Current State of Visual Arts Education in Grainger High School

1. Current State of Visual Arts Education in Grainger High School “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” Pablo Picasso Sherri HudsonPost University – graduate student Grainger High School – visual arts education specialist 10/10/10

2. The Future • The future is all about educating our youth • to become creative innovative thinkers and collaborators. • While experts and futurists warn that the future economy will be driven by the "creative class," there are determined efforts to diminish the value of the arts. • No Child Left Behind is leaving behind some of our most futuristic thinking, creative and brightest students. Friedman, Thomas. The World Is Flat. 2007

3. Grainger High School Located approximately 35 miles northeast of Knoxville, Tennessee.  • 931 students grades 9-12 • 54 highly qualified teachers http://www.grainger.k12.tn.us/ • 2201 HIGHWAY 11W SOUTH RUTLEDGE, TN  37861 • RONNIE CABBAGE - PRINCIPAL • MARK BRISCOE - ASST. PRINCIPAL • SHERRI HUDSON – VISUAL ARTS SPECIALIST • 865-828-5291 • FAX: 865-828-4828

4. Grainger High School Art Room • 1 semester, 1 credit class • 100 – 125 students enrolled each semester • Designed to provide an overview and introduction • Studying a variety of tools, materials and techniques • Emphasis is on studio production • Designed to develop • higher-level thinking • art-related technology skills • art criticism • art history • aesthetics

5. What We Will Be Doing • Look at uses of new technology in the classroom and beyond that will engage students, teachers, supervisors and parents in innovative thinking, learning, creating and collaboration; • classroom web site • social networking • virtual field trips • distance learning

6. Current State of Visual Art Education Each semester • there are 100 – 110 students enrolled in visual arts • classes. • there are 2 – 5 visual arts homebound students. • there are 1 – 2 visual arts students in alternative school. • there are 1 – 2 visual arts students in adult education • school. • there is an increasing number of parents choosing to • educate their children at home. • Currently these students have no way to access the lesson plans, demonstrations, handouts and assessments of visual arts class. These statistics come from the guidance department of Grainger High School.

7. Current State of Visual Art Education • Washburn High School is part of Grainger County School District. • Each semester there are 30 - 40 students enrolled in visual arts classes. • The current teacher will be retiring at the end of this year and there are no plans to replace her. • This will result in a grave disadvantage for their students to receive the necessary fine arts credit required for college enrollment. These statistics come from the guidance department of Grainger High School.

8. Current State of Visual Art Education • The No Child Left Behind declared The Arts as a core curriculum class for study of college bound students. • Currently Grainger High School has a growing population and currently only 2 teachers in the arts • Visual Arts and Music Arts • Two years ago we lost our Theater Arts class. Bring It Back!Please !!! • These statistics come from the guidance department of Grainger High School.

9. Importance of Visual Art Education "Start with Art, Learn for Life” Art education develops • self-esteem • appreciation of the work of others • self-expression • cooperation with others •  critical thinking skills All of these skills are vital to the success of our future leaders - our children! Jenkins, Peggy Davison, (1080), Art for the fun of it (p. 10)

10. Importance of Visual Art Education While engaged in art making students use: • JUDGMENTin problem solving, inventiveness, apply prior knowledge, • plan and execute choices to create work. • INTUITION • to trust ideas without proof and take risks, deal with unexpected or unintentional developments while creating. • IMAGINATION • to form ideas, predict possible processes and products, balance the imagined and actualization of piece. Herberholz & Hanson, 1974, Early Childhood Art, (p. 48)

11. Goal One • Increase ability to reach alternative educated students who are; • special education • homebound • attending alternative school • attending adult education school • home schooled

12. Meeting Goal One • With today’s technology it is becoming increasingly easier to reach students who are out of our classroom due to vacation, illness or alternative schooling situations. • I have been able to achieve this through; • distance learning • classroom web site • video conferencing • moodle • social networking • Facebook

13. Meeting Goal One - Classroom Web Site • Some of these departments include: • Policies and grading • Art Galleries of student work • Art Lessons • Demonstration • Examples • Worksheets • Assessments • Evaluation Rubrics • Art Resources • Colleges & Universities • Careers in Art • Calendar of Due Dates • Contact Information http://www.grainger.k12.tn.us/rhs/GHSArtRoom/default.htm

