Tail Wag: How to Know that YOU. Are a Drooly Dog.

Drooly Dogs Rock. Rock!! Here's how to know you are one.

Do you know young people who like to make art? Have you made something cool with your favorite young people? Send a picture! You can learn more about how I post work by young artists and write to them about it on this page, or join us on Facebook. Drooly Dogs unite!

You Don't Have to be Jack Lemmon.....

... to make a huge difference in a young person's life.

Okay it might help, but listen to what Kevin Spacey has to say about the arts, and about how an experienced person said just a few words to him that changed his life.

And, you could argue that Mr. Spacey then went on to change a whole lot of other people's lives through his own acting and advocacy. So there you go.

The Jack Lemmon story is about 4 minutes in. But before you watch, I just want to tell you:

You don't have to be a Jack Lemmon to make this kind of difference. When YOU draw with a young person, spend the time, talk to them about their art, you are playing that role. When I write notes to kids on this site and post their artwork, I am recreating a little bit of that here. That's the point. Art is putting something out into the world, and as grownups we can change a life by seeing it, appreciating it, reacting to it.

Enjoy this video...

DroolyDog.org helps young people and their grownups develop their unique voices through the arts.

Kids' Art - Rina's Night Scene!

This took a lot of patience to draw all of those stars. Each and every one of them has the same number of points, and is colored in. And then, there's the teeny tiny glowing doorway. So it appears that whoever lives in this house, is still awake. I wonder what they are doing?

This reminds me of some houses that I have seen in Iowa and Missouri, that are way out in the middle of these big areas with rolling hills. Even though they are off by themselves, they look like a nice place to visit.

Thanks Rina for sending this!

Great Teachers, AGAIN Again.

Every, every, every time I hear about a great teacher who had an influence on someone, the story turns on one thing: That teacher saw something something unique about the student, and was willing to go out of his or her way to encourage it. (It's really interesting too how many of these stories involve the teacher "breaking the rules" to make something happen for the student, even in a small way.)

Here is yet another example, an article in the New York Times entitled, "What I Learned at School" by Marie Myung-Ok Lee.

There it is again! The author describes how she was different from the other students, and how her teacher made that a good thing. The teacher went outside the bounds of an assignment to encourage a student. Crazy! Crazy stuff!

Gave her permission, and then gave her encouragement.

Here's my version of the permission and encouragement story, called Let Out the Creative Beast. Maybe you had a teacher do this for you.

Let Out the Creative Beast

View more presentations from Betsy Streeter

Kids, Art and the Rise of the Image Culture

Here is an excellent article by Elizabeth Thoman entitled "Rise of the Image Culture," on the Center for Media Literacy's website.

It's one of the most succinct takedowns of consumer culture, as enabled by media and images, that I've read.

The last paragraph of it goes like this:

"Thousands of years ago a philosopher wrote of a cave of illusion in which captive humans were enraptured by a flood of images that appeared before them while they ignored the reality outside the cave. This prophetic metaphor contained its own solutions. Once again we are summoned into the light."

What does this have to do with kids, art, and the Drooly Dog Drawing Project? Lots.

I encourage kids to draw because it gives them ownership of their creative abilities.

It also shows them that they have the power to make images, so that images become more than just something you passively look at. They become something that you generate yourself.

Encouraging kids to draw gives them power. It shows them they can make decisions about images and how they are put together.

So, give a kid some time and space to draw today. Or give them a new sketchbook and a pencil.

And, send me kids' art so I can write to them about it as part of the Drooly Dog Drawing Project. They are not just developing their own creative abilities and being seen and heard as they do this, they are becoming more powerful makers and consumers of images.

Ten Great Uses for a Pencil

An homage to the mighty pencil, instrument of expression, weapon in the fight for creativity and silliness. Drawing is the beginning of freedom. It is a universal language. It is a source of our voice. The pencil is indeed mighty. Respect the pencil.

Ten Great Uses for a Pencil

View more presentations from Betsy Streeter

Kids' Art - Sean's Human Map

And now, a map of the world in human form by Sean, who just turned 7.

Sean, I can tell a lot about how you see the world by looking at this map! You've got your hometown on there, as well as the hometown of your grandparents, and also a favorite vacation spot - and of course, San Francisco, where they are playing baseball - what else? The Great Plains stretch off to the side, and Africa sits below them. I'm sorry to see that there is a war going on in Afghanistan, I hope someday you can draw this map again and that will not be the case. But that's honesty! And I see that the guy in Texas has a very nice cowboy hat.

