STEMa Presentation at AEAI State Conference

Science, technology, engineering, art and math integration in an art room dedicated to learner directed art education experience will be my topic. Am bringing movies, images, student's reflective writing and parent comments to share with the audience. Presentation time is 11:00-11:50 on November 4th at the Clarion Hotel, 2480 Jonathon More Pike, Columbus, Indiana. Here is more info on the State of Indiana's largest art education gathering and professional development conference: AEAI State Conference 2012.

The Important Thing....

I was walking to lunch today when one of our parents stopped me in the hallway, "Are you Mr. Gaw? I want to talk with you." "Yes, I'm Mr. Gaw. How can I help you (Hoping this was going to not be a discussion about paint stained clothing)?" "My son is Johnny Smith, (not his real name) a first grader in Mrs. Johnson's class." "Oh yes, I know Johnny." Johnny's mother was very serious, "I don't know what goes on in your art room but my son has introduced his little sister to a new game at home." "Really?" I wondered aloud. "Yes, it's a game called, 'let's play art class! They spend hours in the play room drawing and making art."

I was so thrilled to hear another story from a parent about the connection between children's home and school art making. I have heard this response from significant numbers of parents of children who attend our art program before. It is a response that is heaven to my ears. It means the joyful approach to learning that we employ here in our choice based art program is doing exactly what we intended. Supporting children's interests and passions while connecting to art education content, and promoting artistic behaviors. The important thing? Ensuring children leave the art room with memorable learning experiences that leaves them wanting to experience art education more. As my friend and colleague Dale Zalmstra reflects: "Making sure children love art and consider themselves artists.(1)" That is the important thing.

(1) The Learner-Directed Classroom: Developing Creative Thinking Skills Through Art, Teachers College Press, "The Important Thing," 2012

Summer Art Camp!

Marble runs are the bomb!

Campers work hard to express personal ideas at the cardboard construction center.

Clark and I just finished up Blocks Paper Scissors Summer Art Camp and now I am gearing up for our June 26th opening of Indy Art Lab at Haughville Park. Looking forward to an art education blast!

Marble Run Action

Another morning with 6th Graders and their building materials.....

Blocks Paper Scissors Summer Camp 2012

Mr. Fralick and Mr. Gaw's summer art camp is back at Post Road Community Park for this Summer!
More info and registration HERE.

Learning should be a fascinating adventure!!

A view of the main exhibition hall at the Hancock County Art Exhibit.

New Palestine Elementary exhibition panels with child directed paintings, drawings and collage.

Inquisitive explorers discover marbles and blocks.

More intrepid explorers and investigators.

Future builders and engineers begin their quest to construct viable marble run structures....

....more builders and engineers join in....

....Mr. T-Rex was our mascot at the marble run-block building center.

Raffle taking place while marble run builders go to town.

More builders!

Cool structures including a marble run catch zone.

I brought a box of custom wooden blocks to the 27th Annual 2012 Hancock County Art Exhibit and a major marble run event took place! My sincerest thanks to the Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation and all the Hancock County art teachers for facilitating this excellent event.

"Learning should be a fascinating adventure!"  Tom Horn, 2012

STE(A)M: "Full Power Gravity!!"

Pictures depicting student construction work with cardboard and paper delta gliders and marble runs of various designs. One group of students could be heard before the release of a marble race," Full power gravity!!"

Wooden Marble Run

 

Sometimes children become emotionally charged during their creative experience and use idiosyncratic language when discussing their work.

Physics, Engineering and Structural Design

Kinetic art is fascinating! Engaging minds and hearts with simple materials like wooden blocks, cardboard and marbles has become a four dimensional staple of our art program since we obtained our first set of wooden blocks from Mr. Fralick. We have expanded our block building work to include ephemeral expansive marble run pieces. Many of our children look forward to creating simple machines and experimenting with gravity, friction and simple structural elements like columns, beams, plates and arches with cardboard and wooden block marble runs. There is just something so cool about working with Newtonian mechanics in the art room. E=mv^2.

New Marble Run Construction Forms

Blocks Paper Scissors Blog Site....

Check out this link for camp updates: www.blockspaperscissorscamp.blogspot.com .

