Art Ed Radio

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

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