Hello and welcome to my website called Blue Star because I've always enjoyed the stars. These days I teach Ceramics and 3D Studio Arts at Napa High School. I have large classes 29-36 students with a large variety of learning styles and abilities. I have all four grade levels 9-12 in the same classes along with Special Ed, 405, ESL and behavioral problem student...OH YA gifted/gate students and All of the girls softball team, coaches encourage their students to take my class . If teaching creativity wasn't a real passion to me I would've lost my mind by now. When students know you are sharing something very special with them they seem to enjoy the art of making art. That is what makes my classes work, Young minds being asked to create art and learn the history of the people that made it first and I lot of social issues being talked about daily. A safe place to talk about what is on their minds.
What's new in my Art classes, Cubism style of working in clay relief portraits, Cubed boxes and Carousel brainstorming for our Earth Day Site specific artwork/collaborate large scale sculpture.
My driving question: Does teaching Empathic Critiquing develop Visual Perception, Cognitive Functions and Critical Thinking skills ?