Erase or Trace

Pencil lines are temporary.  So are many things in life.  I tell my school kids that once they have drawn something, they have to decide what needs to stay and what needs to go.  If it stays it gets traced.  Sometimes with marker, sharpie, colored pencil, pen, crayon or whatever.  If it goes-well then you have to erase it.

How is that for a life lesson?  Every day so many things happen to each of us, and we have to decide (figuratively) whether to erase it (let it go) or trace it (keep it in our life).  Granted, most - if not all of my students are far too young to comprehend this as a life lesson, but some of them "get it".

Five or was it six years ago my husband of more than two decades left our family.  Don't get sad-he didn't die, he walked.  Anyways I had to decide about many things-would I erase it or trace it?  What I discovered is that there are many things in our lives that are just fine being erased.  While I will agree that feelings are probably the hardest thing to erase or let it go (be honest how many of you have Idina Menzel singing in your head right now?) wouldn't it be so much easier if life came with a great big eraser?  We could just erase things in our past that we didn't want to remember-some fashions and hairdos from the 80's come to mind!

Here is the interesting thing.  Since many small children have such a death-grip on their pencils, their papers become embossed and when they erase lines they find that when they color over those erased lines, well there is a "ghost" of a line that remains.  The same is true with life- we may erase, or forget, or cease to acknowledge past events, but there is that embossing that remains on our souls.  We never totally get rid of those events, they make us who we are.  However, the things that we choose to trace, or emphasise truly define who we are.

The same is true of children's artwork.  Many times I have had a student fretting over those embossed lines that never seem to go away.  What I tell them is that there is the proof that you have tried, you have worked hard to finish this project!  By NOT tracing those lines and tracing others you have shown the world what you really want them to see.

We have all worked hard to be the person that we want to become.  Many of us have lines in our past or in our artwork that we wish would just disappear, but sometimes, those lines are there to stay.  Art is life and life is art.  Some lines we just have to deal with.  However, what we choose to trace (or emphasis) truly defines not only our artwork but also ourselves.

You may be surprised just how many of your young students will totally understand this.  He or she may not be able to erase a moment in their past-but they can choose to emphasise the great moments.

Fast is NOT Fabulous

Think about what kids hear for a good portion of their school day.

"You need to read faster"
"Can you complete your timed test of math facts faster"
"Hurry up, we have to leave"
"Lunch is almost over, hurry up and eat faster"
"The bell has rung, you had better hurry"
"Move along"

Yes, we have all met those kids that are slower than molasses in the winter, BUT when you think about it, many of the tasks that kids are completing at school, are things they are also learning at school.  The basic school day is driven by the clock and general ed teachers have about a thousand and one things that must be accomplished--times however many students happen to be in their room.
As a visual arts teacher, my day is also driven by the clock.  Class starts at a specific time, and I have to be ready.  Class also ends at a specific time and the students have to leave because they have somewhere else to be at that time, and I also have another group of students arriving.  Report cards, progress reports and grades are due on a specific date.  Bells ring, schedules and time tables must be met.

Now consider the creative process, whether creating art or problem solving-it just doesn't run on the same time table.  How many times have you had a great idea, or figured out a solution to a problem while in the shower? Or driving to work? How do you get students to relax, not worry about being first, and create on their own time table while simultaneously convincing administrators and parents that even though Johnny doesn't have a grade yet he is working very hard-he just needs more time?

Well....you don't.  All you can do is try to explain the process and hope that by the end of the quarter, semester or even the year that all of your students have something wonderful for the art show.  What I choose to spend my time on is the students.  If I can get them to realize that "Fast is NOT Fabulous" and that just because someone else finished before them it does NOT mean that that person's work is superior!

This is yet another process.  That I work on with the kids.  Every day.  Every project.  Because no matter how hard I try many of them still seem to think that there is a prize for being first, and as soon as one child is "done" those that are "not done" instantly begin to feel inferior.  And I have no idea why!  Perhaps it has something to do with today's fast paced world.  Instant downloads and instant gratification seem to have greater appeal than waiting for something wonderful to happen.

