Glenwood City High Day Three

My third day at Glenwood City high was another informative experience in the art classroom. When I first got there, it was once again painting class. The Students were continuing studio production on there acrylic assignments. Each student was at a different place in the project, but they all worked well throughout the period. Some students were close to completing their compilation's, others were still designing them. One Student in particular had designed a very interesting and intricate logo design. It was some sort of flaming animal. It was highly detailed and asymmetrically balanced. He put the drawing in the schools projector and expanded in onto the painting paper.
Once again, drawing is not a pre-requisite for painting class, so most of the students were working off of photographs. The last student I mentioned was advanced and it was nice to see Mrs. Jones make accommodations for the skilled as well the other Students. Throughout the period the Students all advanced on their pieces and the period was quickly over.
In the afternoon, the advanced studio class worked on their individual projects in a wide variety of media. The most important thing that happened was one Students struggles and experiments with molding glass. She had cast several different colors of glass in plaster molds. Unfortunately, the plaster was stronger than the glass and there was no way to remove the glass without breaking it. Throughout the period the student, Mrs. Jones and Myself researched alternative methods of casting glass that might work for the Student. Ironically, it was the Student who proposed She use investment and that turned out to be a good solution to the artistic problem.
The final hour was an intro to life drawing assignment for a new group of eight graders. This is the group of eight graders Mrs. Jones will have for the rest of the Semester and I will present an assignment to them. Introducing Life Drawing to middle schoolers is ambitious to say the least, but Mrs. Jones did a good job of stressing the basics and I was able to help correct some of the larger proportional mistakes of some of the struggling students. Both Mrs. Jones and Myself were very impressed by the progress of these new students.

Glenwood City High Day Two

My second day at Glenwood City High School was another successful journey into the Art Education classroom. I made it to the studio at noon for painting class. The students had just completed the watercolor assignment, working with coloring and blending. I viewed a few of the students work and discussed how the project with some of the students. Most of them were done and moving along smoothly. The acrylic project was similar to the watercolor project in that it utilized the projector and found images. The students worked well and Mrs. Jones went from table to table helping students understand how to utilize the medium of acrylic paint. Mrs. Jones also gave a solid demonstration of some of Her favorite techniques.
Later that day I discussed some possible options for the lesson I will present. She had three different ideas for lessons. One was a bulletin board assignment that would be interactive, including a presentation on some interactive artists. Another idea was presenting an artist to the studio class. Finally, is the possibility that I could do a contour line assignment, complete with a presentation on life drawing.
When I asked Mrs. Mary Jones how She is evaluated by Her principle and how She prepare, She said She was evaluated every three years. This formal evaluation was a consistent form that the school board had to address standards across content areas. She said it was important to invite the principle in different types of class periods. That way you can show your demonstration skills as well as the teachers role as a facilitator. She also said it was important to invite the Principle during projects that you know will be especially successful.

Glenwood City High Day One

My first day at Glenwood City High School today. My co-operating teacher is Mrs. Mary Jones. I left early taking back-roads through some very scenic terrain in Western Wisconsin. I made it on time to the Glenwood City School District, which housed the High School. The first class was a painting class, they were finishing a three part assignment that included a color study, a monochromatic color study and a final water-color painting. They had just turned the first two and were working on the final composition. Since drawing wasn't a prerequisite they used projectors and then outlined them with an interesting product called maskoid. Then the Students water-colored the areas with at least four colors. Student skill level varied, but all of the Students were working steadily.
The next class was called Studio and offered a myriad of choices, encouraging the Student's to explore a variety of creative outlets. The theme of the Studio was puzzling things and Student's were taking that concept in a variety of directions. One Student was working with machines and the perception of them, whether confusing or something that was understood. One girl had finished Her project, a puzzle of woman's face's of different ethnic background. One Girl was making a large scaled ceramic piece, which would latter be a globe with countries missing. The projects were varied and interesting.
When I asked Mrs. Mary Jones why She chose to be a Art Education Professional, She said there were several factors. She is a Stout Graduate and began Her college career in Graphic Design. This reminded me of several people I know, including Yours Truly. Mrs. Jones said that She had become jaded by the competitive elements of the Design world. She thought back to all of Her Art Teachers and thought, "that seams like something I could do."
Overall, my day was successful and meeting Mrs. Jones was interesting and informative. I look forward to going there Wednesday Afternoons the Semester.

Will Feb. 13-19th represent the beginning of the END for Education in the state of Wisconsin?
VOTE NO ON WALKER's BUDGET BILL!

First Post

Avid blogger Nathan Netterlund here with the first post for my art education blog. I will journal my experience for Art Ed 308 here. I will describe my time and the things I have learned on this blog.

STAY TUNED!