Art Ed Radio

Contemporary pop artist, Romero Britto, comes on the show to talk to Tim about his life and his work. Britto is known around the world for his colorful, bold, and optimistic artworks drawing inspiration from the joys of everyday life. He believes in art as an agent of positive change, and he and Tim discuss why this positive approach is so important. Britto also talks about his upbringing in Brazil (4:00), his biggest influences (11:15), a day in the life of an artist (15:00), and what he has coming next in his career (17:00).

• Take a moment to look at Romero Britto's website and read a more in-depth biography.
• If you are interested in hearing more from Britto, make sure you register for Art Ed Now, where he will be a featured presenter!
• Here are a few articles from AOE to keep that positivity going! Spreading Positivity One Sticky Note at a Time 5 Powerful Tips to Stay Perfectly Positive at Work Positivity Notes

Do art teachers need to be artists? Absolutely! We don't need to be creating work at the highest level, pursuing gallery shows every month, and constantly chasing sales. We do, however, need to be creating in some fashion; the habit of consistently creating artwork makes us better, more engaging teachers. Andrea Slusarski returns to the show as she and Tim talk about making time to make art (8:00), the higher standard to which art teachers are held (11:30), and how being an artist helps inform our teaching (15:45).

• Check out Andrea's Instagram page and her website.
• Read some great AOE articles about making art: https://www.theartofed.com/2014/12/22/making-time-for-making-art/ https://www.theartofed.com/2015/01/06/should-teachers-make-art-during-class/ https://www.theartofed.com/2013/12/06/how-art-teachers-make-time-to-create-art/ https://www.theartofed.com/2015/09/23/how-to-make-art-no-matter-how-busy-you-are/
• 3 of Andrea's favorite art-related sites: www.vistaprint.com (A great/affordable place to order business cards and quality prints) www.society6.com www.etsy.com

Art teachers everywhere can identify with the "penny-pinching blues." It seems every year art budgets are cut. Teachers have to beg, borrow, and get really creative to ensure students have enough quality supplies to last the year. In this episode, Andrew brings up broad strategies for advocating for (and using!) your budget while Tim shares some great classroom hacks to help teachers get the biggest bang for their buck. Listen up and learn how to budget like a boss!

Andrew and Tim share some practical tips and tricks for stretching that art budget (14:15). These tips are especially relevant to new teachers or teachers transferring to a new building, Next, Tim and Andrew discuss some common mistakes in budgeting and ordering supplies (19:00). Finally, the guys go out on a limb to discuss how budgeting like a boss can actually add legitimacy to an art program as an advocacy piece (26:00).

• 5 Tips to Stretch Your Art Room Budget
• Get Art Supplies for Free With This Simple Tip

We've all had projects that have flopped, but how do we transition out of that failure into something meaningful? Andrew joins Tim on the show as they discuss the need to figure out how to make those failures relevant. They also talk about salvaging learning experiences for our students when things aren't running as smoothly as we had hoped. Tim provides tips on using reflection and discussion as a learning experience (3:00). Andrew shares his ideas about what causes our projects to fail (7:00) and why he purposefully designs projects that force students to struggle (11:45). This episode has great suggestions for trying new projects in your classroom, saving lessons that go awry, and even using those lessons to teach our kids about failure.

Resources and Links:

• https://www.theartofed.com/2013/06/20/when-to-toss-a-project/
• https://www.theartofed.com/2013/02/28/cut-your-losses-when-art-projects-flop/
• https://www.theartofed.com/2015/02/24/should-art-students-be-allowed-to-ditch-projects/
• http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/01/the_benefits_of_failure.html

In this episode, Andrew brings up a topic that we all agree happens on a daily basis: student immaturity. It's a topic we don't always feel comfortable sharing as somehow confessing this is an admission of classroom management failure. If creativity is the currency of art teachers, immaturity is the currency of our students. Be it fart jokes, sexual innuendo, or "that's what she said" remarks, students revel in immaturity. Teachers deal with these antics in their own ways. Some see them as inevitable and harmless little quips that can lighten the class mood or build rapport. Others see them as a huge distraction that can completely derail your class and undermine everything you're trying to do as a teacher.

Andrew and Tim begin by sharing some memorable stories of how student immaturity reared it's head in their classrooms. You won't want to miss the epic fart story that Andrew tells (7:45)! They then discuss tips and tricks to deal with or circumvent immature and offensive behavior (11:30). And finally coming full circle, Tim and Andrew discuss ways that masterful teachers can navigate and even leverage immaturity into teachable moments to build a healthy classroom environment and strengthen rapport (21:00 ).

