John Krenik is available to present for professional development, workshops, presentations, in part or in combination. The following are examples of selected presentations and workshops presented at national, regional, and state conferences and in-service professional development.
Contact John Krenik for free lesson plans and rubrics, as well as fees and schedules for workshops.
Neurological Functions, Thinking, and Creativity: Gaining a Greater Understanding of How People Think and Create (poster session) presented at the National Art Education Association Convention in Baltimore, MD, April14-17, 2010, and presented at the Massachusetts Art Education Conference November, 14, 2009, UMASS Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA. An article on this topic is in press in Art Education, the peer reviewed professional visual art education journal.
Participants look at recent neuroscientific developments in the systemic organization of thinking and creating to better understand the underlying structures of the neuronal functions of thinking and creating. Visual art educators can learn from recent brain developments in neuroscience, such as the systemic neuroscientific manner of how we think and create. By taking a close look at the systemic organization of thinking and creating, art teachers can begin to understand the underlying structures of the neuronal functions of their students. In narrowing the topic of the systemic self-organization thinking and creating encompasses, teachers must understand the neuroscience involved in thinking and creating. Neuroscience and thinking, and neuroscience and creativity will be examined so as to better understand their relationships. One important relationship is that of neuronal functions. It can be argued that the human brain is systemically organized based upon neuronal functions (Kelso, 1995; Scott, 1997). Comparing neuronal synaptic activity to the way people think and create may reveal similarities that cause teachers to reorganize pedagogy based on recent developments in neuroscience.
"Neuroscience, Self Awareness and its Relation to Art: A Specific Look at Adolescent Neurology" (Poster Session) Presented on same topic at both conventions), National Art Education Association Convention, May 17-21, Minneapolis, MN. Learning & the Brain Conference: The Creative Brain, May 7-9, 2009, Washington DC.
"Neuroscience, Self Awareness and its Relation to Art: A Specific Look at Adolescent Neurology", presented at the National Art Education Association Convention, May 17-21, Minneapolis, MN., and the New England Art Education Conference, November 14-16, 2008, Hyannis, MA
This presentation and poster session examine brain functions necessary for self awareness. The adolescent mind thinks like no other. Participants find out how the adolescent mind can become made self aware through art education. The purpose of this research is to discover relationships of neuroscience, self awareness and art through grounded theory. Findings include relationships to theory of mind, novelty, socialization and risk-taking. Adolescents are beginning to realize underpinnings of their actions and reactions, and visual art teachers can help students through this developmental process. Implications for art teachers and administrators support using visual art education to help adolescents become more self aware. Findings include neuroscientific self awareness relationships of theory of mind, adolescent pruning, risk taking, novelty seeking, and adolescent socialization. Adolescent emotion and the role of the amygdala affect temperament, intentions, action and awareness. Risk-taking and the relationship of consciousness and social awareness are different for adolescents. Novelty and play, as well as the way in which arts affect self awareness, are also unique to adolescents.
Abstract Mandalas and Self Awareness, was presented at the New England Art Education Conference, in November, 2007, in Hyannis, MA. Participants examined abstract mandalas and what 8th grade students wrote about them, as well as discussing the groundwork of individual abstract expressive symbolism undertaken in order to understand how students’ mandalas reveal their inner and outer selves. Rubrics and written reflections that guided students through the process were discussed. Participants then created their own mandalas which symbolically showed how they solved a problem or achieved a goal.
Mindful Expressions of Fear, Memories, and the Surreal, was presented at the National Art Education Association's 47th Annual Convention, on March 15, 2007, in New York City, NY. In this presentation Participants examined how the work of artists and students reflect the self awareness of fear, memories and surrealities. Areas of the brain linked to fear, memories and surreal were reviewed to show how they facilitate students in understanding and expressing their own greatest fear, deepest memories, and super realities. Rubrics and written reflections were analyzed for projects on fear expressions, depth drawings, and creating surreal art to determine which understandings students demonstrated.
Visual Figurative Language with Meaning, and Creating Beautiful Elaborate Patterns, were presented at the National Art Education Association's 46th Annual Convention, in March of 2006, Chicago, IL.
Visual Figurative Language with Meaning was a presentation on using visual figurative language in artwork to help students express ideational topics in sculptures. Examples of visual figurative language are metaphors, similes, exaggeration, hyperboles, irony, oxymoron, personification, symbolism, idioms and onomatopoeias. An example of using an oxymoron in visual figurative language would be creating a clay sculpture resembling a "watch tower".
