Planning Planning Planning. More Planning.

Whoops! Well, I lost track of time. A one day check-out became a week of intense planning. It's getting that time. We're cranking out lessons, and structures, and processes so that we are good and ready August 20th. And as I actually materialize things, I become more motivated to cross the finish line. Al..mossstt.. theerre.

I'm creating a workbook-style packet for each class. Last year, I passed out lessons as we went, but that turned into quite the challenge. Our students have lots of absences. Maternity leave and baby appointments will do that to yah. We also have open enrollment so students arrive in late October!  It was a struggle making sure students got all of their material.  Gathering documents to catch a student up takes away from  instructional time. I don't want that this time around.  This year, I want everything to be outlined and organized for them... and for me. I love those packets you get at conferences....so why not have 'em for class?!

The Syllabus is looking good. hmm. Maybe I'll post that...!? (In this moment I'm realizing that's an awesome idea.)

I'm also adjusting my ideas for the problem solving/cartography class.  I met with our data people and helped identify the specific items we want to show growth in - which is of course good for me to know because I should probably teach that huh? We decided to focus on Rational Problem Solving Skills. How well can students do the following: 

1. Problem Definition and Formulation: Gather facts, identify obstacles, set specific goals. 

2. Generation of alternative solutions

3. Decision Making: consider & compare consequences

4. Solution Implementation and Verification: practice solution, evaluate, go back & try again. 

Really, this specific data isn't asking if students are able to solve their own challenges. It's asking do they have a framework to solve challenges with?  As I read over the 4 steps, it looked very familiar to me.... hmmm? 

*gasp* It's totally the Choose Your Own Adventure Series!!

Yeah. It's going down. Art ...Choose Your Own Adventure..problem solving....map making.....something....Group ..I'm figuring it out. 

I still think making Personal Geographies is a fantastic idea and may use later, but it doesn't quite meet the specific need I'm attempting to address.   

Whew! it's busy over here. Hope yall are well in the middle of July! 

July is a time to Re-calibrate

I love July. Not only because it's my birthday month, but because it feels like the middle! Although June is technically our halfway mark to the year, July just feels like a better checkpoint of sorts. And what a great opportunity to evaluate our visions.

This is especially on my mind as I pull up mint.com and realize...where is my money!? Hmm. Looks like I've made some choices that has made my budget very. very. small. Gasp! ughh. and although I'm frustrated that this is the point I've arrived at, this is a perfect time to reflect and re-calibrate.

• What do you want to accomplish by December?
• Why do you want to accomplish these things?
•  ( oh yeah - there was a reason I stopped buying polish at Ulta). 
• What things are going well that's moving you toward your goals?
• What's not working so well, and how can you adjust?

So this is awesomely serendipitous because I'm planning a group for the fall: Goal Setting. But of course it's not called Goal Setting because That. Is. B-O-R-I-N-G. and of course - duh. it includes art-making!

Inspired by Personal Geographies, Taking Charge, Tackling the Tough Skills, Lisa Sonora Beam and my own love of vision boards, I'm helping students identify steps in the problem solving process- through cartography. 

Yeah. Cartography. Neat!

I first fell in love with maps reading My Father's Dragon

There will be castles, and mermaids, and treasures, and monsters, and ..well, more stuff. I'm in the middle of tinkering.  

But what perfect timing because of course -good instruction always includes a model example. and who better to do one than me! I'm also taking volunteers to test this out with me. Who wants to make a ___________?! (hmm. I need a cool name...) 

Be the Change

This week I did not do a lot of curriculum planning. I've been helping out other teams with summer programs. I gave a presentation on stress management to recent alum who are going to college, and I made personalized  place-mats for our Family Engagement Self Care Tea Party. It's nice to interact with the students.  (I forget !)

I have been thinking about my classes however. (When am I not is the real question).  I just wrapped up Art & Fear, and holy cannoli, I had shock face on the entire time. So validating and sooooo sad, and well - inspiring too. That book does it all. I was looking at reviews and some folks really hate it. Reviewers say it's stuff they already knew or that reading detracts from art making. Well - I'm not that reviewer! I think it's great. Thank you David and Ted for articulating something that I struggle with but could not verbalize.