Thank You Sean!

And everyone else, send me kids' art for the Drooly Dog Drawing Project! You can attach it to me at mailATbetsystreeter.com, or learn more about the project by clicking here or checking it out on Facebook.

The Story of Great Teachers, Over and Over (Reprise)

I am reposting this piece from September of last year, because my kid's teacher got a pink slip and I just keep going around and around in my head - we have money for foreign wars, for tax cuts, and for bank bailouts, but we can't pay one rock star teacher and we just keep telling everyone who doesn't own a huge corporation that they have to cut, and cut, and cut some more. I know this scenario is playing out again and again across our country. So, here it is.... again.

Quick, think of a teacher - a schoolteacher, a coach, a tutor, a mentor - who changed your life for the better.

Did that person see potential in you when you didn't necessarily see it in yourself?

Did that person make you feel like you existed and were unique?

Did that person take the time to focus on you and your own point of view?

Again and again I hear the Story of the Great Teacher. And each time it is incredibly powerful. And each time, it is about someone, who wasn't your mom or dad, noticing you and taking some time just for you.

So much is said about schools, and teaching methods, and money, and all of it - charters, vouchers, homeschooling, unschooling, bla bla bla...

But over and over I hear the Story of the Great Teacher, and the impact they have on people for the rest of their lives.

And every time, it is about how someone took the time to notice and encourage.

So, while we run around making charts and giving standardized tests and arguing about budgets, maybe there is one simple thing that goes at the core, no matter how much red tape and ideology gets layered on top.

That is, the great teachers and mentors in our lives are the ones who take time to notice and encourage. Every student should have someone who notices and encourages them. Every single student in the whole wide world. Someone who is out in the world, the school, the team, somewhere outside the family, who treats them like a unique person. Perhaps this is the core of great teaching, the ability to recognize students' personalities and abilities and to acknowledge them as people. That's it. You can put that on a chart any way you want.

Here is yet another version of the Great Teacher Story - please enjoy.

DISCLAIMER ON THIS VIDEO: I agree with what is in it, I don't agree with the actual "Waiting for Superman" movie. I would advocate instead that you see "Race to Nowhere." Just my two cents.

A Conversation with Davis Guggenheim from TakePart on Vimeo.

Kids' Art - Nelson's Magnificent Owl.

Nelson is 9, and I'm told he's very taken with owls currently.

Nelson this is a really detailed drawing! You must have spent a whole lot of time working on all of the different kinds of feathers, the different patterns, the claws - you have clearly looked very very closely at owls to be able to draw this much detail. I bet this is a particular species of owl, too.

Also I really like the way you thought about how the owl is sitting on the tree branch, and how the owl is in the foreground, while the branches and parts of the tree are in the background. You have to think about how a branch will continue on the other side of something, when you can't see all of it. That can be tricky, especially since things in real life sometimes don't look the way you would imagine them. It helps just to look around a lot and notice how things go in front of and behind each other.

Thanks for sending this Nelson!

Kids' Art - Katharina's Mermaid!

I told you that Katharina was prolific.

One thing that pops out at me right away when I look at this mermaid is, that the color of the water makes it look like the sun is reflecting off of it. Also, I notice you gave a lot of thought to how she is sitting on her rock and how her tail is in relation to the water.

There are some parts where I can almost see you there, drawing very fast and filling in lots and lots of color (like the sky) and other parts, like the sun and the mermaid's tail, where I can see you there being very detailed and working more slowly.

And, the crabs are very cool. With their claws up in the air like that they look like they might be excited about something the mermaid just said.

Thanks Katharina for more art! I hope your mom has enough paper for you.

News flash: The Drooly Dog Drawing Project has its own Facebook Page now, come like/hang out with/talk to us! See you there!

Kids' Art - Katharina's Very Windy Drawing.

Katharina's in first grade, and her mom says they can't keep enough paper around for all her drawings. Go Rina!

Rina this is really funny. Obviously when it's windy it can be a problem to have a lot of hair. I like the way you're showing how one side blows out while the other side blows across your face, depending on which way the wind is going. And the swirls of wind over their heads!

Also, you are using a 4-part story here, which is exactly how the comic strip Peanuts was done - take a look, Charles Schulz mostly used 4 boxes to make his comics. In this case, you've got each of the four characters saying something, and then the fourth one says the punch line - not mine! Because he's got a lot less hair than anyone else. Brilliant!

