The September Mailbag: Successful Portfolios, Meaningful Units, and Connected Art Rooms (Ep. 533)

In this episode of the mailbag, host Tim Bogatz is joined by high school art teacher Jenn Russell–subbing in for Amanda–for a wide-ranging conversation with listener questions about everything happening in the world of art teaching. Tim and Jenn share practical strategies for helping AP students understand portfolio scoring, stretching a limited supply budget, and making reflection feel like a natural part of the creative process.

The conversation also explores how to structure longer, more meaningful units without losing students, what to do when students fall behind, and how solo art teachers can build stronger relationships with colleagues. Along the way, Tim and Jenn discuss student-friendly rubrics, recycled materials, handmade sketchbooks, school culture, and so much more.

Tim Bogatz: All right, welcome to the show, everyone, and welcome to the month of September. I know everybody is usually waiting for Amanda Heyn, but Amanda is out, so joining me is Jenn Russell. Jenn, how are you?

Jenn Russell: I’m super excited to be here to answer some mailbag questions and offer some advice to everybody.

Tim Bogatz: I feel like you are a wonderful art room mom with all of the best life advice and teaching advice. Thanks for coming on.

We appreciate that. We always get a lot of new listeners with our mailbag episodes, so we like to do an introduction for everybody who may be listening for the first time. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Tim Bogatz. I’ve worked for The Art of Education University for quite a while now. I host the Art Ed Radio podcast every month, and twice a year we put on the Art Ed NOW Conference. I’m in charge of that. I was an art teacher at the high school level for fourteen years, and before that I taught elementary art for a couple of years. As I said, I’ve been with The Art of Education University for quite a while now. Jenn, can you give us a quick introduction?

Jenn Russell: Sure thing. Hi, y’all. My name is Jenn Russell, and I’m a high school art teacher in North Texas. I’m over the moon to be here and to be celebrating my art teacher quinceañera. I’ve been teaching for fifteen years now.

Tim Bogatz: We must throw an entire ballroom dance gathering to celebrate this.

Jenn Russell: I’m one thousand percent serious. I’m willing to relive it and pick my own color dress this time instead of having my mom pick it out for me.

Tim Bogatz: I feel like we should do that for teachers who are in their fifteenth year.

Jenn Russell: Absolutely. Let me know when.

Tim Bogatz: I love it. I really want to dive into that idea, but we have other things we need to do, so maybe we can circle back to it in the future. We have a lot of great questions to get to, but before we do that, let’s cover a couple of housekeeping things so everybody knows what’s happening with The Art of Education University.

There are some really cool happenings in the Art of Education community that we always love to promote here. Next week we’ll have Art Club, and it’s all about advocacy with AOEU’s Chief Academic Officer, Heather Crockett. I love Heather, and she’s going to have a lot of great things to say. I think we’ll also have some free lesson plans that evening, and it will be great to talk about advocacy for your program.

The week after that is Pop-Up Studio. I think Kris Bakke from Royal Brush is going to be there, and there’s a really cool Royal giveaway worth checking out. The Art Ed NOW Conference is also coming up in January. We have a while yet, but the lineup is starting to come together, and a lot of people are already registering. It’s less expensive if you register now, so go to theartofeducation.edu/now to see everything we have so far.

Jenn, we also like to share a story about something that’s going on in our teaching lives or personal lives. I’ll let you think of yours first, but I need to tell my story real quick. My daughter just moved away to college, and I’m still sobbing a little bit, although I’m very excited for her. She is a very, very good poet, and before she left, she was able to get her first chapbook published. For those of you who don’t know, a chapbook is a short collection of poems—not a full book, but close enough. I think it’s forty-eight pages of poetry, which is pretty great.

She got to have an entire book-release party, and I loved it. She wrote a wonderful dedication to my wife and me for the book, and every time I read it, I cry again. It was just incredible to celebrate that with her before she left.

It’s interesting because, before she got into poetry, I knew very little about it. It’s a whole new world for me—new, weird, and fascinating—and I love it. I’ll be reading with her and say, “I really like the line break there and how the meaning transferred from one line to another,” and she’ll teach me all about it. Do I remember it? No, but I try.

