In a message dated 4/7/01 10:00:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time, pknott@enter.net
writes:
> If, when I was in elementary school, if my special talent hadn't been
> recognized and nurtured, by teachers who knew that's what made me feel good
> about myself, I don't know where I'd be today. I got my skills in college or
> by my own means, but the encouragement I got along the way-- that is what
> was important.
>
> Perhaps, you shouldn't take yourself so seriously.
> Something I'm grappling with --- with all the standards and assessments and
> whatever
> we have lost the fun in art
> in our attempt to meet all the initiatives
> we are loosing the idea that the product, the product that the child is so
> proud of, no matter how skilled, is the most important thing.
>
> Patty
>
>
Dear Patty,
I agree with you on both counts. I teach in one of the most unruly schools
one could imagine. But what I love about teaching Art is that I can reach
the most unlikely kids in art class sometimes. Kids that have been suspended
and who fail every subject, do some great work. I get excited to see what
any of my students can do, and I let them know, very animatedly, that they
are on the right track, or "Yes! yes! That's what I'm looking for!" etc.
Sometimes it seems to me that its the first time they've ever heard praise,
and you can tell they love it!
I, too get sad, especially because most of my students perform WAY Below
grade level, that in some instances, stressing standards too much and
dwelling too much on portfolios and assessments, does take some of the fun
out of art for those that are low-functioning in academics. I have made so
many adjustments in the way I teach and grade this year just so that the
large majority of my students can be successful. My students are so proud of
their work immediately after its done and ask to take it home. When I told
them last term that I needed to keep their portfolio til the end of the
marking period, NO ONE came back to get it. That's depressing. It tells me
that the pride and excitement they'd felt has diminished to the point of
apathy. If I could let them take their work home immediately, they could
hang it in their rooms or refrigeraters and recall the pride....(This is
probably a non-issue in schools with high-performing students.)
I also got my skills and knowledge of P/E of Art in college. But if Art
hadn't been "fun", I would never have been interested in pursuing it further!
