Learning outside the classroom

 

WORKING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM can include working in outdoor environments, field trips, museums, or galleries. 

Even the environment just outside your classroom is rich with possibilities, yielding choice and agency to your students as they strengthen their skills for selecting, rejecting, having a go, resilience and open-mindedness.

Dillon et al. (2007) speculate that the different ownership of the space might contribute positively, as they found that teachers felt ownership of their indoor school space, whereas outdoors both time and space were considered to be more owned by the students.

Therefore, taking students out of school or their classroom can increase their creative skills (Borradaile,
2006; Burgess & Addison, 2007; Dillon, Craft, Best, Rigby, & Simms, 2007; Kendall, Muirfield, White, & Wilkin, 2007; Rutland & Barlex, 2008, cited in Davies et al., 2013).

These are a few simple but highly effective examples I have used, that you might like to try too:

1. Y3 - My Korowai Cloak - Looking for 'plants' texture: 

ART LESSON PLAN AVAILABLE HERE

 

For this art lesson, students went seeking out textures to add extra depth to their artwork designs. This was found outside the classroom in the concrete, wooden boxing around flowerbeds, metal manhole covers, wall claddings etc. Students had earlier composed a New Zealand 'bush' scene using simple, stylised shapes for their plants like Cabbage Trees, Flax and Nikau (palm),  then went in search of rubbings in nature to add texture to these shapes using suitable wax crayon colours. Once back in the room, students painting in these drawings with analogous colours using water based paints (like dye or liquid water colours)

 

 

 

 

2. Y4 - Introduction to the Element of Texture -  conceptual understandings  

ART LESSON PLAN AVAILABLE HERE

 

To introduce the Elements of Art, we conducted a mini inquiry into each element. 

For TEXTURE we used photocopier paper folded into smaller segments and a range of wax crayon colours, then went for a walk around the school to collect a range of rubbings before returning to class. Here we had a go at drawing our favourites with markers, learning ways to represent texture in 2D on flat artwork. Later, these designs influenced the patterns students used in their TEXTURE informed artworks 

 

 

3. Y3 - Exploration inquiry - walk around the school

 

To help students understand the concept of being an alien in a foreign land,  I asked them to think back to when they first started school and how everything was so foreign to them.

We went outside and returned to their first year classrooms and playgrounds, where they took photos of the areas that brought back fond memories. (We have classroom iPad sets so students worked in groups of 3 to take their photos.)

Next we visited the senior part of the school and asked then to photograph areas that they were looking forward to exploring in the future. After returning to class, students reviewed their photographs and deleted all but their 2 personal favourites, which I printed as the inspiration for their individual artworks you can see here.

4. Y4-6 Photography

Camera LESSON PLAN AVAILABLE HERE

 

iPad LESSON PLAN AVAILABLE HERE

 

I regularly teach photography as an after school elective. I have used both school supplied classroom cameras (simple point 'n shoot models) that I have borrowed from across the school, and more recently with iPads. In each lesson, I introduce a new focus and then students go on a walk around the school to capture images that meet those requirements. Since iPads, students now also have the opportunity to play with the editing tools once back in class.

And finally, some of the simplest but most effect lessons have been to simply go outside and observe nature. For example:

• The sky (blue colour) comes all the way down to earth. Most younger students typically colour a blue strip across the top of their drawings to represent the sky as they have not yet grasped the concept of the horizon line. 
• Tree trunks have texture and a variety of colour. Some tree trunks also split into branches while some don't.
• Leaves come in a vast variety of shapes and colours. As do flowers.
• The tops of doors and windows are usually at the same height at ground level. They also have frames that hold the glass. 
• Things further away appear smaller - even big things. A pathway appears to converge in the distance.

There are a hundred great learning opportunities to be had outside the classroom. I hope you will also take your students outside during the fine weather to observe and learn in a new way. Even if it's just to enjoy a class novel under a tree while listening to the birds sing in the trees.

Thank you for stopping by today. Would love to read your ideas on this theme below in the comments. Come and  connect with me by clicking on the links below to follow along 👇

With love, Te Aroha 

Timea

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Back 2 School - no fuss first week art centres

source - https://pixabay.com/photos/school-back-to-school-school-starts-4398499/

So how have your first couple of weeks back in your classrooms gone? Did all the prep you had done in your summer break pay off, and have you been able to make essential observations of, and connections with your students during these first weeks, to inform your planning and teaching going forward?

As a General classroom teacher of many years (and more recently a Visual Art specialist), I know how daunting the start of a new year can be.  These days I have as many new starts as I have classes that I teach. However, most specialist teachers have the added advantage that they see all the students, all year, so they can simply roll over their systems and expectations from year to year, with minor modifications and improvements. They already know most of their students needs and abilities through year-on-year observations and interactions.

