Art Ed Radio

Tim interviews the one and only Cassie Stephens for this episode, and they discuss some the best ideas from transitioning from summer mode back into school. They cover where inspiration comes from, and how you can bring that inspiration into your teaching. Tim starts the episode with a big announcement about AOE's newest podcast (1:30), then Cassie shares information about her upcoming Art Ed Now Conference presentation (5:30), and the new lessons coming into her classroom this year (11:45). They then close the conversation with a rundown of the upcoming Everyday Art Room podcast, and why Cassie wanted to host the show (18:45). Full episode transcript below.

• Take a look at Cassie's blog and all of her incredible resources
• The Clay Lab for Kids book
• An interview with Cassie, and a great lesson
• Check out all of Cassie's AOE videos

If you've been on art teacher social media any time in the past week or so, you have probably seen this article (http://blog.schoolspecialty.com/art-craft/art-class-school/). Art teachers everywhere were offended by its assumptions, its ideas about the role of art teaching, and its conclusions about the future. In this special episode, Tim and Andrew offer their takes on the article (3:15), the role of art teachers and the arts (8:30), and the controversy found in the resulting social media firestorm (12:30).

• The offending School Specialty Article
• If we're talking budgets, how about the old "Budget Like a Boss!" podcast?
• How to Make the Arts a Valued Part of Your Community
• A few more great resources for advocacy

About a month ago, the guys did their last deep dive into printmaking. This week, it's time for 40 minutes of sculpture talk. From materials to instructional strategies, and everything in between, it's all up for discussion today! Join the guys as they talk about the best projects for our youngest students (2:00), some issues that Andrew has come across (14:00), and safety issues when you're using unexpected materials (33:30).

• Foolproof Methods for Teaching Beginning Sculpture
• Andrew's favorite Unexpected Materials
• Tim's ideas for inexpensive sculptures
• Stunning Projects with Recycled Materials

It's one of the existential questions for art teachers: do you use teacher examples? On one hand, you help your kids stay on track for success with their work. On the other hand, you run the risk of stifling their creativity and ending up with a classroom of similar projects. What is an art teacher to do? Andrew brings Tim on the show to talk about the use of teacher examples, the demonstration conundrum, and why every teacher needs to reflect on this issue and come up with their own solution.

• How to Make Your Own Art And Teaching Tools at the Same Time
• 3 Ways to Teach for Creativity in the Art Room
• Why It's Time to Move On From Projects
• 4 Statements Every Art Teacher Hates Hearing

We all know about the power of the arts, and in this episode, Andrew looks really closely at how we can use the arts to build culture and turn around schools. Sarah Dougherty, who is part of the Turnaround Arts Initiative with the Des Moines Public Schools, joins Andrew to talk about her experience with these exact topics. They discuss how to become more creative and intentional with collaboration (10:00), how small changes can make a big impact on your school's culture (12:45), and the need for patience when you are looking for change. (14:30).

• Check out the TASK party that Sarah mentioned
• The Des Moines Public Schools Turnaround Arts Program
• See all of Sarah's AOE articles
• Andrew mentioned AOE's new Professional Development subscription service, Art Ed PRO

If you are not already using contemporary artists in your classroom, you definitely want to consider some new artists and ideas to bring to your students. Contemporary artists can be engaging and valuable for your students, and Tim and Andrew have an incredible list of their favorite artists to teach. Tim also figures out how to work Drake's "Hotline Bling" video into the discussion (13:30), Andrew introduces Tim to the video artist Paul Pfeiffer (17:30), and Andrew closes the show with a great explanation of why you should be teaching contemporary artists (21:00).

• The "No More Dead White Guys!" episode
• The Top 10 Contemporary Artists to Teach Alongside Traditional Artists
• Great Resources for Finding Contemporary Artists: http://www.pbs.org/art21/ http://www.thisiscolossal.com/ http://www.booooooom.com/ http://www.designboom.com/

Ceramics? Check. Drawing? Check. Printmaking? That is this week's deep dive. Andrew and Tim have a long discussion about teaching printmaking--tips and tricks, tools, safety, organization, lessons, budget, it is all on the table. They talk about managing the mess and the best routines for printmaking (3:00), the most important safety concerns and how to keep your kids safe (9:15), and how we move beyond technical concerns to get our kids making meaningful work (18:45).

• 5 Ways to Stretch Your Printmaking Budget
• Secrets for Managing the Printmaking Mess
• Safety Tips for Printmaking
• Awesome Strategies for Reduction Prints

After a couple weeks away while Tim talked to important people (Sir Ken Robinson and AOE Founder Jessica Balsley), Andrew is back! The guys get together to talk about what they love and what they don't when it comes to art and art education. They share their thoughts on Pop Art and Impressionism (2:30), why Andrew has ditched his teacher desk (6:45), whether you should spend time in the teacher's lounge (13:00), and when it's worth it to make a phone call home (15:15).

• Here's another idea on how to deal with your teacher desk
• Coping with different methods of organization
• Making teachers your allies by letting them borrow supplies
• Andrew's article about calling home

AOE Founder Jessica Balsley joins Tim to talk about last week's interview with Sir Ken Robinson. They share some stories about what it was like behind the scenes of the interview and what it was like working with Sir Ken. They also discuss the importance of art teachers (8:45), how Sir Ken's books helped influence Jessica to start the Art of Ed (11:15), and how teachers can stay passionate and stay loving what they do (14:15).

If you would like to hear even more from Sir Ken Robinson, he will present "The Importance of Art Teachers" on August 3rd at the 2017 Art Ed Now Summer Online Conference. Details can be found at artednow.com.

• Listen to the full Sir Ken Robinson interview
• See more about Art Ed Now, where Sir Ken will be presenting on August 3rd
• Jessica mentioned reading "The Element" a long time ago; here is an old article she wrote that dives in deeper with those ideas
• If you are looking for a chance to rekindle your own passion and creativity, make sure you check out the Creativity in Crisis grad course

In this very special episode of Art Ed Radio, Tim is in Los Angeles to interview the one and only Sir Ken Robinson. Sir Ken is a world-renowned expert on creativity and innovation, and his TED Talk, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?", is the most viewed TED Talk of all time. In this wide-ranging, nearly hour-long interview, he and Tim cover a plethora of topics. Listen as they discuss the evolution of Sir Ken's career and his move to the United States (11:00), testing culture around the world (15:30), the role of creativity in preparing students for the future (27:45), a possible way forward for our schools (37:00), and how teachers can affect change from their own classrooms (45:00).

Resources and Links:

• Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk
• Tim asks about Creative Schools, Sir Ken's latest book
• The official website of Sir Ken Robinson
• See more about Art Ed Now, where Sir Ken will be presenting on August 3rd