Any AP Art teachers?

[puglady]

Though I protested, since it's only my second year to teach, my school insisted on introducing an AP program this year. After the training I was really excited about teaching the class, but I quickly got bogged down with how many artworks the students are supposed to produce-- about one per week. The students got discouraged very quickly and here we are mid-February just wanting it to be over. I don't think I'll be teaching AP again next year. I was just wondering if anyone else has taught AP and whether your experience was any different. Were my students and I just not ready or is the class always this stressful? The work is getting lower quality, not better, as we go on because they barely have time to finish, much less make it AP worthy, and I find that the work they did in Art 1 was much stronger.

[Thaneeyabean]

Hi,

I'm not an AP art teacher, but I remember having AP Studio Art when I was a Senior in high school 12 years ago. We never had that "complete one piece of art per week" rule... that's just insane! I'm sorry to hear that AP Art now requires that. I do remember I had a portfolio of 20 finished pieces by the time the year was over, but some were of far greater strength, quality and creativity than other pieces.

I don't know how regulated the AP curriculum is and how much leeway you have... Perhaps you could have certain artworks be fairly simple - for instance, an assignment relating to a specific element or principle of design - something that demonstrates the students' knowledge of that element or principle. Not every piece has to be breathtakingly brilliant (although that's what artists at any age naturally strive for!).

I'm not an art teacher, so I'm just throwing this out there. I never wanted to pursue teaching in schools or universities for these reasons.

Best of luck to you and your students!

[joqua]

Perhaps it will broaden the responses to this thread to explain what is meant by AP:

I'm presuming it's:

The Advanced Placement Program is a program that offers college level courses at high schools across the United States and Canada.

I had the opposite problem from Puglady when I taught "Beginning Painting" in a university setting. I quit after one year of putting up with an administration that thought college students should be thought of as "post-high school." ie: Treated with the same leniency shown them in high school instead of the much stricter approach to course work of most colleges. (Homework: "What? We have to write an essay for painting class?").

[puglady]

Yes, sorry, AP is advanced placement. Unfortunately all of the pieces are supposed to be brilliant, according to the grading rubric they gave us. Even simple design pieces are hard to complete in a week. We're doing better now, having made it over the hump, so to speak.

[saralindsey]

I was hit with AP art my first year at my current school. It is a hard curriculum, 12 concentration pieces, 12 breadth and 5 actual pieces. I remember when I was applying for art scholarships I did 30 some pieces my senior year (I am a busy bee, my students laugh that I do about 6 things at once all the time, it justifies my coffee addiction). I teach at a rural school where I do pk-12, have Art I-VI in one period, and also whatever history class is needed.

My first year it was three students who I did not pick the previous teacher did, and two of the three did absolutely nothing. Trust me I was bi-weekly throwing a fit in the office that they are consider AP and do nothing, because the rest of the class was arguing the same with me. Come slide taking time, it was a last minute rush to finish things. 3/4 of one students was stuff done over the last three years because she took an insanely long time to finish anything, she completed 6 pieces that school year. Her mother and I did not have nice conferences about her work ethic and truthfully like I predicted she has had a hard time in community college art because she is too slow. It still frustrates me.

This year I grilled for two weeks into the 2 AP students, one who shouldn't have been placed in it to begin with, the deadlines the amounts. The digital images opposed to slides will save of the week they had to be mailed off and returned. The student I agreed to take it is on her last piece, 4 from last year where included she just liked them -honestly she could have done some this year instead with time. The other student I've seen like 6. But he is a turkey.

I stress quality in a timely manner, truthful the digital age has created an giant adversary for artist. I tell them most photo software can produce similar artist effects. And as an artist you have to compete with that. It can't take 9 weeks to do a 8*10 painting (1st year girl did that). I do lead by example, I do my pieces within 3-4 class periods, along with hallway duty, attendance, assignment instruction and grading. I have sat down and done actually had a "who can do it better, faster contest" with certain students. I was raised in a military home I enforce deadlines and I hate laziness in my classroom.

[puglady]

Wow sounds like a tough class. I'm happy to report that with a week and 3 days left until the deadline all but one of my students have completed their portfolios and the photos have all been taken. It's digital submission this year so at least there's no buying slide film.

I don't think I'll be teaching AP again any time soon. The problem I think was that the school tried to start an AP program way too soon. All of my students had only had one year of art before they took AP and that's just not enough. Half of the work really isn't up to the standards I would set. I'd rather have them do 15 great pieces than 24 so-so ones.

Anyway we're near the end thank God.