Summer Art Camp Preview

Clark Fralick is the AEAI 2004 Indiana Art Educator of the Year and Clyde Gaw is the AEAI 2005 Indiana Elementary Art Teacher of the Year.

In 2003 Clark and I did a summer art camp at New Palestine Elementary. As I recall, that camp was a pure blast. We took over the music room and the art room with over 60 kids. Lots of creative activity and lots of fun! 

In 2009 I did a solo camp at Indianapolis Public Schools. You can read about it here:

I can guarantee this upcoming camp will include drawing, painting, collage, cardboard construction, sculpture, paper mache, puppetry, jewelry, weaving, textiles and lots of outdoor art activities, weather permitting.

Clark and I, have presented at national and state forums on child centered art education practices and belong to an international group of art teachers who advocate for child centered art education learning experience. Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) has been around since 2001.

2011 Summer Art Camp

More choice based art at the Hancock County Art Show!

The marble runs were a big hit at the County Art Show. Mrs. Hall, the art teacher at Greenfield Central Junior High School, the host of the show, told me her 7th and 8th graders wanted to make marble runs too!

I think the marble runs have provided one of the most satisfying building/construction experiences to our students ever.

Working with gravity, slope and basic attachment techniques has never been more gratifying.

Hancock County Art Show

A patron of the Hancock County student art show, checks out some of the child centered art on display from New Palestine Elementary on the left side of this photo.

NPE Fine Arts Festival Pics

My sincerest thanks to my principal Mr. Kern, my colleague Mrs. Roudebush and our wonderful Fine Arts Festival Volunteers, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. True, Mrs. Mattingly, Mrs. Hockett and Mrs. Martin for helping me to set up this huge show! I estimate there were about six hundred works of art in this exhibit and I could not have done it without these folk's help! My sincerest thanks to all who helped me with set up and take down.

Blocks-Paper-Scissors!

Clark and I will have a great camp at Indy Park's Post Road Park Community Center. My sincerest thanks to Post Road Park Manager Linda Fink for hooking us up!

We hope to have 40-50 attendees pr. week. Our activities will include, but are not limited to: drawing, painting, collage, cardboard construction, block building, puppetry, textiles, jewelry making crafts and photography.

Clark and I have approximately 50 years experience between the two of us working with elementary aged kids. We are hoping to fill the camp with at least 40 participants for each week. Any parents who are interested in providing their kids with a dynamic art education experience, should consider this camp for their children.

Check out this blog for more info on what we have been up to since 2004. Enjoy!

For questions related to the camp, or if you would like to reserve a spot on our participants list, you can send me an email here: campak14@yahoo.com

Art or Engineering?

When do the boundaries between art, sculpture and engineering blur? It happens all the time in choice based art programs. When children engage in interdisciplinary learning activities, there is nothing contrived about their motivation to do so.

There are about two dozen marble runs stored away in the art room...we are bursting at the seams...trying to store all the sculpture and art, getting it ready for our upcoming April 18th Art Show. Can't wait to post pics from that event!
More later....cg

Southern Hancock School Funding Referendum

Greetings to all of the readers here at "Transition to Choice Based Art Education."
This year, the children at New Palestine Elementary are thriving once again in our choice based art program.

Today, I spoke with about twenty or so parents about their children's art education experiences during our annual teacher/parent conference day. One of the fascinating parts of our discussions was the observation that the children are very much engaged in similar kinds of art making experiences at home as they are in the NPE art room.

Some of the children are so engaged in self directed art making at home, that it has become startling.

One mother told me how her son has appropriated her hot glue gun and has manufactured numerous cardboard model airplanes and other vehicles that are strung out all over his bedroom. "I have to sneak the old sculptures out when he is not looking because they are all over the place! Thanks a lot Mr. Gaw!" she told me with a smile.

"Houston, We Have A Problem"

Sadly, I am not happy to report, our school district like many school districts across the country is suffering from a shortage of operating funds.

Realistically, I have to believe, this development has put the viability of future choice based art education program experiences for the children of New Palestine Elementary in jeopardy.

Fortunately the administration of Southern Hancock Schools and a significant number of community members in New Palestine are working to pass a referendum in order to strengthen our schools and to keep important educational programs like elementary art and music in the curricula.

If you live in our district and would like to learn more about what you can do to support the Southern Hancock Schools pass the education funding referendum, check out this link: Vote Yes!