Teaching Philosophy

I teach a choice based art curriculum based on the research and philosophies of a great many amazing researchers and educators.

The basic structure is that at the beginning of the year there is an introduction of techniques, materials and routines.

As the year progresses the students are given more and more freedom until eventually the art room becomes a studio, and the teacher just the manager.

Students come in, do their beginning of class routine, (see next post) and then get right to work on projects of their choosing.

By this time they know where all the materials are, and how to take care of them They have journals where they record what they do, how it went, and assess themselves weekly (see grading post).

I believe in the power of choice for many reasons. Not all of my students will pursue an art career as adults but ALL of my students will need to make choices for themselves and solve problems large and small on a daily basis.

The purpose of the art room in a 21st century school is to stretch and explore students' ability to think, fail, persevere, self assess, self motivate and work cooperatively.