P.S. Hey everyone, here's a super secret trick to doing speech bubbles - do your words first, then draw the bubble around it. That way, your words will ALWAYS fit! You heard it here first.

Thanks Rina for sending this drawing! And to everyone else - come join the Drooly Dog Drawing Project!

Kids' Art: Isaiah's Carnivorous Dinosaur

Good grief, I'm staying out of the way of this dinosaur.

Isaiah I like the way you arranged this drawing so that the dinosaur is looking up at the top of the cliff, probably at all those folks who are shooting at it, right? I would be looking up there too.

It appears that the dinosaur has dined on someone. The shark, though, seems pretty laid back about the whole thing. The two of them together certainly add up to a whole lot of teeth.

I also notice that there is a little tent there at the bottom of the cliff. Is there someone in it? Perhaps there was, but the dinosaur ate them?

It almost looks as if the shark and the dinosaur are leaving, to go hang out somewhere else. After eating everyone. You sure put a lot of work into this drawing! Thank you for sending it!

Kids' Art: A Tremendous Battle by Isaiah

Isaiah is in 2nd grade, and he lives in Syracuse, Indiana, USA. This is his tremendous battle scene.

Isaiah the first thing I look at is that amazing creature, with the flames on its sides and the long neck. And then I look up and notice that somebody just shot a hole in the top of the tower, and that the guy inside the building is firing away with an evil grin on his face. I am wondering if all the creatures are on one side against the humans, or are there some humans battling against each other? It looks like the monster with the flames on him maybe is on the same side as the people in the building, since they have the same flames on their flag and on the side of their headquarters.

And also, it looks like the cannon on the left is able to fire in different directions. Everyone is shooting at the bird-like monster, but it doesn't seem affected. At least not yet.

I could go on for a while! There is so much action here. I like the way you show how things are moving through the air, and there are many things going in different directions. It is like there are a bunch of little battles happening inside one big battle. If you want to give us some more description, you can leave a comment!

Thanks Isaiah for sending this over! I'm sure you will inspire people to draw lots of action scenes now.

Got Some Cool Kids' Art? Can I See It?

It's a new feature I call: Drooly Dog To Go.

Part of the ever-ongoing Drooly Dog Drawing Project.

Got some cool kids' art? I'd love to see it, post it here, write about it. Appreciate it.

All I need is:

- Well, a JPG or something of the art attached. Of course.

- Artist's first name and age (no need for surnames, don't want to put kids' personal info up)

- A title, if it's got one

- Where you're from, if you care to share, you don't have to.

Send it to: mailATbetsystreeter.com.

That's it. Obviously by sending it you're saying it's okay if I post/appreciate it here...

Here's why: A part of art for kids is seeing their work, their thoughts, their ideas. It's a two-way street. It's part of finding that boundary between your inner and outer worlds. Put something out there, get a response, repeat.

I love doing this, and I do it a lot in person, but I'd like the Drooly Dog to get out more. Say, beyond my space. Beyond even my state and country.

Thus, Drooly Dog To Go.

So, send me a drawing, a painting, whatever. I'd love to see it - and I bet other people would, too. But hey, I get to see it first!!

"Creativity Score:" an Oxymoron.

Okay, so I just read this article in the Wall Street Journal about creativity and kids.

In which the opening discussion is about how American kids' "creativity scores" are falling.

What's wrong with this picture?

Okay, I'm not too familiar with the study that is cited, and maybe it is a very valuable instrument for gauging the health of our kids' minds. That's fine.

But in order to write an article on creativity, did they have to start with a statistic? Is this the only credible way to discuss something any more?

Creativity is a state of mind. It is a mode of thinking. It is a way of being. Isn't that enough?

I'm happy if studying issues gets attention and maybe affects our national dialogue on how we are squishing the creativity out of our students. It's a start.

But, I fear that we're falling victim to our own habits yet again here. The habits that say if you can't measure it and put it on a chart, it's not worth anything. This is how we got all crazy with standardized testing in the first place.

We tend to talk about "creativity" as something that "CEOs say they need in their employees." As if, yet again, the purpose of nurturing something in our kids is to gain some future advantage.

The reason to nurture creativity in our kids is to nurture creativity in our kids. Not to get some "result." This reminds me of when we tried to say that arts education is valuable because it improves math scores.

