The Carrot Revolution Blog seemed interesting because it discussed art resources for the classroom, projects and ways to integrate art and technology in the classroom. Giving students the chance to link art and technology is important especially since the children are so linked into technology themselves. It also links back to the site I kept ending up at called Art ED 2.0 which also seems like a good resource connecting many art educators. I also came across a reference to a book called Art Synectics that discusses how students can approach ideas for art in many ways...which I hadn't even thought about students not knowing this.

http://carrotrevolution.blogspot.com/

The next blog I came across was http://www.artismessy.org/

The section on advocacy was interesting and I liked how it linked to many other online resources like blogs and sites. The blogs are great resources and I hope I will use it. I have been thinking a lot about teaching art in the middle schools, and don't have any ideas...these blogs have many great ideas. I feel that teaching art in high school should be about college development, career development in art and that isn't appropriate at a middle school level.

In addition to posting about art education blogs I have posted this print, an etching on a zinc plate that I did a few years ago. :)

Week 2 on education

Why teach? Great question... As a misguided youth, going to college was something to do. Maybe if given more resources in school, I would have had a better idea of what I wanted to do when I grew up. Needless to say I have a very sour taste from trudging through NM's public education. In college, to go into something that you're good at would be ideal. I studied fine arts in Los Angeles. I received an art degree and had no idea what to do next.

After working for about 2 years, in a field completely different from what I studied, I figured out some things. I would leave the prisons and go back to school to work towards a teaching license where I could be around youth, which I enjoy and bring art back into my life and student's lives. My passion for art outweighs my passion to teach. But in bringing art into my life again, I will no doubt be passionate in teaching children about art. I can't help but think of all my past art teachers and professors and remember the impact they had on my life.

My beliefs about teaching or for that matter, teaching art are directly tied to greater concepts of politics, society and life. I will teach children about artists who challenge the status quo, who compose works for political and social commentary and who challenge beliefs of self. Art is not just something pretty in a gallery or a museum, it is life faceted in so many ways. Teaching one sided won't do for art. Teaching about Jackson Pollack is nice, but what is more interesting is the context in which he created his art and the relationships he formed and the secret behind his success, his wife. I feel that is is also important to teach children about art for their own self discovery of their own philosophies, values, likes, dislikes and passions.

1/17 on Kohn and Dewey

After reading Kohn and Dewey, thoughts of what can be provided to the students came up. The student's needs and wants come before the teacher and that links to providing them with an education. In regards to grading and placing focus on the letter grade obtained rather than the content learned is a mistake. Unfortunately, grades dominate education and dominate most students. Kohn made strong points backed by research against emphasizing on grades. Maybe students should be giving grades to the teacher in hopes of giving a teacher feedback in how to best approach them.
The links that Dewey pointed out between society's best interest in education was ideal, but currently fails. Society, rather government, puts more interest into business, the penal system and defense. If children were given a top notch education from K-12, where all children learn, then society would be better off, if taken that an educated person is more willing to participate in society as a whole.