Post - Conference - Sub Report

Some shots of elementary student art from the gallery at VAEA:

I've been reflecting on the art ed conference that I attended last week. One presenter, Sharon Clohessy from Virginia Beach, always gives the most thought provoking sessions. Art instruction to her is absolutely more about thinking than just simply producing, and she always challenges my thinking about how I teach. It is easy to have kids make pretty things, but what do they get from it? She said that the most important thing she wants her students to do is to have them think about art. Think about their art. Think about art in the world. Why did the artist do what they did? How do you get students to produce art that has meaning?

So, that was what I considered the most important line of thinking that I got from the conference.

When I saw my next door neighbor colleagues this morning, aside from the report that my sub was grumpy and rude to them, he told them that I had the kids doing too much thinking and not enough art. Haha! Maybe I'm on the right track.