My timetabling is a little different.

Timetable

I see most students for 1 term a year, and teach between 2-3 year levels in that term. I teach K-6.
The positives of this timetable is that I only teach around 1/3 of the school each term. This means remembering names and families, assessing and writing reports, and manage the work product and resources for 1/3 of the school rather that the whole school, all at once.

The drawback is that students get a solid burst of Visual Art for max. 18 x 45 min lessons in their term and very little for the rest of the year, unless they are independently motivated, join art clubs or attend private tutoring. They also forget the Art Space systems and routines or some may have changed since they last attended. I also need to re-evaluate what progress they have made since I last saw them almost a year ago.

For this reason, I set up exploration stations for the first week with juniors, teacher guided skill sessions for middle and teacher themes for senior primary students.

Year 1-2, Kindy and Year 0:
Depending on the size of the class, I introduce between 2-4 'open-ended' stations for these first lessons. Some of these change over the term based on the class interests and skills / media I want them to explore independently before I take a guided lesson. But most will stay out and available as exploration stations all term. This gives me opportunity from week 2, to start with a whole class skill builder session and students can peel off to familiar stations as they complete the skill. I can also pull out small groups as needed. But most importantly, I can make observations in that first week that will inform my planning going forward and build relationships with students through availability and communication that will support trust going forward.

Hand made, scented playdough

Chenille craft wire and polystyrene recycled from packaging

Stencils

Simple drawing guides

Modelling clay with image prompts

Wooden building blocks

Collage

Large format weaving

Year 3 and 4 are ready for more complex (teacher guided) skill builders that go over several lessons. The stations above will also be available to them, with some slightly levelled up if appropriate. Mostly, these stations are so open-ended that students create and explore at their own level anyway and develop through learning from each other as they explore collaboratively.
I like to focus on 3D skills at middle primary level and introduce papier-mache, clay and cardboard construction. Where possible (due to time constraints) the aim is for a teacher guided skill buildr to be followed by a student choice exploration with that media.
At Y3 the skill builders involved ceramic slab work and papier-mache pets. While the art techniques are teacher guided, there is differentiation built into the content and shapes built by the students. The decoration phase is also completely open to the students. The connecting transdisciplinary theme was Exploration.

Year 4 have a dedicated ceramic focus on complex figure building due to the time constraints in my timetable. Students create a cat through a guided skill builder session and this is followed up with a fully independent clay session where they build a self portrait and demonstrate their learning from the skill builder, while aiming for a unique and personally representational sculpture. They are also introduced to glazes. Due to the time consuming, messy and expensive nature of ceramics, I have strict protocol around using clay which becomes an independent media station in Year 5 and 6.

By Year 5 and 6, students are mostly independent but also more aware of their abilities and that of others in their group. In my experience, the more agency they have and the more unique their work, the less potential for direct comparisons and defeatism rarely rears its head. Exploration Stations are no longer just physical but also virtual, and they independently explore concepts of personal interest as related to Art. Here I start with a research theme: What are the main elements of art, choose 1 that you are interested in and create a piece of work that communicates your understandings to an audience.
We have an art show every 2 years and then this inquiry has the added constraint of forming part of a collaborative piece e.g. feathers on a large wing, flower in a large bouquet, house in a large village etc. Students also select a media of choice for 2D work to explore with this assignment.
Self-directed inquiry is easier at this level as these students all have iPads which they bring to art at every lesson. They are also expected to reflect on their learnings and thinking process is most lessons through the Seesaw app. These reflections inform their grade for the Responding to Art strand in IB PYP. All work product, complete or not, informs their grade for the Creating in Art strand in IB PYP.
Some samples of the assignment are below, on displayed in the art room for the term, then glued into their sketchbooks:

Exploring Colour

Exploring Form

Exploring Line

This assignment also re-establishes the expectations and routines in the art room. Year 5 and 6 then go onto their personal artwork based on their current inquiry unit. They ideate using the Design Thinking Process (DTP) for content, message, originality etc. in their skethcbooks before creating their final artwork.

The Design Thinking Process phases 1-3

The Design Thinking Process phases 4-6

 Their only constraint is the time-frame. They can pick any media from the following menus:

Some time ago, I wrote 2 resources for starting art/creativity/fine-motor exploration stations in your own classroom or art room. These it right in with the play-based philosophy too. These are available on both my TPT  and HML stores for $5 each. I just know that you will find exploration stations as wonderful as I do !

