way too much time on my hands
Ok, so I finished the book. I think that the postscript would be a nice addition to Chapter three for our reading. This brings the whole book together for students and teachers. The author presents the idea that we can use the skills we have learned to help us communicate better. Let me know what you guys think-- that would put us up to 27 pages.
Amie- That is why I love making art--I get so caught up in it, kind of like my own personal nirvana. I would also be interested to know if sometime during history there was a movement to add a larger focus on art into the curriculum. I have only every attended and taught in the public school setting, but I know that arts high schools exist--The Perpich Center for the Arts has an arts focused high school and they do amazing things. I would love to see what they do differently then a regular school to get to that skill level of creative thinking.
Brad- Great example of how this instructional book on drawing/thinking applies outside of the art world. The skills that you are using are so important in many jobs, but tend to be overlooked by schools. Do you think that this creation process is one of the more difficult parts of your job? I think that one of the most challenging things in my job is anticipating the students' mistakes and using that information to prevent those misconceptions.
In the postscript they describe what a total shift to right brain thinking looks like in a classroom--The students are so engaged and focused on the task that they are silent. This is a rare moment when it happens to all 30 or so high school students all at once, but quite amazing. It happened last week in my Ceramics II class (very briefly) and it was so strange I felt like something was wrong. After reading this I realized what was happening and am looking forward to the next time this happens.
Until next time...