Making Progress

     The class this week was once of the best I have had so far at GDAC. The students were really engaged and made for an excellent class discussion. I also feel I did a little better. I was able to adapt during the middle of the class which I tend to struggle with the most. We were looking at the types of objects that can be found in Ancient Egyptian tombs and I had an idea of what I wanted the students to discuss, but as conversation went down a different path I was able to let go of my plans and go with the flow. I think, because of that the students were more engaged and willing to ask questions and make observations.
     The greatest moment of the class for me, was when one girl, who typically does not speak felt comfortable raising her hand and telling the class what she thought about the object we were looking at. She usually sits far from me and the projector, but I have rearranged the seating so that day she had to sit in the front and I believe that helped a little bit to get her feel comfortable participating.
After she spoke, I really wanted to just give her a gold star. Not only she participate which was fantastic in itself, she did something that was really amazing. She was able to by looking at the object determine that it was made from precious material and then use what she learned about a different object five weeks ago to infer that this object was made for a wealthy or elite person. Not only was she absolutely right, but it just showed that she was building off of what she previously learned. I already really enjoy teaching the class, but this just made all the work I do each week preparing for it worth it.
     The students also got really into one of the activities that day and did not want to leave when the parents came to pick them up. Apparently elementary school students really like making secret messages in hieroglyphics. I did not think that they would take to it as much as they did.

What comes first: art or language?

A few years ago, when I was still in the "business" of languages and literatures, I was part of a long-term academic project that built programs integrating the teaching of languages and art. More specifically, I created activities aimed at students of Italian and Spanish that used art resources available in museums or online - images of art as well as text - geared toward a specific proficiency level. The project came from the idea that language is inevitably rooted into culture and it only makes sense - pedagogically and philosophically - to use art in the teaching of Italian or Spanish.

When I was developing those materials I took the initiative to consult with a few art professionals - an art history researcher and a curator (or maybe an educator? I wasn't paying much attention to that distinction at that time) from the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. Even though I was not required to, I wanted to make sure that the information I presented in the activities was factually correct. The criticism I received from the MFA was that the information may very well be correct, but that the notions of art in the activities were subordinated to language learning. I didn't pay much attention to that and, at the time, didn't understand why this should even be a problem - it was supposed to be that way, after all!

But I now understand the skepticism of the museum professional. In 2016, when I taught Italian again, I created an activity that invited students to visit the Kimbell Museum and enjoy and discuss one of my all-time favorite masterpieces - Caravaggio's Cardsharps. Since this was optional, only one student took advantage of it, but now with my art background, I realized how vulnerable this approach was to making art an illustration for linguistic or even cultural concepts. I believe my curriculum was successful, but - on the other hand - still convinced that art and language learning go together - would love to have more opportunities to combine and teach both.

I met with the current coordinator for the Italian program at UNT and we are delving in these issues. Even though students will not visit the museum, I am planning an off-premises activity with the visit of the artist. It will be based on the following art AND languages concepts: color, limits, emotion, representation and objecthood, transparency and opacity.

I am forging ahead with the children's activity book for MADI art - it seems to be an easily fitting outcome for my work with the museum. As about the touch self-guided one, it most probably will be a take-along puzzle of transparent acrylic sheets or origami.

Other than that, it may seem mundane but after much, much negotiations and phone calls, my most exciting result so far is to get DHL to complete their shipping. Whew! Please keep your fingers crossed!