Day 14

Today's lesson was painting trees. I let them vote on whether they wanted to paint trees or mountains. While the majority ruled trees, a lot of them actually took advantage of using both mediums in the painting like putting mountains in the background of their trees. I taught them to not draw a tree the way they would think to, not just two lines and a fluffy cloud like shape on the top (looking like broccoli as they said). I showed them how to make branches and make the leaves around the branches and how by doing that one simple change it makes the tree 100% more realistic than a cartoon tree. They all listened to what I said about that and it was amazing. They are so good about taking in everything I say in the lessons. I was so impressed with the progress they have all made as painters since the first project of the field of red flowers. I think there are three things that helped them progress 1) Practice, 2) being more comfortable as artists and with me and 3) they were all so excited to try their best and show me how they have gotten better. It is interesting how some of them take a very realistic approach and others take a more abstract view to the subjects. I think the biggest struggle with this lesson was they had to make brown for the tree trunk, I did not give them brown so they had to make their own. They all figured it out and I was glad that I did not give them brown because the colors they made were beautiful! I love their minds and here are some pictures of them working on their trees.

Day 13 (5/20/15)

Today I started to work on my final slideshow. I downloaded all of my pictures and edited them and started putting them into a slide show. Tomorrow and Friday I am going to make some video clips and ask the kids to tell me a little about their experience of having me as an art teacher to put into the final movie. As the days are winding down I am getting sad, yet I am really excited to see what life will be like outside of this "Proctor Bubble". I am thankful for the 3rd Grade Class and can't wait for them to do their last project and have a little art portfolio for themselves.

Day 12

Today was the big field trip! But before I get to that I want to just tell you all about a little thing that happened when I got to the school yesterday. I walked into the classroom and was greeted by the usual hellos and smiles, and one of the little girls in the class, Eliza came up to me and handed me a piece of paper. I was unsure as to what it was but once I started reading it made me want to cry. At the top it says "Molly you are the best artist Ever!!!" and it was a drawing of me standing in front of the class with a paint pallet and a bunch of little details like paintings hanging on the wall and my box that I bring with me every time. I thought it was so cute how she took time out of her own day to draw this for me! You know, it really is the smaller things in life that make us so happy. 

But now on to the field trip! It was so so so much fun. The kids were all a little nervous I think, stepping out of their comfort zone and going to an unknown place, however the excitement and thrill of going to "Molly's Art Studio." I am really happy that Mr. Hubbard and I were coordinated enough to get the approval for them to come to campus because I think it was really fun for them. The Proctor Students in D Block art class were so amazing and I would like to make a special shout out (if they are reading which they probably aren't) to them because they were awesome. Giving encouraging and thoughtful remarks to their paid 3rd graders and asking them about their lives. The highlight of the day was definitely the Michael Jackson Moon Walk competition. Jeremiah was talking about how he knew everything about Michael Jackson, and in order for him to do it Mike Weintraub told him that Liza Orne would be happy to do it alongside of him. This was just an example of how the Proctor students really embraced having my little friends in their space. Here are some more pictures of the students at during our field trip.

Me helping Luke and Jason with mixing colors.

Dylan using the Paper towel technique that I taught him the first week.

Daisy and Grace

Day 11

Today I spent my time getting ready and preparing for tomorrow, when the third grade class will be taking a field trip over to Slocomb tomorrow afternoon. I will be bringing them to Kate Austin's D Block art class, that was the class I was previously in before Senior Project. The plan is to allow the third graders to meet some of the Proctor Students and have them help out with them finishing their seascapes. I hope that the Proctor kids will be as open and excited about these guys as I am. It is a really open and fun class I think that they will welcome my students with open arms. I was thinking that for my next project with the 3rd graders I will either have them paint a mountain range or a tree... if anyone has any suggestions of what they think would be a good idea for their next project I would love to hear any ideas!! Keep in mind that they have already done a field of red flowers and an ocean scene. I am trying to not think of this being my last couple times with the kids, so let's just continue this streak of denial and then I will be sad at the end! 

