Art teachers are always concerned about teaching students how to think more creatively. But no one ever talks about how to teach for creativity? Tim has a conversation with high school and online art teacher, Amber Kane, about the concrete, manageable, actionable ways we can get students on the path toward more creativity. Check out the discussion about helping kids appreciate the creative process (8:00), new strategies for classroom and individual critiques (13:30), and how to find the balance between procrastination and creativity (15:30).
The Radio Guys bring former AOE writer, Alecia Kaczmarek, on the show to answer listeners' questions about those projects that never seem to run as smoothly as you would like. The "Project Doctors" dip into the listener mailbag to take on papier mâché projects, printmaking, perspective drawing, and even some classroom management. Listen for Andrew's amazing sculpture ideas (6:00), Alecia's best ways to teach routines (13:15), and why Tim and Andrew both quit teaching perspective drawing a long time ago (18:30).
Are we finally moving away from standardization and the Common Core? Could we possibly be headed toward an educational world that values innovation, collaboration, and creativity? We hope this is the case, and if so, art is the perfect subject to help shape students for a creative world. Andrew brings on Kasey McCurdy, VP of Engineering for a company called BunchBall, to discuss innovation and motivation. Their discussion focuses on a lot of great topics, including students' disengagement in the current educational system (6:15), the most important skills we can teach (13:00), and specific ideas to start improving the educational system (16:00).
Art teachers everywhere face the fact that many students struggle with creativity. Call it a crisis in creativity or spend your time looking for culprits, it is what is. This struggle manifests itself in the art room as copied Disney characters and anime sketches. But what if fan art isn't the scourge we've made it out to be? What if fan art is actually a way for a number of students to get and stay engaged with the arts outside of class. Andrew brings on Tim to hash out the debate.
Listen to Tim rant about anime (4:00), and check out the guys' discussion on the importance of originality (13:00) and keeping kids interested in art once they move beyond our classrooms (21:00).