Even during a year shaped by Covid 19, the transition to a TAB art room continues!
I have learned a ton and have found a format that is working very well. Some things I've been thinking about...
1. You do not need to be doing "full on" choice, all of the time, with all of your classes to be a TAB program. As I consider the choices and decisions an artist has to make, I like to think of them in three groups:
SUBJECT - MEDIA - COMPOSITION
Even when a decision in one area may naturally lead to (or limit) choices in another, it seems to me that there are distinct decisions that need to be made. For example, I decide that I want to make art about my dog. I made a decision about the subject, but there are still many other things to figure out. What form do I want this art to take? Is it a sculpture or a painting? How do I want to portray my dog? Style? and on & on. At the elementary level, students may not be prepared to make all of those decisions at once. As I design lessons, my goal should be to move them towards solving those problems. If you are working your students towards this goal, if you are teaching students how to think and create like an artist, if you are engaging your students in the artistic behaviors, if you are releasing more and more decision-making to the student, then you ARE a TAB teacher. TAB isn't just the end, it's all of the teaching leading up to making artists as well.
2. You don't need to have "centers" to be a TAB art room. (And, just because you have centers doesn't make it TAB). Honestly, I just don't like centers. Moving and sitting where the supplies are sounds great, but kids are kids. And, the pull to sit with friends is just too strong. I don't want students choosing media based on who else is sitting there. I don't want the mad dash to the paint station when they haven't even thought about their idea yet. I also like students having the responsibility to set up/put away their own supplies. My students have their own assigned work space. They gather materials when they are ready and set up their work area. They are responsible for putting things away and cleaning up their space. I have been rearranging the room this year to make as much stuff accessible to students as possible.
And, centers do not equal TAB. I've seen examples of art rooms set up in centers, only to have a teacher-directed project as each station.
I have learned a ton and have found a format that is working very well. Some things I've been thinking about...
1. You do not need to be doing "full on" choice, all of the time, with all of your classes to be a TAB program. As I consider the choices and decisions an artist has to make, I like to think of them in three groups:
SUBJECT - MEDIA - COMPOSITION
Even when a decision in one area may naturally lead to (or limit) choices in another, it seems to me that there are distinct decisions that need to be made. For example, I decide that I want to make art about my dog. I made a decision about the subject, but there are still many other things to figure out. What form do I want this art to take? Is it a sculpture or a painting? How do I want to portray my dog? Style? and on & on. At the elementary level, students may not be prepared to make all of those decisions at once. As I design lessons, my goal should be to move them towards solving those problems. If you are working your students towards this goal, if you are teaching students how to think and create like an artist, if you are engaging your students in the artistic behaviors, if you are releasing more and more decision-making to the student, then you ARE a TAB teacher. TAB isn't just the end, it's all of the teaching leading up to making artists as well.
2. You don't need to have "centers" to be a TAB art room. (And, just because you have centers doesn't make it TAB). Honestly, I just don't like centers. Moving and sitting where the supplies are sounds great, but kids are kids. And, the pull to sit with friends is just too strong. I don't want students choosing media based on who else is sitting there. I don't want the mad dash to the paint station when they haven't even thought about their idea yet. I also like students having the responsibility to set up/put away their own supplies. My students have their own assigned work space. They gather materials when they are ready and set up their work area. They are responsible for putting things away and cleaning up their space. I have been rearranging the room this year to make as much stuff accessible to students as possible.
And, centers do not equal TAB. I've seen examples of art rooms set up in centers, only to have a teacher-directed project as each station.