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Category Archives: professional development

Call to Art 2: Free Online Un-Conference

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Mark your calendars for the week of November 9-13. Cindy Ingram is hosting another Un-Conference, which is sure to be filled with fabulous information and ideas. Last summer, over 8,000 art teachers participated in this online conference which had so many wonderful presentations about equity, inclusion, classroom management, STEAM, choice based art and tips for teaching online. This Fall, Cindy is back again with another exciting FREE professional development opportunity for you! Free Online Conference for Art Educators Call to Art: … Read more… →

Art Journaling Workshop at the NAEA Conference

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Art supplies and colorful journals surround the text: "Hands-On Ticketed Workshop: Art Journaling for Personal Meaning and Creative Development at the NAEA Conference.

Good news! My proposal to lead a hands-on workshop at the National Art Education Association convention was accepted. The convention is from March 26-28 and you can sign up on the NAEA website. My workshop is titled: “Art Journaling for Personal Meaning and Creative Development.” Relax with art journaling and leave with multiple creative techniques you can use immediately in your classroom.  Explore vision boards, collage, watercolor doodling, word play and the art of chance. I’m super excited to lead … Read more… →

What is an Art-O-Mat? and Pictures from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

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Person examining an Art-o-mat, a retro vending machine at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, repurposed to dispense small pieces of art.

Remember I told you about Cindy Ingram’s Art Class Curator workshops? She’s hosting the Curated Connections Workshop a FREE online training, starting August 8th. She’s sharing some of her favorite tips and techniques. This reminded me of the National Art Ed Conference this year, when Cindy, Phyl, Misty Bear and I went to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts one afternoon. I have been meaning to write all kinds of blog posts in our break from school, but wow, this … Read more… →

Peter H. Reynolds on Creativity

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At the 2019 NAEA Conference, a projector screen displays the colorful text "CREATE BRAVELY" with an audience in dark view. FableVision and Peter H. Reynolds' logos are visible.

One of the presentations I was most looking forward to going to at NAEA ’19 was the author Peter H. Reynolds. Most elementary art teachers are familiar with his books.. they are all so colorful and teach about those concepts we want our students to learn. The Dot The book called The Dot is the one that I think most people have heard of. I have done lots and lots of projects about dots using this book. You can see … Read more… →

Amy Sherald and Howard Gardner at NAEA ’19 Conference

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Portrait of a woman sitting and wearing a patterned dress against a light blue background.

The National Art Education Association conference this year had some thought-provoking and inspiring speakers, as usual! In this post, I will tell you about Amy Sherald and Howard Gardner. Next, I will share about Peter Reynolds! Amy Sherald, portrait artist The first speaker I went to see was Amy Sherald, who is best known as the portrait artist for Michelle Obama’s presidential portrait. Here is a video of her talking about this portrait. Amy Sherald creates large scale figurative paintings … Read more… →

NAEA Conference 2019

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A smiling person with glasses takes a selfie in front of a spiky green glass sculpture inside a modern building, capturing the vibrant energy of the 2019 NAEA Conference.

I had a very exciting trip to Boston last week for the National Art Education Association Conference. If you have never been to one before, you should really try to go some year. It’s quite the experience! The conference was from Thursday-Saturday last week and it was jam-packed full of workshops, speakers, vendors, meeting friends, site-seeing and walking back and forth around the hotel/conference center. I am going to split up my experience into a few different blog posts. Here … Read more… →

Zen Houses Workshop with Jodi Ohl

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Whimsical painting of a small, charming cottage with a stone chimney and colorful bunting. A sign reads "The Cozy Creative Cottage,".

I have been a fan of Jodi Ohl‘s artwork for many years.  She has a fun, whimsical style.  Last summer, I went to a workshop taught by her and had so much fun that I signed up for another weekend painting class with her.  The theme last summer was Zen Painting (in an abstract style).  This summer, the class I signed up for was Zen Houses, which uses similar techniques taught in the Zen Painting class.  I loved both of … Read more… →

Zen Painting Workshop

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Zen Painting Workshop

I went to a really fun painting workshop last summer for a weekend which I never shared on my blog…. until now!  The workshop is called Zen Painting and it was taught by Jodi Ohl.  I have been following Jodi Ohl’s blog for many years.  When I was looking for some hands-on professional development for the soul, I noticed she was teaching at Shake Rag Alley, which is only 45 minutes away from my house.  My co-worker Martha, who teaches … Read more… →

Some of My Favorite Presentations from NAEA 2016

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Image of the Dalai Lama with quotes on kindness and compassion, accompanied by a message on teaching with empathy.

In my last post, I wrote an overall recap of the National Art Education Association conference.  I also gave a summary of the artist Jesse Reno’s speech.  In another post, I put together a little art history quiz of artworks from the Art Institute of Chicago. Today I am going to share with you some highlights from a few of the presentations.  If you would like to see all of the handouts from the presentations that were uploaded, they are … Read more… →

NAEA Convention Recap Part 1

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Art supplies arranged around a framed painting with text "NAEA Convention 2016" at the bottom.

  Hi, artsy friends!  It’s taken awhile for me to gather all my pictures and information from the National Art Education Association conference and compile them into a recap.  At my school, if you go to a conference, you present something about your experience at one of our weekly staff meetings.  So I am “killing two birds with one stone”.  If you have never been to an art conference, it is really fun! There are many, many sessions to choose … Read more… →

Art Teacher Portfolio Ideas for an Interview

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Collage of an art teacher's portfolio with project examples, a binder, and informative documents displayed.

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… →

On Teaching Art #2: Organizing Curriculum

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On Teaching Art #2: Organizing Curriculum

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… →

An Online Art Teacher Conference and Facebook Group

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Colorful abstract background with the quote: "Creativity is contagious. Pass it on. - Albert Einstein."

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… →

NAEA Session Handouts

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A colorful patchwork painting featuring a peacock, paisley patterns, ladybug, butterfly, teddy bear, and various designs.

Are you bummed because you didn’t get to go to the NAEA Conference this year?   Did you go to the conference and miss a session you wanted to see because you were busy scoring free samples?   Have you never heard of the NAEA conference and want to know what kinds of things go on there?   The session handouts are up on the NAEA website.  So, if a presenter uploaded their session powerpoints or handouts they are there.  It’s a great … Read more… →

NAEA Conference

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Abstract artwork featuring overlapping, colorful diamond and oval patterns in a mosaic-like arrangement.

So…. is anyone else going to the National Art Ed. Conference??  Registration is open now.  If you haven’t ever been before, it is an AMAZING conference.  All day fun.. your brain will be exploding with ideas and excitement. Plus, you get to try out all the cool new art supplies and get free samples. Did you hear Chuck Close is going to be there???  Wow, how cool is that going to be??!!  I am so excited I almost typed OMG.  … Read more… →

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