Success Comes in Cans

-- not in "can nots"! They say that people who write their goals down are more apt to achieve them. I wondered, would it be possible to create an art lesson that encouraged children to set goals? I came up with "I-Can-Do-It Cans".

On the outside of the can, we drew ourselves with images that represented our goals. I told the kids that they were magic. If they wrote down what they wanted to achieve in sentences on slips of paper, and if they put them in the cans -- they just might come true!

You might think I was pulling their leg, but there's a lot of truth to this. I read a book once called Write it Down, Make it Happen by Hennriette Anne Klauser. This book explains the science behind why this is true.

There's a part of our brain called the reticular activation system,

Your reticular activating system is like a filter between your
conscious mind and your subconscious mind. It takes instructions from your
conscious mind and passes them on to your subconscious. For example, the
instruction might be, "listen out for anyone saying my name".

...you can deliberately program the reticular activating system by
choosing the exact messages you send from your consicous mind. For example, you
can set goals, or say affirmations, or visualize your goals.

Have you ever noticed that after you buy a car of a certain model and color of car, suddenly you see cars just like it everywhere. They were always out there, but now you notice them. It's the RAS that's involved there. Likewise, a mother can hear a baby cry from several rooms away and know whether it's her baby or not!

Why does writing your goals down make it more likely that you'll achieve them? In my own words, I guess what happens is that by writing your goals down, you're clarifying in your mind exactly what you want. Then the opportunities to get toward that goal stand out more clearly.

I know they say to set realistic goals, but I figure it doesn't hurt to write down things that might seem wildly implausible. I notice in my own I-Can-Do-It Can from years ago that I had drawn and written that I wanted to own a house. That seemed impossible due to financial circumstances at the time, but it's happened!

What goals will you set for this new year?

Front Page News

A reporter from the Morning Times came to our classroom to see our recent acquisition of original sketches and signed poster from James Warhola. Click here to read the article online.

Uncle Andy's

I've been teaching art for over 20 years. I've always found art history to be fascinating. My students don't always agree with me, but I consider it a challenge to find ways to show them great art in a way that will catch their interest and spark their imagination. When I first started teaching, I I looked for artist biographies that were written for children that I could share with my students. They were few and far between. Now there are tons of them! The best one I've ever seen is a story about Andy Warhol called Uncle Andy's. Probably one reason it's so good is that it's written by Andy Warhol's nephew, James Warhola. James (an accomplished artist in his own right) writes about what it was like to go visit his famous uncle when he was a young boy. It's so neat to see this artist through a child's eyes. I read it to my fourth graders and they love it. Then we begin a unit of instruction learning about Pop Art, Warhol, and printmaking processes.

Well, here's where this post gets exciting! I asked my fourth graders if they'd like to write to the author and let him know how much we liked his book. They were excited to do that and we brainstormed together about what we wanted to put in the letter. I wrote their ideas on the board and they took turns writing on a single piece of paper. They also filled an envelope with drawings they made inspired by the book and some of their linoleum prints.

Mr. Warhola wrote back! My students won't know this until school starts, but he wrote a very lengthy hand-written letter answering our questions and telling us even more about his own art and writing and more about Andy Warhol. And that's not all -- Mr. Warhola sent us a signed poster and some original drawings -- working sketches for his next book. I can't wait to get these in a frame and hang them in the school.

One of the things kids find amazing about Andy Warhol when we read Uncle Andy's is that the artist had 26 cats all named Sam! James' next book is going to be about those cats! The working sketches he gave us are of a couple of those Sams. Uncle Andy's Cats will be coming out next summer. I can't wait!

One of our academic standards for art in PA is to teach kids the difference between original art and reproductions. Young kids sometimes are confused by this.

Mr. Wales: "This is a Picasso painting --"
First grader: (interupting) "Wow! How did you get ahold of it?"
Mr. Wales: "Well, actually it's a poster of the painting that he did."
First grader: "Well did he make it or not?"

And on and on it goes.

These gifts from Mr. Warhola will help teach that standard! I also like to stress to kids that artists don't just sit down and create masterpieces out of the blue. A lot of planning goes into creating a work of art, including sketching. Trial and error, making plans and refining. These little sketches are a glimpse into his process and something an actual original drawing the artist made.

We're starting our own gallery at Lynch-Bustin Elementary School! Last year we received a similar gift from artist James Gurney.

