This weeks BEST OFS

Educating the Kids on Australia

So this week's theme is AUSTRALIA. Our first project is exploring the ancient aborigine cave art that is found throughout Australia. 

I always, if I have the time, try to make a few examples of the activity to One: make sure the project works, and Two: Give students a springboard to generate ideas. 

There are almost every time, at least two students who just copy your work. This is, of course, not ideal...but nevertheless the Copying process can be beneficial also, so I usually just let it go. Not to mention, that that's how humans learn cognitively. I also, initially taught myself how to draw by copying comics. It isn't easy to generate original ideas when you are young, not enough life experiences yet. Once a person knows who they are, once some personal stories have been accumulated, original content comes a lot easier. 

I also almost always try to include an example that references current kid pop culture. Here is a drawing from the 'Aboriginal Dot Painting' activity we will be doing this week, featuring Perry the Platypus from 'Phineas and Ferb'.

Post Lesson Assessment: The kids freaked out when they saw Perry.

The very first 'BEST OFS' entry!

If you've been following along you probably know by now that part of reason the posts slowed down in posts the last two years or so have been mostly due to my pursuit of a career in A being not only an artist, but also a certified K-8 Art Teacher, gotta pay the bills (and now student loans) don't you know? With this in mind, I'll be transitioning the blog to cover not only my own art work, but also some of my experiences in the classroom and some student work.

With that said, I'm starting a new category of posts titled 'Best Of's' and it will feature strictly the work of students. Here is the very first batch!