Showing posts with label elementary art room. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elementary art room. Show all posts

Sunday, April 6, 2014

What the Art Teahcer Wore: What Some OTHER Art Teachers Wore

If you aren't reading Jena Love's blog, you really should be. She's adorable, energetic and, well, just look at her in her handmade Captain Color ensemble, she's amazing! I met Jena at NAEA and I can tell she's a crazily dressed kindred spirit. Check out her blog and let her know how rad she is!

Hey, ya'll! This week, instead of snapping photos of what I wore (which, by the way, involved me wearing camouflage pants on Wednesday for a supposed Duck Dynasty Day that, well, wasn't. Hard to imagine, right? Even harder to live down. Full story in an upcoming post) I thought I'd share with ya'll some other AMAZING art teachers in their super fun artsy get ups. These photos were shared with me by these teachers for the Best Dressed Art Teacher Contest! 

What's the Best Dressed Art Teacher Contest, you ask? 
Well, here's the details:

Nominate yourself or an art teacher buddy!

Simply send an email to me at cassieart75@gmail.com with a photo of your best artsy look. High resolution photos preferred, please.

 Please include a short bio about the art teacher and what inspired the look.

Photos and bio will be shared on this blog on April 30th.

Open voting on this blog will end on May 5th and the winner will be announced May 6th!

The winner will receive a magical prize along with an interview on this blog.

So far, these awesome art teachers (and a handful of others!) have sent me some photos...but I know that there are many more of you Crazy Art Teachers out there. Why not share your special bit of crazy with the world (or the 20 or so folks that read this blog -- hi, mom!). It has made opening up my email hilariously fun, ya'll! So, c'mon, what are you waiting for?! 

Bob Ross, er, Don Masse (of Shine Bright Zamorano fame) did! I've secretly been lifting ideas from Don's blog for ages...and was totally jealous to hear that he gave a tour of his school and such at NAEA! I think he makes a pretty great Bob, don't you think? Just wait till I share with you his other get up! 'Til then, check out Don's blog, he's an incredible art educator and a super nice dude.
Look, it's Phyl (There's a Dragon in my Art Room, ya'll. Check it)! Okay, so you know all those t-shirts you get at each and every conference? Well, Phyl's been hoarding them for ages (a girl after my own heart, truly!) and finally decided to appliqué them all together on a dress! She wore this one day at the conference and got so many compliments. 
Phyl goes into all the details of how she created this dress-terpiece in this blog post. It's funny, I have a mountain of teacher t-shirts that I've been wondering what to do with...and now I know! 
Kids, meet Lisa Beynon who teaches art to high schoolers in rural Illinois. She created that magical scarf she is wearing (a click on the photo should bring it up a little larger for you to see) with calligraphy writing as she's teaching a unit on, wait for it, calligraphy! I love this scarf so much that I've asked Lisa the details of this super cute DIY which she'll do later this week. Thank ya, Lisa! 

Alrighty, friends! There you have it, some Crazy Art Teachers doing what we do best -- having fun and teaching creatively. Love to see what you wear in your art room! Until then, go put some clothes on and teach art!
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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

In the Art Room: Teaching Vocabulary, Part 2

Way back in freezing cold January, I wrote a blog post called Teaching Vocabulary. In it, I shared with you some new approaches I've been taking to introducing words in the art room. I also asked for your advice and, holy moly, did ya'll deliver! Thanks, kids!

Since that post, I've tweaked (not twerked. See how important learning vocabulary is?!) my aforeblogged methods and added some new ones. So in this three-part post (because the Vocab Party never ends!), I thought I'd let you in on some of my new tricks (complete with video clips, ya'll! See what your encouraging words did? YOU'VE CREATED A VIDEO-CLIP-MAKING MONSTER!) as well as the words of wisdom shared. I do hope we can continue this vocabulary convo so leave your pearls of vocab-teaching wisdom in the comments below, pretty please!

