"Ish" by Peter H. Reynolds

For my final blog I wanted to mention how wonderful and useful I found the book Ish by Peter H. Reynolds. Before I taught my first art class at Buckhorn elementary (grades 6/7), I read the book and we had a class discussion about why art is a developing process and that no one needs to be able to create a masterpiece on a first attempt. We also discussed how art can be meaningful to a person without having to be "perfect" and that just because something is not "perfect" does not mean it has no value. A piece of art can be "perfectish".

I referred to this book several times throughout my practicum to remind and encourage students to take their time, to take risks, and to be proud of their work if they are putting forth their best efforts. I wanted them to enjoy art and, in order to grow and get better at something; I know that students have to be motivated to improve. I did not want my students to become discouraged if their first attempts at creating were not exactly what they wanted.

We are all artists in training and we will only succeed if we believe in ourselves. I just wanted to let everyone know that this book was applicable to higher intermediate students so please do not be afraid to use Ish in your classrooms. The students LOVED it!!!

Holiday Concert

First of all, thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to work together to put on a fun and very entertaining concert. It was a well deserved break for me and I really enjoyed the production.

My role in the concert was to lead the Jingle Bell group (which to be honest I think was more of a cooperative effort rather than any lead effort by me), I also practiced with a few other talented peers to play the recorder for "Jingle Bells" and I practiced with another talented peer to provide some drumming for a few of the songs. I'm not quite sure what happened to "Drummer Boy" but it was really funny... :-)

I think the most rewarding experience for me was helping a few of my peers perfect the song “Jingle Bells” on the recorder. I tried very hard to think of the experience as I would in a classroom setting (except for the fact that I was dealing with adults and not children). I have a music background so I wanted to support my peers and help them succeed. I think we did a wonderful job and I'm very proud of my peers because they demonstrated courage playing a difficult song in front of everyone. Success!!! :-)
Again if anyone is interested in some of these pictures, please let me know.
PS: The food was delicious!!

Two Rivers Gallery

Today I went to the Two Rivers Galler and saw exhibitions by Nathalie Daoust and Ted Hibert. Nathalie's exhibition was called "Entre Quatre Murs" and according to the Two Rivers Gallery website (2008) she "photographed 30 women living in their home environments in Berlin. Capturing intimate moments in everyday surroundings, Daoust’s work conveys melancholic feelings of a lost world, caught somewhere between the Pre WW II interiors of her photographs and the contemporary women that inhabit them. Using a special technique she deconstructs this image, isolating and printing elements on separate layers of film that she then superimposes in order to reconstitute the image three-dimensionally. This Re-composition of image in space works like a transparent puzzle, revealing the unknown and perhaps even imaginary aspects of the individual".

I included both Nathalie's art and my version of her artwork. Nathalie's piece is called "Sailor", 2006. My piece is called "In Present Time", 2008 and it features me thinking about where I'd rather be in present time. My face is silly because humour brings stress relief and allows me to think of the important things in my life, like family. I think I could create interesting lesson plans for my grade 6/7 class based on this exhibit. We could discuss, among other things, mood, photography, and 3D versus 2D images and the effects each have. I could also have students use computer software to create their own pieces of art on transparencies.

According to the Two Rivers Gallery website (2008) "Ted Hiebert creates provocative images based on the human form. In this near dark environment Hiebert draws focus to his subject’s presence by using glow in the dark body paint and long exposures. Incorporating elements of different creatures into his photographs or by using complex composition of multiple human forms, Hieberts’s subjects evolve into a tangle of shapes and body parts that resemble some kind of odd hybrid. [Ted] used photographic techniques in low-level lighting conditions".

I have included some photographs of my glow in the dark body painting and some of my classmates' paintings as well. As you can tell the effect of the body paint art is much different when removed from the black-light dark room. If anyone wants copies, please send me an email.

NHL game is Entertaintment!

Go Canucks Go!!! I recently went to a Vancouver Canucks game in Vancouver for the very first time. I had no idea how entertaining it was. In addition to the hockey, there were lights, music and a music band played the national anthem. Every non-hockey moment was filled with music and cheering. I believe this entertainment experience was better than any concert I've ever been too. It's quite the production. I will definitely be going to see another game in the future. The energy in that building is nothing I've ever experienced before and it is a feeling I'm going to chase in the future. I've attached some photos that I believe capture some of the hockey magic. Alex even got to hold Luongo's stick when the goalie threw it over the glass for a young boy. So exciting!

Wedding Photography

I was recently looking at Faye's blog and was reminded that I wanted to add some wedding photos to my blog. Photography is a beautiful art that I believe captures memories and moments in time. I will forever cherish my wedding photographs and I chose share a few that I thought were more "artsy". Alex and I had a lot of fun coming up with interesting shots with our photographer as we wanted to capture the feeling of the day and our love for each other (ok so I'm being sappy... I don't care!) :-) The photographer had an eye for combining landscape with people and he used space well. I believe the black and white photos convey romance and simplicity. That said, I have many beautiful colour photos to see the true colours of the landscape and bridal theme.