View this product on TPT and HML

View this product on TPT or HML

Thank you for stopping by,
With love, Te Aroha
Timea
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Flipping Media Centre Instructions

One media that I find myself repeatedly explaining are the coloured markers.
I made a short video for my students to watch prior to prototyping with it (trying it out).

You can watch it below:

It made a big improvement to the quality of work produced using this media, from what students were doing prior to watching the video.
Here are some samples of work by students from across the levels that chose to use it for their Wall / Wow Work.

Year 1 Feathers for the giant wing mural (collaboration)

Year 5 Shark - Sharing the Planet (conservation)

Y6 My favourite destination - How the World Works (systems)

Y6 My favourite destination - How the World Works (systems)

Year 2 Feather for the giant wing mural (collaboration)

Year 2 Feather for the giant wing mural (collaboration)

Y6 Prototype in sketchbook

When you find yourself repeatedly reviewing particular skills with a certain media, consider making a short demo video that you can play again and again to new groups of students  or for students to use independently for revising skills. Focus on the basics and maybe include 1-2 tricks but keep it short so that students don't get bored and lose interest.
Have you made any demo videos yet?
Would love to hear how you get on.


Thank you for stopping by,
With love, Te Aroha
Timea
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Learning environments - SPACE AND TIME (Part 1/9)

How does the learning environment enhance Creativity?

The theory and practice of Teaching for Artistic Behaviour (TAB) is based on the following 3 beliefs: 

• What do artists do? 
• The child is the artist. 
• The classroom is the child's studio. 

When you look around your classroom, what do you see?
Put yourself in the shoes of your students and examine the walls - how do they make you feel? are they helpful, inspirational, over-stimulating?

Examine the workspaces/centres - are these inviting, exciting, confusing? Would you know what to do, how to start or clean up? Can you find what you need? Is the lay out clear or confusing?

Furthermore, put yourself in the shoes of someone who is shy or timid, exuberant, easily overstimulated, reliant or independent. Now how does your room support their learning styles?

And how can our classroom - the child's studio - enhance Creative Thinking


Continuing with my literature review of
Lai, E. R., Yarbro, J., DiCerbo, K., & de Geest, E. (2018). Skills for Today: What We Know about Teaching and Assessing Creativity. London: Pearson.


LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS 

Davies et al. (2013) identified the following 9 environmental factors as supporting the development of creative skills in students: 

• flexible use of space and time (1/9)
• availability of appropriate materials (2/9)
• working outside the classroom/school (3/9)
• playful or games-based approaches with a degree of learner autonomy (4/9)
• respectful relationships between teachers and learners (5/9)
• opportunities for peer collaboration (6/9)
• partnerships with outside agencies (7/9)
• awareness of learners’ needs (8/9)
• and non-prescriptive planning (9/9)

FLEXIBLE USE OF SPACE AND TIME (1/9)
Having flexible use of space within the classroom or studio can promote students’ creativity and imagination to support the growth of ideas (Bancroft, Fawcett, & Hay, 2008; Jeffrey, 2006, cited in Davies et al., 2013).
For example, not using specifically themed role-play areas and props in early-year settings gave more freedom for the students’ imagination (Bancroft et al., 2008).
Flexible seating options or learning spaces in classrooms has gained a lot of attention from teachers in recent times.

This news article on making a change can be accessed here (source of image above)
goodbye-desks-hastings-classrooms-add-flexible-learning-spaces  

The internet (instagram, Pinterest) is filled with surreal images of beautiful furnishings and compliant students in clean open spaces that are more beautifully decorated than most people's homes. However the reality is a little different.

https://pixabay.com/en/photos/classroom/

While the tide is shifting away from rows of desks and students working individually, to embody a more relaxed, homely atmosphere where students collaborate and drive their own inquiries, most classrooms are tired looking with scuffed furnishings and hand-me-down accessories. Teachers around the world spend their personal income to decorate and supply their classrooms, creating alternative seating by purchasing gym balls and upholstering crates in colourful fabrics or painting wall murals and decorating notice boards. Lack of available finance drives teachers to think creatively and problem solve around such obstacles, driven by the passion to provide the the best possible environments for their students.

Based on research, I paired or grouped the long art benches in my classroom. I also requested for 3 to have had the legs cut down and this created a large communal work area that caters for students as young as Kindy.

Students select their seats but know that they will be asked to reselect if their own choice was not working for them on that day.
The only determiner to seating is that the room is divided into wet media / dry media zones based on the proximity to sinks. Supplies are stored in a central location,  students collect and take these to their chosen work area in the zone. This way the use of tables can change based on the year level, club group or media in play.

