Teaching for Artistic Behaviors

I just received this month's issue of Arts & Activities magazine and right there on page 14 is an article all about choice-based art at the high school level.  I received an email a few months back from Nan Hathaway asking if I would contribute an article to the magazine. I knew right away what I wanted to write about, teaching Artistic Behavior units.

What's an Artistic Behavior unit you ask? Well, its a unit based on how artists think and work. When I first started teaching high school, I based my units on media (painting unit, printing unit, ceramics unit, etc). However, I quickly realized this was too limiting. Next, I created units based on the elements and principles of art. (i.e. instead of a painting lesson i would teach a unit on color theory.) This was better but it still was limiting. I needed some way to teach students not just to make art but to become artists. That's when Melissa Purtee and our Apex team spent a summer coming up with the idea of Artistic Behavior units.

An Artistic Behavior unit should be designed broad enough to encompasses many different ways of thinking and making art. In the article, I describe just a few of the units including Artists Observe, Artists Steal, Artists Solve Problems and Artists are Self Learners. Click on the link here to read the article online and learn more about Artistic Behavior units.

Hey, Where Are Purtee & Sands? NAEA15

Update!

If you were looking for just one word to describe New Orleans, “colorful” would certainly fit the bill. Add a few thousand art teachers to the mix, and the hue and saturation levels of the city were only enhanced. Just like the colors on the color wheel, the people, events and exhibits at the 2015 NAEA Convention blended together to make up a pretty spectacular whole. 

At The Art of Education, we broke the convention into different categories and assigned each a color. Whether you attended the convention or not, we’re hoping this article goes deep into some of the lesser-known aspects of this year’s event. Read the full article here!

Did you happen to catch Purtee and Sands presentation The Open Art Room: Choice Teaching for Upper Level Teaching? Were you looking to view the presentation online? Well, click here to view it online!

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The following was posted before the Convention...

Actually, they are on their way to New Orleans for the National Art Education Association's 2015 Conference. What's that you ask? Well, its a gathering of around 5,000 art teachers from all over the country. We all get togehter for three days worth of events and presentations. 

Speaking of presentation, not only are Purtee and Sands attending, the are also presenting. 

Our presentation, The Open Art Room: Choice Teaching for Upper level Teaching will be on Saturday at 12 Noon. If you're at the convention, you should consider stopping by! 

One last thing. During the conference, Sands is making the book, Project Flop: Good Lessons From A Bad Teacher available as a free download! That's right, if you have a Kindle just click this link and download Project Flop.

OK that's it for now but there is a lot more to come...

Hey, Where did all the Art Teachers Go? NCAEA14

Wondering where your art teacher was on Friday? At the NC Art Education Association Conference in New Bern, NC. And not just hanging out but presenting as well!

Above, Ms Sudkamp giving this presentation -->

The Art Portal: Everything Art Students Need In One Place
Click Here to view the Portal!

Imagine if your students had access to hundreds of inspiring artworks, organized by categories, that they could view to ignite their creativity. Imagine if they had 24/7 access to a wide variety of easy to follow online tutorials they could watch over and over again. Imagine if they had everything they needed to self-assess their art making from a personal context. Imagine if all this was one click away. We will tell you everything you need to know in order to design, develop and implement an Art Web Portal.

Ms. Purtee giving this presentation -->

The Open Art Room: Choice Teaching for Upper Level Classes
Click here to view the presentation online

Have you considered incorporating TAB or Choice in your middle or high school class but weren't sure how to implement? Study after study shows a positive correlation between student choice and engagement. With the Open Art Room we will look at different strategies for incorporating choice in your classroom. We will explore practical, real class examples of theme based lessons. We’ll discuss classroom management strategies and tackle questions about assessments.

Here we see Mr Sands in an empty room pretending he is giving a presentation, lol! He wants to fit in.

NCMA Teen Inspired Think Tank

Kimberly Sudkamp and Michelle Harrell present collected notes to the group

Melissa Purtee, Kimberly Sudkamp, and Ian Sands spent the last two days taking part in a think tank with the quest of re-imagine the NCMA's Teens Inspired program. 

The think tank encapsulated two ideas. First, brainstorming ways to transform the Teens Inspired exhibit into a more student centered approach. Second, developing ideas for connecting two schools using the NC Museum of Art as a hub.

