Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 17

So you created this fabulous lesson and it's got it all: vocabulary, a cultural tie-in, skills-learned and an exploration of a variety of media. It's big, it's beautiful and you just can't wait to share your Titanic of an art lesson with the kids. Basically, you are all kinds of Dicaprio.
And then, for whatever reason, your Titanic of an art lesson starts to spin outta control...
hits an iceberg and, well, you know the rest.

What do you do with a lesson when it flops? That's the topic of this week's 101! 
I could paper my art room with all of the lesson plans I've written that have flopped. The key is not to place blame or feel shame but think objectively about what didn't work and fix it. OR forget it. And don't look back if you do.
I decided to flip first grade's flop. In the end, they LOVED making these dream catchers...but the first day of the lesson, I really thought there was gonna be a coup to overthrow the art teacher. Would I do this lesson again? Knee-jerk answer: HECK TO THE NO. Ask me in a couple months and I'll be all about the YESSSSS! 

By the way, because of said floppiness, I probably won't be sharing that lesson here...unless y'all are interested. I pulled the project idea from a couple of blogs that went about doing it in a way that proved to be too tough for my 6 year old set. I flipped it around to work for my kids. Cuz that's what we do with a flop.
In other news, here is my full Shibori ensemble. It was ranked MEH by a fourth grader today. C'est la vie. Y'all know I'm totes addicted to dying now, right?! I cain't stop! 

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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous9/01/2016

    Thanks for posting this, Cassie. I often have to remind myself that few blunders are shared online, to keep my own flops in perspective. One thing that I think is worthwhile to do when I screw up a lesson, is share that I did with my students (at least to some extent). I teach Pre-K through 8th, and when it happens with my middle schoolers it's harder to shimmy through a mistake with them not noticing. But regardless of the age group, I just own that I'm not perfect (nor is any adult...surprise kids!) and I think in that there is a huge teachable moment in itself. ~DMarieSpice

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  2. Don't you love the kiddos comments on what you wear? Today I pulled up my chin length hair as I had four recess duties (don't get me started) and it was a bit windy. And, of course, a 2nd grader commented loudly, "Why does you hair look like that?!" Such a confidence boost!

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  3. Anonymous9/01/2016

    Tough crowd! I've had soo many flops. You are right, blame and shame don't help anyone! Sometimes I miss judged the difficulty for a particular grade level. Other times the whole lesson was a big stank-o-roo! Live and Learn!-M3

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  4. Denise McClain9/04/2016

    Oh gosh! I did that dreamcatcher lesson with 4th grade one year and I Thought. I. Would. Loose. My. Mind. Just sayin. We punched holes like a clock face, then attempted to go in and out each circle in a specific order so there was a "perfect" circle in the middle like a real dream catcher. Never. Again, I said. What did I do the next year? Tweaked the lesson, made it less rigid and it was much better. But the first go around, sheesh, it was torture. I thought I was gonna pull my hair out!

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