I’ve learned a lot, and as much as I would love for my kids to be visual artists, they’re not. I’m branching out and learning more about music, poetry, and writing, and I think it’s been really good for me. Just being able to celebrate the arts in whatever form they take has been meaningful. I’ve been in a reflective and emotional mood, trying to appreciate the arts in all of their forms over the past few weeks. What’s happening in your world? What’s a good story you’d like to share?

Jenn Russell: First, I’m so happy for you. I can’t imagine having a child go off to college. I would be in shambles, so you’re doing amazing.

I also appreciate the reminder that our children aren’t always visual artists, even when we are. I essentially cloned my husband, and my third grader is not a visual-art kid. I try my best to teach at home and make art enticing, but none of my children are especially interested in it, which is fine. They’re also very little, so it’s totally fine.

Recently, I couldn’t find a brand-new set of alcohol markers or my coloring book. I’m trying to get back into coloring as a low-risk hobby—something that isn’t pressured or graded and can help me decompress. As teachers, we carry a lot of work home mentally and emotionally, and I’m trying to let go of some of that.

I was calling through the house because I couldn’t find my supplies, and my boys have selective hearing. I found my son underneath his new loft bed with all the lights off and the LED lights turned up bright blue-white. He was just coloring away. I didn’t know what to do. Should I hype it up? Should I not? Is this going to be one of those situations where, if Mom thinks it’s cool, he decides it’s lame?

Nobody tells you how to parent, which I think is a scam. I want a play-by-play, and parenting books aren’t real because none of the scenarios are ever true. There’s no guide. I just tiptoed back out, but I brought it up at dinner. He said, “No, I think it’s really cool,” and I said, “Okay, keep the markers. Everything is yours. I’ll get something else.”

That’s what he’s been doing, and it has helped him with focus, regulating his emotions, and calming down. My son has ADHD, and we were recently given that diagnosis. I keep thinking, “How did I not think about this before?” It’s been really cool, and now we get to talk about it together. I’m having the best time.

Tim Bogatz: It might stick with him a little better since he discovered it on his own rather than having you say, “Hey, you should try this.” Kids don’t think we’re cool, and they don’t like our ideas. I may be a little jaded from raising two teenagers, but if he’s discovering things and creating things, you can’t be mad at that. I really like it.

Tim Bogatz: Okay, Jenn, it’s time for us to get started answering some questions. Are you ready?

Jenn Russell: Yes, let’s open up the mailbag.

Tim Bogatz: Our first question comes from Antoine in Virginia. Antoine asks, “AP students: How do you get them to understand how portfolios are graded?”

You have great timing with your question, Antoine. Jenn was just on the podcast a couple of weeks ago talking about AP Art History, so let’s shift over to AP Studio Art and talk about how portfolios are graded.

Jenn, I’ll share how I always like to do it, and I’d love to get your perspective. I would say to break out the rubric the College Board gives you early and often. Introduce it early and use it throughout the year. I like to dive into the language with students and turn the criteria into questions they can understand—student-friendly questions, for lack of a better term.

Ask them: Where do you see evidence of inquiry? How are your ideas being developed? What intentional choices are you making? Can somebody understand your process from the images and writing? Are you telling the story of your art? Does the work show risk, revision, and problem-solving? Ask students whether they can answer those questions when looking at their own work.

I also love looking at other people’s work. The College Board puts example portfolios on its website, and I’ll pull out old portfolios as well. I like to grade example portfolios together as a class. Have you tried that? Is that something you do?

Jenn Russell: Yes. We actually just did that this week. We break down each part of the rubric, and before I tell students what a sample portfolio scored, I ask them to score it based on the rubric. A lot of the time, I find that my students are really harsh raters.

I tell them, “Okay, great. If that’s your expectation, then your expectation is higher. That’s great, because it’s the expectation you should hold yourself to when creating your portfolio.”

We grade the sample portfolios from the website, but I also ask students to find real-world examples of an AP portfolio in their everyday life—or at least examples of the same kind of thinking out in the world.

