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!

It's Like our Work is Your Work

An art teacher posted on Facebook, Last year one of my 5th graders said to me, 'Wow, Mrs. M, it's like our work is your work!'...

Aka, How to sneak your student's artwork into an exhibit ...

New ideas but for now... Summer!

Back in March, Mr Sands had the opportunity to meet with many outstanding art educators at 2013 NAEA National Convention in Fort Worth. The exchange of ideas was fantastic and it really got us thinking ahead for the 2013-14 school year.

From those talks, our crack team of educators here at Apex HS developed a new set of goals. We will spend the summer devising a new approach to teaching and learning art. In fact, you can tell we already started. Just look at the board!

So go to the pool, sit back in your lounge chair and soak up the sun. Be well rested. You're gonna need it!

Till then... Have a Great Summer!!

Doodling in the Class!

This year, instead of taking notes in Art History, I wanted the students to create visual journals. I thought the addition of their own drawings along with any notes would be more beneficial, especially to the visual learner. Then I saw a video by Rachel Smith at TEDxUFM titled Drawing in class. That confirmed everything I was thinking. I played this for my students on the last day of school. They yelled at me, "Why didn't you show this at the beginning of the year!"



A first, some students had trouble with the concept. They were still stuck on taking notes. Their journals looked more like they were taking notes in history class than art. As the year progressed, they loosened up more and more. Here are some of the pages from this year’s class.