Category Archives: Teaching Tools

Artmaking with Young Children

Posted on November 15, 2012 by

I was incredibly lucky to begin my art education career at the Chicago Children’s Museum (CCM) – celebrating its 30th birthday this year! CCM has a fully-dedicated art studio and gallery space on the ground floor.  This Kraft Artabounds Studiowas … Continue reading →

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Identity: An Effective Self-Portrait Technique for the Classroom

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

Frida Kahlo, Chuck Close, and Andy Warhol are among the prolific artists that conveyed their identity through a self-portrait. I strongly believe that the theme of “Identity” is necessary to explore in a life of every teenager. Teens are entering … Continue reading →

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In The Field: Teaching Community & Culture in the Arts

Posted on April 2, 2012 by

In Art Education 25500, students have been given in the field options where they can participate in the creating of several community arts projects. These projects range from a mural in the South Bronx, a mosaic in a children’s park, … Continue reading →

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Transparency and Opacity in Art

Posted on March 23, 2012 by

My art education class explored the concepts of transparency and opacity using window envelopes.  Students investigated, researched, and played with the concepts as they cut, pasted, glued and transformed the envelopes to create amazing works of art. A fish, a … Continue reading →

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Let’s Talk About Art…silently!

Posted on March 19, 2012 by

According to Nancy Hous’s article “Using Critiques in the K-12 Classroom,” she  focuses on critiques as a useful component in the art classroom because it serves as an evaluation of student artwork, which can be a useful teaching tool for any … Continue reading →

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Bulletin Board Challenge!

Posted on March 2, 2012 by

Last semester one of my graduate students made the oft heard complaint about her undergraduate teaching preparation program “I just didn’t feel prepared for the range of expectations my principal had for me”.   And while I think that no one … Continue reading →

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Drawing Technique: Teaching Students To Draw What They See

Posted on February 24, 2012 by

Students with limited art instruction might develop an anxiety to begin drawing. There is an inclination to draw “what you know” rather than “draw what you see”. I understand this anxiety, since I, myself, faced this dilemma as an undergraduate … Continue reading →

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A Tower of Marshmallows

Posted on February 10, 2012 by

What lessons do the Arts teach our 21st century students? Elliot Eisner explores this question in “10 Lessons the Arts Teach”. In order for my students to explore this question further, I facilitated an icebreaker titled “A Tower of Marshmallows”. … Continue reading →

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What is art?

Posted on December 14, 2011 by

Nothing sparks a juicier debate with students than the question, “What is art?” Does it have to do with beauty? Or skill? Or meaning? Is it contextual? Does it have to be in a museum?  Must it be sold?  Or … Continue reading →

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Teachable Moment: Writing Artist Statements

Posted on November 16, 2011 by

Sometimes asking an artist to write about art is like asking a fish to ride a bicycle.  I’m sure that many of my students feel like a fish on a bicycle when I ask them to write about their own … Continue reading →

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