I made a new poster for my room. Every couple of years I tend to tweak my art room rules. I struggled to come up with an “I” but settled on “Imagine new things!” I told the kids it’s not really a rule, but a reminder. I was surprised how often I referred to the reminder on the poster. When a student said, “I like what so and so is doing, can I copy it?” I referred to the “Imagine … Read more…
There are still five more days to enter the back to school giveaway! I will announce the randomly selected winner on August 22. What are teachers looking forward to most about starting a new year? I picked a selection of the answers teachers gave when asked this question. 1. Carrie: “The best part of going back to the classroom is seeing all of the kids. It’s all about them and allowing them the opportunity to explore, create, imagine, and … Read more…
We took a trip this week to our local children’s museum in Madison. I was busy chasing around my daughter, but I managed to snap a few pictures of the awesomeness in this place. The museum is amazing. The lower level has a lot of things geared for dramatic play, such as a pretend garden, a water room, dress-up, puppets, etc. There is also an amazing “bone” bridge to climb. The upper level has building materials, like Tinker toys, Legos, … Read more…
I got the idea to write this post based on a recent discussion about teaching portfolios in the Facebook Art Teachers group. I thought sharing parts of mine might be helpful to a prospective teacher who is building their portfolio. These are all my opinions and you might have a better way to show your teaching experience. Another teacher suggested bringing an iPad to the interview with digital pictures. I think that would be a fantastic way to show your … Read more…
Have you used Smart Fab in your classroom? I was recently sent a sample pack of this product and I would love to see how you’ve used it. We are going to use it for accent shapes in fabric collages. Check out this instructional video about how to use Smart Fab. This product is a non-woven fabric that can be used in art projects for kids and adults. The unique properties of Smart-Fab allow it to be easily cut, glued, … Read more…
School Lockdown and an ER visit It’s been a crazy week! First, we had a school lockdown last Thursday because the FBI was trying to catch a fugitive in our area. Initially we spent 10 minutes on hard lockdown and I had my class in the closets. Then, we moved to a “soft lockdown” and were allowed to switch classes. Kids were escorted to use the bathroom. The kids were upset and it was difficult to continue class as normal. … Read more…
Hey there! I read a lot. I skim a lot. I get way too many emails from various things I subscribe to. Here are some of the cool things I’ve seen lately. 1. Daring Duct Tape: CALL FOR ART. While I have never created anything from Duct Tape, I know that some art teachers have created some amazing projects with their students. I read an article about high school students who made prom dresses from duct tape. How cool would … Read more…
Welcome to the 3rd post in my series On Teaching Art. The first post and the background behind this series is On Teaching Art: Art vs. Craft. The second post was On Teaching Art #2: Organizing Curriculum. The question posed for this installment is: How can art be integrated into math, science, social science, and literacy? That is a great question and I very often connect art lessons with their units of study in the classrooms. Integrating art with other … Read more…
Welcome to the second post in my series On Teaching Art. The first post and the background behind this series is On Teaching Art: Art vs. Craft. The question posed for this installment is: How can we organize planning for art instruction? Carrie Birmingham said, “For instance, I can imagine planning around art elements like line and color, or planning based on great artists, or planning based on curricular connections, or planning based on children’s development. There are probably a … Read more…
I received an email from Carrie Birmingham of Pepperdine University about teaching art. She teaches a general education course. She proposed a number of questions about teaching art that she would like to share with her university students. Here is what she writes: “The students I have will be general ed classroom teachers, mostly K-5. They may or may not end up at a school which has an art teacher, and I want them to have a starting place if … Read more…
Before I start with 5 Fabulous Things let me just tell you how jealous I am of any of you who went to Texas this week for the National Art Education Association conference. I love love love going to these conferences. Unfortunately it’s not possible for me to go every year, but I’m living vicariously through blog posts and facebook posts of other art teachers… like Mr. E and the Art of Ed. 5 Fabulous Things– a round up of … Read more…
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be an elementary art teacher? Maybe you are interested in becoming an art teacher. Maybe you are curious how my day compares to yours’. I know I would love to walk a day in another art teacher’s shoes to see what it is like at different schools or in different locations. Through words and pictures, I am going to walk you through my day. Out of privacy of the students, … Read more…
We had our regional art show through the Wisconsin Art Education Association this week. The artwork was displayed all week at the local mall. Many schools participated with art from kids in grades K-12. It is always so fun to see what other schools are doing. The high school artwork is always so amazing! We had our closing reception today and many families showed up. It was a great turnout despite the freezing rain. One artwork from each teacher was … Read more…
Hello art teacher friends. I hope you are staying healthy and away from those nasty germs. I have been overcome by one of these little bugs and was sick all week. Yes, the dreaded flu. I only taught one day this week. 🙁 Although, two of the days were actual days off of school (MLK day and a grading day). Those two days off were spent grading and sneezing in bed. I wanted to share with you two ways to … Read more…
Katie said… Can I ask how you present your art projects? Do you have a finished picture to show the kids so they have an idea of what you want from them, or do you just explain it and let them create? That is a great question. It depends on the project. I almost always will demonstrate steps to a project. Many times I don’t have a finished picture to show them. Right now, my 5th/6th graders (we have combined … Read more…