Without further ado, I present to amazing reader comments, updates on my vocabulary teaching routines and some short clips...
But now a word from the Super Fab Teacher Gillian: "I often have my grade 1's answer a question, spell a word, or read something before leaving the room at the end of the day... I try to switch up the question or the words so that there's something appropriate for everyone! For example, sometimes with my lower level readers, I'll show them two words and ask "which one says _____?" whereas for a higher reader I might ask them to read the word or tell me the meaning. I try to keep it random enough that they don't really catch on to the fact that I'm consistently making it easier for some than others. Might work for you too!"

Um, Gillian, this totally worked for me, thank you so much! If you glance at my first vocabulary post, you might notice that I just had 2 sets of art words, one for my 1st - 2nd grade students and another for the older kids. The words were chosen randomly pulled from a list found on the interwebs. However, these words didn't seem to stick because we weren't making connections to them in art class (duh, art teacher!). Now I have the students read words as they enter that directly pertain to the lesson being taught. This means I have a different set of words for each grade level. For kindergartentown, I show them a shape and ask for the name and the color. My favorite part is when the word is introduced, so-n-so will say, "that was my word at the door!" 

Art Project Girl blogger Erica says:  "Oh my gosh. I totally get it. Some teachers debate with me that just teaching the word without the meaning is not an okay practice. . . but I really feel that it is the only real way that kids will learn vocabulary that I am teaching, repetition, repetition, demonstrate, practice . . . So I always just throw the vocabulary out their have them sing it, repeat me, repeat me in different voices (they love saying vocabulary while holding their nose and making nasally teacher sound) then as the year goes on we learn what the vocabulary means, how to use it."

I love Erica, don't you? Her blog is super fab and she's always coming up with fun ways to teach her students. If you attended the AOE online conference, then you know how Erica brings all sorts of games and fun into her art room. This got me thinking about how I could introduce something new in my room called "Word of the Week" (even though in the clip I refer to it as "Word of the Day".  Sorry, my bad) in a fun way. Here, lemme 'splain it to you...

After all that "whoop-whoop" craziness, I drop directly into a moments chat about our Artist Inspiration which I attempt to explain here...
(gah, that face. only a mother could love, right mom? Um, MOM?! Oh, never mind.)
A message from one of my favorite teachers, my Aunt Kimmy: "always labeled everything --and I mean everything in the kindergarten/1st grade classrooms. And in my home too, because I've done a lot of tutoring at home. There's a sentence strip still on the ceiling in my kitchen...everyone that comes to my house is just used to seeing the word "ceiling" on my ceiling. Now I leave it there for Rayleigh..:) When Kirby was two months old, I had everything labeled in his bedroom. "bed", "dresser","chair"...."wall"... You get the picture. That's how I do it. Our language is too crazy to try to teach reading by sounding out words. That's my opinion and I know a great debate can be started by saying something like that because there is something to be said for phonics...sometimes."

I love this idea of labeling everything and I'm working on it. Those words that the kids learn at the door? They go on our word cabinets (yes, I just about have enough cabinets to cover the alphabet. Don't hate.) Do ya'll label everything in your classroom? I think this is simply genius. But she is my Super Amazing Aunt Kimmy so I might be a pinch bias. 

Mrs. C of Rainbow Skies and Dragonflies blog: "I have the kids repeat vocab words also... they learn the meaning as we go along. And yes, you think they will remember the kooky way you introduced something and it would be burned into their brains forever, right? No, not so much... We have spent mucho time on color theory this fall and even though I know in my heart of hearts they know what the Primary colors are ( 1st/2nd grade) when I asked before vacation they all looked at me like I had three heads! Seriously guys???"

I love Mrs. C. Always telling it exactly how it is. And isn't that the truth, ya'll?! No matter how hard we try or what hoops we set on fire to jump through, sometimes the kids just don't get it. Maybe they're having an off day, maybe they've gotten too used to us jumping through flaming hoops, I dunno. I can only think that the connection we made with the word wasn't a powerful enough one to get it to stick. But when it does, it's so exciting it's magical. Like this "invention" by one of my third grade students. 
I mentioned that our word of the week was "invention" and that our artist Leonardo da Vinci often drew his inventions...but many times they were so far ahead of their time that they were impossible to create.

