I am not quite ready to go back to school yet and I am guessing you are not ready either. But, the Art Ed Blogger’s Network is here to help you start planning! Our topic this month is the “first week of school”. A few years ago, I compiled a huge list of tips for the first days of school. These tips were submitted by art teachers all over the world. This gigantic list of tips will help you get … Read more…
Isn’t this graphic the cutest?! I am part of an Art Ed Blogger’s Network which is a collective of writers who blog about a certain topic each month. At the bottom of the post is a link to all the participating bloggers. The theme this month is about Summer Art. What is an Art Journal? An art journal is a visual diary… it is place for artists to express themselves using imagery, words, colors, patterns and designs. An art journal … Read more…
About 6 years ago I came up with the idea to do a Summer Art Challenge, based on the fun I had as a girl doing those summer reading programs where you earned a little prize at the library. You can see the first one my students did back in 2012 here. They brought in their summer artwork and we had a great display! In 2015, I did another summer art challenge with printable handouts on my blog. I think … Read more…
This month the Art Ed Blogger’s Network is talking about student engagement and participation. When I tell people that I am an art teacher, some people who say ”Wow, that must be so much fun! I bet the kids all just love art.” Well, there are fun times, but there are times when not everyone is engaged in the media or project we are working on. I’m sure this happens in all classrooms. Sometimes it is due to lack of alignment … Read more…
This month, the Art Ed Blogger’s Network is talking about how to enrich art class for students who finish early. I think this is an ongoing concern for most art teachers. Kids work at all different paces. Some students will finish their artwork lickety-split with half the class period left. Others will work on the same technique or project and spend multiple periods working on the same piece. So you will often have students at all different paces and at … Read more…
Hi! Are you interested in learning about artists that inspire? Are you looking for new contemporary artists to teach your students? One of my favorite parts about blogging is connecting with other bloggers online. Some art education bloggers recently formed an Art Ed Blogger’s Network. We are planning to post once a month about the same topic. This month’s topic is Artists that Inspire Us. Most readers probably know about the most famous artists that are typically taught in an … Read more…
Growth Mindset… Positive Thinking.. whatever you want to call it, there is power in changing the way you think about your day. This package has 24 colorful, positive posters to hang in your classroom. I choose to be positive. Attitude and Effort are more important than talent. Attitude is the mind’s paintbrush. It can color any situation. Is this my best work? A Challenge lets me exercise my brain. Don’t say “I can’t”. Do say, “I will give it a … Read more…
I have been teaching myself how to use Adobe Illustrator this summer so I can make some clip art to use. I made a cute poster you could print out for your class. I have seen this phrase on many posters online. I made the pencil on Illustrator! Ha Ha, I’m so proud of myself. I’ve always used Photoshop to do everything, so Illustrator has been kind of a mystery to me. To download the high resolution PDF version, go to … Read more…
I have new Award Certificates in my shop! These are suitable for classroom teachers and art teachers. They can be modified and used for a variety of reasons. I also have a set of Yearbook Cover award certificates. I had a custom request to make certificates for winners of yearbook cover contest for a school. I decided to include a modified version in my shop for other schools who may have an annual contest for yearbook cover designs. Finally, this is … Read more…
It has been several weeks since our Fine Arts Night and I have been waiting until things settled down here to write all about it. Many, many thanks to my co-worker Katie McEnaney for taking photographs of the event! “Wild About the Arts” Fine Arts Night We had our first ever Fine Arts Night. The night combined musical performances, an art show and art activities to celebrate the arts! We decided on an animal theme. We displayed one artwork from … Read more…
Another year has come and gone. Here are some of my favorite posts from 2016. Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year! My Top 6 Favorite Posts in 2016.. in no particular order. 1. Huge Printable List of “What Artists Do” The list is two pages long and can be printed and hung in your classroom as a reminder of all the things that artists do! Click on the image to find the downloadable pdfs. This goes along with a … Read more…
Hi friends! Thank you all for your amazing support of my blog and my shop. You have no idea what it means to me! I love reading your comments on my blog posts. Like I mentioned earlier this week, I am part of the huge sale at Teachers Pay Teachers this MONDAY and TUESDAY– Nov. 28 and 29 ONLY. Many sellers are participating and nearly all of my products are 20% (the only thing not included is the Growing Art … Read more…
This year I have started using a new way to communicate with parents. After receiving some feedback last year that parents didn’t know quite what we were learning about with each project, I decided to type up description statements that would explain artists we learned about, skills and techniques practiced and any other goals of the art project. After the projects are completed I have a student helper tape the descriptions to the back for the younger classes. The older … Read more…
Hi friends! I have a treat for you today. My very intelligent and dedicated co-worker Katie McEnaney is guest posting for Art is Basic today. She was previously our 3rd grade Language Arts/Social Studies/Drama teacher and this year she moved to the 6th/7th grade level. She also created the blog The Logonauts, which focuses on a variety of literature related topics. Many readers have asked me for advice about blogging with students. Since my time is so limited with my students, I … Read more…
Are you interested in starting a blog? Here are some tips for you! If you missed the other posts in this series, be sure to read: Blogging Basics Part One: Why Blog and How to Choose a Platform Blogging Basics Part Two: Choosing a Blog Name and Getting Ideas Blogging Basics Part Three: How to Write a Blog Post People will Read A big concern from new bloggers is “how do I get anybody to read my blog??” That … Read more…
