Art Ed Radio

Andrew takes some inspiration from the "This American Life" to talk about the things that we used to believe as art teachers. More importantly, how do our beliefs change over time? How do we evolve? Andrew and Tim bring in some extra voices to guide the conversation as they talk about moving away from the importance of product (8:00), why it takes time to find who you are as a teacher (12:00), and the importance of authenticity (16:15).

• Finding Your Happiness as an Art Teacher
• This American Life: "This I Used to Believe" episode
• 10 Things I Wish I Had Known 10 Years Ago
• 7 Ways to Hit Your Stride in the Art Room

As you get to the end of the year, it is a great time to reflect on what you are teaching and why. Tim and Andrew discuss how you can move past simple and baseline projects into more important work with your sutdents. They discuss why you can let perspective drawing fall by the wayside (4:30), differentiating between what needs to be a project and what needs to be a demo (12:00), and making work meaningful no matter the situation (20:30).

• How to have more meaningful conversations with your students
• How to foster authentic art experiences
• 10 things to stop doing now as an art teacher
• Finally, here are 10 inspiring projects if you're looking for something new

Andrew goes on a couple epic rants, and Tim succinctly drops some truth as the guys talk about student engagement, and whether we should care what our students think of us. Listen as they cover ideas about why art teachers are so good at building relationships with their students (6:00), some outside-the-box ways to connect with your kids and the importance of shared experiences (13:15), and the conversations you can and should be having with your students (21:00).

• Last Week's Episode About Building a Program
• Ways to Build Relationships when You See Hundreds of Students Each Week
• How to Get Your Apathetic Middle Schoolers Invested in Art
• Why You Shouldn't Care if Your Students Misbehave

How do you build a school culture that values the arts? Tim interviews Shannon Bell about concrete ideas to help you build a program from scratch. They discuss exactly what you're walking into and where you begin when you're starting a program (6:45), whether you should start with engagement or curriculum (10:30), and specific strategies to help get your colleagues and administration to buy in to your program (12:45).

• Advice for a new teaching position
• A simple way to scaffold as you develop your curriculum
• Here are a few amazing downloads that can help you get started
• Take a look at AOE's Designing Your Curriculum graduate course

A lot of teachers are dealing with some difficult colleagues--some so bad that they are bringing down the department. So how do we work with those teachers? Andrew brings Tim on the show to talk about how your art program can thrive even when you have a department killer on board. They discuss why every kid needs to be part of your program (9:00), whether you would rather work with talented kids or hard-working kids (11:30), and how to encourage students who might be stuck with a terrible teacher (18:15).

• Strategies to Recruit Students for Your Program
• Gaining the Confidence to Lead Your Art Department
• What Does Leadership Look Like for You?
• Ideas to Run Your Department Better

Andrew and Tim get together to share strategies to help your most talented students find the challenges they need, which encourages and empowers them to continue to create. They discuss how to adapt your teaching and your curriculum for your most talented students (7:45), how art can self-differentiate (11:30), and how much you need to support your students when you ask them to take new risks (17:00).

• What Happens When a Student is a Better Artist than You?
• I Have the Next Picasso in my Art Room. Now What?
• How You Can Appreciate, Curate, and Advocate for Your Students
• What it Means to Teach Gifted Learners Well

A couple weeks ago, Andrew talked about elementary STEAM education with Tricia Fuglestad. This week, he's back with a discussion on STEAM education at the secondary level with AOE instructor Anna Nuttall. They cover a lot of ground in the interview, including what a secondary STEAM curriculum can and should look like (4:45), what STEAM can offer that a traditional curriculum can't (9:30), and the best ways to approach STEAM if you don't have a lot of experience or knowledge (15:15).

• AOE's Project Based Art Room graduate course
• How to Keep the Integrity of Art in STEAM
• 21st Century Attributes for the Art Room
• 5 Easy Ways to Gather STEAM in your Art Room

It's Drawing Week at AOE, and the guys can't resist getting in on the action. Tim loves to talk drawing, and Andrew has a lot of questions for him about how to improve his own drawing classes. This episode covers a lot of ground, including the best ways to start the year (4:00), why skills and engagement aren't mutually exclusive (18:00), and how important it is to provide quality materials (21:00). They close the show talking about organization (26:45), and sprinkle some of their best tips and tricks throughout the episode.

• Why drawing is still so important
• Some great tips for making still life drawings a little less boring
• Make sure you are always using the correct materials
• Check out AOE's Studio: Drawing Course

Graffiti gets a terrible rap from most of the general public, but it is SO interesting to our students. So how can we use graffiti for student engagement and inspiration? AOE writer Matt Christenson is on the show to talk about how he uses graffiti in his curriculum and how his students respond. Listen as they talk about how graffiti helps connect almost every student (5:45), the structure of a graffiti-based curriculum (8:00), and Matt's full rundown of assessment and critiques that happen in his classroom (14:45).

• Matt's very first AOE article about teaching graffiti
• How graffiti fits into a bigger curriculum
• Another article from Matt on how he runs some critiques
• And why he loves to display student work

So many teachers want to incorporate more technology, and especially more STEAM concepts, into their classroom. In this episode, Andrew brings on STEAM expert Tricia Fuglestad to talk about the best ways to bring these concepts into your classroom. Their discussion covers a wide range of topics, including the benefits of technology integration and trying new things (7:00), finding the right balance between art and technology (9:15), and making the most of the short amount of time you have in your classroom (16:15).

• Visit Tricia's blog
• Tricia's Twitter account
• Take a look at all of AOE's articles and resources on STEAM education
• Check out the Project-Based Art Room grad course Andrew mentioned