3rd Grade Girl: But can we make an invention if we wanna? I mean, instead of just drawing one?

Me: Sure! Make it and bring it in!

And this is what my friend brought me the very next day. An Art Robot. So amazingly awesome.
She even created an "advertisement" which was the previous week's Word of the Week. I was so excited that I dragged this sweet child and her robot onto our school's televised Morning Announcements. I really wanted to encourage this sweet artist. She was thrilled (despite being camera shy) and the kids loved seeing her creation when they walked into the room. Pretty sure the word "invention" will stick with her. Although we have been out of school for a week...so we'll see.

Please stay tuned for Part 3 of this Teaching Vocab series as I have more insight from you super smart readers and (joy!) more obnoxiously goofy clips! In the meantime, I'd love to hear more of your vocabulary-teaching wisdom, friends, so lay it on me! 


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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

In the Art Room: Marbled Paper Stenciling

Alright, what you see here is the result of "I wonder what would happen if we tried this" about 3 minutes before the kids walked into the room. I'd planned on us trying our hand at the Japanese art of suminagashi, which translates "floating ink", but was able to throw in a little stenciling too. That is if all the stars lined up (no pun intended) and the kids were able to capture the paint on their paper at just the right moment. More on that in a minute.
First, lemme tell you what I told the kids. I explained to them that we were not only going to make paint float (which received a lotta "what?!"s) but also capture that floating paint with our papers (which got a lotta "how in the world!?"s). I had them "go shopping at the store" for one sheet of paper and two card stock stars. I inherited about 500 of these stars from my mother-in-law and haven't stopped finding projects for them (thanks, Diana!). One of the reasons I think this worked great as a stencil was because of the thickness of the stars. I don't think regular paper stencils would work as well. But that's just a guess.
The great thing about these stars is that they have a little dye cut hole in them so we can easily string them together later. Still dreaming up project ideas for these guys. For now they are simply pretties.

These two sheets were created on our first day of marbling when my marbling mixture/paint mixture was off. You can see this by the clumping and streaking of the blue paint on the right. I still love the result.

So you wanna attempt the Japanese art form of suminagashi? I hafta tell ya, it's a bit tricky getting the ratio mixtures just right (it involves measuring which is math-esque and therefore gross like boys and boogers). But if you are willing to give it a go, here's what worked (most of the time) for me: 

Supplies: 
  • Blender (I have a thrifted one. You won't want to use a personal one. Unless you're making slimy smoothies for someone you don't like.)
  • Carrageenan (That'd be powderized seaweed. Your bigger art supply chains and online retailers will have this). 
  • Trays. Use deeper ones then you see here if you are working with many classes in a row.
  • Watered-Down Acrylic Paint (I use watered down craft store paint).
  • Droppers
  • A Hair Pic or homemade version (I crafted mine outta toothpicks and foam core. It looks like some kinda torture tool...which gives me lots of ideas when the time out spot just isn't doin' the trick [kidding! ... kinda]).
  • Paper (der)
Prep:
  • Do yourself a favor and follow the directions on the package. You'll be blending up to one gallon of water per two tablespoons (if memory serves me correctly) in warm water. 
  • Pour mixture into shallow trays and allow to rest for up to 12 hours. I did this in my art room right before leaving for the day.

What the carrageenan does is thicken the water so that it can hold up the paint. You're trying to get that paint to float on the surface of the water. For this, the paint needs to be pretty watery and light. So I mixed paint and water in cups and squirted it into the tray to test it's floatiness. If it sank, I added a little more water.
So I discovered I only had two picks. For 20 kids. So I had to improvise and make these bad boys outta foam core and toothpicks. I'm mighty proud of my MacGyver'ness. P.S. I promise that's not blood from my earlier torture device comment.
Turns out kids don't know how to use droppers. Did you know this? So we had a little chat and practiced pinching the droppers in the air. We also had to discuss that you are to gently squeeze the dropper to release the paint. NOT squeeze it hard and douse the art teacher. Ahem. 

