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Interview Questions for Art Teaching Job

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Interview Questions for Art Teaching Job

I opened up my email this week and was thrilled to read the following message: I wanted to thank you for your post regarding portfolios and interviewing.  I was recently hired at a fantastic school, and the interview wouldn’t have gone well without your advice about preparation. Yay!  I love it when someone finds something useful in something I’ve written!  The post she was referring to was Art Teacher Portfolio Ideas.  Later, I posted an article about digital portfolios.  I … Read more… →

Pinteresting Art Ideas!

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Pinteresting Art Ideas!

It’s no secret art teachers love Pinterest.  In this new blog series, I will round up some of my favorite Pinspiration for art teachers.  If you’d like to see all of my Pins, follow me on Pinterest.  It’s a great way to plan projects, find handouts and ideas!  If you have other ideas that fit this theme, add them in the comment section. I was inspired to pick the theme of FACES for this blog post, because I came across … Read more… →

Welcome Baby Desmond

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Welcome little Desmond, a sleeping newborn baby with rosy cheeks and light-colored hair, rests with a hand on their head.

Hi!  For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you probably have seen some of the baby pictures.  Desmond was born this past weekend! Desmond Arthur Beckett was born on Saturday, April 19 at 9:47 am.  He weighed 10 lbs 6 oz!  The c-section went smoothly and even though I was SO nervous beforehand, the doctors and nurses were very reassuring.  After I realized that I actually was not going to feel any pain during the surgery, … Read more… →

Drawing Maps for Figurines with 2nd Graders

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Toy animal figurines, brown houses, and a colorful building are displayed on a map drawn by 2nd graders, featuring blue waterways and green spaces.

I came up with this idea from my daughter’s obsession with playing with her figurines and maps.  She has a few of these map sets that come with a large fold-out map, a book and a bunch of related figurines (they have these at Barnes & Noble). This project taps into children’s natural interest in miniature toys! I showed the 2nd graders this map with some figures (many of them had similar maps at home) and told them to bring … Read more… →

Art Discussion Signs for Bulletin Boards

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Art Discussion Signs for Bulletin Boards

I have been dreaming about how I will be setting up my art room next year, as we will be having two art rooms and I will have a lot more space!  The art discussion cards that I created have been popular and I thought that these questions would make an intriguing bulletin board. I designed 33 colorful signs with interesting art discussion prompts that can be used in classroom critiques or art history discussions.  There are 4 additional “title” … Read more… →

Carving Rubber Stamps with 5th and 6th Graders

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Pattern of multiple blue geometric lace designs on a light blue background with one gold design in the upper right corner.

Before I left for my maternity/medical leave, my 5th and 6th graders were carving rubber stamps.  They were turning out so well and I can’t wait to see all of the finished projects. Here are some of our stamps from previous years.  We looked at African Adinkra symbol stamps and the students created their own personal symbols. We print our stamps by applying acrylic paints with a foam brush.  A light touch is best. Students can also test their stamps … Read more… →

Adventures in Shapes, Shading, Texture and Lines

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An abstract pencil drawing featuring various shapes, lines, and doodles scattered across the canvas with intriguing texture and shading in black and white.

First of all, thanks for being a loyal blog reader (or) welcome, if you are new!  I have a personal update to share with you… I went on medical leave this week and Monday was my last day of work for the time being.  My pregnancy is complicated and I could not work anymore.  The baby is healthy, but physically I need to lay down as much as possible and it is really hard to sit or stand without a … Read more… →

Penguin Collage Paintings with Kindergarteners

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Penguin Collage Paintings with Kindergarteners

Thank you, Patty Palmer, for this fun penguin collage project idea! We used paint dotters to paint the backgrounds instead of paintbrushes (and I also didn’t get out all the extra collage supplies because so much of our stuff is in storage right now), but otherwise, you can see the steps on Patty’s website.

Fruit and Flowers, Mice and Me!

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Bright, abstract painting featuring large flowers, fruits, and leaves against a pink and purple background. This lively piece encapsulates the essence of "Fruit and Flowers.

Fruit and Flowers: I colored in the sketch that I showed you here.  I mostly used colored pencils, watercolor pencils and watercolor paints. A Mouse: My 5th/6th graders are painting animals and my go-to demo is always a mouse or hamster.  I love cute rodents.  The kids are always astounded when I show them how to make furry texture with a fan brush!  So fun.  Do you have go-to images you use when demonstrating techniques? Me: Here I am at … Read more… →

Concentric Patterned Hearts: 2nd Grade

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Concentric Patterned Hearts: 2nd Grade

Concentric means that the shapes share the same center and are placed inside one another. Patterns are arrangements of repeated parts Creating concentric patterned hearts are a great way to explore creativity, pattern making, size and shape.  We made these in 2nd grade around Valentine’s Day, but this would also be a nice idea for a Mother’s Day card or picture.  The children could write or draw about their moms in the spaces around the hearts.

Artsy Book Club

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Artsy Book Club

  Did you join the Artsy Book Club on Facebook?  It was started by Cassie Stephens.  You should come join us!  We are starting to work through the book One Drawing A Day: A 6-Week Course Exploring Creativity with Illustration and Mixed Media. The first assignment was a pen drawing of a still life set up of stuff you find around you. Drawing immediately with pen is harder than it seems.  I was so worried about drawing a line wrong … Read more… →

Paper Mache Masks — 3rd & 4th Grade

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Paper Mache Masks — 3rd & 4th Grade

These paper mache masks by the 3rd/4th grade received lots of compliments when they were hanging in the hallway. The class was studying Native American history in their Social Studies and we looked at some Pacific Northwest Coast masks and we discussed the functions of masks in general throughout the world. We started with a mask form (made of paper mache) that I ordered in a class pack from Nasco.  From this starting point, the students built up and embellished … Read more… →

100th Day of School Art Project: Kindergarten

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A grid filled with various colorful shapes, textures, and numbers.

First of all, thanks to everyone who voted for me in the Art Ed Blog of the Year contest.  While I didn’t place in the top 10 it was still exciting to be nominated! Our 100th day of school was this past Friday and I thought I would participate with a 100th day art project for the first time ever.  If your 100th day of school has already passed, this might be a project you want to “pin” and save … Read more… →

Map of My Heart: 1st Graders

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Map of My Heart: 1st Graders

The 1st graders made maps of their hearts!  This is a charming project that gives you a window into the lives of your students. First, they drew a large heart and then inside the heart they included things or people that were important in their lives.   They used permanent markers to draw and then watercolor paints to color in the heart. I got this idea from the book “Playful Learning” which would be a great book for a classroom teacher.  … Read more… →

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