Work tables with Y1 Art Club - Liquid Tempera Paint

Work tables with Y0 Class - Painting ceramic fish with liquid water colours (NZ dye)

Work tables with Y3/4 enrichment collaborative - wax and water colour (dye) resist

Work tables with Y6 PYP Exhibition Elective group - pour and flow abstract work with diluted acrylics

Work tables with Y5 drawing media

This set of 2 work tables is permanently set up as a ceramic centre due to the dust and media specific requirements

The mat area also converts to a construction zone for cardboard sculpture and papier mache armature making. I moved a large bookcase containing construction material to border the mat on one side. The fibre centre storage is also in this area. Along side of the mat is a green screen wall that can cater for digital options.

Mat area with students creating PM armatures

The green screen wall displaying some of the students photographs - alongside the mat zone

I also made an inspiration wall for each zone with images of past student work at multiple levels, doubling as a galley.

Digital Zone

Drawing Zone

Building Zone

Painting Zone

Using TIME flexibly can also play a role in the creativity of young students who need time for immersion in a creative activity (Burnard, Craft, & Cremin, 2006).

Everyone has a personal learning rate that is affected by interest, ability to sustain focus, emotional well-being, skill level, learning faculties, etc. Time limits can add to stress and impact the quality and purpose of the learning.  Teachers have known this for some time as is evident in the multiple 'Early Finisher' option lists flicking around on social media. This is merely a panacea and not a good enough solution.

https://www.google.com/search?q=early+finishers&client=firefox-b-ab&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwislpHEgZPcAhXJm5QKHfmyDUUQsAQIOQ&biw=1341&bih=671

Consider your students when planning your programme, being cognisant of the fact that students require variable time frames. Extend the core learning intention (understanding that this is all that some will manage) into tendrils of personal inquiry that faster students can select to follow, independently or in collaborative groups. Leave this open ended and self directed for exploration.

One time factor consideration I recently used in my classroom was to...

Vary the paper size:
Y6 (aged 10-11) art students participated in a real community commission this past term. Our client (the developer of a local rail transport hub in Auckland) required artwork about dream destinations that they could print onto square tiles to decorate a wall.
Knowing that students took different amounts of time to initially plan and then to create their work (due to confidence level, idea generation, media chosen etc), I gave them the choice between 2 paper sizes.  For students with intricate and detailed work, time consuming media or techniques and those that started much later, I recommended the smaller paper size but still left the final decision to them. Even so, due to events out of our hands (school wide events like sport that cancelled lessons or student illness), a few students still did not complete but many more did with this one small modification. And completed to a high standard. Every piece is original, designed by the student and media is self selected. Because the work is to be scanned, size is irrelevant to the client but made a huge difference to the students. And I think you'll agree that quality was maintained.

small paper - water colour pencils

small paper - water colour paint and india ink

small paper - coloured pencils

LARGE paper - acrylic paint

LARGE paper - acrylic paint

LARGE paper - water colour pencils

Two tendril extensions I used with this same level was...

Providing a 'hook' centre to follow-on from the core learning intention.

Due to the work above requiring to be 2D, students didn't have the option to create in 3D. As students started to approach completion, I set up a clay centre and strategically displayed work in progress from other year groups, the uptake by students to create with this media was overwhelming.
All I required was for them to watch this short video by The Clay Teacher (see below) as an entry ticket into the centre so that I didn't get tied into supporting exclusively in this area beyond checking in and conferencing on designs as I would anyway.
I shared the link to this little YouTube video with them as a reminder about clay basics (they have used clay the year before) and said they could make anything they wanted with 2 technical criteria - must have a base so that it doesn't topple and follow the joining rules for clay.

I do expand on the joining rules with the Acronym - SWWS (scratch, wet, wiggle, scrape/smooth) to minimise bits falling off as this can be very disheartening for little people.

I also made my own clay flipped video for my younger students based on the coffee cups idea by art teacher, Cassie Stephens.

Some students chose to do further research independently while others created from their imagination.
Here are a few of the pieces that they chose to made.

Other students chose to return to the Prototyping step in the Design Thinking Process that we use and explored other media that they had not used on their work but had seen results achieved by others.
These included, wet and dry media as well as digital media.

Students choosing Osmo for drawing (improves observational skills for accuracy in drawing)

Students as teachers working with a drawing app.

I hope that these ideas and reflections help you to consider the impact of that your learning spaces and time factors have on Creative Thinking, as you plan future learning intentions.


Please continue to my next post on Learning Environments and read about:

AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATE MATERIALS (2/9)



With Love
Timea

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