Now, I have classes of 20 students, 4 trays and 30 minutes. Which is like a recipe for disaster. To kinda make it work, I had all the children gather around those two tables you saw earlier, planted one child in front of each of the four trays and walked them through the directions as their buddies looked on. After giving them a moment to add the colors to their tray, we moved on to using the pic or "feathering."
I really had to stress that with the pic, the goal is to create designs in the paint for the paper to capture. Not simply stir the paint all around. Some of 'em got it and the others that didn't were quickly straightened out by their buddies that were watching them.
Then came the capturing part. I helped each individual child with this step. I had them place their stars gently in the tray with their names up. I quickly dropped their paper on top, took it out and they were to quickly remove the stars. This didn't always happen quickly because they were so stunned looking at the paper I had lifted out. Again, buddies on hand would say, "your stars are sinking!" and they'd be removed from the slimy solution. Which feels like snot. Not gonna lie.

Okay, honestly? The stenciling was like a happy accident...when it worked. Sometimes the kids didn't get their stars placed quite right and the simply ended up with a marbled paper. And, honestly, they didn't care. They were just so in love with the process and the magical idea of capturing paint.
However, I'm a little sad the results weren't as vibrant as I remember our marbling projects in the past being. Have you marbled this way before? It always seems rather hit or miss to me. Do you have sure fire method? I'd love to hear it.
Of course, shaving cream is super fun and easy...but I really wanted to give the experience of suminagashi because we are currently studying Japan. One kit I had included methylcellulose which didn't work at all. Almost positive that was operator error. Have ya'll used that with any success? Can you come over to my place and show me how it's done? I have coffee and chocolate.
For now, I will continue using this method. I'm excited to share this with my older students because I think they'll love it.
Doesn't this look like a shooting star?
Until next time, you're marbling thoughts would be appreciated. Because (wait for it...) I've just about lost my marbles working with this stuff (can I get a wahwah-waaaaah). 

Oh! AND I'm super stoked by all of ya's interested in the book club! Yay! Let's be smart and literary together. Can't wait to see which title the final vote comes down to. 

Until next time, have a great week!


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Thursday, August 15, 2013

In the Art Room: The First Days of Art Class

Konichiwa'ing and bowing to "Sensei Stephens"...a girl could get used to this. Unfortunately, I can't seem to train the hubs to do the same.
Konichiwa, ya'll!
 I don't know about you, but I am always super curious how teachers begin their school year. Since I just finished seeing all of my first through fourth grade classes for an hour this rotation (I see my students for a 1/2 hour twice every six days. Yeah, I'm just as confused as you are), I thought I'd share with you the first days of art class. Not included in this episode of In the Art Room is kindergarten-town. Because they start a little later than the rest, I only saw one class this week...and I tend to do things a little differently with them (read: whatever I can manage to do with a herd of cats, er kids, in one session).

On the first day of art class, I greeted my students outside my room wearing my kimono. We chatted briefly about how we would be studying the art of Asia this year beginning with Japan. They learned that whenever they are on a red line (one outside my room as you can see below, one in my room where we line up and another set where we sit on the floor) they are to be "samurai silent". I then told them how to say hello in Japanese and how to bow to show respect. Which is what's goin' down in that top photo.
My Samurai Silent line.


Once we entered the art room, following another red line, I asked the kids if they could tell me anything that was different about my room. Keep in mind, the last time they saw my room, it looked like this...and now it looks like this. From there, we gathered on the floor in "Japan".  I used the yellow map to remind them the name of our continent, the continent we studied last year and the continent of Asia. 