Weekly Review

I could not be happier this week. I am really happy that the lessons that I have been teaching my art students are starting to stick with them. One of the boys in my class said that he often thought about art when I that really touched me. I am so happy that I could have the smallest impact on these kids whether it be them thinking more about art, giving them an outlet at the end of the day to express themselves after a hard day of work, or just being the person they can tell their hilariously adorable stories. I really think I have a bond with this class now which is why I am glad that I decided to pick one class and stick with them opposed to going and working with different classes every time. I think that 3rd Grade is such a great age, they are old enough to understand what I am saying and have their own thought process and ideas, however they are young enough to still think of me as an adult. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but I really love this class and I am so sad that senior project is 2/3 over... I really will miss these little guys.

Day 10

Today was a very relaxing and nice day. I wasn't aware of how much time I old spend stressing and working so hard to be prepared for the classroom, I thought I would have a great amount of time to spend in Slocomb working on my own art portfolio, however I found today being the first day that I could really focus on it and not feel unprepared for my next lesson. The third grade class is really catching on and becoming artists of their own with is allowing me to spend time being an artist myself. So today was relaxing in the sense of that I was not worried about my class and I could focus a little on my own art. While this was nice I wish I could have been there at the school because even though it can be stressful, being with them is the highlight of my day and weeks. When people hear that I am working at the Elementary school they ask me if I want to be a teacher.. while being a teacher is not my calling I think that I am very interested in working with kids in the future. I am going to school and majoring in Social Work and Psychology and that has so many opportunities to help kids. I am thankful to this senior project for opening my eyes and helping me figure out a little bit more about my potential future. Next week I am back at it with the kids on Monday and I couldn't be more excited!

(btw I am not sure why this did not post on Friday, I must have accidentally hit save instead of publish! sorry for the delay!)

Day 9

Colton working hard and dividing the canvas.

Today I realized how little time we really have left... the thought of leaving Proctor and this community really makes me sad so to keep my mind off of that, I spent the day with my favorite kids ever. I went to Mr. Hubbard's class and was greeted with a warm welcome and excitement from the students asking what they were going to be painting today. When I told them they were painting the beach a buzz of excitement ran through the classroom. The fact that I gave these guys this big task just shows how much faith I have in them. A seascape is really hard for a new artist to do but they adapted so well to the field of red flowers, I knew they could do it. I told them how they should have a sky, water and land. The colors they use are up to them, that there are some tropical waters that are greenish blue, and there are deep blue waters so it was up to them and what they imagined when they thought of the beach. Today's main job was to put a base coat down so they could add details tomorrow. It was awesome because all of the kids had a different style of how they were going to start. I recommended that they start in the sky and work down to the sand so that the brown did not dirty their waters (literally). When I finally was finished with the lesson, I was so excited to see what they were going to do. As I walked around they started mixing colors and working with their pallets. That is one of the biggest things that I taught them.. and they remembered! That you should mix your own colors instead of using them straight from the tube. I walked over to one of the boys working and he had divided his canvas into 3 sections and was putting the brown into the canvas, I was a little taken back because he decided not to take my advice of starting in the sky but I realized that as an art teacher, I needed to let him take his own path and I was actually more impressed with how he used the pencil to make an outline because that is what worked best for his brain. I told him that I liked the color he decided to make the sand and he replied with "well, thanks but I just followed your directions by mixing the brown, yellow and white together to make this color." That really impressed me because even though he followed his own ideas for starting with the ground, I still got through to him somehow.

Jason killin' it!

Look at Delaney's waves!

Damion working really lightly and making some waves. 

I think it is so interesting to see how some of the students like really dark colors on one had and on the other hand some of them are so gentle and light with the brush and their colors. Both end up looking really good but I think that the students that use the lighter colors are generally more excited about how it looks which is interesting. Maybe on Monday when I go back and help them finish these paintings I will remind them that using dark colors is always dangerous and it is always better to use light colors and then get darker. I have told them this but it is a hard concept to grasp that all artists can be guilty of doing this many times in their artistic careers. I will not be going back to AEMS tomorrow because it is S.H.A.R.E. Day which is a day in which it is not a normal school day and they participate in different activities, so I think I will take this opportunity to work on my own artwork because I am already prepared for next week's sessions and I have really been missing the studio!