<<Any suggestions for the student who insists, "I can't draw?">>
I was able to squelch this in one class this week in a pretty neat and
unplanned way... A new student was whining that he couldn't draw, should
probably drop the class, didn't know why he was there, etc. He was sitting
at a table with some of my returning students (these are high school kids,
by the way).
I'd saved some of my student questionnaires from last year and I pulled one
out and read some of the comments that a former student had made at the
beginning of the school year. She had written that she couldn't draw, had
never been good at it, that nothing ever looked right. I then told the
returning students that "Cara" had written that. These kids knew that Cara
was a student of mine last year who just absolutely caught fire and did some
incredible stuff.
As I walked away from the table, I could hear the returning students telling
the new student about Cara's work and how they, too, had learned a lot, that
he just needed to really try, that I made them work a lot but that he'd get
a lot better, that the class was fun, etc., etc.
The next day in class, the new student asked what I thought about a design
that he was working on (which was actually quite good). I think my
"salesmen" did a nice job with him regarding his attitude and willingness to
learn. :-)
So while I didn't plan this, sometimes if you can find other students who
can encourage an "I can't draw" kid, it might work better than your trying
to convince them.
But my standard answer when someone tells me this is to answer that that's
why they're in an Art class and why I'm an art teacher--that I'm there to
help them learn all sorts of things, INCLUDING how to draw better!
Sharon
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