I chatted with the kids about my trip to Japan several years ago (I did the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund program which I cannot recommend enough. It was such a wonderful experience. You really outta do it). They learned that children in Japan are very much like them, including their style of dress. However, on special occasions, folks do wear a kimono. I chatted about my kimono, the obi (that giant belt) and my geta (the wooden shoes I'm wearing).
I know what you're thinking: You didn't talk about RULES on the very first day?! I'm getting to it! But c'mon. On the first days of school, it's nothing but rules and procedures and blahblahblah. Not only that, but I've been these kids' art teacher forever. We kinda sorta got this. That being said, after 10 minutes of chatting about Japan, I did have the kids move to this part of my room, take a seat on the floor so we could discuss...Art Class Rules.

Now, before they ventured to that part of the room, I asked them to go shopping at The Store for a piece of newspaper. The Store is simply the supply-gathering table I have set up in my room. You can read more about that here.
Okay, so you mighta noticed I'm wearing a different kimono. I'd accidentally left my other one at home that day and was left using my thrift store kimono.
Once seated on the floor with our newspapers, I went through the roll and greeted each student with a "konichiwa!". This gave them the opportunity to not only practice their konichiwas but to also learn my name if they were a newbie.
Five minutes later we got around to the rules. Now just to spice things up a bit, I like to use my sound machine when chatting about something that might otherwise be monotonous. This little gadget has 16 different awesome sound effects from a scream (to demonstrate what I might sound like if a rule is broken) to a round of applause for awesomeness. Consequences to not following rules are also discussed. Behind my rows of seated kids, I've got two red X's that are my designated time out spots. Students are to stand and face me when in time out so they can still hear instructions but no longer (er, hopefully) disrupt the group. Now, I'm not gonna lie, I've had my share of office referrals. But it's rare so I don't chat about it much.
When all that's covered, we get to our Very First Art Project! After teaching for a million (okay, 15) years, it's one thing that I've found drives the kids nuts on the first day: not getting to "do art". So I always try to include a little something. On the first day, we spent the last 5-7ish minutes making origami hats. I used this as a chance to really emphasize the rules: If you "listen carefully" then you'll be able to "follow directions. Origami can be confusing, so "try your best". "Be kind" to your friends, lend a hand if they need help. And that wrapped up our very first 1/2 hour session.
For our second 1/2 hour session, we practiced our samurai silent business and got our seats in art class. I have six tables with four chairs at each. Every table has a color and every seat has a number. Each student was instructed where their spot was (I'm a believer in assigned seats with an even ratio of boys/girls and positive peer grouping). I told them that we were going to play the Painting Game. Once they were given their seats, they were told to put on the apron that was on the back of their chair, don't touch the paint and wait for everyone to get their seat.
So the Painting Game was just a fun way for us to review proper painting procedures, review the elements of art and have fun. I would draw a number and then either a line or a shape and the kids were to paint it. I reminded them that our paint brushes are like ballerinas: they ALWAYS dance on their tippy-toes. They never EVER scoot around on their bottom. Because that's bad for the bristles and just plain weird. I mean, who ever heard of a butt-scootin-around ballerina?!
After a couple rounds, the kids swapped paint cups and brushes with their neighbors. We talked about the principals of art by chatting about variety, emphasis and all that other groovy goodness.
I changed out the table coverings at the end of each day which means these papers got pretty well covered. The kids were responsible for enhancing the painting that was already before them...which was a struggle for some. However, they all seemed to enjoy their painting time and were eager to do it again. Which we won't be anytime soon because we have a million other projects to get to...but I didn't tell them that. By the way, these paintings will be used as a backdrop for another project I'll share with you soon.
To wrap up the Painting Game and chat about what we learned, we lined up and played The Smartest Artist. More on that game here.

