Welcome to Art class!

About Ms. Deck

Hello, I am Ms. Deck, your child’s art teacher, and I want to tell you how excited I am to teach your child during the upcoming school year.  Let me take a moment to introduce myself. Like any good art teacher, I love to draw and paint. What you might be surprised to learn is I also love to blacksmith, cook exotic foods, and kayak. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from Tennessee Technological University.

What to Expect

This year in art, your students will be doing all sorts of amazing things. Because I am the art teacher, I will be guiding your child on a creative voyage. I will be able to see sides of their personality that the regular classroom teacher may never see. I will witness them create solutions to problems rather than regurgitate rote answers, which are highly sought after skills in today’s world. I will watch him or her struggle with tough concepts and we will celebrate their mastery. It will be awesome. We will do all of this and more while staying safe in our classroom.

Philosophy
Please know it is my upmost desire that your student receives a high quality art education. That being said, it is my desire to see your student teaching ME what art is to them. Students have many more choices and be responsible for much higher thinking. This year, in addition to creating we will be learning how artists use the Studio Habits of Mind to aid in their practices. We are a TAB program. This stands for teaching for artistic behavior. Students will be introduced to new artists, techniques, and materials. They will then have to decide how to apply this themselves. This will allow me to help students one on one with their own ideas rather than guiding everyone through the same project. Because this is student paced, please know in this first year the “quality” or “fridge-worthiness” of students’ work may seem to be missing. Just have some trust that working through this will be valuable to them and quality will grow with them. They will certainly be much more invested in their work since it is coming from their hearts.  Teach for Artistic Behavior (TAB) is, in the words of the co-founder Diane Jaquith, “a philosophy that believes in the child as the artist.” It is a flexible approach that’s designed to be adaptable, so it works for all ages and in different settings. TAB is empowering for students, who love using their own ideas and for teachers who get to spend more time mentoring and less time monitoring. Some students who might have difficulty focusing during longer projects thrive when they can work this way.  They have the opportunity to collaborate with their peers and work in groups. Please feel free to contact me at any time with concerns or questions about your child’s art education, or visit teachingforartisticbehavior.org

Our class expectations are below. Please review and talk about them with your students.

Aim for your best.

Respect yourself, others, and the art studio.

Trust in your ability to learn.

Immediately listen to and follow instructions.

Stay on task and quiet.

Take responsibility, tidy-up.

What Can You Do to Help Your Child Succeed in Art Class? A Few Suggestions:

 1. Please don’t tell your child, “I can’t even draw a stick figure” or “I was never good at art.”

The truth is you can draw a stick figure. You can draw more than you give yourself credit for. I am sorry that somewhere on your creative voyage someone made you feel less than confident in your abilities. Please don’t do the same to your child.

2. Please don’t expect your son or daughter to have a 100% in art class because “it’s just art class.”

Art is hard work. It might be harder than math or science because there are no right answers. This is a special class where your child has to create the solution. When report cards come out remember that a 100% in art class would be near perfection and that is incredibly difficult to achieve. Please don’t look for a number on a report card to reflect the success or enjoyment your child experiences in the art room.

3. Please ask your child about what we are learning.

Don’t be afraid to ask them to teach you something. You never know what you may discover about yourself when you open a box of crayons and create something with your child.

4. Please don’t toss the year-end portfolio of your child’s artwork in the trash.

I understand that you can’t possibly keep everything. Trust me, I know, but I also know that when your child sees you discard their work, it makes them feel like their ideas and hard work just aren’t good enough. Take a minute to look at the images, have your child save their favorite one or two. Save your favorite one and talk to them about why we can’t save everything. This simple act goes a long way to boost their confidence in their ability to be an artist.

5. Please regard art class with the same respect as any other class.

We do not downplay the value of art or art class. Artists play a part in the design of everything you use throughout the day. From your morning coffee cup to your new outfit, from your house to your car you drive, an artist made all those things or, at least, made them better. The chances are pretty good your child will be employed in a creative field and the skills they learn in art class will help them succeed. Meeting deadlines, research, planning, and dedication to the task are all non-art skills reinforced in art class and used daily in the workforce.

Other ways to support your students’ art experience?
Check out the Donations List!

I cannot wait to experience the world of art with your children!