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

Annual Art Re-Swap

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…

Reflections on Intentions

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…

Interview Questions for Art Teaching Job

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…

Self-Pinning and Other Pinterest Talk

Self-Pinning and Other Pinterest Talk

I enjoy using Pinterest.  It is a great tool for getting ideas for lesson plans and for random fun ideas for my own personal life.  Do you use Pinterest?  What are the pitfalls of Pinterest?  In this blog post, first I will talk about where I got this idea for a blog post (self-pinning) and then I will talk about some of the reasons I like Pinterest and then some pitfalls of Pinterest. Self-Pinning:  the act of pinning something you … Read more…

Why Art Teachers Look Forward to Going Back to School

Why Art Teachers Look Forward to Going Back to School

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…

Art Teacher Portfolio Ideas for an Interview

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…

5 Fabulous Things

The image has text "5 Fabulous Things I am loving right now" with a vibrant background featuring stars and paint strokes.

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…

On Teaching Art #2: Organizing Curriculum

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…

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