Jack Watson explains his group's proposal

Other educators involved in the think tank included Art 21 Fellow and Chapel Hill High School art teacher Jack Watson, mixed-media fiber artists and East Wake art teacher Megan Bostic and choiced-based art educator and coauthor of the Journal Junkies Workshop Eric Scott to name a few.

The future of the program looks exciting as it continues to develop a professional learning community of educators set on exploring a flipped museum experience through student directed initiatives. 

Melissa Purtee explains her group's proposal
You can be sure Apex will continue to be involved not only with continued teacher planning but student engagement in many of the upcoming activities.

It's Summer! The Art Teachers Must Be Sitting by the Pool, Right?

Actually, the Apex Art Teachers and friends have a busy two weeks ahead of them. Here are a few of the items on our agenda...

AOE Conference Summer 2014
Thursday, July 17th

Ian Sands will be presenting "Beyond Collaboration - Connecting Sister Schools" Imagine if two schools decided to work together in a true exchange of ideas, over an extended period of time, with open dialogue and communication.In this presentation you will learn everything needed to partner with a Sister School. You will gain proven project ideas, explore the best methods of communication, and learn which technology can be used to ensure a successful Sister School collaboration.















TAB/ Mass College of Art and Design Summer Institute
Wednesday, July 18th

Speaking of Sister Schools, Colleen Rose will join Ian Sands as they share their experiences teaching their style of choice based art education with fellow high school art teachers. This workshop is part of week long course and is the only course exclusively offered by the founders of Teaching for Artistic Behavior. This course is available for graduate credit.

NCMA Teen Inspired Thinktank
Wednesday and Thursday July 23-24

Melissa Purtee, Kimberly Sudkamp, and Ian Sands will take part in a thinktank of educators who will re-imagine the NCMA's Teens Inspired exhibition and plan an online resource for students. Participants will brainstorming how to transform Teens Inspired to a more student centered approach.

Right along with all these exciting activities, we've still been very busy planning our new units.. and these aren't your momma's art teacher's units! Each unit we are developing is based, not solely on making art but on being an artist. We took a long look at what artist do, created a list of possible artist behaviors, and scrubbed the list down to our top seven. Take a look, click here!

So, How Was NAEA14 in San Diego?

For Spring break I flew to sunny San Diego for the 2014 National Art Education Association Conference. That was fun! Here is a quick look at the people, place and presentations I met, went to, was involved with...

The Place:

The conference was held in downtown San Diego right next to the Gaslamp District. It was also pretty close to Pacific Beach (see photo above). I tell you what, I liked this place. Except everyone in California runs.. after a while I felt like yelling at them to sit down and take a break!

San Diego is not far from LA and there is a lot of famous street art in LA.

Now, there is a lot of street art in San Diego...

No, actually I created both these on my iPad on the plane ride back. Virtual street art :)


The People:

On Sunday Morning I joined the old gang for a Davis sponsored coffee Art 2.0 Meet Up. This is an amazing line up of educators including Tricia Fuglestad, Theresa McGee, Craig Roland and Art 21 Star Samantha Melvin to name a few..

Janine Campbell was there, participating in International Bring A Scone To Art Class Day.. keeping it international because she is from Canada.. well, Michigan, but close enough.

I also had a chance to hang out with a few of my Teaching for Artistic Behaviors friends like Katherine Douglas. Here I am sitting with Nan Hathaway. She is my new BFF as you can tell because she sat right next to me.

I also spent some time with the Art of Education peeps! Cassie Stephens who has a new art related outfit every day, Mr. E who has a new bulletin board every week, and Jessica Balsley to whom I send 4 new articles every month. Wow, I saw a lot of people!


The Presentations:

The one complaint anyone can have about an NAEA conference is that there are too many great sessions to choose from! I'll tell you upfront if there was one session that was my "Wow" session it was Art 21: Teaching With Contemporary Art. It reminded me of all the great things theme based teaching has to offer. So more of that to come! I also sat in on some great TAB/Choice sessions. So yes, more student direct teaching to come.

In between going to sessions I also presented. Above is from the ignite session. it was 20 slides in 5 minutes. The slides change automatically so you have to talk quickly.

Above are a few photos someone took from that same presentation and posted on Twitter.  Interesting, the slides chosen..

* Opening slide,
* International Scone Day slide,
* Nicholas Sparks same stuff inside different shell outside slide,
* and Picasso was a jerk slide.