My example is Beyoncé—my personal Lord and Savior. When Taylor Swift releases something new, I’ll add my personal prophet of this generation, Dr. Taylor Alison Swift. When artists release a new project or move into a new era, they change aesthetics, drop Easter eggs, and develop a connected visual language. I tell my students, “That’s an AP portfolio. You see how the aesthetic changes? You see the color palette? You see how everything is related and connected?”

That helps students understand they’ve seen this before. It isn’t a brand-new concept; they just have to shift how they think about it.

Tim Bogatz: I absolutely love those examples. You do need to talk about everything that goes along with the portfolio because it isn’t just a collection of finished works. Students are telling a story of development, exploration, and revision. Hopefully, as part of that, they also create some strong finished work.

It’s similar to the behind-the-scenes films, music videos, and social media drops that accompany an album. It’s all part of the process and the collection of revising, creating, and continuing to grow as an artist. That’s a great way to think about and approach it.

Our next question is from Carlos in Albuquerque. Carlos says, “My supply budget keeps getting cut every year, but the expectations for what I produce with students stay the same. What are your best strategies for stretching a tight budget without sacrificing the quality of the experience?”

Do you mind if I take this one first? I’ve had lots of years when someone said, “Your budget is cut in half, by the way,” and it wasn’t a great time. You learn to survive.

The first thing I wrote down was donations. Find cardboard, paper scraps, recycled packaging, found objects, fabric, magazines, or newspapers. Nobody gets newspapers anymore, but if you can find them, they’re great. You can also use natural materials and repurpose classroom materials. You can make art out of so many things.

Getting the donations you can is a huge step. If students are working with unique or novel items, that can be a really cool art-making experience. If you’re worried about the quality of the experience, remember that giving students more opportunities to be creative is worthwhile.

Another strategy that helps save materials and helps students learn processes and improve their work is spending more time on iterations, planning, and revision. You don’t want to waste materials by giving students a large canvas, watching them throw paint on it, and then hearing, “I don’t like this.” If students plan in their sketchbooks, think about color schemes, and figure things out beforehand, that saves materials and helps them produce stronger work.

When you’re thinking about the quality of the art room experience, remember that it’s about thinking, creativity, problem-solving, making choices, making connections, working with your hands, and so many other things. Very little of it depends on having the nicest or most materials. I’m not going to be mad if I have those things, but they aren’t essential to a good art room experience.

Jenn Russell: I agree. The essential part is choosing what will take up the bulk of the budget and then figuring out how to do everything else creatively. I haven’t bought sketchbooks in years because we make them. Students take ownership of them, and they don’t necessarily need a pre-made sketchbook. They can have one if they want one, but that isn’t coming out of my budget when we can make it ourselves. Now they also have the skill of bookbinding.

I crowdsource a lot of materials. I ask my staff first because they like to get rid of things. If someone has boxes left over after moving classrooms, the art room will always take them. We also use Facebook groups and crowdsource from parents. I send requests in my class newsletter, and parents are often shutting down craft rooms or downsizing. I get a lot of donations that way.

Tim Bogatz: That’s a great idea. Any way you can get the word out about what you need is worthwhile. Parents and groups like to help, and if you give them the opportunity, a lot of the time they’ll come through.

Our next question is from Leah in Iowa. Leah says, “My students groan, complain, and even shut down every time I ask them to write about their work. How do you get students to reflect on their creative process and make it genuine without it feeling like another assignment or a quote-unquote ‘have to’?”

Jenn, do you have some thoughts on this?

Jenn Russell: I have a lot of thoughts all the time, but specifically on this: Writing in general has become a chore for students because they have technology at their fingertips all the time. I’ve seen physically writing take a steep decline over the last couple of years.

I ask my students to write a little bit, and I ask them to do it often—just two sentences at a time. That way, it doesn’t feel like they’re sitting down for a timed writing assignment and thinking, “I have to write for thirty minutes and figure out all my thoughts.” Instead, it’s the thought of the day: “Jot down your thought in your sketchbook. How was your day? Answer in three sentences.”

I do that every day so that, when I ask students to tell me what they think about a piece or tell me about their process, they’re already used to physically writing.

