Are you an "inch deep and a mile wide" or a "mile deep and an inch wide" person?

If you have read even a couple of my blog posts, you know that I have a great love of learning and that I am all about figuring out something new. 

I have recently figured out that not everyone thinks like this.. :) And this got me thinking and wondering.. 

Are you an "inch deep and a mile wide" 

or a "mile deep and an inch wide" kind of person?

This "inch deep and a mile wide" philosophy guides my teaching style as well. I really want my students to experience all kinds of art so that they can move into the next phase of their lives saying that while they may not know much about something, they at least have had first hand experience with a technique or art medium.

To that end, I am having one of my art 1 classes learn how to make slip, pour molds and make ceramic pieces.

It is messy and fun and so cool to watch students who have been given the freedom to learn, create, FAIL and then finally succeed!

Maybe that is why I am such a proponent of the "inch deep and a mile wide" philosophy... When you are willing (or required) to learn new things, you have to understand that failure is part of the process. But if you only do what you already know how to do, you don't have to worry about the possibility of failure.

That's not to say that choosing to get really good at one thing is bad. We need both kinds of people to make the world work. But my question for those of you who are "mile deep and an inch wide" people is.. don't you get bored? It's a real question. I'd love to know your insights!

The Digital Native MYTH

There is a myth about kids and technology and it is called Digital Natives.

This myth says since students have been using digital devices since they were born, they know more about computers than parents and teachers.

THIS IS CRAP!!

This generation knows all about phones, apps and how to use snapchat. But they do not have BASIC technology and computer skills.

How can I make a blanket statement like this? EASY. I am living this world.

My personal children can create anything on an ipad or a phone. My seven year old has her own You Tube channel for the videos she makes.

But if you ask these "digital natives" to find a file outside of their "my documents" folder they flounder. Ask them to step it up and use a remote location like Google Drive or Dropbox, download it to a computer, edit the file, make a copy and rename the file and then load it back to original location you might as well be speaking a different language.

The cost of the touch technology is that today's students don't know how file directories work. They don't know the importance of a file name or location. If the file that they need isn't found when they touch the photo app icon, then they can't find it.

As a teacher who is desperately trying to get students to use technology in a purposeful way in my classroom, this is beyond frustrating.  With 150 students using Photoshop and working in the Google Classroom, I spend the majority of my day not teaching design skills or even advanced software specific skills, but simple skills like working a task bar, how to save to a specific location and even opening and sending emails!!

So what is my point to my rant?

Well, I think educators and parents have bought into the myth that we are out of touch and that we have to learn something new and fancy to be "cutting edge" and to "keep up!" This myth has caused considerable angst among teachers and has started lots of conversations about retiring because teachers feel overwhelmed by their perceived lack of digital knowledge.

The reality is very different. The reality is that students are distracted by the new and shiny and that being able to create a thousand funny pictures using snapchat is not a job skill!! We as educators and parents are challenged to ground our students and children in foundational skills, even when these skills seem outdated like addition, subtraction and "save as"!

Art, Theatre and Photography Camp 2016. Done!

I love Art, Theatre and Photography Camp. 

It is a hard four days, but so worth it! The kids have a great time and the parents are always amazed at what we are able to produce from the campers in such a short amount of time.

This year's theme was "Broadway Battle."

We had 116 campers spread out over a morning session and an afternoon session. That is a LOT of kids. Especially when close to 30 of those kids are 3 and 4 years old! 

We also have a dozen or more teenage volunteers. We couldn't run the program without them, but they add a level of "drama" to the camp as well. :)

Here is a panorama right before we started the production. All of those orange shirts... yeah, that's a lot of bodies to manage!

Over the four days, I probably took close to a thousand pictures. No kidding.

Below are a few of the highlights from the art portion of camp!

I LOVED working with the kids on their paintings. Given that they had only about 45 minutes total to work on them, I think they did great! Their paintings were done over three days.

(Sidenote.. Bleeding Tissue paper is the WAY TO GO if you want a really cool, cheap and easy background for a watercolor painting!)

We also screenprinted. Of course we did. I guess that's my signature event! It is messy and crazy and the kids LOVE it.

Look at Kylie's concentration. The memories.

And how can Lexi be this big? 

They also made scratch art. One of the workers mentioned that he couldn't believe that the kids were willingly without a fuss painting black over their drawings and "ruining" them. I explained that the kids have learned over the years to go with the flow! 

(Sidenote.. making your own scratch art is fun and messy. scratching off the black is REALLY messy..)

We also did weaving. I changed to weaving with pipe cleaners this year. Less mess. And they can create a 3d weaving project. It was really fun!

And there you have it.

Another year complete. My take away this year is the realization that one of my goals for the kids is the gift of artistic surprise and to be willing to experience new things. My goal each year is to push the campers out of their comfort zone and force them in a fun way to try new things. Even if it means utter failure in a project. I try to get them to understand that the PROCESS is the goal, NOT the product!

This isn't an easy task. These kids expect their work to be perfect. They are not used to being told that "failure" is actually a win. And this is the reason we have to have events like this camp. So much of our kids lives are wrapped up in "doing things right" and working toward a perfect product. This mindset ends up freezing the kids mid-project and I have to work with them to just keep going. You would not believe how many projects are thrown in the trash as soon as camp is over, not by the parents, but by the kids. Sadly, they have bought into the lie that unless it is perfect, they don't want it. And I'm talking about 4 year olds!! Ouch.

So my gift to the campers is the opportunity to explore and create in a safe place that is not tied to a test a grade or an expectation. My mantra that I say over and over is the only failure is refusing to try.

And I know it's working. You just have to look at these kids faces!

Want to see more photos? Check us out on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/artandtheatrecamp/

Myth vs Fact. and does it matter?

This morning I ran fast. Well, I ran fast for me. Faster than I thought I could. You see, our running group has some fast ladies and then the ones I run with, we run about 30 seconds or slower on our average pace. This morning, I was the only slower one there, so I had to run faster!! And I did. We ran 10.4 miles at an average pace of 10:04 minutes. That is truckin in my world!

And this got me thinking about why I don't think I can run fast and all of the other things that I believe about myself. This last week I've really been aware of my student's and the myths of their world that become their facts.

Like, when do kids decide that they are not creative? When do kids decide that they aren't athletic? When do kids decide that they are not good at math or good readers? It's scary. I am soo determined that my girls will not make destructive myths the facts of their lives!

What myth shaped your education? What myth became your fact? And why can't the myth be that I can run fast? Why couldn't the myth be that I was athletic? Why couldn't my myth be that I was good at math? Because you know what? I might have be athletic, I don't know. And while I struggled mightily in math in k-12, I made an A in a graduate level Managerial Accounting class that was all math!

As a teacher, I know that the words I say have great impact on my students. I am determined that I will inspire kids to be creative. Because really, does it matter if the shading was perfect if the love of creating was lost? No! My job is to inspire and share my passion for art and education. My prayer simply is that even for the students who struggle the most and are the "least talented" that when they leave my room, they would say about themselves that they are creative and that they were "good" at art. Even if this is a myth.