surrealist work of Salvador Dali. They were really into finding things hidden in his images - couldn’t get through all the slides because they wouldn’t stop commenting!
I maade this grip for Aljonae, my 5th grader with cerebral palsy. she usually uses a computer to write, but I wanted her to still be able to draw in art class.
I discovered potential visual dyslexia in a kindergarten student while using letters in art.
Recent works:
Clearly VERY proud of 5th graders Caitlyn and Jovaan for doing SO well on their Chuck Close grid portraits. After this, they picked a solid color and painted the background. The grid is basically unnoticeable in the finished pieces.
observational object studies using warm and cool colors
Finished: Quadir’s pear. Love the cool color one
Finished: Terrance’s bottles
see ya!
Never thought I’d have a student HATE me… but I definitely do. One particular student, now a 5th grader, just may be out to get me. I had issues with his negative attitude (dirty looks/eye rolling/non-verbal disruptions/refusing to do work/excessive talking/harassing other students/etc) last year and met with his parents. On Friday the attitude reached a new level. I simply could not handle the dirty looks, especially when I had other students saying “WHY ARE YOU LOOKIN AT MS. G. LIKE THAT?” So, after getting the rest of the class working, I called him over to my desk.
“See this?” I asked, waving a disciple referral in the air. “This is your last warning before I send this home. I don’t care if you like me or not - it does NOT change the fact that I care about you, your art work, and your learning. You are hurting my feelings with all the disrespect you’ve been showing me. Last chance to shape up.” Again, he got huffy but nodded that he understood. I watched him walk back to his seat and throw himself into it. I rolled MY eyes this time and 10 minutes later, went over to help him with his work.
This morning, my principle came into my room and told me that one of my 5th graders went home and told his mother “Ms. G. said that on Saturday she was coming into the school and throwing out all of our projects.” I almost let out a string of curses. Seriously? Seriously one of MY kids said this? “Look,” I said, almost in tears “I NEVER throw out any student work. I have a box of finished pieces from last year in my storage closet because some kids did not want them.” I then yanked open my filing cabinet and ripped out a stuffed manilla folder labeled ‘Gifts from students 2009-2010’ “See this? I literally keep EVERYTHING” tearing through it I showed him goofy little drawings and crumped papers with “I love you Ms. G.!” scribbled on them. With my level of irritation he told me he knew I was a devoted teacher and would never say such a thing. I told him immediately that I was almost certain it would be the 5th grader that I had issues with, and whose parents I reached out to several times last year. When I gave his last name he smiled, nodded, and said my guess was in fact correct.
You never want to dislike a student, but it is real easy to be disappoint and let down. I am livid that any parents, especially this particular pair, would believe such a terrible thing about a teacher that has gone above and beyond to help. I see over 400 students and have taken ridiculous amounts of time out for your kid’s bad attitude…….. and you still think I’m to blame?
That one little thing put a damper on my entire day. I have to get better at brushing things off.