Leaders One Child at a Time

We have a student in kindergarten that needs extra attention to learn our rules and procedures and his name is Terrance. The other students in his class are constantly focusing on what he does wrong, and reports these behaviors to me as they enter the art room and throughout the class. "Please do not tell me what a student is doing wrong unless it directly involves you" I told them, "focus on your own behavior and make good choices". I looked at the student that they were focusing on, told him to be a good leader, take his seat and remember to keep your hands to yourself. The class went on as usual as I demonstrated how to use oil pastels. Terrance literally squealed in delight as he used oil pastels for the first time. The other kids laughed and told me to tell Terrance to stop screaming. "He's not screaming," I said, "he's squealing with delight because he's enjoying what he is doing." I told him he was doing a great job working with the pastels, but he had to remember to work quietly. It was almost time to clean-up and a girl cried "Terrance hurt Maria very badly". I immediately went to the table just steps away, and asked what happened. Maria didn't say, but two other girls said he pressed his hand on her cheek. "Maria are you hurt?" I asked, and she said no. Her face was not red and she was not upset, so I took Terrance by the hand as I reminded him to keep his hands to himself, and asked him if he'd help me by the sink. It was now the end of class and the students had to wash their hands. I asked Terrance if he would hand a paper towel to each student to dry their hands, and he agreed. Kindergarten students need to use the stool by the sink or they can't reach, so as they get down they place one hand on the sink while stepping down to get a paper towel from the tray. Terrance handed each of them a paper towel as they got down. Each student said thank you, as he gently handed them their towels. You could see the pride in his face as he carefully did his job. He even held his hand out to help students off the stool as they reached for their paper towel. One boy said "thank you for helping me Terrance". Then as if someone flicked on a light switch, you could feel the children's attitude change toward Terrance. They started thanking Terrance for his help and treated him with respect. The children lined up without further incidence, and I let Miss Schmidt know what a good leader Terrance was in art class.
We teach much more than our curriculum as teachers, and our younger students especially look to us to model decent behavior. I tried something different with a child today that needs our patience, attention and guidance and it worked. I hope I can succeed on some level with this boy every week, no matter how small the gain, I know I'll be moving in the right direction.

2nd Grade Art Student Leads the Way

It was very rewarding to see our kindergarden through second grade leaders address their parents and relatives last night at Open House. Its hard enough for us adults to talk to a large crowd, but to see our youngest students do it so well made the evening a huge success. As parents and students were leaving to say goodnight, a new second grade student came up to me and asked if she could show her parents the art room. As we walked down the hall, she chatted away about how much she loves art, and her parents told me that she couldn't wait to show them the art room. When we walked inside she immediately started to explain how the tables are divided by color, and she demonstrated to her parents in detail EXACTLY how to use the drying rack, pretending to put a wet painting inside the correct slot. Then she directed them to the sink where she showed them how to scrub quickly while singing the art clean-up song "One, two, three, A, B, C, drop the scrubbie!" Then she told her mom "You have to carefully hold the counter top with one hand, while stepping down to take only one paper towel to dry your hands". I was truly amazed at how I didn't have to say a word while my young art student continued with her tour of the art room. She asked if I could show her parents what she is currently working on, and of course I couldn't wait to show them her beautiful drawing. She beamed with pride as she explained the "Reflections" project and theme, telling her parents how she completed the "Together We Can..." statement. Her idea is "Together We Can Change the Planet" and she explained how she first had to think of pictures that go along with her idea, and use those pictures to create a composition. As I watched and listened to this amazing girl, I realized just how much we really do influence our students everyday. She reminded me of a gallery docent, repeating everything I have taught my students in class to perfection. Unfortunatley, we can never truly know the impact that we have on our students, but it was amazing for me to witness my second grade art student lead a thorough tour of the art room for her proud parents.

Art Leaders Care, Learn and Lead

After school for me is 2:40, which happens to be my planning period but I don't usually plan during this time. I use this time for 6th grade art leaders to come down to the art room and help me catch up on ongoing projects, prepare for next day lessons or just basic cleaning (work smarter, not harder). Today I have students synergizing to help complete our Goal Posters for Open House next week. All the squares have been painted by students in art class, but some squares still need to be glued and the center signs have to be painted. Not all of this work will be finished during class art time, so I need my art leaders to assist me in getting the posters completed in time for Open House. 6th grade students really enjoy coming down to my room late in the day to help with art projects and preparations. I count on these students for help because they know what I expect from them and I can trust that they will do a neat and efficient job and they genuinely want to help. Today I had three students synergize to paint the center signs for the posters, and glue some remaining squares. The posters look amazing, and the students are helping me while enjoying themselves in the process. Synergizing is my favorite habit because many hands make light work, and it's so rewarding to be a small part of something bigger and then see it all come together. I know these posters will look amazing in the classrooms and they have already succeeded in helping the students remember our school goal, We care, we learn, we lead. My art leaders live the school goal by example.

