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Lisa Davis
Creativity, independence, cooperation, and resilience are a few of the attributes I strive to develop in our students at Mt. Holly Springs Elementary. I follow the Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) pedagogy. This is a choice-based approach to art education where "the student takes the lead in directing their own learning." I assess students on how they practice the 8 Studio Habits of Mind (SHoM) - Develop Craft, Engage & Persist, Envision, Express, Observe, Reflect, Stretch & Explore, Understand Art Wor ... read morelds - that align with the National Core Art Standards. The Studio Habits provide a framework for creative thinking and artistic problem-solving.
In our TAB classroom studio, student success is not determined soley by finished projects. TAB values creative process over product. Our classroom consists of five centers - Drawing, Painting, Collage, 3D Sculpture, Architecture - with temporary centers - Ceramics, Textiles, Origami, Printmaking - incorporated at various times during the school year. Students practice skill builders when introduced as a lesson but it is not mandatory to produce an artwork using the media or techniques taught if they have another creative idea they want to explore. A buffet of materials is provided at each studio center. Sometimes students are motivated by a particular medium and other times students come to class with an idea and seek a way to create it. Students continue to inspire me, and each other, with their original works of art. For reluctant creators, I set up "art traps" or "task" challenges to help them get started.
When not guiding young artists, I can be found outdoors hiking, mountain biking, swimming, skiing or just exploring nature with my camera. Indoors I can be found daydreaming, cooking, creating art, and reading. I grew up in Mt. Holly Springs and have since lived in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, GA, Denver, CO and Mad River Valley, VT. During a summer abroad, I lived in Madrid, Spain where I studied art history.
Currently, I reside in Carlisle with my husband, our son, and a black Labrador retriever. As a family we love to travel and seek out local food scenes. Our favorite winter destinations are big mountain ski towns. During the summer, Vermont is our favorite place to play. We often think about moving back to the Vermont artisan community where our, now 14 year-old son, was born but, a voice echos in my head saying, "Winter people move West not North." That is probably why my landscapes almost always have rocky, snow covered, peaks in the background.
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