Lately, I've been asking, "who teaches this stuff!?, why don't we teach this stuff?!" I've got to stop looking outside of myself for the magic that I already own.

...The greatest gift you have to offer your students is the example of your own life as a working artist.  There's a story told student who asked what courses he would be teaching the following term.  Replied Santayana: "Santayana I, Santayana II, and a seminar in Santayana III."

-Art & Fear

Yeah. I totally teach Donica I & Donica II. 

Now the challenge is to focus. I'm so excited - I feel like I have enough material for Donica University. huh?...not a bad goal, but I'm sure my semester long class will not appreciate that.

Developing an Artistic Style

I have lots of fear that prevents me from creating. I have no idea who I am as an artist. I don't know what I enjoy, I don't know what I look like.

Well - that's not true. I DO know what I look like. It happened by a fluke circumstance. In a 24hr  countdown panic, I could do nothing but let go and get the assignment done. and of course in letting go, that magical thing happens. It happened once. maybe twice.

That magical thing is not some unpredictable, show up randomly cosmic event.  It's a relationship the artist has with her genius. If you trust and practice with the unknown, the unknown shows up brilliantly, and you make not just cool stuff....but authentic stuff. Art that reflects you at your core...not just your amazing draw-an-apple skills.  More like....that-feel-good-this-looks-just-like-my-soul-stuff. That mmm-yes-I'm-committed relationship.  


I missed out on this. My degree made no space for yummy relationship building. I can recognize Hagia Sophia but I can't identify myself. 


The more that I plan for my classes, the clearer it's becoming that I want to teach what my own education lacked. And not because I have weird Art Therapist ego. I'm using my experience to recognize a need. Students benefit by falling in love with who they are. Don't we all? I want my students to fall in love with their genius. Discover their genius, paint their genius. To not be afraid. 


I want it for myself. 

I picked up Finding Your Visual Voice by Dakota Mitchell.  *Drool*  I'm teaching this to my Level  2 Class. THIS is what I want students to walk away with. "It explores how & why you paint and what you respond to visually and emotionally. [This book helps bring awareness] to the combination of instincts and feelings that encourages you to pick up a paintbrush and create work that is your own". Yummyyy.  Very structured & workbook style. 

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Howard  Thurman.

Tell Me Which Way I Ought To Go From Here?

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

                                                                                                -Alice in Wonderland. 

"How do we make it more likely - by our design - that more students really understand what they are asked to learn?"

*Understanding by Design, Wiggins and McTighe 

 I'm in the middle of major curriculum reconstruction. My supervisor and the previous art therapist passed on fantastic lessons and a context to teach those lessons, and now I'm trying my best to document it. This process makes me very aware of the gaps between what I expect students to know, and what I actually teach them; what's gold, and what may get in the way. 

Handy for me, backwards design is very similar to setting therapeutic goals, which I had lots of practice in my 2nd year of grad school. I say that because my peers will let you know -I wasn't gettin' it. And it's still hard to get. I'm spending hours thinking about outcomes, and evidence, and scaffolding. It will be worth it though because duh -you can't build a  house on the sand. 

So! Starting backwards....what's the point? What do I ultimately want students to understand?

• Art 1: Visual Literacy & Personal Definitions of Art. 
• What is Art? How and why is art used as a vehicle for communication

• Art 2:  Looking at Art & Artist Identity
• How do you evaluate art? What artists, mediums, and content inspire you?

"To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. it means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction"

-Stephen Covey

Artherapeducation

"Studying art and design involves inquiry, posing and solving problems, perseverance, re-purposing, taking risks, and persuading and inspiring....

...Students engaged in visual art and design gain confidence in communicating and defending their ideas and decisions, and demonstrate a strong sense of self-identity...

....Artists are able to transform, reorganize, and transfer understanding into personal renderings and interpretations of the world around them" 

-Colorado Department of Education 

Visual Art Standards

I think they're a bunch of Art Therapists ;)

It's really nice to see this written because folks wonder how art therapy is done in the classroom. I too wondered and questioned as an intern and a "first year" how I was going to combine the two worlds. Well, duh. they are not two worlds. 

Just teach art.