Creating Beautiful Elaborate Patterns was a presentation on creating meaningful elaborate patterns such as rotational designs, Hawaiian quilt motifs, overall repeat patterns, tessellations, imbrications, and diapers. Participants viewed and discussed examples of student work as well as how these patters were created.
Creating Art from Personal Issues was presented at the National Art Education Association's 45th Annual Convention in March 2005 in Boston, MA, at the New England Art Education's Biennial Conference in Hyannis, MA in November 2005, at the New England League of Middle Schools Unified Arts Conference in Sturbridge, MA in November of 2006, and it was also presented at the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Houston, Texas in November of 2007.
Creating Art from Personal Issues is an interactive presentation on the importance of making learning meaningful through interdisciplinary connections and helping students learn through their interests, increasing their artistic skills through experimentation, engaging discussions through critical response, and becoming reflective thinkers through written reflections and self-evaluations. Student projects presented included personal issue posters, social issue murals, artwork that expresses their greatest fear or confidence, and positive social change murals.
Memorials and Tributes was presented at the National Art Education Association's 45th Annual Convention, in March, 2005, in Boston, MA. This was a power point slide presentation on meaningful clay memorials sculptures students created for someone they felt needed a memorial or tribute. This interactive slide presentation included the rubric and written reflection used to guide students through the process.
Meaningful and Controversial Social and Personal Art Issues was presented at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's 60th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show in April of 2005 in Orlando, FL. The presentation was on creating powerful controversial murals and posters of social and personal issues. Some social topics included the events of 9/11, hate crimes, and racism. Personal topics ranged from busy schedules and stress to drug addiction and alcoholism. Participants viewed and discussed the images as well as how students cope with these issues.
Meaningful and Controversial Art Issues was presented at the National Art Education Association's 44th Annual Convention in April of 2004 in Denver, CO. This presentation was about controversial images students created in murals such as 9/11, hate crimes, and racism. Participants viewed and discussed the images.
Linear Perspective was presented at the New England Art Education Biennial Conference in Hyannis, MA in November, 2003, and at the Massachusetts Art Education Association Conference in Provincetown MA, in November of 2002. Linear perspective is drawing three dimensional structures accurately using vanishing points. Participants were shown how to sequentially teach linear perspective to students followed by participants practicing concepts they needed more skill with.
Personal Issue Posters was presented in November of 2001 at the New England Art Education Biennial Conference in Hyannis MA. This presentation showed how students created posters of a personal issue they experienced, followed by participants creating their own personal issue poster using symbolism and metaphors.
Social Issue Murals was presented at the Massachusetts Art Education Association Conference in Provincetown, MA, November, 2002. It was a presentation on social issue topics of war, terrorism, alcoholism, social services, and sexual orientation. Participants viewed and discussed controversial murals created by middle school students.
Architectural Gingerbread Houses was presented at the Massachusetts Art Education Association Conference in Danvers, MA. in October, 2000. This was a presentation using graham crackers and other candies and sweet foods as an art medium for architectural structures. Participants created their own Gingerbread houses and ate them.
Egyptian Registers presented in May, 1999 at the Massachusetts Art Education Association Conference in Worcester MA was a presentation on interpretations of you using characteristics of ancient Egyptian tomb painting.
Rotational Patterns was presented at the New England Art Education Biennial Conference in Hyannis in November, 1999 which is creating rotational print patters from a one inch square eraser and colored markers.
Sundials was presented at the New England Art Education Conference in Hyannis, MA in November of 1997 where participants found their latitude and longitude and created sundials out of clay for their exact geographic location using maps. Participants created an outdoor sundial out of chalk and foam core for Hyannis using a compass.
Two, all day workshops for regional area 6-12 art teachers were presented through the Cape Cod Collaborative in Barnstable, MA on Cape Cod in 2005-2006.
The first workshop was conducted in 2005 on Meaningful and Personal Art Connections: Memorials and Tributes, and Social Justice Murals. This was a research based presentation which infuses meaning and connections with projects teachers can teach to make creating art more meaningful for their students. Teachers created a memorial out of clay, and created a social justice mural in small groups.
The second all day workshop presented in 2006 was Teaching the Difficulties: Ideational Art and Linear Perspective. Teaching idea-based art is difficult to teach because it is based on a topic rather than a skill. Teachers created a personal issue poster using metaphors and symbolism. It was paired with linear perspective because linear perspective is as difficult to teach as it is to learn.