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Category Archives: art teaching

“Wild About the Arts” Fine Arts Night

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Colorful poster with various animals and "Wild About the Arts" text in bold, vibrant letters, celebrating Fine Arts Night.

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… →

A Great Way to Communicate with Parents in Art Class

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A Great Way to Communicate with Parents in Art Class

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… →

How to Get Traffic to a Blog: Blogging Basics, Part Four

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How to Get Traffic to a Blog: Blogging Basics, Part Four

  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… →

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… →

New Products and Big Sale! Up to 28% off

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Discover our Elements of Art sketchbook, featuring sections on line, shape, color, value, texture, and space.

Teachers Pay Teachers is throwing a huge Back-to-School sale.  I am joining in.  I keep my prices affordable as it is, but this sale is a huge steal!  I have over 50 art teacher resources available in my shop.  Everything is 20% off (EDIT: except the HUGE GROWING BUNDLE,  because that is already ridiculously cheap) August 1-2.  Add the coupon code: BestYear for additional savings (28% off total). I have some resources you might be interested in! NEW:  Elements of … 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… →

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… →

Art Room Organization

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Art Room Organization

I love organizing things, especially art materials.  It makes it easier to find things you need when your room is organized!  I am always revamping my organizational systems and I feel like my room now is arranged pretty well for my needs.  I am sure I will find some things that need tweaking over the next few years. On each table I have a plastic drawer set labeled with pencils & eraser, glue sticks & scissors, and markers.  On the … Read more… →

Big Fun Art Teacher Giveaway

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Big Fun Art Teacher Giveaway

Hello!  I love giveaways and thought it would be fun to have a summer art teacher giveaway in honor of reaching 400 likes on Facebook.   To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this blog or on the Facebook post about it answering this question:  “What is one tip you would give to art teachers (or other classroom teachers) to make the beginning of the year go smoothly?”  or “What do you do with your students in the first weeks … Read more… →

Create an Art Memory Book

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Create a Memory Book of Your Child's Artwork-- Preserve your art!

My daughter who is in 4k comes home with at least 3 drawings every day.  She can draw during free choice or nap time (she won’t nap).  Plus with the drawing she does at home, we have collected hundreds of drawings.  I’ve saved almost all of them.  Her favorite things to draw are My Little Ponies, Paw Patrol characters and people.  By far, she has more pony drawings than anything else.  I don’t bother sorting them, I just take them … Read more… →

Reflections on Intentions

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A colorful display of student artwork on shield-shaped banners arranged in a row on a wall.

I was honored to be included on a list of recommended blogs from Art Mouse House.  I have just recently started following Art Mouse House and it is a very new blog.  It already looks like it’s going to be a wonderful blog with lots of fresh ideas and clear explanations. I read her post about setting an intention and found myself nodding my head in agreement the whole time.. thinking, yep, that’s totally what I believe too!  I’ve been … Read more… →

Art Around the World – Sketchbook Prompt Cards

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Art Around the World – Sketchbook Prompt Cards

I am super excited to tell you about my new pack of sketchbook prompt cards.  My Art History Sketchbook Prompts have helped out a lot of art teachers and I wanted to make more.  My students enjoy learning about different art works and they like getting small nuggets of information along with the chance to create artwork inspired by what they see.   The new art history prompts are called Art Around the World – a set of 14 task cards … Read more… →

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