I also don’t always make them write on paper. We use a lot of nontraditional materials so that it doesn’t feel like writing. For critique, students can write a note on a sticky note or on a sticker itself. A parent donated colorful labels on a roll after closing down a craft room, so I used them and said, “This is how you’re going to document today.”

I call it documentation. I don’t necessarily call it writing. I’m nothing but a trickster in my class. I rebrand the words that aren’t palatable to students. I’ll say, “Today we’re going to document your process or your thought, and then stick it on the back of your piece so you have proof there.”

By the end, we had a bunch of stickers. I told students, “Take three of your stickers, put them together, and that’s your statement.” It was super simple.

You can also change the format. We use Canvas, so students can turn in an audio file. Sometimes a video is even easier for them. Sometimes I sit down and interview them. I have a microphone in class and say, “Tell me about your piece today.” The reframing of the structure of writing is key for me.

Tim Bogatz: I can’t add too much more to that. Reflection needs to be a regular part of the conversation, and I love the rebranding. You can do it in so many ways. Audio recordings are great, and a quick video is good, especially for students who are on their phones all the time and are comfortable recording themselves. It’s second nature for them to turn the camera around and talk about their work.

Another thing I like to do is a one-on-one conference with students, especially if they don’t want to talk in front of other people or groups. Say, “Sit down at my desk for three minutes, and let’s talk through your work.”

I also appreciate your idea of writing often without requiring students to write a lot. I love getting students to talk often, even if they don’t talk for long. Get them consistently thinking about and talking about their work—not just at the end with, “What did you do?” but throughout the process.

Ask, “What are you noticing? What’s changing in your work? What problems are you running into? How are you solving them? Looking forward, what are you unsure about or worried about? What could you use feedback on—from me or from the students at your table?”

If reflection is only added at the end, that’s when it feels like another assignment or a “have to.” If it’s part of the process, it’s much easier for everyone.

Our next question is from Eli in Kentucky. Eli says, “One of my goals for this year is longer, more meaningful units. How do you structure longer units or experiences without them becoming chaotic, boring, or losing students along the way? Also, what do you do if a student falls way behind?”

I really like this question. At the conference back in August, we talked about slowing down your curriculum. You don’t have to check every box. You can slow things down and create a more meaningful experience.

After I saw Eli’s question, I made a list of what I think the structure for a longer, more meaningful unit could look like:

The final step connects back to the last question. I would share that list with students. Post your learning goals, everybody—your administrators will be thrilled—but also make sure students know what’s happening and what the process is. That can help cut down on chaos and keep students from getting lost.

Jenn, what would you add or change about that structure?

Jenn Russell: That’s how I do it, especially with my advanced students. It’s almost like a capstone or independent study because they’re working in AP Studio Art. We move through that process every couple of weeks, as long as it takes to make their pieces.

The only thing I would add is a visual that students can keep so they can physically check off their progress. I’ve done that in several ways, including a game board. Templates are everywhere for free, or you can create your own. I’ve literally drawn one on a piece of paper, colored it, and made it look graphic.

I tell students, “Move your piece every time you make progress. The goal is to be here by this date in three weeks.” You can’t collect two hundred dollars if you don’t pass Go—you have to do all of the things to get where you need to go.

A menu that students can choose from and cross off is another option. The visual makes the process more concrete.

Tim Bogatz: Let’s circle back to students falling behind. If there’s a structure, it’s harder for students to fall behind because it’s different when they have seven or eight steps on a piece of paper in front of them. They can check them off and see where they need to be. That’s much easier than saying, “This is due in three weeks.”

That said, even with a step-by-step structure, students may fall behind. I’m guessing you’re doing this with advanced students, Eli. When it’s time to move on and a student is behind, I’ll say, “On Wednesday, we are moving on. You’re on your own to get caught up. The rest of the class is going here.”

You can stay on top of students and remind them as much as you want, but you can’t do the work for them. Give them the structure and support you can, but after that, they’re responsible for catching up. Jenn, how do you deal with students who are falling behind?

Jenn Russell: A lot of my students attend a highly competitive high school, and they’re involved in seven thousand activities. They’re gone all the time for clubs, sports, and everything else. When I know a student will be out, I give them a menu or a list of tasks. Since we’re also online, I can say, “Your assignment is due,” and it’s there for them.

