Art Ed Radio

This part of the school year is full of art shows and competitions, which can do a lot for your program. They can be an advocacy tool, and a motivating factor for your students--but they can also take the focus off what really matters in the art room. Do you embrace that competition, or are there more important things happening in your art room? Tim and Andrew talk about their personal approach to art shows (4:00), how you can use competition to build the confidence of your students (7:00), and whether competition really can help develop creativity (12:15).

• What should we be focused on in the art room?
• What is the purpose of Art 1?
• There is a lot of power in showing every student's work

Last week, the guys talked at length about the slow finishers--the ones who never get work done. This week, they are back to talk about the other end of the spectrum--the fast finishers! It can be frustrating as a teacher to fill all of that down time that and deal with the misbehaviors that come from it. Listen as they guys discuss why fast finishers cause stress for both teachers and fellow students (4:00), how to deal with the excuses kids make (13:15), and proactive classroom management strategies (17:00).

• Tim's article about teaching 3 projects at once
• This article talks about some great classroom management strategies
• How and why to slow your students down

There are very few things that annoy us more than those kids that take FOREVER to finish their work. Andrew and Tim talk about the work that never seems to get finished, and the reasons behind it. They discuss how to differentiate between the meticulous students and the disinterested ones (5:45), how to deal with both the perfectionists and the procrastinators (8:15), and whether you can ever use grades as punishment (10:45). They close the show talking about some motivation tactics and the best ways to get kids back on track.

• Can We Please Stop with the Participation Grades?
• How to Get Your Apathetic Middle Schoolers Invested in Art
• Three Tips for Perfectionist Art Students
• How to Tell if a Project is Taking Too Long

Sometimes, February and March are the most difficult time of the year for teachers. It's been a long year already, and the end of the year is still a long way off in the distance. So how do you keep from feeling those effects of teacher burnout? Tim and Andrew talk about how to recognize when you are starting to get burnt out (4:00), ways to keep from feeling overwhelmed (7:45), and how to keep those feelings from affecting your teaching (14:45).

• Creativity in Crisis Course
• The Art Ed Radio survey that Tim mentioned
• Why It's Okay to Feel Teacher Burnout
• Andrew's awesome article on why you should say 'no'

We are on to Learning to Love Ceramics, the sequel! So many teachers have a love/hate relationship with teaching ceramics, but the Radio Guys want to convince everyone they can love ceramics like they do. They try to cover everything they couldn't get to in the last episode, including their favorite ceramics projects to teach (4:00), advice to teachers that aren't as comfortable with ceramics (8:30), and their best strategies for making glazing a success (12:00) If you missed the first part of the episode last week, make sure you give it a listen!

• Check out Part 1 of the podcast
• How to take your basic ceramics projects to the next level
• 50 Amazing Clay Resources from AOE
• Check out the Studio: Ceramics course

So many teachers have a love/hate relationship with teaching ceramics, but the Radio Guys want to convince everyone they can love ceramics like they do. Tim starts the show with a pretty crazy confession about his history with teaching ceramics (1:15). Andrew comes on the show as the guys discuss their favorite homemade tools (5:30), Tim teaches Andrew how to keep his sinks from smelling disgusting (12:30), and Andrew tells about his terrible self-given nickname (15:15) and his best firing processes (16:30). The conversation runs up against the clock, though, so there's even more the guys need to talk about. Be on the lookout for Part 2 soon!

• Tim's video on using blenders for slip
• How to take your basic ceramics projects to the next level
• 50 Amazing Clay Resources from AOE
• Check out the Studio: Ceramics course

Tim has the awesome opportunity to interview author Drew Daywalt--of The Day The Crayons Quit fame--who will be a featured presenter at the 2017 Art Ed Now Online Conference. What most people don't know, however, is that Drew is a successful writer, producer, and director who has found a lot of success with horror films. In a wide-ranging and entertaining conversation, Tim asks Drew about the connection between horror films and children's literature (9:00), they discuss the creative process (12:00), and Drew shares what we can expect from him in the near future (18:00).

• Take a look at Drew's books: The Day the Crayons Quit, and The Day the Crayons Came Home
• Check out some of Drew's horror films
• Check out the article that Introduces Drew as an Art Ed Now Featured Presenter

As Andrew talked about with Johanna last week, curriculum is way less "what" we teach, and more of "how" we teach it. In Part 2, Tim comes on the show to join Andrew in a discussion about curriculum at the secondary level. They hit on the big themes of autonomy and creativity, and how those themes should influence what and how you teach. Listen as they discuss how to give your students a voice in curriculum planning (9:00), how to deal with a curriculum that is dictated to you (12:30), and how to ensure consistency and quality with curriculum by utilizing the National Core Arts Standards (15:15).

• If you missed last week's episode on curriculum, give it a listen!
• Take a look at the National Core Arts Standards that Tim mentioned.
• You can dive deep into The Art of Ed's curriculum resources.

Curriculum is way less "what" we teach, and more of "how" we teach it. Andrew brings on AOE's Johanna Russell to talk about our own systems and routines, and making sure they can work at any level. There are a lot of different approaches to curriculum, of course, but it's important to make sure we are still meeting the standards no matter the approach. As we move beyond that, Andrew talks about mindset vs. skillset, and Johanna starts a discussion on how it's not about what facts they remember, it's about developing confidence as artists and learners (11:30). They also discuss the difference between "covering" material and actually TEACHING that material (15:00), and why we need both kids and colleagues in the correct mindset to find success (19:00). Johanna finishes the show by giving her best advice for writing or rewriting your own curriculum and the best approach for you and your students (26:00).

• Johanna mentioned her learning that came from the book titled "The Power of Habit"
• Johanna's YouTube channel that Andrew mentioned
• Johanna also discussed her book Inevitable by Kevin Kelly
• Dive deep into The Art of Ed's curriculum resources here

Building relationships with parents can be a daunting task--especially when you teach hundreds of kids. But it's always about communication. There aren't a lot of shortcuts, unfortunately, but putting the time into building relationships is ultimately worth it. Listen as Andrew and Lindsey discuss the benefits of a good relationship with parents (8:30), strategies to build those relationships as an elective teacher (11:30), and how to mend fences when problems with parents do arise (17:15).

Take a look at some of Lindsey's best articles:

• Connecting with Parents via Facebook
• Being an Art Teacher Celebrity in Your Community
• Parenting and Teaching Art