Wow, have we gotten hung up on measuring things. It's painted us into a corner. It's time to develop new ways of visualizing ourselves. Maybe set some pie charts on fire. I'll go first!

What Does Sputnik have to do with Arts Funding?

A lot, I think.

When Sputnik happened, and the Cold War began, we became afraid of Earth-destroying technology. Technology we had never contemplated before.

With this fear came a need to control and dominate. Everything else took a back seat.

We needed Star Wars, and nuclear scientists. We needed warheads. We had to keep the annihilation of our way of life, or just Earth in general, at bay.

Now, vaporizing ourselves is bad. And it kind of prevents other things from happening in a very thorough way.

But, what are we trying to avoid vaporizing? Isn't that our humanity, our culture? Our society? Our lives?

Somewhere along the way, we decided that the "hard" sciences were the salvation of the world, and that other artsy "fuzzy" stuff was just a "nice-to-have."

And now here we sit, with that attitude still festering in our education system.

The arts get cut first in our schools because they are not "hard." They don't play into our now-obsolete notion of what keeps our society safe, and prosperous.

If you examine where this attitude first came from, it's easier to understand it, to appreciate the very real fears that brought it into being, and also to move beyond it.

Today we need to learn how to think, more than ever. We need unique voices, unprecedented solutions, in a world that moves very very quickly and that is interconnected. And we need to draw out of ourselves ideas that we did not know were there. We need the arts.

Those who figure this out, will prosper.

Have We Forgotten that Education is a Two-Way Conversation?

We hear so much every day about how education has to be a partnership between schools and families - how students have to contribute to their own success - how it takes a village - how it's all about good teachers, no it's all about involved parents, no it's about having the right metrics, etc. etc. etc. etc.

All this partnering, and involvement, and measurement, and so on - and it's all aimed in the same direction, down the street of "success." The "product" is these students who grow up to be "successful." And we've defined what that means - they need to get high test scores, get good grades, get into a good college, get a good job.

It's that "good" part that gets a little problematic. What if it were more about getting into "the right" college, and pursuing "the right" career?

Well, that would require a two-way conversation.

Because in order for a student to grow up into his or her best self, we need to know who that self is. We have to listen.

That is what arts education is for. It is to give young people the power to bring their own voice to their educational conversation, to reveal things about themselves, and to show those things to the people in the world who care most about them. Their mentors, teachers, families.

If you don't have that side of the equation, you don't know what "success" is.

It also seems that every time someone talks about the best teacher they ever had, there's a pattern to it - that teacher saw something unique in them, didn't give up on them, brought out their best. That teacher listened. And as a result, that student did better. Performed better, learned better, became a better student and a better person. Because someone listened and noticed.

Arts education allows us to listen to one another, and to speak in ways that are safe, and constructive, and deep and detailed. And it lets students bring their own voice to the table.

When we cut the arts out of our education process, we take away each student's unique voice. We take away a process of disovery that should be taking place within each young person. And we close off an avenue of rich, personal, valuable conversation about who each student is. We stop listening.

Critical point: It's not about whether every student is "good" at painting or playing an instrument. It is that the process of creation, bringing music to life, making something unique, is good FOR them. Here's where we get in the way again - we want them to be "advanced," to "achieve," in the arts. We don't treat the arts as a means of self-discovery, they are just another item for the college application. A way to win awards. To achieve.

I know these days it's all about the money and the test scores and the budget cuts and government mandates and all this. But I argue that if every student got thirty minutes a day to create, to engage in some creative activity, write something, paint something, make something, each student would take a step toward finding a voice and sharing it with the world. And that this acknowledgement, and voice, would make them better students, and better people.

I submit that a two-way educational conversation results in a better educational outcome, in all aspects of learning and development. That hearing and seeing our young people gives them power to become something. That giving them the means to express themselves is not a waste of budget or a nice-to-have, it's a core part of the interaction between the education system telling them what they need to do, and the students telling us who they are.

If our students don't get to hold up their end of the conversation during their education, how will they do so in that big world where we want them to be so successful? Let's stop giving them the anwers, and start asking them some questions. And give them the instrument, the paper, the time and space, the paints, the room to move, the time to write, or whatever they need, to discover for us - and themselves - some answers.

A Sense of Possibility

A while back, I heard an interview on the radio with Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard. The interviewer asked her what exactly makes Harvard Harvard - why is it worth it to work so hard to get in there?

