I am a multitasker. I always have been - even before technology. I tend to work on more than one thing at a time and I am, as Rosen described, similar to the net-gener who could go through life with earbuds and music. I was the doodler in class. Even to this day, I have to make a conscious effort not to fill my notes during staff meetings with borders and pictures. When I teach, multitasking can be both good and bad. It is good in that I can easily introduce lessons that require many materials and lots of individual attention. I am also good at quickly adjusting lessons and improvising to meet the needs of individual students or the class as a whole. I can re-fill paint while observing a table across the room and answering the question of the kindergarten student standing in front of me. Many, but not all teachers are wired this way. Multitasking, however, is not always the most efficient way to teach and/or work. I believe that there is only so much we can do at once, which may be unique to the environment, the situation or the individual. Often, I forge ahead in lessons... moving on to the next exciting thing... without slowing down to take the time to focus on a key element that may need clarified or to focus solely on reviewing knowledge, etc.
A true example of multitasking inefficiently: A couple of days ago I was at the grocery store with my three children. I am walking through the produce aisle, pushing a stroller, carrying a basket, picking out apples, keeping an eye on my 5 year old who is bouncing up and down.. and answering a call from my sister on my cell phone. I turn to my 9 year old and ask him to please go and get me a red basket for our apples. The woman standing next to me looks at me like I'm crazy.... it is then that I realize I have been carrying a red basket all along. Embarrassed, I quickly hang up the phone and apologize to my confused son. Are there moments when we don't have the capacity to multitask? Absolutely.
As a multi-tasker myself, I understand the feeling of needing to do more than one task at a time. However, I also understand that we can get overwhelmed and that periodically uni-tasking is important to assure that we are not going about things in fragmented and inefficient ways.
I typically start elementary art lessons with about 10 minutes of quiet, focused time. This gives the uni-taskers a few minutes of peace and the multi-taskers some time to focus before jumping into the creative chaos. At the secondary level, this is a tough one. A few summers ago, I taught three-hour art courses at Hickman. Three hours is a long time, and when the rules say "no personal electronics" in class, the kids can get frustrated. I feel their pain. I added books on cd, music and the occasional youtube to our lessons, but it still wasn't enough for most of the kids. While it may be frustrating to refrain from using headphones in class or to put away the blackberry, I feel that it is a life skill that young adults need to practice. I also strongly believe that everyone can benefit from occasionally uni-tasking and quietly focusing. Each teacher will need to adjust the class atmosphere based on the needs of the students, district technology policies, and the teacher's own comfort levels. The key, is to being willing to acknowledge that our students have different learning styles and preferences for working, and vary the instruction and environment from time to time to allow for differences in learning.
Studio Habits: Developing Craft and Learning to Observe
I really could relate to the information discussed in the "Studio Thinking" chapters. I have instructed art at all age levels and I feel that learning to take care of supplies and to be able to manipulate materials and apply various techniques is essential to teaching art any grade level. When students are responsible for materials and are comfortable using the media, they gain a sense of empowerment and are less inhibited in the art making process.
In the elementary art room, time is often limited to 50 minutes, once a week. I do not like to spend a lot of time on isolated instruction of vocabulary and instruction on how to precisely use tools. Personally, I learn best by "doing". I tend to teach the same way. I do spend a little time discussing, demonstrating and modeling class expectations and how to care for materials at the beginning of the year and from there, I embed these practices and instruction in the art lessons. We can always use the "teachable moment" to teach vocabulary and new techniques as well as model the appropriate care of materials and techniques during our demonstrations. It is great when kids learn new techniques and control of a media without even knowing that they are learning. I like how the ceramics instructor in the reading explains that the clay should be a "partner in their creations". Hetland (2010) explains, "As students begin to acquire technique, they begin to "think" with technique". Partnering with the media, and thinking with technique are fantastic ways to direct our students in the art-making process.
