lesson plan

The day is cold and its too early so when the kids come in they look like zombies, their heads hang down so low it looks like their necks are broken. Dark circles under their eyes make them look like they just climbed off the red eye from Beijing. It must be Monday.
I let my students settle and talk amongst themselves and shuffle around. Once their settled I start a conversation to get them thinking about a topic that will lead us to our assignment “as artist what are the ways that we can get our selves, our art seen? And don’t say galleries or museums” some kids have a lot to say, others not so much but once they all look engaged I spring their next assignment on them. “ Here’s what I want from you guys, without destroying any property I want you guys to get yourselves out there, I want you to figure out a way to get your work seen, maybe this means you’ll hang up some work in a restaurant maybe you’ll do a performance piece in a public space. There are a billion and a half ways to do this I want you to take some time to talk amongst each other and work out some ideas, by the end of this class I want all of you to have an idea not only of how your going to get out but also of how you are going to document your work. It is going to be important for you as creators to figure out ways to be seen even if the “business” isn’t interested in you. Well…get to it.” I then sit back and let the work get started its smooth going mostly a few kids have trouble getting started but after a few examples of how this has been accomplished by other artist they are off and running. The one good thing about Monday mornings is this class all students who actually want to be here there mostly juniors and seniors but there are a few sophomores and though it’s usually not the case this semester there’s a lonely freshman.
After I have gotten every ones ideas I walk to my door and change the sign from portfolio AP to drawing one, its going to be a long day.