I also know that students work at different speeds. I have a student who can make an award-winning piece in two days and another who takes weeks. If a student is working hard but falling behind, I might say, “You can move on to the next one. That’s fine. Keep going. Your portfolio is going to be awesome. I’d rather you have more work, and then we can edit it down.”

If a student is falling behind, I’ll say, “My room is open in the morning or afternoon. I need to see you here twice this week.” That gives them more support. If that isn’t feasible, I’ll say, “Then you have to take this home.” That’s part of their responsibility for managing their time and knowing themselves.

Some students are self-aware enough to know they need extra time somewhere, so I work with them to find it.

Tim Bogatz: Right. If you’re teaching older students and asking them to complete in-depth units, they’re responsible enough to handle that structure. Giving them a specific requirement—“I need to see you in here twice”—is much more effective than vaguely saying, “Stop in after school sometime,” or, “I’m here whenever you want to come in.” They’re not as likely to follow through with that.

Our final question in the mailbag is anonymous. The writer says:

I’ll assume you have some thoughts, Jenn, but I want to say first that this is a structural thing. It’s not a personal failure. It’s not necessarily about having the wrong personality or not getting along. This is often how a school and staff are structured.

Jenn Russell: This is a school-culture issue. That’s the end-all and be-all. If you’re not being included, that’s an issue with the culture of your specific campus. It isn’t inclusive.

Tim Bogatz: Absolutely. That makes it really hard. I wouldn’t try to break into a group if there are six people who have been eating lunch together every day for years and you simply go sit down. You may not be included very well.

Instead, try to find an individual point of contact. Maybe it’s a fourth-grade teacher doing something interesting or a science teacher with whom you share an interest. You can still talk about students, or you can ask about their curriculum: “It looked like you were doing something cool on Wednesday. What was that about?” Ask a question to get the conversation started, and then give it time.

Build individual relationships and see what comes of them. You can also talk to the music teacher, the physical education teacher, or other specials teachers. There’s a reason specials teachers have a reputation for hanging out together, so that may be a group worth pursuing.

As far as the noise complaint, be positive and proactive. Go to the colleague and say, “I heard you thought my class was too loud. Can you tell me more about that? When did it happen, and what were you hearing?” Ask for specifics and address it professionally. Stand up for yourself if you need to.

You can say, “This is an active classroom. We have experiential learning, and students are doing exciting things. We don’t let it get out of control, but we are excited about what we’re doing because the class is fun.” You don’t have to teach in a library. Let people know that students are having a good time. It may get loud sometimes, but you’re not going to let it become unmanageable.

Jenn, is there anything else you want to add?

Jenn Russell: I used to teach middle school, and I was the only art teacher on my campus all the time. I made myself a nuisance—in the best possible way. I stopped by the office and said hi to everybody. I put myself out there.

It’s scary because being the only one on a campus is scary. Now I’m like the cruise director of my school. I volunteered. I would say, “I can make that banner for you,” or offer to help with other projects. It can be time-consuming, but it’s almost like an investment. I’m investing early for a better payout.

A student once said, “You’ve had my older siblings, and you did this with them. They participated in homecoming, and their art was everywhere.” I thought, “Okay, yes. That was me.”

Now people say I’m in the walls of the place. I’ve designed staff shirts, banners, and other things. We redesigned our gym floor, and I got to design it. My design is literally on the floor, and it’s going to stay there for however long that floor lasts.

It’s scary at first to put yourself out there and say, “Maybe I can design the shirts for the staff,” or volunteer for something. Eventually, that volunteering can turn into being the go-to person. The more you do it, the more connected you become.

Tim Bogatz: That’s awesome. It starts as a conversation starter, then becomes a conversation piece, and eventually becomes part of what you do. Like you said, you become the go-to person. It’s a process, but it’s good advice to put yourself out there and become more ingrained in the community.

Jenn, thank you so much for answering all of these questions with me. I really appreciate it. Thank you for subbing in for Amanda and for sharing all of your advice.

Jenn Russell: I’m so glad to be here. Thank you for thinking of me.