Amen Ken

 

6th grade Styrofoam print - learning to get the inking "right"

Ken Robinson is endlessly inspiring for me. The following quote came across my "desk" (aka art teacher Facebook groups) today (thank you TAB facebook and No Child Left Behind ). Just when I was ready to quit Facebook and pursue more space in my life/brain/eyes too. I guess this is why I stay "plugged in," gifts like this one pop up all the time. 

@SirKenRobinson: "That's why I always say that teaching is an art form.  It's not a delivery system. I don't know when we started confusing teaching with FedEx.  Teaching is an arts practice.  It's about connoisseurship and judgement and intuition.  We all remember the great teachers in our lives.  The ones who kind of woke us up and that we're still thinking about because they said something to us or they gave us an angle on something that we've never forgotten."
 
- Sir Ken Robinson, Learning [Re] Imagined (2014) http://learning-reimagined.com/sir-ken-robinson-learning-reimagined/

6th grader modeling the apron he designed and sewed to wear when he cooks with his grandmother

Mad Helmet Skills

The 6th-grader who designed and built this helmet was enthralled. Enthralled with the plan, enthralled with the process, and enthralled with the finished creation.

Finished helmet along with photo/reference and arm cuff, for extra power.

Once the process was underway, 48 minutes a day to work on it during art class was not enough. This project took dedication- lunch periods, recess, after school, even once or twice it took sneaking away from some other class, just to check on it and fix it up a little. 

I, too, was enthralled: with this boy's dedication to his idea, his careful attention to detail, his passion and developing skill, his ingenuity and focus. Remarkable.

Trying on the helmet when it was nearly done