Politics -- But not as Usual

As teachers, we need to remember that our classes are made up of students with different dominant learning styles. We should present information in a “multi-layered mixture of styles” (Smith, n.d.). Too many teachers get in a rut of teaching in just one mode. We need to make sure we’re doing all we can for each type of student and to try to blend the styles together.

I enjoy collecting political cartoons to show my students. I especially like to find examples that use the symbols of elephant to represent the Republican party and the donkey to represent the Democratic party. When I show one of these images to my students, they will undoubtedly laugh. Not many of them are aware of the symbolism behind them. This coming school year is a good time to do this unit, since by then, most of them will be aware of the presidential race that is going on. When I explain to them, that there are two teams – the elephant stands for McCain’s team and the donkey stands for Barak Obama’s team, the illustrations I show them take on new meaning. I also show them examples of political cartoons that use the Uncle Sam symbol to represent the United States. Before we begin to try to interpret the different cartoons, I explain the difference between fact and opinion. I explain that these cartoons have a message from the cartoonist. He is trying to tell us his opinion about something. We may or may not agree with his or her opinion. I tell them that opinions are not right or wrong. You have yours and I have mine.

After looking at several examples, we practice drawing the elephant, donkey and Uncle Sam. The homework assignment is to go home, watch the news, talk with parents and pick a side. Most children choose the political party that their parents support. As I work with the students, I am careful not to express my own political opinions, but just give suggestions as to how they can present their opinions effectively. At the next art class, the assignment is to make a funny drawing that makes one side look bad or silly or foolish and to present the other side in a better light.

Since visual learners “think in pictures” (Kelly, n.d.), this assignment is automatically appealing to them. They want to see how things are done. They enjoy watching the demonstration. They often ask, “Can I see that again” (Smith, n.d.)?

Auditory learners learn best by listening, so hearing verbal descriptions of the images from the teacher and classmates help them understand the images better. They prefer to hear explanations and like to talk their way through things. They like to hear things and say it out loud for themselves. We need to remember not to yell at them for that. They can often follow directions after being told very precisely once or twice what to do. They will do what you say – exactly what you say. It is not enough to say, “Draw the elephant’s trunk like this. You need to say, “Make two curved lines that get closer together toward the end.” They often ask, “Can you explain that again?”

Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing, so the process of actually making the cartoons is what helps solidify the information. They like to follow along as you demonstrate. To meet the needs of these students, it’s important not to go on and on talking about political cartoons. They can’t wait to get started. They often ask, “Can we do that again?”

This project has something for every kind of learner and is a great way to look at the humorous side of our differences -- something people tend to get contentious about. Here are some of my students drawings:

Kelly, M. (n.d.) Learning styles: understanding and using learning styles in teaching.

Smith, C. (n.d.) Sensory learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles in grappling.

The Tale of Mr. Wales and the Leprechaun

Every year about this time, I tell my kindergarteners and first graders this story...

Once upon a time, I was walking through the woods at night. Suddenly I heard a noise, "Tap-tap-tap...tap-tap-tap..." I quietly crept forward and saw -- a leprechaun! Slowly and silently I snuck up behind him and grabbed him by his coat tails. "Let me go! Let me go!" he shouted.

Now, everyone knows that leprechauns make shoes for the elves and fairies and other magical creatures. And for every pair of shoes they are paid one piece of gold. And if you catch a leprechaun by the coat tails and don't take your eyes off him for a second, he has to give you some of his treasure. (Now, be careful if you do catch one. They are very sneaky, and if you glance a way for even a second they can disappear. That's how their magic works.)

There was no way I was letting the leprechaun go. "Not until you give me some of your treasure!" I demanded. He knew I had him. "Okay, Mr. Mortal Man," he replied, "I'll give you some of my treasure. Ye can have gold -- silver -- or magic crayons!"

I chose the magic crayons. And every year at this time I share them with my students. We all draw leprechauns, and color them with magic crayons. Then we paint over them with water, and the crayon on the paper turns into paint.

The drawing above is one I did using magic crayons. If you'd like to try this, you can catch a leprechaun, or, to achieve a similar effect you can order crayons like these. They are similar, but not quite as magical as those obtained from a leprechaun.



Note: If you are looking for another classroom resource for an activity like this, a great book to use is Jamie O'Rourke and the Pig Potato by Tomie dePaola.