This is actually a photo from last year...I just didn't manage to snap one while we were playing this week. I quizzed them on the elements of art, the primary colors and the names of lines. After that, we bowed and said sayonara before exiting.
And there you have it! One hour in the art room, broken down into two classes. Every time I see these guys, I'll be covering a new routine and procedure (next up, safety drills) but I gotta break it up a bit with some fun. For my sanity and theirs. Teacher friends, how do you approach your first days of school. There's just so much to cover, the fun never ends. Thank goodness Friday comes once a week and saves the day, right?!
And now it's time to announce the Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Debi! Congrats, girl! I can't wait to send this crayon-goodness your way and see what amazingness you create.

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Saturday, September 8, 2012

In the Art Room: The Masterpiece Gallery

Welcome to the Masterpiece Gallery where every work of art created by small hands is tres magnifique.
 If you are a teacher for more than 10 minutes, you are going to be the recipient of many a gift. My personal faves? Well, aside from the Body Fantasies Body Wash I received my first year teaching (awkward), I'd have to say the handmade gifties. Just recently one of my students gifted me a wonderful woven basket she had created over the summer. I also scored this beautiful bouquet of gingko leaves collected by a student who remembered they were my favorite during our leaf printing last year.
This window looks into my office which is an eyesore, to say the least. I painted it (almost 10 years ago!) with the same thing I painted my other windows with: Window Chalk. I love this vibrant paint.
 The gifts I most often receive are drawings. The wee artists will bring them rolled up; folded and pulled from their pocket; flattened in a "special" zip lock bag. Students present these drawings in front of the class where we recognize them with a round of applause.

At first, I pinned their drawings to a bulletin board. Over time, this overcrowded spot became an eyesore in the classroom. And I didn't want their hard work to be showcased that way.
So I decided to create this little gallery to spotlight their independent work. Several years ago, a local frame shop went out of business and I was the recipient of many a frame. Over the years, I've picked up more at Goodwill and garage sales. Each frame is backed with a layer of cardboard and a jersey fabric in the primary colors. This surface is perfect for pinning and repinning little masterpieces.
Interested in creating your own Masterpiece Gallery? Well, it's very simple. Here's what you'll need:
  • Cheapo picture frames. I like mine metallic, so I usually spray paint them gold or silver.
  • Cardboard or foamcore. You'll notice I recycle my cardboard. Nothin' fancy here.
  • Thin sheets of cork. This is optional. When I first created these, I sandwiched a layer of cork between the jersey and the fabric. Turns out the cardboard works just as well for pinning and repinning.
  • Fabric. I used a jersey because it's what I had on hand. 
  • Glue gun.
  • Picture frame hangers. This will depend on the type of frame you pick up at your local thrift. It may already have a hanging device on the back.
Let's start with the frames. Remove the glass, artwork and backing if you purchased a frame that was not empty. I keep the glass, tape the edges and use them for palettes at home. Depending on the artwork that came in the frame, I'll either keep it or toss it. In the case of the above artwork on the right, I was able to use that as the backing for the frame. Cut cardboard or foamcore and cork (if you are using it) to the same size as the frame backing. Cover the front in fabric and hot glue to the back.

Place inside the frame. To secure, look at your frame. It might already have a way for you to secure the backing. If you look at the above frame on the left, I simply had to push the metal staples down. For the frame on the right, I just screwed the original backing into place. For the one in the middle, I hammered nails at an angle to secure the backing. 

The same goes for the hanging device. You can see the frame on the left has a mount already attached. For the one in the middle, I purchased hanging wire and stapled it into place with my electric stapler (best invention every, btw). Do you see the bits of foam I tacked to the corners? That's to hold the double sided tape. This prevents the frames from getting bumped and becoming an uneven mess on the wall.
I have found these little hangers to be the best for my concrete walls. Picked them up at the local hardware. Ask for concrete/brick picture hangers.

The ever-changing, always-inspiring Masterpiece Gallery.

You might recognize this area as where we play The Smartest Artist from this post.
Our little gallery is located in this odd corner I have in my room where the kids line up to exit. It's the perfect spot for them to see their classmates work and become inspired to create something of their own. And isn't that what a gallery is all about?

What ways have you found to display artwork?  I'd love to hear your ideas!



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