Category Archives: In the Art Room

In the Art Room

‘Tis the Season for Not Caring*

 
‘Tis the Season for Not Caring*

(To be sung to the tune of Deck the Halls, obviously, but make it the Wednesday night drunken Karaoke version.)

Deck the halls with rows of selfies.
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Clear the sculptures from the shelfies.
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Don we now our clay apparel
Tra-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la.
Wash those tables ’til they’re sterile
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.

See the glazing crawl before us.
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Strike a wound and hold back a cuss.
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Wallow deep in worried horror.
Tra-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la.
While we cringe at all the error.
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la

Fast the days and weeks they pass us.
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Hail your clay work, lads and lasses
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Sing we joyous, all together.
Tra-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la.

Now you a gift for your mother.
Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la

True story: This afternoon a teacher was picking her class up, when she asked to speak with me in the hall, privately. My mind was whirling, running down the list of possible suspects she wanted to discuss. Instead, she secretively asked me, “Will we be finishing anything up soon that we can wrap up as gifts.” “Ummm…” I responded, “no.” “Oh, well, I hate having the kids make something. I guess I’ll figure it out. Maybe you can for Mother’s Day.”

Yeah, I’ll get right on that.

In case you missed it the first time around, 2011’s Holiday Carol.

*What’s that? It’s the day before Thanksgiving and 8 students are absent? Whatever, game day! What’s that? There’s a concert on Thursday morning and another one at the same time next week? Whatever, guess we’ll finish our work after break. What’s that? The students are super squirrely and can’t contain themselves? Whatever, free choice day! What’s that? You’re crunched for time and want me to have the students make a holiday gift? Yeah, no, I don’t care, it’s not happening.

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In the Art Room

You’re A Bully

Maybe. Possibly. It’s likely, is all I’m saying.
Recently, the powers that be at our school were made aware of some cyberbullying that was taking place amongst our sixth grade girls. From what I’m told, it was pretty vicious. A meeting took place with the administration, the counselors, and the sixth grade girls. Conversations were had. I was not there. I did, however, hear from an adult who was present that there was a point in which one of the girls made an astute observation and raised a question along the lines of, “but isn’t that what we do to celebrities?”
Touche, young grasshopper. Touche. 
Yes, this is what we do to celebrities. Every day. All you have to do is turn on the “news” or skim the tabloids in the checkout aisle at the supermarket to realize that we do do this to celebrities. We spread gossip, we say negative things about them, we pick on them for who they’re dating, the clothes they wear, what they look like. And it’s not limited to “news” headlines. Tweets, Facebook posts, blog comments… it’s everywhere. There are entire shows dedicated to slamming celebrities. But it’s okay, right? I mean, celebrities “deserve it”. You might even say they’re “asking for it” because they chose that career. And heck, it’s not like you even know them. It’s not like they’re ever going to read what you say about them, or hear what you say, so where’s the harm, right?
Except that it is harmful. Even to celebrities, and especially to sixth grade girls.
This harks back on a point I’ve tried to make during every bullying conversation I get dragged into. Kids learn it from somewhere, and until we figure out where, and curb that behavior, no anti-bullying campaign is ever going to end bullying. End of story. When we engage in bullying behavior towards anyone, it gives the message that it is okay to do. End of story.
The bullying epidemic isn’t going to be stopped by schools or teachers. Anti-bullying campaigns in schools aren’t going to end bullying. Heck, parents don’t even have the power to end it (as much as we teachers would like to place a lot of the blame on them). Society needs to end it. Until we clean up our act as a society, until we stop putting others down, until we stop reveling in the misfortune of others, bullying amongst school age children is going to continue to happen. We, as an adult society, are modeling for them how to do it, and we, as an adult society, need to clean up our act.
Unfortunately, the reality of it is, this problem may be too big and too widespread for us, as a society, to change. Media gives the people what they want, and the people want drama and trash and to feel better about themselves by looking down on others who may be more fortunate. I get that. Maybe we do need to work smaller. Maybe it does need to start in the home and in the schools. But not through an anti-bullying campaign, rather through the modeling of good, decent human behavior. 
I consider myself to be a good, decent human being, but I’ve engaged in bullying behavior in the past. I bet there are very few of us who can say that we never have. I’ll tell you what though, I’m going to try my hardest to make sure that my daughter never hears me put down another human being, celebrity or not. She will never hear me make fun of someone else just so I can feel better about myself. I will do my best to teach her that cyberbullying, media bullying and play yard bullying (if that still exists) is wrong, regardless of who the target is.
But that’s just me, and this is just my two cents.
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In the Art Room

