There was this little boy who got in trouble in his art class for coloring outside the lines and using " unrealistic" colors. He added to his project and changed the shapes. He used his crayons and magic markers.He got a poor grade. He was crused and he did his " best of bests". He told his dad and he said that dad said that he was very creative and would be sure to go far in his artistic work. What do you think?

I like this one. ;D I personally think (because I did this as a kid) that he is being creative. He is willing to express himself and is not afraid of the box. He is not afraid to push to boundries.
I have a kid who is "gifted and talented". They are encouraged to do this very thing. I have always encouraged my kids to think "outside of the box". I think that it will make them better ppl, they will have self-confidence and they will be leaders in whatever they do.
Some may say, "But, he didn't follow the rules." Well, in my opinion...changes were not made by following the rules. Leaders are not always made by following the rules. With this in mind - there are obviously has to be a positive reasoning for thinking outside of the box.
Hmmm...I have to leave work now....I'll think on this some more and comment when I get home. I just HAD to post to this one. (this is a good one Kim! ;D)

That’s me Miss Candy; I always colored out side of the lines. But I’m one of those people who always looked at things from the out side of the box, always questioning and comparing a better way to do something. To me the big picture is much more important then focusing on the small things. How can you see the true nature of something if you always limit yourself to the ideas of how things should be done by someone else? Two-dimensional minds are always so boring.

Prism-you probably did not even see a box. You seem like a man who saw a circle.

Thanks Tracey...let me know your new thoughts

I went the boy was CRUSHED. Sorry for the error. How unlike me not to use correct wordage.

Without people thinking outside of the box we would still be living in caves (come to think of it, I think Darryl is still living in a cave - we have photographic evidence!)

You are right Captain Hero...Captain Hero did you ever eat Captain Crunch cereal???

I have not come across this cereal, I have to say.

Matthew it's a cereal that is hard and crunchy that pretty much cuts up your mouth. but the Kids like it.

I like Captain Crunch...but you're right...it does hurt my mouth.

I never had an art class where we were graded on coloring in the lines...we never used coloring books in school--that was always at home for fun. I can see why the kid would get a bad grade, though. They were being graded on their ability to be precise. If you look at a very young child, they grab the crayon like its a handlebar...as the kid gets older, they hold it like a fork or spoon.

That's how we can tell they are progressing. I know where the school was coming from, but schools for young children also teach something very much more important than precision...

...

self esteem.

That kid was crushed because he did what he liked and was put down for it. I've had English, math, and science teachers like that...but art teachers are supposed to be different. They are supposed to embrace the creative side of kids.

I used to go to summer school when I was a kid--when it was more of a fun thing that kids could do while their parents were at work, as opposed to the last chance to pass thing that it is now. I remember one summer, we were free to do whatever we wanted. We made pinwheels, we made things with wire, we made things with tile...it was great!

I made a small bowl from clay. We put it in the kiln, and then got to paint it. I painted it with hot pink, and an electric orange, with some purple in the middle. My teacher said it looked tacky. I was like 6 or 7 at the time. It really hurt my feelings.

I still have that bowl, but I also still remember what that teacher said. I really liked what I had created, and she shot me down. I know what that kid's dealing with...and I'm sure the rest of us have, too. Just read "Le Petit Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. (They have it in English, too) That book starts out with the story about how the adults thought he was silly for being creative...and he stopped his creativity forever...until a small boy brings it back to him.

We can learn a lot from kids. They know what they like, and they do it...until society tells them they are silly or stupid or whatever for having a personality. Whatever.

A few months ago in art class we were learning pen and ink. We had to practice "stippling" (if you don't know what that is, it's a bunch of tiny dots to make a picture) and we were using just black ink to shade. My friend, who never likes to do things the way it is set for us to do, decided that this assignment was not challenging enough for him and inversed the dots, interchanging the light and dark areas. He was marked down considerably for "not listening to instructions". I personally think that's fascist. He was being creative (which he does very, very well, by the way; as our math teacher put it, he can't think in a straight line. but he thinks very creatively) and attempting to develop these skills more acutely than if he had done it the way we were supposed to.

Along similar lines, more recently in this class, when we did collages, we were supposed to explain them and what they meant to the class. I could not explain mine. I kept telling my teacher that if it were something I could verbally explain I would have written an essay instead. But I just got fewer points because I did not explain very well. I think my attempts to explain it just threw everyone off as to what I did mean. It had too much detail and too nebulous a meaning to explain it.

Teachers. Go figure . . .

Thanks for the comments. Thanks for the book title. I will check it out.

Thanks for the comments and the book title. I will look for the English version.

It's a very good book...lot's of deep meanings and theories...

ah... i think the teacher was just jealous of your neon masterpiece but... the inverted idea would probably get a few points up here...we have a really great art teacher at the school. although he did take points of my pot for having a hole in the botton and three cracks in it but... oh well. sounds like your colage was great though

a hole in the bottom of the pot could have been done on purpose for drainage....and the cracks could be an antique look???

I moved from one school to another, and I had already been taught most, if not all, that they were trying to teach me again. Naturally, I was bored, so I spent my time drawing. On folders, on paper, but never anything that wasn't mine or that was permanent (unless it was on my folder or paper). I never vandalized school property, nor did I disrupt the other students with my drawing.

My parents got called in for a teacher's conference because the teacher thought I was out of control.

They don't understand. Really.

It sounds like you were intelligent and not being academically or emotionally challenged. Drawing is better than some of the other options that you had. Why did they think you were out of control? Short attention span does not always mean attention deficiet or impulse control disorder sometimes you are just needing more stimulus....its better to hunger for knowledge than blow up the schools computer system or put a bomb in the staff toilet at school..sometimes teacher are afraid of any one who is not the cookie cutter type of person.....you are artistic and talented.....you were so much more than that!!