I Have Been Called a Mean Teacher and Other Things That Art Teachers Have to Deal With When Grading Students

I Have Been Called a Mean Teacher and Other Things That Art Teachers Have to Deal With When Grading

This school year I was blessed to have one of my prior students volunteer to be a TA in my class. 

After the first couple of weeks, my TA told me that she told a friend of hers who was in my class the prior year that she was my TA. Her friend said that she couldn’t believe that she would volunteer to be my TA because I was a mean teacher. My TA responded to me saying, “Don’t worry Mrs. Patten. I’ve got your back!”

But, my heart fell. How could anyone say that I was a mean teacher? Every morning get my positive attitude together deciding that I’m going to do the best job that I can with my students, and knowing that I can effect them in a positive way. I try to greet every student with a smile and ask how the day is going, and notice if a student is sad, or upset and offer a kind word of encouragement. I thought, “What more can I do?” Every moment that I am with my students, I try to the best of my ability to help them in their work, to help them in realizing their dreams. I try always to be kind.

But, I also expect effort. If someone tries to turn in a project early and it is definitely not their best work, I will ask the person kindly and gently to try to improve this or that. Almost without exception, my wonderful students have went back and put effort in to make things better and I am so proud of them for that. 

However, out of the almost 200 students I work with, there are bound to be a couple who just decide that they won’t put effort in. Those are the students that I can see online are failing all the rest of their classes also. They have checked out. I give them extra encouragement and most of the time am successful to at least get them to put in enough effort to pass the class. Those students tend to like me.

However,  there are a few other students who simply decide that they want to make a priority of socializing or being lazy. I try to do my best to encourage them. They complete the projects but not to the best of their ability since there is a lot of wasted time. Those students are not happy with me because I push them to be their best when they just want to be lazy. They don’t receive the “A”s that they believe they are actually entitled to. They don’t realize that the seasoned teacher knows that laziness if ignored, can infect the rest of the students which can change the climate of the classroom very quickly into an ineffective creative work environment. If I give them “A”s then more laziness will ensue.

I was the student of a Dean of the English Dept. at a university a few years back. He said that he had no motivation in high school. He never did well in school. Then, in his tenth grade year, he took a ceramics class. During that class he realized that he could do better at projects that many other people in his class. That accomplishment made him think, “What else could I do, and do well? “ Ceramics gave him focus. Ceramics gave him the patience he needed to accomplish great things in his other classes eventually. I mean, here he is the dean at a university now. Ceramics changed his life! That’s awesome! That’s what I want for my students.

When I became a ceramics teacher, I knew that most of my students would not decide to have a career in ceramics. My primary goal is to teach focus, patience, and give students the power to realize their artistic dreams. And that means that yes, there is some socializing in my class but that is secondary to getting things done. I realized that students who want to goof off and get an easy “A,” are not going to like me. Because I am going to gently push them to be better than they thought they could be.

Still, it hurt me terribly that any student would call me a mean teacher when I care so deeply about my students. I noticed myself separating myself more from caring about my students. I started to put a wall up because I didn’t want to hurt.

Then, I read “The Secret.” I realized that I was carrying my hurt to my students and I wasn’t having the joyous relationships that I had before. I realized that I needed to imagine that all of my conversations with my students would end in a positive way. 

I do that now and things turn out fantastic almost always. Even this week, I had two of my most challenging motivation-wise students (that are failing almost all of their other classes) say to me, “Mrs. Patten, I love talking to you and being here because you care and none of my other teachers care, but I really don’t like ceramics because it’s hard.” 

Now, I wish that they said that they like ceramics but it’s all a process, right?! And it’s sad that they felt that other teachers didn’t care.

I give those students more attention and more help on their projects because that’s what they need to be successful in my class and I want them to feel like someone cares. And my hope is that the focus and effort they put forth in my class will also eventually be put forth in other classes because they find that their effort is rewarded.

If a change doesn’t happen now, a change may happen for them after high school. Many, many adults have told me over the years that they didn’t put the effort that they should have put in high school, but now they are successful adults. 

The bottom line for me is that I try to see the good and bring out the good in every student. We never know when life will throw us something that is life changing. I want to give my students an open mind to forgiveness and starting over.

Students Ask, “Why Don’t You Give Everyone “A”s Because It’s Art?”

So, every year I have several students who ask the question, “Why don’t you give everyone “A”s because it’s art?” The reason why I don’t is because of research. Look at Psychology Today’s September, 2012 magazince article online called, “Forget Self-Esteem. You Need Self Compassion.” Self compassion is being able to see your weaknesses, but from a kind, understanding point of view. You understand that weaknesses are changeable with effort. In one research project, people were given a test that they failed. They were allowed to take the test again. Those people who were able to look at the failed results with self compassion, studied 25% longer for the test and scored higher compared to those who simply focused on bolstering their self esteem. 