5 Things I Learned While "Attending" the AOE 2013 Online Conference

Today I “attended” the Art of Education’s 2013 Online Conference. I use the word attend loosely because, well, it’s not like I had to go anywhere. This was my first ever conference; the content was great, the presenters were stellar, and the folks over at AOE definitely deserve some mad props. I “took home” a lot of great content from the conference, but I also, inadvertently, learned, or was reminded of, some other things while participating in the conference.
1. My art room is boring.
This is something I more or less already knew, but guys, my art room is dull. Some of the presenters filmed their videos in their classrooms, and man, what fun looking places! In my defense, a lot of outside factors have contributed to my boring art room, but ultimately, the blame rests on me. Time to step things up. Fingers crossed, here’s hoping I’ll be in a bigger room next year.
2. I can’t sit still for long periods of time.
And by “long periods of time,” I mean an hour. This is one of the reasons teaching art appeals to me. I’ve had other jobs in other fields, and I’ve always done my best in an environment where a lot of change is occurring and there is a high level of energy. Sitting in front of a computer for extended periods of time just doesn’t work for me. I also do poorly in staff meetings and other professional development presentations and classes. Thank goodness the content is available for attendees online. It’s good to know I can go back and view what I missed at my pace.
3. My attention span is nearly nonexistent.
While attending the conference, I was also folding laundry, eating lunch, catching up on episodes of Fringe, window shopping online, and reapplying for my current job. And that was only during the first hour.
4. I need to become more involved.
I feel like I’ve been slacking when it comes to my level of involvement within the art education community. I need to put myself out there more. Humor blogging is one thing, but I was very inspired by the presenters, and I realized that I want to expand my involvement in our profession. Now, how do I go about doing this?
5. Students (and parents) are capable of more than I give them credit for.
A lot of you have your students and parent volunteers tackle tasks that you just don’t have time for. I’ve been meaning to put more content up online or create an online gallery, but have never had the time. Why not have a parent do it? I was very inspired by some of the presenters who used students in demonstration videos. I could have students photograph artwork for online galleries. I could have older students create samples for lessons for the younger students. The possibilities are endless. And here I thought students were only good for pencil sharpening and chair stacking.

What did you “take home” from the AOE 2013 Online Conference?
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In the Art Room

Dear Followers,

Dear Followers,
  
       I’d like to take this moment to address a few… housekeeping items, if you don’t mind. First off, welcome to my new followers. I am continuously amazed that I have 8 followers, let alone 800 (hi, Facebook friends!). I really enjoy providing my comrades in arms some humor and a place to feel like someone else gets it. I wish I could post new content more frequently, but, *sigh*, being funny is hard work at times. Especially during years like this one when there are so many changes happening all at once. But enough about that.
   
      Second, a note about Google Reader. You probably already know this, but Google Reader will no longer exist come July 2013. If you use Google Reader to follow this blog, well, sucks to be you. Not really, because you can now switch over to Bloglovin’ and follow ATHG there. There’s a handy dandy little button over there… on the… right… wait a minute…. wait for it… and… there it is. Right over there below my Twitter follow button. What? You didn’t know ATHG was on Twitter? I am. Feel free to follow ATHG, but don’t get too excited, I don’t tweet often.
   
      Speaking of not getting too excited, if you happen to follow ATHG on Pinterest, you may have noticed that I don’t “pin” very often (or ever). There’s a reason for that. I can’t remember my login info. I know, I know, I can reset it and stuff, but with an 18 month at home, who has time? I hope to someday beef up those boards, but in the meantime, don’t hold your breath.
   
        In related news, I currently don’t have access to my email, so if you’ve emailed me in the past, oh, two months. I, uh, didn’t get it. Again, I know I can resolve this issue with about 15-20 minutes of work, but, *sigh*, ugh. If you want to get in touch with ATHG, message me on Facebook.
    
        Hmmm… that is all. I guess I must be doing something right, because you’re all still with me, and more and more of you are joining every week. Thank you for that. Here’s hoping I start stepping things up soon, amiright? 
Sincerely,
Ms. Art Teachers Hate Glitter
        
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In the Art Room

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year! I have no idea what 2013 has in store, but I do know that I have a new toy that I’m thrilled to play around with! Mr. ATHG surprised me with a Bamboo Pen and Touch Tablet by Wacom.* I installed all sorts of fun software last night, and tonight I’ve been messing around for a couple of hours, trying this baby out! I foresee some illustrated Art Teachers Hate Glitter posts in 2013…
Oh, and in case you missed it, and you might have, because I didn’t discuss it much (with the timing of it, it just didn’t seem appropriate), ATHG was again nominated as Art Ed Blog of the Year over at The Art of Education. While I didn’t make it to the Top 10 this year, I was honored to be one of the 20 finalists. Thank you to all who voted.
I hope you all had a lovely holiday season and are looking forward to what 2013 has to offer. I’m excited for some changes that are happening around here this year and a great opportunity that has come my way that I can’t wait to share with you all.
*To those of you who know me IRL, it wasn’t all potato mashers and windshield wipers over here after all.
(I received no compensation for this post, and all opinions expressed are my own. I’m just really, really psyched about my new toy and can’t wait to show it off.)
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