Just as the tortoise once beat the hare, I hope that someday the process of creating something uniquely wonderful will be regarded as important as how fast you can solve 100 division problems!

Off The Page

At some point in time the phrase "Off the Hook" became mainstream for meaning bigger and better than life- well sort of in a way!  Off the page is a way of drawing that I want my students to become comfortable with-as a way of saying "My drawing (idea) is SO BIG that this piece of paper cannot possibly contain it!!"

Think about it-whenever you take a photograph-I don't care if it's a selfie, or vacation, or an important moment in your life, or even a staged photo (think family photos) there is always always something happening just outside of the camera's lense.  It makes you realize that there was more to the moment than what is captured by the picture.  Well the same is true for artwork!  As soon as the drawing goes off the page it is instantly implied that there is more to the work than simply what is portrayed in the artwork.

The same is true with life-I want to live a life that is so huge it cannot be contained by one drawing, or one piece of paper!  And of course, I want the same for my students!  I want each and every one of them to live every day a life that cannot be contained by any measurement, not just the confines of a single page or frame.

This is another one of those things that I want to teach my students.  Not only should their ideas be bigger than the page, but hopefully (if they want it) their lives will be bigger than any page could contain.

In today's education system where absolutely every teacher must be concerned about the bottom line (think testing) and rightfully so-after all there are so many people in government telling us how to teach (and must I remind you of the old adage "told is not taught")  there are so few of us who have the ability to teach children to reach for the stars and that if they can dream it they can do it! We as art educators owe it to our students to allow them to dream about life "off the page".

What do you have on your walls?

When I first started teaching I scoured the "teacher stores" looking for just the right posters to hang up in my room-after all the kids really pay attention to the stuff on the walls....right? Well after a few years I realized that what the kids really pay attention to is the stuff that teachers convince them is really important and most teachers tend to put that stuff on the walls.

Actually my first year I didn't really have any walls-well I did part of the time.  The rest of the time I was "Art on a Cart" (which I am convinced is a right of passage for all art teachers).  Then for a couple of years I had literally one of the smallest rooms in the building and I LOVED IT!!!! First of all it didn't have wheels! and second of all it had (get this) a SINK! and not only a sink- but a sink with a counter that was kid height!  Then after a couple of years they knocked out the wall between my tiny room and the tiny room next door and gave the room to me! The art teacher! With her own beautiful room- with a sink and lots of square footage and a tile floor!  (When I was in the tiny room it had carpet-yes an art room with carpet) but when the two rooms were combined they laid a tile floor.  The only downside to this room was that nothing would stick to the walls.  I tried sticky tack in every color and combination, masking tape, duct tape, nothing worked.  Then one day a student gifted me with some double sided 3-M "guaranteed to stick" tape and guess what.....it worked!  Needless to say this was the most expensive stuff that the craft store sold to stick stuff to the walls....which led me back to....what do I really want to put on my  classroom walls?

Since I am convinced that the kids value what I say over what is hung on my walls, and that they only pay attention to what I actually DRAW their attention to....I decided to put reminders to myself on my walls, so that I would remember to tell them very important things- on a regular basis.  I mean if I am only going to see each kid for a couple of hours a school year-I can't waist time with the unimportant.

Over the years I have discovered that there are several things I want to teach my students-not only about art, but also about life!  These are the things that are on my walls, and unfortunately most of them do not exist in ready-made form at a teacher store.  So I have been making my own.  What I have discovered is that not only do my posters teach my students about art-but also about life.

In my district there has been a recent question about "are we teaching the soft skills?" or not?  Basically "soft skills" are what make us successful people, and meaningful members of society.  So what is on my walls? Reminders to myself-about the things I want my students to learn to become successful people!

This particular poster "Fast is NOT Fabulous"  Is my reminder to tell students that there is no prize for first place in life.  While reading fast, completing math facts test fast, and lining up fast are all very valuable skills in elementary school-none of these things matter much once you become an adult.  What does matter is fabulous!

 So take your time, do a good job, and don't worry so much about being fast or first!  Concentrate instead on being fabulous!