• Clowning Around: There's a Comedian in Every Classroom
• How to Approach the Naked vs. Nude Discussion in the Art Room
• To Censor or Not To Censor...
• There ARE Better Ways to Make Clay Handles!

In this episode, Andrew shines a light on a pretty serious and worrying thought… the death of art education. While this may seem a bit melodramatic, there are serious shifts underway that are undermining and changing the status quo of art education. Right off the bat, Andrew brings on special guest Danny Gregory whose blog post, "Let's Get Rid of Art Education in Schools," had the art teaching world all worked up.

Love it or hate it, the article brings up some interesting points and got Andrew and fellow Art Ed Radio podcast host, Tim Bogatz, thinking about the current reality of art education (7:30). Tim and Andrew discuss advocacy strategies and how art teachers can take a stance in the face of shifting paradigms to champion our programs, whether these programs are more traditional or new and more inclusive to the world outside art (13:50).

• Let's Get Rid of Art Education in Schools
• San Diego Unified Looks to Move Beyond Art for Art's Sake
• How to Revamp Curriculum to Meet the National Visual Art Standards

In this episode, Andrew will shed some light on new acronyms from the art ed world including STEM, STEAM, and PBL. He'll share how to start incorporating these teaching philosophies into your classroom in order to get your students thinking like designers. He'll even talk about why having the STEM vs. STEAM debate isn't worth your time.

Joining Andrew will be his longtime friend and colleague, Ryan McInry. Ryan is a fellow Iowa art educator and a bonafide STEAM expert.

Andrew and Ryan discuss the unifying threads of STEM, STEAM, PBL and art and why these new paradigms don't have to be a source of fear or confusion for art teachers (16:00). They also talk about how STEAM and PBL can lead art teachers to collaborate with other teachers in the building (21:00). Finally, Ryan and Andrew discuss how art teachers can be leaders when schools start adopting a STEAM or PBL approach (24:00 ).

• How to Keep the Integrity of Art in STEAM
• Why Art Teachers are the Leaders of the Future
• A Case for Hoarding in the Classroom
• Let's get rid of Art Education in Schools

Art clubs always start out with a sense of excitement and passion, but that feeling rarely continues all the way until June. How do we keep our students interested and our art clubs productive throughout the school year? Tim and Andrew get together for a great discussion on these topics, offering some specific takeaways that can keep your art club going strong.

The guys talk about new ideas for scheduling your activities and keeping the excitement going (8:00), Andrew shares his ideas about letting students use catapults to launch pianos across the room (11:00), and they both talk about why it’s a good idea to let students take the initiative (14:30). Tim closes the show by sharing his 3 tips to keep your art club not only surviving, but thriving.

More tips from AOE on successful art clubs:

• https://www.theartofed.com/2012/11/12/5-steps-to-making-your-art-club-a-success/
• https://www.theartofed.com/2013/03/12/trade-in-your-art-club-for-saturday-school/

Ideas for incredible projects:

• https://www.theartofed.com/2014/02/13/easy-tips-for-creating-a-legacy-installation-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/
• https://www.theartofed.com/2015/02/11/how-an-artist-in-residence-can-send-student-confidence-through-the-roof/
• https://www.theartofed.com/podcasts/art-room-branding-projects-that-define-your-program-ep-003/

A classroom where every student is intrinsically motivated is an art teacher's dream, but it's rarely a reality. In this episode, Tim brings back AOE writer Abby Schukei to continue their discussion from Episode 002 on how to best motivate our students. This time, they are also joined by art teaching superstar Nic Hahn, author of the blog Mini Matisse.

The three discuss how we can teach students to value their work (12:30), whether students have the ability to develop intrinsic motivation (15:30), and how to work with students that don't like art (17:00). The show raises important questions to help all art teachers reflect on what they do for their students and why.

• 3 Ways to Motivate Your Students on Tough Days
• 4 Innovative Ways to Display Your Students' Work

Too often, art teachers rely on the canons of art history when introducing the subject to their students. This episode is here to tell you there's a better way! Tim shares some of his best resources and reasons for teaching contemporary artists (listen for a cameo from the great Don Masse). Andrew comes on the show and he and Tim discuss their favorite contemporary artists (4:00), what art history looks like in their classrooms (8:30), and why we need to get away from those dead white guys (17:00). Tim closes the show by talking about the power of contemporary art to help develop thoughtful, inquisitive, and engaged students in your classroom.