Managing the Art Room: Everyone Talks Dog

I frequently need to adjust my curriculum to meet my studentsʼ evolving emotional needs, which requires the constant designing and scrapping of ineffective methods. This frustrating situation prompted me to create a more unconventional social-emotional learning (SEL) instruction method that incorporates my other passion: my therapy dog, Lucy. I was new to the therapy dog scene when I began developing this idea. I wondered how I could use a therapeutic approach, beyond sensory experiences and reading support, to enhance SEL every day.

Everyone Talks Dog
The first day Lucy was in my room, I quickly discovered that ever yone talks dog. Whether they own a dog or have a friend who owns a dog, ever yone seems to have some sort of connection, which makes this the perfect icebreaker to get the SEL conversation rolling. Even students who aren’t fond of dogs can participate in the class discussion by sharing their reasons.

This connection was an inspiration for me, forcing me to analyze more purposefully the ways our discipline is inherently SEL-based. In fact, it is near impossible to avoid SEL when teaching art. I focused on tapping into this relationship by designing SEL lessons that followed a framework: using Lucy as the lesson starter, sandwiching the core SEL content in the middle, and finishing with art-making SEL connections.

Even though Lucy is embedded in my daily instruction by way of meditations and brain breaks, some days are set aside for specific SEL lessons. My most successful lesson to date is focused on the CASEL SEL Framework; specifically, relationship skills connected to tone of voice.

The Importance of Tone
I start by defining tone of voice and then ask students if they have unintentionally found themselves in a situation where a friend or adult told them, “I don’t like your tone.” Almost ever yone has a grievance to share, which sets the stage for this lesson. I transition to dog training connections with Lucy as a model. We discuss how tone of voice impacts how Lucy interprets her commands.

Typically, commands are composed of a hand signal and a word delivered with a neutral but conf ident tone. I demonstrate by asking Lucy to sit using the correct hand signal and tone. Then I demonstrate asking her to sit using a stern tone and then with an excited tone that is usually reser ved for praise.

Lucy fails to sit when I use the two alternate tones because she doesn’t know whether she is being corrected or celebrated. This illustrates to students how tone impacts interpretation.

As we transition to the middle of the lesson, I focus on the way tone relates to peer and adult conversations. We begin by watching a short video that shows modeled interactions with misperceived tones, including explanations.

Role-Playing
The best way for students to get the hang of tone and to discuss its implications is by role-playing. Each student is challenged with reading sample statements such as, “What happened to you?” in a neutral, a frustrated, and an empathetic tone. As a class, we discuss how the tone changes the meaning of the statement.

Tone Expressed in Art
As we finish the lesson, we discuss how tone/mood is portrayed in art. By looking at contemporar y examples like Jen is challenged with reading sample statements such as, “What happened to you?” in a neutral, a frustrated, and an empathetic tone. As a class, we discuss how the tone changes the meaning of the statement. Stark’s psychedelic public art murals, we analyze the visual element of color and the principal of pattern and how those together influence students’ perception of the mood of her artworks.

Next, we discuss the visual implications of how changing the color scheme or pattern would impact the established mood and intended message of Stark’s work. This discussion also gives me a good opportunity to reinforce the National Common Core Art Standard, Creating 2.3.7a, apply visual organizational strategies to design and produce a work of art that clearly communicates information or ideas.

More Lucy in the Art Room
While this lesson represents only one of many ways Lucy is integrated into our art lessons, I have already begun to experience the positive impacts. By the end of the year, students began to self-correct when communicating with their classmates and parents. One parent shared that their child jokingly pointed out their tone of voice! We have a long way to go, but I am seeing strong signs that students enjoy these lessons.

One of my hard-to-reach students, upon spying Lucy in the room one day, remarked, “Is today a Lucy day? Good. Lucy days are always fun days!” I was surprised that this teenager’s reaction to talking about SEL was so positive. These comments give me validation that this therapy dog–centered approach to SEL and art is creating a more supportive classroom environment while connecting students with the art-making process and their peers.