The last 30 years’ research on success has found that effort and perseverance are the most important things that need to be developed and complimented according to the article in Scientific American online called “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids.” When complimenting those attributes, they found people would go much farther without giving up. Isn’t that what we want in our students?! Persistence helps us retain jobs. Trying our best to overcome obstacles, being able to do things through focused effort, diligence, and courageousness help us become productive members of society. And not only that, those qualities help us retain meaningful relationships. How people do in life has everyone to do with effort. What I have found is that the less you expect from people, the less they will apply effort. There will always be a few self-motivated students in the class who will do a job to the best of their ability no matter what but the majority of people when given the chance to be lazy with no consequences will be lazy and not only that, some will find inappropriate ways of behaving in the classroom because they don’t respect a class where they are not expected to do their best and learn. 

So, as teachers, it’s important to be like a parent with “tough love.” Having high expectations is exceptionally important. Most of my students appreciate me so much because they can see that I always try my best to be the best teacher that I can be for them and through my guidelines, it is clear to them what they need to do to earn an “A” in the class. But, there are those that choose to dislike me because I expect them to put forth effort, develop patience in their work, and complete projects that help them to realize their ability to accomplish, and create something that is a unique expression of their own making.

Students ask, “Why Can’t I Make Whatever I Want???”

I have been asked many times why I don’t just let everyone make whatever they want. This is the reason - students come to me at the beginning of the year wanting to make very complicated things that they don’t have the skills yet to make. If I have everyone just make anything that they want, how am I supposed to teach hundreds of different skills to over 40 students in each class successfully? I ask them to think of the learning curve of an olympic diver. If one wants to become an olympic diver, do we begin by teaching them complex flips? No, we begin teaching them in small, manageable steps so that they can develop skills sequentially in a way that makes sense so that they can eventually be successful at complicated maneuvers. 

Also, as a teacher in a public school. I am required to give grades. To make grades fair, students must be required to do about the same amount of work to receive an equitable grade. 

Additionally, since I have one small kiln for 170 ceramic students, a size limit must be attached to projects. Otherwise, firing cannot be completed on time.

But they do get a chance to make whatever they want. Read about it below.:)

Students ask, “Why Do I Have To Follow the Guidelines If It’s Art???!!!”

My students want to know why it is that they have to follow the guidelines to get a “good grade” especially because it’s art?” If a student decides to go into art as a career, they still need to develop many skills to be successful and I am accountable for teaching them many of those skills through State Standards, and The Common Core. But additionally it makes logical sense to have guidelines because 99% of artists must work in industries where there are very specific guidelines that they must follow for the customers’ needs. And in illustration, toy design, and graphic design for example, artists can follow their customer’s guidelines perfectly but the customer often doesn’t like the end result and the artist needs to start over or change many characteristics. So, guidelines are necessary to prepare students for a future in art. 

Also, I work in a public school where I must grade students on criteria that must be the same for all students so that students can see what is required to earn a good grade in the class. This is how they know how I will grade them for the class. 

Students earn the same amount of credits and grade toward their grade point average in my class as they do in a math or English class so of course my class must have guidelines. If they want to be in a class where there are no requirements, then they can go to an art center and pay for classes where grades aren’t given.

Still, making anything they want happens as a last project in my ceramics class each semester. Basically, they have 8 - 10 classes to make anything that they want and more classes to glaze the pieces they have made. Since students have been in the class for a few months towards the end of the first semester, they have skills to make many things. Of course, second semesters’s results are far better than first semesters’ because I have taught students many more skills to create more complex designs the second semester.

Students are graded on the “free” projects at the end of the school year because as I’ve said before, if given the chance to socialize and be lazy, I have found that the majority of my young adults will do that if there are not expectations. 

The way that I grade those “free projects” is this: If a student has 10 hours of class time to create an object, does it look like the result of that amount of time spent? Of course I take into consideration the class time spent deciding what to do, a slow start, and the complexity and finished look. And most importantly, I monitor my students on a daily basis to see how much effort is really being put into their projects. Effort to me is the most important indicator to me of future success.

In my Intro. to Art class, things run a little differently. The first semester is all about developing the skills necessary for them to express themselves through their art by understanding and implementing the Principles and Elements of Design effectively. It’s an intense learning time for my students. Students overcome lots of fears and learn the basics of design. 

However, the second semester is a time of few guidelines because students have the necessary skills to be able to do and express a lot what they want. My focus is making sure that they are challenging themselves enough and are creating work that they can feel proud of. This is the exciting part of the journey for me!

My Results at the End of the School Year 2015!!!:)

At the end of last school year, I gave my students a questionnaire. One question was based on focus. Another was based on patience. And another was based on growth. The last question asked what I could improve on as a teacher.

