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Category Archives: art teacher tips

Blogging Basics, Part Two: Choosing a Blog Name and Getting Ideas

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Blogging Basics, Part Two: Choosing a Blog Name and Getting Ideas

  If you missed the first post in this series, check out Blogging Basics for Teachers and Other Creatives, Part One.  In that post I share reasons to start blogging and how to choose a blogging platform. In today’s post, we will talk about how to choose a blog name and where to get ideas for your blog.   My blog was originally called Vivid Layers (raise your hand if you read my blog back then!).  The header is the … Read more… →

Blogging Basics for Teachers and Other Creatives: Part One

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Top-down view of a desk with a laptop, notebook, and watercolor set. Text reads "Blogging Basics for art teachers and other creatives."

So… you want to start a blog about teaching or art?  One of the questions I get asked frequently is how do you start a blog?  I asked the experts (other popular art bloggers) to share advice about getting started with blogging.   The bloggers, in no particular order: Me from Art is Basic, of course Lee Darter, from Art Room Blog Phyllis Levine Brown from There’s a Dragon in My Art Room and The Artful Advocate Don Masse from … Read more… →

3 Tips to Make Assessing Your Students Easier

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3 Tips to Make Assessing Your Students Easier

Patty Palmer from Deep Space Sparkle asked me to share tips about assessment with her Member’s Club.    I am no expert on assessment, but I thought I could share a few good ideas about what works for me when assessing my students in art.  If you are not a member of the Member’s Club, you can still see my 3 top tips for assessment by watching the video below. How do you assess your students?  Do you have any tips … Read more… →

Annual Art Re-Swap

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Black and white photos of people of various ages are arranged with a colorful beaded necklace on a white background.

Today I am going to show you some fun pictures of super cool art teacher finds that I picked up at an Art Re-Swap.  My city has an art supply swap at least once a year and it is probably one of my favorite events of the year!  How it works is people bring in old supplies and “stuff” that can be used in art projects.  Then, you can take anything you want from the piles of stuff other people … Read more… →

Art is Basic Newsletter

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Hello friends! Did you know Art is Basic has a newsletter?  If you sign up for my newsletter, you will receive emails about once or twice per month from me.  The newsletters will point you to blog posts you may have missed, tell about new products and give you words of encouragement or art teaching tips.  I will never spam you or send you too many “salesy” emails. You can sign up with this form below (you might have to … Read more… →

Butterfly Origami Gift

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A wire birdcage filled with colorful origami birds and adorned with vibrant butterfly origami on the outside.

The other art teacher at my school is retiring this year.  I wanted to put together a collaborative present by students to honor her.  We were both hired here at the school 10 year ago.  She loves origami so I knew it had to be something origami-related. I had all of her 7th and 8th grade students learn how to fold origami butterflies.  Now, I am terrible at origami, so I wanted it to be relatively easy to figure out … Read more… →

Art Curriculum Template and Guide

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Guide to the Art Curriculum Matrix for Grade K-6, featuring illustrations of crayons, paint, glue, and a marker on a vibrant rainbow-striped border.

Hi!  I recently finished rewriting my K-6 art curriculum plan.  We are required to do this every 4 years.  You can see my first blog post about organizing curriculum that I wrote a few years back. I use the curriculum plan as a guide for my yearly planning.  If students are interested in one area of art more than another, I tend to adapt my plans.  If I have a brilliant idea for something new I want to try with … Read more… →

What are Kwik Stix? My first vlog.. video blogging!

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What are Kwik Stix? My first vlog.. video blogging!

What are Kwik Stix?  Today I will share with you my first vlog.  What is vlogging?  Video blogging.  In this video, I will share with you a new product I am loving and tell you my opinions. In the picture below, the butterfly was painted with paint dotters.  The background designs were drawn with Kwik Stix. The designs drawn on top of the shapes are drawn with Kwik Stix. You can blend the Kwik Stix with water and a paintbrush. … Read more… →

Huge Printable Art Advocacy List! What Do Artists Do?

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Huge Printable Art Advocacy List! What Do Artists Do?

Many of you probably know of Ian and Melissa from Apex High School.  They have developed a list of Artistic Behaviors for the high school level.  I have been following along and seeing how they teach their students.  Seeing their list gave me the idea to create posters that shows kids what artists do and what exactly is an artist.  I decided to simplify the behaviors for elementary school students and start from the basics.  Start from the ground and … Read more… →

How Well Do You Know Art History?

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How Well Do You Know Art History?

How well do you know artists throughout history?  Take this quiz to test your knowledge.   If you are reading from a blog reader or email, you may need to click on over to the actual blog post.  Art History Quiz from Marcia Beckett This past week I had the pleasure of attending the National Art Education Association conference in Chicago, IL.  I have lots of information to share with you from some of the great sessions I attended.  Coming … Read more… →

What Do Artists Do? Signs about ARTISTS and Artistic Behaviors

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Colorful poster with art supplies at the edges and the text "What Do ARTISTS DO?" in the center, highlighting various artistic behaviors.

I have something to share with you that I’ve been working on for a long time.  Well, a couple of months.  It takes forever for me to accomplish anything lately (I have a clingy toddler who doesn’t like to sleep) so I work in short spurts whenever I get a chance. Many of you probably know of Ian and Melissa from Apex High School.  They have developed a list of Artistic Behaviors for the high school level.  I have been … Read more… →

Pick and Draw Game

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Pick and Draw game cards and activity book on a white surface, featuring cartoon drawing elements and guide sheets.

Hello friends, I hope you’ve had a good holiday break so far and a happy new year.  You may have noticed one of my affiliate links on the side of my blog, which is Pick and Draw.  I only tell you about things I have used and trust myself.  I wrote about these cards a few years ago and I decided that since it’s been a few years, there are probably new teachers out there who haven’t heard of these … Read more… →

How to Use PicMonkey to Make Photo Collages for a Blog

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How to Use PicMonkey to Make Photo Collages for a Blog

Today I am going to show you how I use Picmonkey.com to make header images for blog posts (like the one shown above.)  I make these headers because it’s visually appealing, it makes it clear for the reader what the post is about and these images are great for getting traffic from Pinterest. I figured out how to add a voice narration! Hurray. I love learning new things. If you are reading from a blog reader or email, you may need … Read more… →

Photoshop Tutorial: How to Create Photo Collages for Your Blog

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Golden-themed graphic titled 'Photoshop Tutorial: How to use Photoshop Elements to make blog pics' with colorful artwork below.

Nora asked, “Hi Marcia,  I love how you lay out photos on your blog! Could you please tell me how you do this? Thanks! My blog is http://www.waitsfieldart.blogspot.com” I use either Photoshop Elements or Picmonkey to create the collages of artwork for my blog posts.  If I want to share several examples of artwork I often shrink them down and place them side by side or in a grid layout, like this: I also create photo collages as a “header” … Read more… →

  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.