Back to School Banners for your First Days of Art!

Well, my friends. The time has come...it's back to school we go! For many of us, anyway. I know some of y'all kept on teachin' until, like, the end of June which is absolutely WILD to me. First of all, the temperature here in Tennessee during that time of year is literally the surface of the sun. I cannot imagine trying to teach, let alone put kids on a bus, in that type of heat. And, second,...

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Videos for those First Days of Art

During those first days of art class, there is a whole lot we gotta cover: Rules, Routines, More Routines, Consequences and, again, Routines. It can be taxing on our voice (not to mention energy level) and, inevitably, we forget SOMETHING to SOME CLASS and can never remember just what it was we forgot or to whom. It's all very exhausting...and that's just how WE feel. The poor kids literally spend...

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First Day in Art with First through Fourth Grade

I know, I know, I can hear you now:STOP! NO! I DON'T WANNA THINK ABOUT THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL DURING MY SUMMER VACATION!Juuuuuuuust hear me out: isn't it far less stressful to think of it now, with your feet in the kiddie pool and your bowl of ice cream-for-lunch slowly melting in the summer sun? Instead of, let's say, stressing during those dreadful back-to-school faculty meetings as you count the...

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The Dot School-Wide Collaborative

Hello, friends! I'm excited to share that the school-wide collaborative my first through fourth grade students created at THE BEGINNING of the school year (yikes!) is finally installed. Like, finally.Y'all, while I do love having all students creating a collab at the start of the school year, why do I do it to myself? It's so much work on my end! All the attaching to bulletin board paper and hanging...it's...

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Top Tips for Surviving Back to School!

Today I was asked if I was ready to return to school next week and I just nearly spit out my coffee.  Like, wait. What?  OMG. I do start back to school next week! It's not even next week, y'all. It's down to just mere days and hours. Minutes even. How in the world did I slip into such daze of delightful denial that I had forgotten?  Okay. I'll be honest. I have not forgotten. It's...

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Behind My Mask: A Super Kid Self-Portrait!

 Hello, friends! I have created a lesson for my students and any kiddos who wish to create titled Behind My Mask! When my students return in the fall (and, yes, I said 'when' as I am very hopeful and optimistic), they will be asked to mask-up. We always seem to start out school year with a selfie so I was bummed when I thought of the idea of my students drawing themselves with their best facial...

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In the Art Room: Sketchbook Decoder Sheets

Hey, y'all! I'm trying, once again, to give sketchbooks a go in my art room. It's always been tricky for me with 30 minute art classes and I've tried doing sketchbooks a BAH-ZILLION different ways. Here's hoping this works. MORE sketchbook details to come (I even created insert pages, y'all...I'm crazy) but until then, I thought I'd share with you a previous post on how I have done sketchbooks...

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School-Wide Collaborative: Positive Four Letter Word to Describe Our School

Every year, I like to start my students with a school-wide collaborative. In fact, you can find a ton of our back to school collaboratives right here, just use that search bar! You can also see my third grader's school wide collaborative here.  To kick off the school year, on the third day of art, all of my first through fourth grade students began painting. I picked up packs of large paper...

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