AP Drawing adjusts to art at home
Senior Emma Varela works on an art assignment in her room at home last year during eLearning in the spring. Online art classes for the first three weeks will look different from eLearning that took place in the spring. “During eLearning we had already established skills, and a system so it’s going to look very different,” art teacher Fred Rodriguez said. “Students will really need to practice to develop the skills they will need throughout the year. In the spring we were limited with the amount of time we could assign to each student, but this will feel more like regular school, except online.”
March 26, 2020
With school-provided paint, pastels, and easels not available to students during eLearning, hands-on classes like AP Drawing have had to adapt to art online.
Art teacher Pernie Fallon has taken this situation as a way to learn new things.
“I have to say that so far, I have really enjoyed teaching online,” she said. “It’s been a big learning curve for me and I still have a lot more to learn about creating videos and having online class meetings. Having the time to research and virtually travel around the world and through time has kept me very motivated.”
Junior Emma Varela enjoys the fact that she can take more time for art, although she doesn’t have all the supplies she usually has.
“I paint all the time when I’m bored, so it’s really fun because I have so much more time for it now,” Varela said. “What makes it difficult is I don’t have as many supplies as I want, so I can’t use materials that would be available for me in class.”
Setting up a blog as a means to connect, Fallon hopes to spark interest in the world of art for her students.
“For some reason, I felt compelled to research and then I wanted to share what I learned with my students so I started a blog,” Fallon said. “The blog is called ‘Ancora Imparo’ after Michelangelo‘s quote which means ‘Still, I am learning.’ That seemed appropriate for life in the time of coronavirus. The blog is a great way for me to share knowledge with my students. Hopefully it is keeping them entertained while they learn about different facets of art.”
Junior Catherine Tong likes that she has more space to work on her art, but prefers in-person class and communication.
“Art online has been interesting,” Tong said. “I guess one benefit would be having a larger space to work on art at home than at school. I personally prefer having classes in person because it helps me communicate with my teacher better and there are more art supplies available.”
Even if it may be a challenge, Fallon looks at both eLearning and teaching online as beneficial.
“Teaching art online has given me a new challenge as an art teacher,” she said. “Teaching from beyond the classroom has given me a new way to be creative and innovative. I think that is happening for the students too. They are having to be more creative. Creativity leads to innovation. Those are two skills that I think are extremely important for them to develop for their futures.”
