Art Ed Radio

Intro to Art is a class that a lot of teachers consider a throwaway--a class that remains an afterthought while attention is directed to advanced classes. AOE writer Debi West makes a convincing argument, however, that Intro to Art is actually your most important class. She and Tim get together to compare notes on teaching Intro and discuss their strategies to make the class run effectively. They talk about why the elements and principles are so important (4:30), how you can use visual journals to enhance your students' skills (11:00), and how we can make each student feel successful (17:15).

• What is the Purpose of Art One?
• A good case for the importance of art education
• Essential steps to turn art one students into artists

Dr. Lois Holzman is a developmental psychologist who is internationally recognized for her work regarding the effects of play, performance, and group creativity over the span of a lifetime. In February, she will be presenting at the Art Ed Now conference on how improvisation can improve your teaching and your students' learning. In this episode, she and Tim preview that presentation and discuss the benefits of play and how it affects both kids and adults (5:15), how you can set your students up for individual successes (11:45), and how you can use improvisation as a teaching tool (17:15).

• Visit Dr. Holzman's blog
• View her TED talk
• Learn about the East Side Institute
• Dr. Holzman is also the author of numerous books
• Tim referenced the very first episode of Art Ed Radio when the topic of 'Everything is a Remix' came up. Listen at your own peril

Ray Yang, AOE's newest writer, makes his debut on Art Ed Radio to talk to Tim about encouraging risk-taking, appreciating the creative process, and great ways to advocate for your program. Join the guys as they discuss how we create an environment where kids are comfortable failing (5:15), teaching students how to think and reflect (13:00), and how to use extra work as an opportunity to make your program and your school better (18:00).

• Teaching Students to Fail Spectacularly
• How to Help Students Process, Reflect, and Enact Change
• Using Reflection to Develop the Creative Process
• We're Not Just Here for Posters and Bulletin Boards!

Whether you're a huge fan of comics or don't know a single thing about them, they can still be used in the classroom. They are a gateway to both artmaking and meaningful discussion. In this episode, Andrew talks to Dr. Richard Graham (author of the book "Goverment Issue: Comics for the People") about how comics can help with engagement and student behavior (3:45), specific strategies for teaching with comics (10:00), and advice for using comics as a hook to get students more involved (14:45).

Here is a list of (almost) all the comics Andrew and Dr. Graham discussed in the episode:

• Nearsighted Monkey Tumblr
• Persepolis
• Persepolis Film
• King Cat
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
• Spy Seal
• My Favorite Thing is Monsters

Stubborn kids can be difficult, and far too often they fall into the mindset where their first idea is their only idea. Andrew is always looking for new ideas to get past this mindset, and today he goes to former AOE writer Melissa Purtee for advice. Melissa talks about her experiences and the differences she sees between teaching elementary and secondary (4:45), what happens in your room when kids start to "get it" (9:00), and how to get kids past their fears and coming into art with an open mind (13:30).

• Melissa will be presenting "When Kids Can't, Won't, or Don't" at the Art Ed Now conference in February: www.artednow.com
• Check out all of Melissa's articles
• You can see her personal blog here: http://www.thoughtsonarting.com/

Tim is passionate about art history, and making it a vibrant, exciting subject for our students. It's time to move past those boring slideshows in darkened rooms. So how do we do that? AOE writer Abby Schukei joins Tim as they talk about how to make art history intriguing for your students (6:00), how art history can inspire students' own work (12:00), and share some of their favorite artists that your students will love (16:30).

Abby and Tim talked a lot about the resources they use and the artists they love. Links are below:

• NGA Kids
• Artrageous with Nate
• Yis Goodwin (aka Nosego)
• Jen Stark
• Dan Lam
• James Turrell
• Ai Weiwei
• Ana Mendieta
• 11 Artists Inspired by Science

In this very special episode of Art Ed Radio, Tim is in the Los Angeles studio of artist Alexa Meade. She is best known for her videos and photographs that show her painting directly on people, transforming 3D reality into a 2D world. During this discussion, she talks about how she found and developed her artistic style (5:30), the evolution of that style (10:00), inspiration and the creative process (14:15), and what happens when you make art with a bathtub full of milk (17:30).

If you would like to hear even more from Alexa, she will present "Finding and Developing Your Creative Voice" on February 3rd at the 2018 Art Ed Now Winter Online Conference. Details can be found at artednow.com.

• Alexa Meade's website
• Follow Alexa on Instagram and Twitter: @alexameadeart
• View her TED Talk
• See more about Art Ed Now, where Alexa will be presenting on February 3rd

If we are being honest, all teachers have some biases. What types of students we connect with, who we like to work with, and who we might favor implicitly. And it takes a really strong teacher to be able to recognize these biases and move past them, creating a quality learning environment for all of our students. So how do we get there? Andrew brings Tim on the show to talk about all of these somewhat difficult topics. They talk about the importance of recognizing our own biases (4:45).

• Approaching Gender Stereotypes in the Art Room
• How to Support Your LGBT Students
• Tim talked about dealing with immaturity. There's a whole podcast on that!
• Andrew also talked a lot about a fixed mindset

Far too often, art gets pushed to the side when it comes to school culture. But if you build your program the right way, the community you create in your room will help your kids succeed in so many ways. And people will undoubtedly notice. In this wide-ranging discussion, Tim talks to Ryan Loeppky about building an art room culture that gets noticed and shared (6:30), what we should be teaching kids (14:45), and why it is so important to make your kids' work visible (18:30).

• Follow Ryan on Twitter
• And check out his website
• A great article on building community and culture
• 50 Ways to Make Art Class a Valued Part of Your Community

In this wide-ranging conversation, Andrew talks with AOE writer about all the great (and not-so-great) things that come with moving toward a choice pedagogy. Along with reviewing the history of TAB and some incredible resources, they discuss their personal journeys into choice-based teaching (8:45), Kelly's highlights that come with being a TAB teacher (14:00), and the myth that TAB teaching is "easy" (23:45).

• Kelly makes a brief appearance on the "This I Used to Believe" episode of Art Ed Radio.
• One of Kelly's best articles (and collection of resources) about TAB and centers can be found here.
• AOE's Choice-Based Art Education graduate course