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Lesson Plans


Re: One-Point Perspective Site plus bad teaching experience...

[ Thread ][ Subject ][ Author ][ Date ]
Linda Kelty (lckelty)
Mon, 26 Jul 1999 09:26:57 -0400

Bunki, In 21 years I've noticed that those who are good at math and maps
tend to pick up on perspective more readily. Good artists often draw
curvilinear forms and natural objects more readily and tend to understand
the emotive content and elaborative efforts of artwork. Many students who
don't view themselves as good artists but are good analytically can succeed
with perspective. This tends to turn them "on" to art. I always tell those
who are struggling about my own struggle with perspective and how, after
lots of practice, I finally "got it". The kids think I'm an "awesome
artist" so hearing about my own struggles encourages them. I also keep a
couple of pieces from my own early teens to share with them so they can see
the progression from early to later and the skill development. The success
in perspective has to be viewed more for the effort and approach to thinking
for the kids than immediate results. Sorry if this sound too preachy, but
this is what has really helped when I teach perspective. Less about how to
do, more about encouragement to try. A surprising number of students pick
it up, including mainstreamed special needs students. I also encourage peer
tutoring. If one student understands something, the way they break down a
concept or stage is more easily verbalized to another student and they have
a wonderful facility for making it understandable. They are seated at
tables and are encouraged to be a team that supports one another. Hope this
helps. I only have 2 or 3 students a year who can't get any of it. They
either aren't developmentally ready or have a visual/spatial limit that
holds them up. For those students, I try to grade on effort and tell them
that eventually it will come together for them. Another thing that helps is
to find direct applications that relate to their lives, such as drawing
their own home and designing the color scheme and landscaping that they
would use, given the money and opportunity. It just gets them thinking.
Hope some of this helps. Linda K.
Bunki Kramer wrote:

>I teach mid. school 6-7-8 and due to time limits, tend to teach 1-pt.
>persp. in ART I which is primarily 7th with a few 8ths thrown into the pot.
>I don't have a big problem but I do tend to notice 3 or 4 students who
>never seem to get the entire package after drawing boxes/shapes and then
>putting it into practice. It doesn't seem to have much to do with drawing
>ability per se either. More than once I've notice my best artists having
>the most trouble. Because of these experiences I wonder if this is because
>perspective might possibly be more of a left brain function than other art
>techniques.
>
>Two years ago my very best artist Jason who, I would venture to say, was
>the most creative and skilled of his art classmates, could not "get it" and
>after a few attempts would not accept help from me nor talk wth me. This
>happened at the end of first semester. He had one semester to go with me
>and became...out of the blue...a discipline problem. He asked to be removed
>from art and became a teacher's aide instead. I know this had been an
>unpleasant art experience for him and I was at a lost how to help him. When
>we met in the hallways, he refused to aknowledge my "hellos" and smiles.
>This went on for the remaining year.
>
>A year later he returned to say "hello" to me in my classroom, was all
>smiles, and admitted I was his favorite teacher until we started
>perspective and he couldn't control his anger with his inability to "do"
>it. He went through such trauma with this. As I mentioned before, I've had
>similar (though not as severe) experiences with a few good artists
>seemingly understanding but not being able to put it into practice.
>
>Now I've taught umpteen years and I've tried many approaches so I don't
>think it's my teaching ability here that's the problem. Why do some
>students who are highly gifted in the arts find trouble with perspective
>and most others don't?
>
>Have any of you noticed the same trend? Toodles....
>
>
>Bunki Kramer - Los Cerros Middle School
>968 Blemer Rd., Danville, California 94526
>bkramer.ca.us...(sch)925-552-5620
>
>
>