Teacher Reflections: New Batch of Jr. High Artists and Monkey Selfies

I'm 2 weeks into the new semester and that means a new group of Jr. High artists. Before I became a Jr. High art teacher years ago, I wasn't really excited about teaching this age group and rather nervous. Even some of my colleagues chuckle that Jr. High is a completely "different beast." But, I love this group. They are fun, interesting, personable, and though they come with their own set of challenges, they are a wonderful age group to get to know.

The first assignment we worked on was to challenge the way they look and draw from what they see. So, we found a few line drawings from famous artists like the above Picasso or the below Hokusai. Then, turning the paper upside down, they worked on copying the image, focusing on slowing down and relying on the information their eye is receiving rather than counting on what they know. It becomes challenging when you recognize an object like an eyelid, but trying to draw what it looks like and not how you know what it looks like. I really like the artwork below. After they drew the image, the artists needed to add color to the artwork. I think this artists did a great job keeping the colors minimal so that you would recognize her line work.

The last concept that I'm working on in the class is to add reading reflections during class. This week, we looked at an article from Scholastic Art about copyright issues over who owns the photograph of a monkey's selfie. Is it the photographer who supplied the camera and set up the situation? Is it the monkey's for taking the image? Or is it anyone at all and therefore public domain? I was impressed at how this group handled this. They took the article, read it, answered 2 questions, and then began debating amongst themselves. I think this is going to be a great addition in the artroom. What is your opinion on this monkey's selfie?

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