Photo of the sun setting on the last night in San Diego...

Hey! Where Did Mr Sands Go? #NAEA14

If you're looking for me you better be heading to California! This week I will be attending the 2014 NAEA National Convention in San Diego, CA.

So first, if you’re a convention attendee, you are probably looking for that free book. Well here is the link! 

Project Flop: Good Lessons From a Bad Teacher

Free download: Click Here!

Now, the 2014 NAEA National Convention? What's that you ask? It's a gathering of more than 5,000 visual art teachers, university professors and museum educators. We all get together with the common goal of advancing art education.

Presenting You Say?

Yes! Not only am I attending but I'm also presenting. How exciting, yes I know! Chances are I might even talk about a project you worked on or even show a photo of your art.

On Saturday I'll be co-presenting with Jessica Balsley on a presentation titled Using iPads in the Art Room. Jessica is the founder of the Art of Education blog. Did you know that I was a contributing writing for the Art of Education? See, you learn something new every day!

So Sunday morning, between 11 and 12, I'll be at the Art Of Ed booth #310 for a Meet and Greet! The AOE Team will be representing this year’s NAEA Convention. they  will have 8 great team members in attendance! Alecia Eggers, Derek Balsley, Jessica Balsley, Kelly Berwager, Nic Hahn, Sarah Dougherty,  Sarah Welch and me!.  Stop by and say hi!

On Sunday I'll be co-presenting with Robb Sandagata, Sherri Fisher and Jack Watson. That’s a pretty amazing lineup! We are presenting New Weird Ideas! How appropriate :)

Then, also on Sunday, I’ll be presenting in the main ballroom! Yes, the one that holds everyone! So needless to say, I’m a bit nervous about that one... It’s the Ignite Session. 20 slides in five minutes!

As a special added bonus I'm pretty sure that Davis Publications will be handing out free copies of the April issue of SchoolArts Magazine that just happens to include and article about the Singing Tiger project we did right here at Apex High School! 

So that’s the deal. I’ll be back after Spring Break and if this year is anything like last year, I’ll be coming home with some very innovative ideas that will keep Apex at the Peak of Great Art making!!

Oh, one more thing... Look for my business cards. They come complete with crayons so no matter what, at least you can have fun coloring in the Zonkey!!

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AOE Conference Winter 2014

On January 25, 2014, Apex High School art teacher Ian Sands will be presenting at the AOE Winter Conference!

'Project Flop: Good Lessons From A Bad Teacher' - Ian Sands (AOE Team) 

All project start off with the best intentions. Whether you create the lesson from scratch or borrow it from someone else, in your mind you envision success. You write your lesson trying to plan for every situation that may arise. The supplies are laid out, a presentation and a demo are reviewed and practiced, and everything should go off without a hitch. 

Then, be it fate, a misalignment of the planets or perhaps the art gods are angry, the lesson falls apart. Regardless of your preparation the students don’t understand. As for your enthusiasm, the class simply doesn’t share your zeal for the project. You try to pull it all together but in the end, for lack of a better word, it fails. Worse off, you take it personally. You feel like you failed. You will be happy to know that you’re in good company.

Check out the conference info here!

What Mr Sands Did On Summer Vacation

Tomorrow, June 25th, I (ian sands) will be presenting at the Art Of Education 2013 Online Conference.. How very exciting! Yes, I know! And not only presenting but I'm first! Feeling pretty good about being the opening act :)

There are two parts to this conference.  The first part is a pre-recorded video that goes live for attendees tomorrow at 11am EST. The second half is a live chat during the same time where I will try to answer questions. It should be fun! 

So what's my presentation about? Well, here is the intro...

Art Vs Education!

Art teachers are creative beings. We teach a creative subject with creative materials. However, the bureaucracy of education; pacing guides, standards and even the curriculum can jab, punch and often KO an art teacher’s creative endeavor. In this presentation we’ll toe the line with the issues that put art teachers up against the ropes and we’ll learn how to knock those concerns out of the ring. Let’s get ready to rumble!

How Was the NAEA13 Convention in Texas?

I'm back from my trip to the National Art Educator Association's 2013 Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Look, they hung up "Art Matters" banners all around town because they knew we were coming. Mayor Betsy Price even gave a formal proclamation.

Anyhow, since so many people have asked me, "How was Texas?" I thought I should write a short post highlighting just a few of the events.