Start the year with Habit 3

As teachers we all start the year with Habit 3, to put first things first. The first week of school is filled with rules and procedures for starting the year on the right track, and in the art room there's no exception. As a third year teacher, I've improved upon clearly defining the rules in the beginning of the year, and reinforcing those same rules throughout the year. It's not that I didn't know to do that in my first year, but with experience you learn from your mistakes and see first hand how discipline and classroom management can go awry if you don't stay on top of it. I think often about something Kathy says when talking about procedures in the classroom... "What does that look like?" is the phrase that comes to mind. Yes, what DOES that LOOK like to the student? So my first week of school now shows them exactly what my procedures look like. We practice the clean-up routine with a model table actually getting out of their seats, pretending to put away wet paintings in the drying rack, going back to the tables to gather wet brushes, paint trays and water buckets and placing them on the carts. Next, my model students show everyone the proper way and time allocated for washing hands and going back to their seats where an art leader is allowed to clean their own table with a wet sponge. And last, the model table shows everyone how to line-up at the door for dismissal. The model students act like performers and the student audience loves this style of learning. We clap and thank the model students at the end of their presentation and allow for questions at the end of the class. The students really benefit from seeing exactly how art procedures work in the classroom, and I benefit too from all my students understanding the rules, so I can enforce them fairly all year long.

A Celebration of the Arts at Winchester

Fine Arts Night was a celebration of the artistic and musical talents of our Winchester students, a true win-win for us all. As our students entered with their parents and families, they beamed with pride as they led their families to locate their artwork. I told each student that it was like a treasure hunt, and you had to walk through the entire exhibit to find your work. At least two works of art (some students had three) were displayed for each Winchester student which totaled to approx. 700 pieces of art displayed. That's a lot of tape! (and thanks again to all the staff members who helped to hang much of the artwork - I love you guys!) As you know the tape did not hold up this year, and during the show I had tape rolls under the display table so I could add more tape to keep the artwork on the walls! Even if you could not attend the event, the halls were filled with colorful artistic expressions for all of us to enjoy. The students really benefit from seeing all their work on the walls of the school. They take pride in their accomplishments and enjoy the beauty and energy of all the colors, shapes and textures that surround them. Believe me when I tell you that they are diligent in their search to find all their artwork, and are quick to let me know if anything is misspelled, falling down or not positioned correctly. We as a staff are also the winners by being able to enjoy original artwork made by our own students hands. I never tire of viewing all their work, remembering the process and sometimes stuggle that they go through to get things just right. This creative, problem solving process is what art is all about, and what I believe our students will take with them as they go through school and on to their careers. Even if our students never paint or draw again as adults, having a creative mind and having the ability to think "outside the box" is what art class is meant to instill in our students. Being able to problem solve with a creative mind is a skill that will be necessary for our students to succeed in the 21st century.

Making Students Responsible in the Art Room

I don't think any classroom in the school gets as dirty and unorganized as mine does in one day. I guess I'd describe myself as neat and somewhat anal about the way our art supplies should be kept organized. You would never know that fact by looking at my art room. It's impossible to keep it clean and orderly without extra help. I knew a long time ago that I needed my students to take part in that effort everyday. The 7 Habits have helped me a great deal with clean-up time. Near the end of class I ask my students to synergize and work to clean-up the art room. I will say that the 6th grade class is still a bit sluggish in this effort. Some like to sit and watch while others do most of the clean-up. These students don't sit for long as I make sure everyone is part of the clean-up experience. On the opposite end of the spectrum are my kindergarteners, clean-up is their favorite time. They like nothing better than to synergize and wash 'n dry my tables. In fact, I had to delegate wash and dry jobs to specific students because everyone in the room was scrubbing one day with wet paper towels. Can you imagine 29 kindergarten students washing my tables at once? It's a beautiful thing. Synergizing is working well in the art room and getting better all the time. I'm proud to say that I really see the 7 Habits working as my art students synergize to help clean-up the art room.

Synergizing for Leadership Day

Our first annual Winchester Leadership Day is soon approaching and you can feel the buzz of the entire staff as we synergize to arrange every last detail. There have been logos, banners and bookmarks to design, placemats for students to decorate, songs for children to learn and sing, hallways to adorn with Leadership themed work and presentations to be made perfect. There is food to prepare, schedules to make, invitations to send out, packages to be organized and so much more not even mentioned here. Walk into the staff room at any time and the conversation is a buzz with Leadership Day talk and preparation.

I cannot imagine what it takes to organize such an event and remember every last detail so the day will be as perfect as it can be. It obviously takes much more than one person, but one person is really responsible for bringing the "The Leader in Me" to Winchester. We owe such vision, patience, dedication and love to our principal Kathy Brachmann, who was inspired by reading "The Leader in Me", saw all of us and our students in it, and led the way for her Leadership vision to become reality. I am proud to be a member of the Winchester staff whose dedication and passion for our students is second to none. I will be beaming with pride on that day as we watch our students confidently lead the way toward Winchester Elementary's future.