Literacy in the Art Classroom

How could I use journals, zines, blogs, and comics in my art room to improve literacy in the classroom?
Art and literacy are related in a plethora of ways. Just as in the art room we practice, practice, practice to become better artists, reading and writing skills develop in much the same way. Children need opportunities for their literary skills to flourish in a nonthreatening atmosphere. The art room is a perfect place for children to use writing to reflect their ideas and to read the thoughts of other people. If a child has a distaste for reading and writing, they tend to avoid them altogether. In art class there is typically less stress on proper grammar and spelling, which relieves the anxiety many kids have towards writing.  To give them the chance to use reading and writing in ways that do not emphasize mechanics or grades is to permit them to foster a personal appreciation for literacy. In time, my students may just realize how much fun reading and writing can be!

I will use journals, zines, blogs, and comics to give students the chance to develop their literacy skills. The best way to use them would be for reflection, research, personal exploration, and collaborative projects. I could use journals as sketchbooks, reflection tools, and note-taking devices. Zines could be used to publish mini-excerpts about artists, art movements in history, careers in art, social activism, and more. Blogs can be used to integrate technology, make out-of-classroom assignments more interesting, share artwork images, and otherwise collaboratively publish reflections and ideas between the entire class. They are a useful tool for portfolios and class discussions. Comics are also important to integrate to express thoughts and ideas in a less threatening way. Students can easily relate to comics when comparing them to cartoons and other media. All video media typically begins with some sort of drawing board of frames and text similar to comics. There are some great computer programs out there for making comics nowadays.

Reading and writing are necessary skills to be work-ready and productive in today's society. By encouraging the growth of these essentials in my classroom, I am helping them in more ways than skill-building. I am making my students more influential and effective communicators, as well as more employable citizens.

Which one am I most likely to use?
The tool I am mostly regularly going to use will be journals and/or blogs. They are simple and can carry over from one lesson to the next. Both can be integrated into every lesson regardless of what the students are doing. If I had to choose between the two, I would likely pick journals because they are low-tech and would not require computers. Using computers regularly is not always an option in every school, and in addition opens the doors to technological malfunction or error that bring stress to all involved. Not to mention, you can draw in journals as well. A downfall of using journals instead of blogs would be that it eliminates the ease of sharing things with peers. The quality of their writing skills would also be effected because they would not feel the pressure to work as hard at their writing if it is not going to be read by their classmates. However, they would be able to share private thoughts and feelings more easily in a journal than a published webpage.

Which one seems the most challenging and why?
I would have to say all of these forms have their challenges. Journals are expensive to buy outright, take time to make handmade, and require space for storage. Zines take time to cut and fold if many are made and are at the mercy of the copy machine used to mass-produce them. They are difficult to produce with the right level of contrast to make them reproduce legibly. There also comes the issue of where to distribute them. Not everywhere is appropriate for every zine. Blogs, as mentioned before can become a hassle if there are not enough computers to go around or the class must move to another location in the building to use them. This can waste valuable class time to be transitioning a lot. Computers also require maintenance and have a high margin of error the older they get. Comics can be challenging to teach, especially with my lack of knowledge of the field. Due to the level of specificity, i.e. commonly accepted conventions of comics, they may not be of interest to some of my students. All of these factors prove challenging, but what is life without some obstacles? They will only lead to divergent problem-solving on my part and reflection to strengthen their ties with art and literacy. Every problem has a solution!

Advocating for the Arts

Why is it essential to be an advocate for the arts?
The most important reason to be an advocate for the arts is because if we as art educators do not stand up for what we do and why we do it, how can we expect others to do it for us? We are one of the most impacted by a lack of advocacy for the arts in our communities. I am a strong believer in setting the example for others so that they may see their possibilities for action. That is why I enjoyed the two articles, The Business of Art Education: A Fairy Tale Adventure and Advocacy for Art Education: Beyond Tee-Shirts. Both of them provoke action and determination to serve as a spokesperson for the arts. They both established a relationship we as educators must have with advocacy, being informed and well-spoken so as to strengthen the impact of our leadership. We must foster support for what we do by actively communicating and seeking allegiance with anyone and everyone who has something to gain through arts education for all.

What are some of the things happening that could effect the arts?
Commonly in this our age of high-stakes testing students' time spent engaging in the fine arts is dwindling. A strong emphasis on attainment of satisfactory progress in core subject areas puts art education programs on the back burner. The first program to go when schools must play "catch-up" with their students is typically the art program. If there is no one there to speak out when these injustices occur (even sometimes to the extent that federal and local regulations for the fine arts are not being followed) the art programs are shortened or cut entirely. Art teachers' time and patience are worn thin by frequent inter-school, sometimes even inter district travel. On a brighter note, as the Iowa Core Curriculum is being revised, some prominent players in the fine arts in Iowa have devoted great effort to see these important subjects included in the Iowa Core. It has been met with some resistance thus far, but with all of our support, we can make it happen!

How can you as an art teacher communicate the importance of the arts to your students, faculty, parents, and community?
I see myself as a facilitator for important experiences to happen between others and the arts, not necessarily exclusive to my students, but the community as a whole. If I keep my students, faculty, parents, and community informed and, with any luck, engaged in the arts, I will create an atmosphere of advocacy to draw upon to instigate more meaningful, community-based projects that smear the boundaries between the classroom and beyond. To keep them informed and engaged means letting them know about opportunities to interact with art in the community such as at plays, festivals, art shows, galleries, classes, workshops, and so much more. Part of my method for encouraging participation will be pitching the positive impact art has on communities, by bringing us altogether, expressing and challenging important ideas, and fighting for justice! Not to mention the arts are just sooooo much fun! All of these parties will be informed on how to get involved with the arts, how to be an advocate, and opportunities to volunteer and contribute to the classroom through newsletters, brochures, and other simple publications. Word of mouth will also be a strong tool for communicating with these parties, as not all of them will read every paper that comes home or grab handouts when they visit their child's school. I would also like to maintain a website that provides the same information for those who prefer not to contribute to paper waste. At meetings with appropriate administrative figures and at school conferences, I can advocate for the arts with parents and faculty. I will rely on partnerships with other teachers and staff to create an interdisciplinary learning environment that will not only strengthen my students' understanding of multi-faceted learning, but also justify the existence of art in schools. Forming bonds with parents, faculty, and the community are some of the most important things I can do as an art teacher to ensure the fine arts thrive in my school and community! With a strong foundation of support, I am able to do even more that demonstrates how necessary the arts are. I am reminded of a snowball. Once it gets rolling down the hill, it only gets bigger and bigger.