I had purchased ping pong balls at the Dollar store, and with a fine point permanent marker (Sharpie) wrote questions on the balls that related to the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. As a teacher, you could add questions related to your content area, or even chapter questions to help students review for a test. I then separated the class into two teams, and they took turns throwing the ping pong balls into the cups. If a ball landed in a cup on their side, they would dig out the ball and answer the question. We have been looking at contemporary artists of Kehinde Wiley, Kara Walker, and in the video, Hank Willis Thomas' Afro-American Express is on the overhead and currently being analyzed. (click instagram icon on the right column to watch this video) Art Education teaches more than color and lines and my students learn techniques and tricks that are transferable to their future classroom whatever their subject matter. Note: My college students took great pleasure in this activity while laughing and giggling. I told them if they are good at this activity they could blame it on art class.
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Pittsburg State University is hosting their first ever TEDTalks in the spring of 2018. A massive email went out to all faculty members that would like to do a TEDTalk having them submit their cv, application, and an abstract of their research presentation.
I sent in my application for a TEDtalk outlining a presentation I have been working on titled, Self-Care: it’s not what you think. I had recently written a paper on self-care for my doctorate Leadership class and was planning to submit this presentation to the Kansas Art Education Association (KAEA) annual conference. This research was fresh in my mind and readily available. The dates from the original email to when the application was due did not allow for new research at my current pace. The timing over winter break and the Christmas holiday meant that I would need to pull something ready or spend my time researching a topic to submit. I chose the first option of submitting something already on my shelf. I was selected as a finalist, and from the email invitation was given possible times and dates for my video audition. The email included a YouTube linked to two TEDtalks that show TED’s conversational style. I practiced my talk out loud in my apartment the weekend prior. I was having a difficult time getting the research element and conversation style down to the 18-minute time frame. The day of the audition I planned my outfit accordingly and was 15 minutes early to my 3:00 pm audition. The conference room was set up to be very intimidating, and I was nervous. I walked in and went past the table with six committee members waiting with their notes. The coordinator cued the video to begin recording and told me I would get hand signals from her when I had 2 minutes left in my time frame. I walked to the front of the conference room and began talking about self-care. My talk ended at the 14-minute mark and I know I was talking too fast. I had put bullet points and quotes on small index cards that I could hold in my hand. I like index cards because they don’t show how nervous you are. A larger piece of paper without a podium would shake in my hand and give me away. The panel clapped at the end of my presentation, and the room coordinator gave me a paper that outlined that I was one of 200 people auditioning for nine presentation spots. I got an email two weeks later stating that I was not chosen this year. I will continue to audition and try out next year and the following years because a TEDtalk is on my professional bucket list. I would be honored to be part of the prestigious organization of writers, artists, scientist, and researchers that makeup TED, just like I am honored to have been a finalist for the Pittsburg State University inaugural year. First things first, Happy Galentine’s Day to all my lovely lady friends! I love you and cherish our friendship even if we are far apart. Are you confused? Galentine’s Day is a fictional holiday made up by Amy Poehler’s character, Leslie Knope, on the long running and still playing on Netflix, sitcom, Parks and Rec. Leslie explains it as a holiday to eat brunch with your girlfriends celebrating lady love and the friendships that make our lives worth living. "Oh, it's only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style. Ladies celebrating ladies. It's like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus frittatas." (Leslie Knope, Parks and Rec) Leslie loves waffles and some may say that they are a supporting character on Parks and Rec, so I decided to make waffle postcards to send to my gal pals. Materials: Model Magic air-dry clay, 3 single packages per waffle (White) Craft Paint (White, Yellow, Brown) Parchment paper Elmer’s Glue E6000 Industrial Strength Glue Cardstock Colored Pencils Step 1: I combined three packages of clay to create enough dough to lay in my cold waffle iron and press into the shape of a waffle. Do not turn on the waffle iron. I cut around the extra with scissors and with it created small flat squares for butter pats. Step 2: The clay needs to dry for 24 hours before it can be painted. I did a base coat on the waffles and then used a dry brush technique to highlight the raised areas and make them a little darker like they were cooked. I painted the butter pats with bright yellow paint. I set everything aside to dry overnight. Step 3: I took ½ cup(ish) of glue and put it in a plastic cup and added brown paint to look like syrup. I then poured the glue over the waffles and let it dry for 24 hours. (Hint: it will dry darker) Step 4: After the waffles were dry I colored cardstock with colored pencils to recreate the waffle look and address them to my friends. I used strong glue to glue on the butter pat and the cardstock. Now they are ready for the mail. They only weigh a couple of ounces but have them weighed at the post office for proper postage. I have mailed them before and they have arrived perfectly and how fun it is to get a waffle out of the mailbox!
Issue: The post office in my little town had never seen anything like this and refused to treat them as a “first class letter” instead wanted them to go as a package. I don’t mind paying the postage, but packages get large stickers with tracking codes that my post officer wanted to put right across the butter!! In the case of dealing with people that just don’t get it, don’t create a scene, just put them in a padded envelope. The waffle postcards that is, not the people. Enjoy your waffles on Galentine’s Day and remember, “Ovaries before Brovaries!” |
Professor CharityI teach future art teachers at Emporia State University. Here is what is going on in my classes. Archives
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