A gentle reminder ...

The goal of this blog initially was for Mr. Mc to show his students and friends what he doing while in Pennsylvania and DC in 2011. Now it's being used as a place for him, travelling colleagues and former students to discuss edumacation and history related "stuff" as well as ... well, anything which pops into his head. Mr. Mc would never knowingly embarrass either the school he loves or the family he is devoted to. By joining in the discussion, he expects the same of you.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Learning to think rather than regurgitate!

A new year with a new class.

I have to say I think I'm going to really enjoy this group alot. They already have asked great questions and are going to require me to be on my toes to keep up with them.

We started the year with my State's Names exercise. This is the image they have been looking at for two days.


State Names; 2000; Jaune Quick-To-See Smith; Born: St. Ignatius, Montana 1940; oil, collage and mixed media on canvas; 48 x 72 in. (121.9 x 182.9 cm); Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Elizabeth Ann Dugan and museum purchase; 2004.28; Smithsonian American Art Museum

These are a few their observations ...

It has a rusty red color on the top of it to represent the war
A new generation is coming and the old generation is being stripped away
Caging in America
Chaotic Unification
It looks like it is all moving together into one
Dying ... disintegrating ... falling apart ... no one knows what's going on
Some names have drips covering them but the others seem to pop out
It looks like melting wax
Something is spreading down, like war or migration
Bloody death
It looks like war. And it looks like everything is falling apart.
The top right states look like the drops are icecicles
Blood running down Dakota... most bloodshed there
The oceans are black yet the Great Lakes are grey
Everything to the east side has no borders ... like one big state

I created a word cloud to show them their insights. The larger the word, the more often it was used in the observation.


Without knowing anything about the artwork or artist, they got the tension in the painting. They used the word 'war' and 'conflict' alot and I think that is a fair assessment of the piece. They guessed global warming, immigration and civil war but connected the names as Native American and wondered about the significance of the black oceans. They did a great job.

Below is a profile of the artist done by KU. They're highlighting a different pieces, but it gives a good  overview of the artist's aesthetic.




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