She answered, the sense of possibiity. That bringing together talented students from all over the world creates a unique environment of possibility and potential, and encourages each and every student grow his or her sense of what is possible. And that this is where the greatest ideas and achievements come from.

Then I saw a talk by Joan Sullivan, founder of the Bronx Academy of Letters, a public school in the poorest congressional district in America, that is ranked among the top high schools in New York City.

She said the same thing... that what makes her school successful is fostering a sense of possibility. She sends students to see colleges and work sites and to participate in study programs out of state and, in short, shows them the world.

Then I thought about 826 Valencia, where I volunteer illustrating books for class field trips. The students develop a story together, write their own endings, and become published authors in the space of two hours.

Again, this exercise is about possibility. You can just see the kids' heads growing as they are there, as the idea of being a published author takes root. Many of them also have never hung out with a professional artist before, so this possibility opens up in their minds, too.

This, I think, is the core driver of achievement for young students: the sense of Possibility. In areas that are infested with gangs and where families stay in their houses, the world is a very small place. In areas where the parents found companies and go on trips abroad, the world is a very big place. And there are many things in between.

We place so much emphasis on academics, on "learning," in our schools these days. As if kids just need to be pushed harder to absorb the material in order to be "smarter" and achieve more and score higher. Regardless of what they see as possible for them in the larger world.

But kids with a sense of possibiity will absorb more material, not because they are smarter, but because they can see where it leads. They can see a world where the ability to speak well, or to make an argument, or to design a technology, has real application. There is a backdrop, or a destination, a world out there to participate in.

So maybe our job in educating our children is to open up the world to them, and then let the academics apply to the possibilities, rather than the other way around.

Don't MAKE it Happen, LET it Happen.

Two things are on my mind: Creativity, and Education.

They are so tied together, because the structures and attitudes we encounter during our education have so much to do with how well we are able to get at our own creativity.

Which brings me to the manufacturing vs. farming argument.

You see, right now in the schools we have this Big Idea that if we can just measure things right, get the right numbers, and punish the right people, that our education system will get Better.

That's right, we're going to improve a system predicated on the concept of nurturing, inspiring, and building, by tearing down and punishing.

This is manufacturing. Control your inputs, do everything according to a system, get the results you want.

Problem is, nothing works that way.

Lots of very successful people turn around and give talks and write books on "How to Get Successful Like I Did in Ten Steps" or something like that. A lot of it is Hooey. Some of it is pretty good. The stuff that is good is really inspiration, a call for you to go out and create your own circumstances.

Not even a factory works like a factory. There are people, who make decisions. These people get the flu and have babies and root for sports teams. They are not machine parts. Even the machines are made by people who go to the beach and like chocolate and have a favorite TV show.

I firmly believe that the great stuff happens when you create the right circumstances, and then get the heck out of the way.

And great leaders remove barriers. That's what they do. They see potential, they notice people's unique capabilities, they point them in some direction, and then they clear out. If something gets in their way, they remove it.

Think about your favorite teacher growing up. I bet it was someone who noticed something about you, or who got you to try something new, or who challenged you. Not someone who made you get a good test score.

So, education - and creativity - are more like farming. You create the right circumstances for things to flourish, and you get out of the way.

It's a lot messier than a pie chart, it doesn't lend itself to measurement, but that's the beauty of being people. If there were some formula for success, don't you think we would all do it? If there were one way to be happy and content, wouldn't we all just sign up? That's not the case, and that is a GOOD thing. It is what makes us so interesting. Annoying, confounding, but interesting.

So if you want to learn or grow, or create something, try just creating circumstances and getting out of the way. Stop talking to yourself, don't criticize, give yourself some time and space, give yourself permission, encourage yourself, and see what happens. It won't make for a nice graph, and that's a good thing.

Mural Project: Drawing DNA

I'm using chalk to rough out the lines for the mural, 'cause once I get out the Sharpie it's all over. This way I can use a towel to wipe it off and make tweaks until every square has a nice amount of detail for the kids to paint... no boring squares allowed! Each of these pieces is 1 foot square.

We've put a letter and number on the back of each piece of wood, to show its position and which side goes up. This is going to be like a big puzzle when we go to put it back together...

Once I get the DNA drawn in, I'll put the rest of the squares around the outside and draw the cell stomata... they look like big half-donuts.

Thank goodness the sun is out so I can see what I'm doing!

Look here for the line art for the whole mural and how we're using the squares to form a big grid...