All students that returned the form said that my class helped them develop more patience and focus. They also said that they were able to do better than they had thought was possible. That is what I want for my students. All students who answered the question said positive things about me so that was wonderful! And there were also some wishes for a bigger kiln so they could make bigger things, another year of a ceramics class, and less writing but there are pluses and minuses to everything, right?! 

We need to focus on those joyful, meaningful relationships that we have with people who really care, and work on developing those attributes that will help our students be successful in all parts of their lives.

At least that’s my goal.

Keily - My Courageous, Creative Student!!!

Keily - My Courageous, Creative Student!!!

Keily was in my Intro. to Art class about 2 years ago. She sat between students who socialized too much and didn’t care about the class or their futures. In fact, Keily told me later that at that time she had no motivation for school. She failed a couple of classes that semester and had no interest in school.

However, the last part of the semester, a change occurred. She suddenly became charged like a battery and she would not stop working on her projects regardless of the socializing and distractions  around her. She would stay late working on her projects and take them home to complete them to the best of her ability. She asked tons of questions and when I gave the guidelines for a project, she always chose something challenging, something where she would have to investigate how to bring her idea into existence.

When the year was coming to an end, I wrote a letter to her counselor asking that she be placed in the AP class the next school year. She was shocked and doubted herself some but I reassured her and she decided to face the challenge.

The fall semester of her sophomore year, I convinced her to apply for the Ryman Arts Program where students go every Sunday to work on mostly still lifes. She came to me on the day that it was due, still asking questions about how to better her project, one self portrait, and one still life. We stayed after school together with her working on it as I worked on the next day’s prep but at 4PM she still had a ways to go. I thought if I went to the post office, with the exact weight that would be sent in the container it would be sent in, then I could get it post marked and she could send it that night when she was done with it. 

So, I drove to the post office and told the post man of my student’s disadvantaged background and would he please give her a chance? However,  he absolutely refused saying that it was against their regulations. But, he gave me an alternative. He said that I could purchase the postage online and it would show that day’s date. So, that’s what I did. I went back to school, made an online account with the post office, printed out the postage, gave it to Keily, and took her home where she completed her project, and sent it out. She totally reminded me of myself at that age. I would totally procrastinate when things were a bit scary and new. It’s how many of us are.

She was accepted in the program and within 2 weeks in that program found out about the Oxbow School, a school offering a one semester junior year program where all subjects were connected to art. They had one full scholarship opportunity.

She decided to go for it. I was so proud of her. Here is this person who never drew before, who never had an art class before her 9th grade year, and she was willing to put herself out there, accepting the challenge. For this application, she was asked again to make a self portrait. She came to show me her self portrait as it was thus far and asked advice. Honestly, I didn’t realize that it was a self portrait because she told me her idea of having half the head a half skull and insects of some sort crawling out of the other side of the head. This was Keily - she is I believe the most creative student I have had. We discussed the types of insects and how to search images that would be good to look at to understand their forms and how they look when they fly. We messaged back and forth looking at and discussing the details over the next couple of weeks until she completed it. I wrote her recommendation and sent it out. 

A few weeks later she called me. In disbelief, she told me that she was chosen  to have one of the 40 spots available out of over 5,000 applicants! And then a couple of weeks later, she was chosen to receive the full scholarship!!! It cost about $28,000 dollars for the one semester program!!!!! She was nervous about not being in regular school to prepare her perhaps better for the SATs. I assured her that if she went, she would be creating work for her portfolio that would get her into a good university.

She called me during her Oxbow experience, incredulous that her PE was kayaking!!!

She had an amazing time at Oxbow with a nurturing staff that helped her realize her wonderfully wild way of looking at the world.

She was excited when she arrived back and met several students that had good GPA's, not great ones, who were accepted into strong art programs that weighed portfolios much higher than GPA's when it came to being accepted into the art program.

She came back to our school for her spring junior year term. I was so fortunate to have her in my ceramics class where she is did some exceptionally creative work!

I know that Keily will do great things in this world. She also writes well so she may write for film too. The sky’s the limit for someone who has such perseverance and courage!!!

Keily was so very happy to have me show some of her work here and I am so honored!:) The work below are a couple of things that she put in her portfolio.

When she was deciding where she would like to go to college, Keily was given an expense paid visit to Princeton. She flew in an airplane for the first time! And they picked her up by limousine!













Here are some of her ceramics pieces. The first one here (3 photos) was shown in the American Museum of Ceramic Art in their High School Exhibition

This sculpture below was was part of her portfolio and I featured it in my You Tube video showing how to make Talons:


She ended up receiving a Free Ride (all expenses) Scholarship to Santa Barbara State, and a Full Tuition Scholarship to UCLA. It was an excruciating decision to make but she chose to go to UCLA!

She is now there and receiving great comments from her teachers! She is a magnificent young woman!!!