The photo above is from one of the general sessions. Most everyone attends these sessions that are held in the ballroom. Not sure if you can count them all but there are probably some 4,000 art teacher present. So I guess there were a lot of subs back home. I was sitting on the floor when I took this photo cause there weren't any seats left.

Besides the general sessions that everyone attends, there are break out sessions going on all day long. I attended many of these sessions. The photo above is of Olivia Gude who is one of my art teacher heros. Doesn't it look like she is pointing at me? I think she was pointing at me :)

This is a session with Jessica Balsley. If you don't recognize the name you might recognize the blog. She is the founder of the Art of Education blog. it's the one we received our blog award from. She even mentioned our blog during her presentation.

So this is where it gets kind of corny. I am friends with a lot of art teachers on Twitter. Some, like  Jessica Balsley, I had not even met in person till this week. Still, we help each other out, share lesson ideas and information online all the time. We call it our PLN (personal learning network). 

Just for fun, we all decided to buy super hero shirts to wear from Ink Pixi to the conference. One of the teachers, Stacy Lord, made the image of us as lego people. On Saturday morning we all met in person for coffee. It was a chance for a first time photo opp. I'm the 3rd lego from the right.

Part of the convention includes a huge room full of venders who sell art supplies and the like. One of those venders is Davis Publications. Not only does Davis publish a lot of art ed text books, they also publish the art ed magazine, SchoolArts.

Davis is so nice that they gave away this month's issue of SchoolArts. In this month's issue of SchoolArts is an article about a project we did right here at Apex High School. Hannah (seen above) was nice enough to let me take a photo of her holding up the magazine turned to the article.

Not only did I attend the conference but I was a presenter. Seen above, I'm presenting about one fo the Computer Art projects titled the Barbie Project. To the left of the photo is my con-presenter Robb Sandagata.

Craig Roland and I (who I claim responsible for really helping start our PLN) looking super!


There was way more.. too much to post. I will tell you that I got a lot of great ideas!! For example, after compiling all the information, I have a new approach to teaching that will really empower the student to make choices with his or her art. I plan to roll out in Art Two next year.

Stay tuned!!

Ian Sands

Hey, Where's Mr. Sands?

If you're looking for me you better be heading to Texas. This week I will be attending the 2013 NAEA National Convention in Fort Worth.

What's that you ask? It's a gathering of more than 5,000 visual art teachers, university professors and museum educators. We all get together with the common goal of advancing art education.

Presenting You Say?

Yes! Not only am I attending but I'm also presenting. How exciting, yes I know! Chances are I might even talk about a project you worked on or even show a photo of your art.

On Friday I'll be co-presenting with Craig Roland, Tricia Fuglestad and Elizabeth Delacruz on a presentation titled Connected Art Educators: The Art of Leveraging Social Media to Build a Personal Learning Network. We will share tips and tricks on starting and growing a personal learning network.

If that doesn't float your boat, on Saturday I'll co-present with Robb Sandagata. Our presentation titled,  New Weird Ideas will present projects that challenge conventional art education and involve communities outside of the classroom. That should be interesting!

As a special added bonus I'm pretty sure that Davis Publications will be handing out for free copies of the March issue of SchoolArts Magazine which just happens to include an article about a project we did right here at Apex High School. 

If I see you in Texas, don't forget to ask for my card.. here's what it looks like..

NAEA12 : The Trip

This is a quick look into a day in the life of an NAEA12 guy..

I get up every morning from alarm clock's warning take the 6:15 into the city..

Well, right out of the box, went to a conference and Craig Roland is there stalking me. He was all like, "Ian take our picture, take our picture." You know how he gets all excited like that.

I also went to this girl's session. I don't know who she is but she seemed nice. She kept pushing me to put my student's artwork on the web. Like that will ever happen!

I guess all the travel makes some people sick. I felt bad for whomever it was that threw up all over this wall. Look how much he threw up!

I think Bob Dylan took this painting (or one like it) from Andy Warhol as payment after Dylan did a screen test for Andy. I heard he later traded it for a sofa.

The next day I went to the tweet up at Starbucks and met with the lovely people from Davis. That is Nancy Walkup checking to see if I have tweeted her.

Samantha Melvin won some award for being great. I thought she should have gotten a tiara.

Robb Sandagata begging Amy Bonner to come to TASK



Robb Sandagata begging me to come to TASK

Picasso was a jerk!

the end