This school year has flown by! I am honored to have been able to teach high school art and have students realize success in their art making! I learned a lot this year about being a teacher, and have found a career I love.

Here are my top three art projects from this school year!

Tunnel Books
Concept: Alter Ego

Students brainstormed their personal alter ego and brought him/her to life in this project. The books create the illusion of space using layers of foreground, middle ground and background.




Dreaming up Perspective
Concept: Fantasy

Students learned the basics of one and two point perspective as they rendered the illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface.

 



Sculpture
Concept: Pop Culture

Students researched pop culture icons from the past and present before selecting one to recreate as a three-dimensional sculpture. Inspired by Claes Oldenburg, students used visual culture as the inspiration for this project.

End of School Year

This school year went by so fast! I was lucky to be able to have the experience of substitute teaching in so many classrooms. I began and ended the year in long term positions. The beginning of the year I was in an Elementary Art classroom and the end of the year I was in a High School Art classroom. No matter the age of the student, I have learned that they all want (and need) respect and encouragement. I learned a lot about classroom management this year and ultimately adopted a pro-active approach that worked well. Keeping students engaged and motivated was especially tricky at the end of the school year, but I found that as I continued to provided the students with feedback on their art and point out their strengths, they in turn continued to produce top quality art!

I also volunteered my time to assist the hanging of student art murals in the ViBe district. I am very proud that Virginia Beach City has recognized the need to support local artists and extends that support to the local schools. The artwork these young artists created is outstanding and I was glad to help install it at the "green fence" in the ViBe district! (It was really amazing to see the finished products and I had been subbing in that school and helped the kids on the mural project!)

The highlight for the end of this school year was an art show I was able to attend. I was asked to create the award plaques for the students. I love wood working and made six plaques that were then adorned with mermaids to recognize the artwork of the young artists. Attending the awards reception and seeing how much the students loved their awards was very satisfying. I even had a parent personally thank me for taking the time to create the plaques.

Ultimately this year I learned that you get out what you put in. I plan on continuing to put forth 110% in my commitment to becoming a strong art teacher. I am grateful for the opportunities I had to learn and grow this year and look forward to seeing what comes next!

The Courage to Create!

Recently I had the amazing opportunity to substitute for a middle school art teacher for one week. During that week the students were working on creating a work of art based on the concept of courage as inspired by learning about the Holocaust.

 In the above photo I am sharing my personal etchings of scenes from the Holocaust with the students. My paternal grandparents fled Germany during the war to escape persecution. As an artist I was moved to create artwork inspired by this historical event. As I shared my artwork with the students they asked many questions that allowed us to have an in-depth discussion about the project. Asking questions is such an important part of understanding art. It is so rewarding to be able to have a dialogue with young artists about art. Asking questions is the root of investigation. Investigation is the key to inspiration. I was very impressed by what these young artists started this week and look forward to seeing the finished products!

Wood working

I have learned so much from my father. Growing up, he was always fixing things around the house. I loved to work on projects with him and now that I have a house of my own, I find myself being the "handy man" of the house. My father lives close by and we still work on projects together.

In the past few years I have been fascinated with wood working. The mathematics behind planning and assembling functional works of art really puts my brain to work! Below are a few examples of pieces I have made over the last two years.

The original bench was rotten.  I took apart the old one, saved the side iron pieces, and designed a new, fresh bench with treated wood for a garden piece.

I designed a king size bed frame with a beachy and modern feel to it.  The headboard and foot board are attached with bolts and nuts so it is easy to disassemble.  

I designed an entertainment stand with cabinets so I could store my son's toys.  I added puck lights to illuminate decoys and pictures on the shelves.

Long-Term Substitute: Elementary School

The Fall of 2015 was a momentous season for me. I was lucky to be chosen for a long term ART substitute position at a local Elementary School.  This was a very important teaching experience. I have been learning a lot substitute teaching over the past two years, but being the art teacher in a classroom for two months straight was a new perspective.

I learned a lot, and it is really hard to put into words all I learned, so here's my:

Top Five Things Mr. Krueger Learned When Given The Opportunity to Take Over a Classroom:

1. Organization, dedication and patience are the most important characteristics of being a successful teacher.

2. It is very, very important to get to know your students. Every child has a story. Knowing their story explains their actions. When you know them, you know how to not let them down. Teachers make promises, commitments to be there for the students. We teach them content, but we are also helping them decide who they will become as they grow up.

3. The creative process is a deep, multi-step process that involves brainstorming, reflecting, selecting, refining/changing ideas, experimenting, making, (sometimes re-making), sharing and showing! Simply put: Think. Plan. Make. Share.

4. Kids can be really, really messy in the art room. Figure out and implement solid clean up routines!

5. Teachers are just grown up students. Even with 30 years experience, we are still learning alongside our students. That is a very good thing.

The Marshmallow Challenge

Recently an art teacher friend of mine needed to take a day off. I was more than happy to take over her classroom for the day! She was kind enough to collaborate with me on the content planning. I was so excited to work with the kids on "The Marshmallow Challenge."

(If you are interested in learning more about the Marshmallow Challenge, check out this website: http://marshmallowchallenge.com/Welcome.html There is also a great TED talk.)

 The students were about to start a three-dimensional design lesson with their teacher. I thought this "challenge" would be a great way to introduce students to the properties of sculpture.

Teams of 3-4


Supplies for each team:
12 spaghetti noodles
1 piece of tape
1 piece of string
1 marshmallow

Students were given 15 minutes to create the tallest free-standing sculpture that could support the weight of part of the marshmallow. (The other part of the marshmallow could be used in construction.)

  

After 15 minutes the class gathered around each team's sculpture. The team members described what worked, what didn't and what they learned about the properties of sculpture. Through these conversations the students began using the following words without me introducing them:

Weight distribution
Balance
Stability

We also talked about the difference between two-dimensional art (having height and width) and three-dimensional art (having height, width and depth.)

At the very end of the class I had the students complete an exit ticket to share what they learned.

What did you learn about the properties of three-dimensional art?

My personal, professional exit ticket was "What did you learn about teaching middle school students today?"

I learned that it is very important to have an engaging "hook" activity to introduce students to new content! When they are vested in learning the information (through a challenge or other "fun" method) they don't even realize they are learning! 

Resources

Another goal this summer is to find resources to help me in my future teaching job! I have been asking other professionals for reading material to help supplement my education. I learned so much by reading these books! My wife has been lucky to have had professional development with both Dr. Stewart and Dr. Walker and we have had great conversations about the philosophy of art education!


Thinking through Aesthetics by Marilyn Stewart



Teaching Meaning in Artmaking by Sydney Walker