14. Meeting Goal One – Video Conferencing • Visual arts class is now able to reach students anywhere via video conferencing. • The class is credited meeting all state and national art standard for grades 9 – 12. • Affordable for smaller schools. • Furnishes high quality curriculum . • Engages students with online lessons and hands on activities. • Recorded classes for access by students outside the traditional classroom setting. • Connect students with a variety of resources such as; • material & technique videos • art history films • virtual tours of art galleries and art museums • visits from art schools and colleges. • teacher examples • live teacher demonstrations and critiques • other students from anywhere in the world • How it works: • Weekly schedule of assignments and activities posted on the Art Room Facebook. • Satellite schools have a proctor who engages with the students. • Parents are not expected to be engaged in the academic work directly – • the usual parental moral and practical support for high school kids is enough (and plenty!).

15. Meeting Goal One - Moodle • Moodle is a Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). • It is a Free web application that educators can use to create effective online learning sites. • Enables teachers to manage and promote learning to a single student or a • class or hundreds. • It can be used for a primary school or an education hobbyist. • Platform to conduct fully online courses or blended learning. • There are activity modules such as • Forums • Databases • Wikis • You can try the demonstration site with some sample courses. • Moddle is free to download and registration is voluntary.

16. Meeting Goal One - Facebook Facebook isn’t just a great way for you to find old friends or learn about what’s happening this weekend; it is also an incredible learning tool. • Teachers can utilize Facebook for; • study groups to share information, communication and brainstorming • they don’t even have to befriend each other • share interesting websites • museums, galleries, colleges and associations • share multimedia • videos, photos and audio • direct communication with teacher • promotes better working relationship • enables introverted students to communicate freely • facilitate classmate connections • students get to know each other and share learning experiences • send messages • make announcements and reschedule events • schedule events • weekly art lessons and famous artist history • Tips for Educators can be found athttp://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/10/20/100-ways-you-should-be-using-facebook-in-your-classroom/

17. Goal Two • Enhance the learning experiences of all visual arts students using; • virtual field trips • Other suggestions: • PowerPoint Presentation • YouTube video • Audio

18. Meeting Goal Two – Virtual Field Trips • provide opportunities for new discovery in the classroom • take your students outside the classroom without ever opening the door! • virtual field trips are designed to be entertaining and educational • can go just about anywhere on Earth -- or on out into the solar system! • thousands of virtual field trips students can take on the Web! • some are very simple, created by students, teachers, and parents. • others are big-budget productions that include several trips and • extensive teaching resources. • If you'd like to add material other than photos and text, use The Virtual Field Trips Site to create your own field trips and share them with other educators. • You'll find additional resources to help you create great virtual field trips at: Additional Virtual Field Trip Links • http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech071.shtml

19. Goal Three • Engage parents and community in the visual arts education of their children. • E-mail Newsletter • Other suggestions: • postal newsletter • newspaper & magazine articles • blogs • twitter • Skype • art shows & competitions • art booster association

20. Meeting Goal Three – E-mail Newsletter • At the beginning of the year I; • ask parents for their emails • offered paper copies in case they didn't have access to computers • make a copy to print for these parentsUsing Email saves me hours..... • add an “you’ve got mail" notice on the window every time you send • something to remind parents to check • send information at any time of the day or night • great if a student did something special that you want to share with the parents • don’t have to fight for the photocopier • messages don’t get lost in bags or forget to be delivered by students and parents • never asked for another copy or said they didn't get it • if a student is away the parents still gets the notice and you won’t have to remember • to give one out when they got back • parents can email questions back straight away if they wanted more information • parents can send feed back • separated families (ie children living with Mom but visiting Dad on the weekends) • both get sent information so everyone knows what is happening

21. Conclusion • Today we have looked at and examined various was I use technology in my classroom to engage and enhance the visual arts experience of my teenage students and ways to reach students with alternative educational situations; • distance learning • classroom web site • video conferencing • moodle • social networking • Facebook • suggestion: Twitter and Skype • virtual field trips • suggestions: PowerPoint Presentations, YouTube video and audios • E-mail Newsletter • suggestions: newspaper & magazine articles, blogs, twitter, Skype, art shows & • competitions, art booster association

22. Next Step • How can you use my suggestions, techniques and resources to raise awareness of the importance and value of the arts in the education of every student? • How can we collaborate with teachers in other classes to enhance our students learning all throughout the curriculum? • Investigate professional development opportunities that would increase understanding of the art process, assessing student work and the development of interdisciplinary units.

23. Thank You Sherri Hudson hudsons51@k12tn.net