my diving bell
Art teacher at KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy and AmeriCorp volunteer.
MAT University of The Arts: Art Education
BA Temple University: Film and Media Arts
movies, indie rock, and coffee.
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Ms. Watson
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29 posts tagged 2012
dress like a teacher.
All of my teachers dressed pretty lame. Ties, awful pant suits, crazy turqouise glasses were not very inspirational to my own fashion sense. But for some crazy reason, I inspired my own students to dress like me high waisted American Apparel pants and all. I thought it was hysterical. My kids really pulled off looking like me and it was so cute to see my girls excited and texting me for fashion advice. I thought the hipster wouldn’t even be cool in a school like KIPP. It’s a shame, I’m gonna miss these kids.
not all teachers are lame.
Working two jobs can be a little draining, so I took a much need vacation to Coachella music festival in California. I had an amazing experience full of good food, music, and friends. I think my students think I am a bit lame because I am a teacher. They don’t realize that I am still young and kinda cool.
I saw my two favorite hardcore bands, Refused and At The Drive In, Radiohead, Bon Iver, The Weekend, Arctic Monkeys, The Hives, White Flag, Girls, everything….
Backstage at Refused.
Crazy Radiohead light show.
vital.
It has become almost impossible to find an art teaching job if you are not willing to do it for free (which is what I am basically doing). I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what I have been coming up against and what I am trying to do not to become increasingly bitter. The School District of Philadelphia has been cutting art programs since I have been in school (luckily I went to a Performing Arts school, so we never felt any real affects) and charter school, unless vital in their inception, don’t have art programs because of the core curriculum of reading, math, and science. What’s even crazier is I can’t receive loan forgiveness for teaching art even if I teach in a urban area.
Why is art and the teachers who are trying to inspire students to think creatively being cut or not receiving the same benefits. Why are we factory farming education? Why is public education turning into a half-way house? Why are charter schools creating tiny robots?
printing.
Printmaking in a math room isn’t my ideal set up. There is no sink, it’s messy, and kids are forced to be in the hallway. But when you have students like Rosa, Kadeem, Robyn, and Chantel who are willing to clean and stay after, art is a breeze.
Once lino blocks are completely carved, we begin the printing process. Using a J-Hook, brayer and block printing ink, students can begin.
J-hook
Brayer
Using a brayer, students even spread ink even on their carved lino block.
Students place paper is placed on top of their inked lino block. Using a new brayer, students roll over the paper and press hard for 1 minute.
The results look like this. They came out so nice!
“
I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
”elementary mentoring.
Elementary mentoring is probably the coolest enrichment (besides art of course). You see high school students try and be a teacher to our elementary school kids. It’s not only adorable, but they see how hard it can be to be us for a day. Sara Fry, my point person and personal hero, organized the program and its lasting impact.
mr. president.
Yes, one of my students signs his name “Mr. President Emory Banks”
vice and me.
At KIPP we have a system called “Do Nows,” a 5 minute exercise to get students brains going. I focus on current events in my “do nows” and the plights of the rest of the world. Since art students are examining wall structures (and we have covered all of the ones students have chosen), my go to website is VICE News. Vice has some heavy topics (only wishing I could be on their travel team) and my kids (students) really love that I present them with adult material to wake up their brains.
My students do ask me, “Why do you show us this in art?” I say great art is always inspired by tragedy. Picasso’s “Guernica,” Dali’s “The Face of War,” and Banksy’s “Frisk” are all examples of artists creating art during conflict. But since many students do not have a foundation for current events (I didn’t have one until college), I use the first 10 minutes of class to give them one.
Today we are focusing on the conflict in the Congo from Vice. You can watch the whole series. It’s pretty interesting.
grade.
Grading my day away and making personalized notes to my students. Into It. Over It. #nowplaying in the background. Sometimes a note is better than a number.
another.
“Palestine and Banksy” by Reggie.
Linocuts began printing today.