More Art Show Pictures

As promissed...

UNBC Elementary Education Art Show

First of all, I would like to say that, in my opinion, the Art Show was a success. This success came despite a lack of media and despite a small elevator issue. I would like to apologize to the cohort for the lack of media. I contact the UNBC Communications Director, The Prince George Citizen, The Free Press and CKPG and, unfortunately, no one was represented. After the Art Show I sent another email to UNBC, along with a picture, that I am hoping will find its way to the front page of the UNBC website. Only time will tell. I believe that having the media present to celebrate events like this is very important for the student artists as it celebrates their successes in a public way. I have been able to acquire media for other events, so again, my apologies. If anyone is interested in some of the photos I took of the event, please send me an email (kerswell@unbc.ca). I have posted a few of the pictures to the blog for your viewing pleasure. :-)

Aparently I can not add any more images so I will create a second post with some other pictures.

Calligraphy Progress

I took the first calligraphy class with Willow and I wanted to share my first attempt. I will add more pictures once I make some progress.

My Bulletin Boards

I wanted to show how the outdoor bulletin baord evolved with student work and student identity. Each student and teacher is represented on the board as either a flower, insect or bird. The bulletin board, therefore, evolved into a way of showcases both student work and the classroom community.

I wanted to share the bulletin boards I made at Buckhorn Elementary to help brighten the classroom and to help focus attention to the SHARP start-up event. I wanted to create an out-door nature theme for the classroom so the classroom bulletin board was left general so that things could be added to it depending on the season. The SHARP bulletin board was created in the front entrance of the school. The event consisted of five workshops aimed at providing students with the social and behavioural skills necessary to be a successful member of the Buckhorn school community. Each workshop represented one of the five letters from the acronym SHARP. In each of the workshops, the students were taught what it means to be safe, helpful, accountable, respectful and positive. The staff worked cooperatively to coordinate the workshops as one teacher grouped the students in to five coloured groups while another teacher organized a schedule. Materials for each of the workshops were distributed by one of the organizing teachers and the other teachers could take from the lessons what they liked or supplement the lessons and make adaptations as they felt necessary. The school staff worked together to create a positive learning environment for the new school year.

Aboriginal Art

When my husband's grandfather died, we inherited several aboriginal pieces of artwork. I thought it would be nice to share a piece with the class. The piece on the right is called Moon & Sun and it was carved by Bill Wilson in December, 1980. It was carved to look like an oar.

My Watercolour Adventure

The picture seen above represents my second watercolour attempt. I used dry watercolour paints for this art piece (the first flower I painted was from watercolour crayons). I painted the flowers above to show the difference between wet on dry, dry on dry and wet on wet watercolour techniques. Students were expected to be able to create water colour images emphasizing particular elements and principles (i.e., wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and dry-on-dry). Before students began their paintings, we discussed the painting I had done and what differences students noticed between the two types of paintings. This strategy was useful in showing students how the different techniques they would be learning would assist them in creating their individual artwork. I also had students relate the watercolour painting concepts back to their chemistry unit.

I recently decided that I would like to teach watercolour techniques as part of my three week practicum in October. In order to prepare, I will experiment with watercolour paints to create illustrations. I am hoping that my watercolour paintings will improve with each attempt, but my main reason for working with this media is to learn as much as possible to effectively teach my watercolour lessons. The flower on the right was my first attempt using watercolour crayons. I had read about blotting techniques and once I had drawn what I wanted to paint, I dipped my paint brush in water and blotted the excess water on a piece of paper towel before I blended the colours. I am very pleased with my first attempt and I look forward to continuing with this new art form.

I wanted to show how you can integrate art into the math curriculum. I wanted to use the concept of sharing to provide a meaningful context with which to teach number sense, and in particular division. I wanted children to know that math is everywhere, so I have created a simulated pizza party to learn about math! Students could create their own pizza's to work with fractions and incorporating elements of the arts to do this is a fun way to assist learning.

Eggbert, the Slightly Cracked Egg

I enjoyed seeing and hearing the story Eggbert, the Slightly Cracked Egg. In addition to being a fun and well illustrated story about a slightly cracked egg's adventure when he is made to leave the fridge because cracked eggs "don't belong", Eggbert, the Slightly Cracked Egg has a message. The moral of the story is that it's ok to be who you are, even if others tell you you don't belong. There is always good in everyone and if you have the confidence to be who you are, you will be more happy and others will want to be around you. I could see many uses for this story in a classroom setting. It could be used to teach both language arts and social studies lessons.