We shared our admiration for Tricia Fuglestad’s forward-thinking art education here on the blog a few weeks ago, so we thought it would be a good idea to reach out to her and hear a bit more about her story for our bi-weekly Behind the Brush series! Check it out:
After 18 months of grant writing, fundraising, crowdfunding, and contest winning, my art room finally has enough iPads for all my learners to create without a wait. This has opened up more opportunities for inquiry-based learning with complex and media rich solutions. My students have been challenged with collaborative movie-making projects, green screen stop-motion animations, lego portrait murals to celebrate Black History Month, and many app smashing iPad art projects that develop higher-level thinking.
The iPads have given my students access to curating their own online digital art gallery where they can take ownership of their work, reflect on their growth and learning with artist statements, and practice digital citizenship by writing encouraging messages to their peers.
Since my art program is media rich and connected, my students share their learning, creative ideas, and practice their communication skills with authentic audiences. My 4th graders did a Skype presentation to pre-service art teachers in Montreal. My second graders saw their digital art projects published in a national magazine. My 5th graders tweeted their art to the living artist who inspired it.
Creative problem-solving is an integral part of my instructional delivery. My students are intrinsically motivated to tinker, play, and solve problems as we collaboratively and supportively share our solutions. I love watching them work together to help each other navigate a new app, assemble legos into the likeness of MLK Jr, or make themselves magically fly through their digital artwork with green screen effects.
