We are wrapping up week two here at my school and it's shaping up to be a wild, crazy and colorful start! I decided to add another layer to our Getting to Know You Sculptures with another sheet!
You can find the free downloadable link right here! I was excited to add this second layer to their project. It allowed me to spend a little time continuing to teach our rules and routines...while still providing the kids with a much needed creative outlet. I was also able to share three NEW paper sculpture techniques. Creating a tab, cutting OUT a spiral and making fringe. I have a short video of me teaching this to my third graders so I'll be sure and share super soon.
Until then, you can probably take a look at these sculptures and figure it out! Now the one question I've been getting a lot of is...HOW ARE YOU STORING THESE?!
Answer: ALL OVER THE FLIPPIN' PLACE! Seriously, I may have not completely thought this through. Story of my life. They are going to be hung up super soon so that will get them outta my hairs. I also plan to do a follow-up activity with these next art class...I'm thinking a "Can You Guess the Artist" game or some sort of Gallery Walk...the idea is still coming to me so I'll keep you posted. I'm also working on LESSONS for next week as we're all moving on from this. Yikes! What are we even gonna do?! I'll keep you posted (which is code for Y'ALL KNOW I DON'T EVEN KNOW!).
Ohhhh-whey! Don't mind me, it's just the second Monday of the new school year and I've already got my feet up and I'm surrounded by Getting to Know You Sculptures. Last week, I shared with you a video where I talked you thru what I do my first day with my 1st and 2nd graders for their first 30 minutes. Today I thought I'd share with you a video of myself with my kiddos to give you more of a visual. So, here you go! My very first art class with some of my very favorite people:
Now, if you need more explaining about my very first 30 minutes and why I do what I do, you can check out this lil clip:
I love seeing how other art teachers teach. I am loud, annoying and definitely not for everyone...but that's me. That's who I am and that's how I teach. I really think finding your voice in your classroom is the best way to be your best teacher. So while I like to share what works for me, it's by no means me saying that you should do it too. It's just an offering of ideas and a little peak inside. Y'all are always welcome to my art room! So pull up a chair, roll up your sleeves and...GO CLEAN SOMETHING for heaven's sake. This place is a PIT! All kidding aside...stay tuned...I've got more videos coming your way this week and a follow up to our sculpture lesson. Love y'all!
Well, all this week I've been experiencing my first day of art over and over and over. All y'all know what I'm talking about...with 20 classes, you have the joy of hearing yourself say the same things on loop. Most of my classes, kindergarten through 2nd, are 30 minutes in length. I thought I'd share today what I do in that very first 30 minute art class...and stay tuned. I'll be sharing my second day of art (and what I do with my hour long classes) later on this week. For now, here you go!
The video I play on that very first day of art is one I created last year. My art room looks SO DIFFERENT NOW! It's kinda crazy to see how much I changed and redid last year. My students LOVE this video and it's such a great reminder of what is expected of them. Here it is:
Creating videos is a great way to share with kids important information without putting yourself on repeat. My students love to see the adults in the building cutting up and misbehaving in this video!
I've been using a variation of this "cheat sheet" for years...and it really helps. I call it my security blanket. I'm sharing it with you in case you need a lil bit of security!
Here are the random and sometimes off the wall questions I ask the students. These questions are all over the place...which really holds their attention and keeps them on their toes.
Much more to come on how I do my first days...but I did want to share with you what I cover on that very first day when I have 30 minutes or less. Happy New School Year!
Hey, kids! In my last post I shared that during our LIVE chat, we'd be sharing our WHYs. Why do we teach? It's such a simple and important question that I can honestly say I've never been asked or given thought to. WHICH IS JUST PLAIN CRAZY. The question was brought up during our online bookclub chat. We are currently reading The Wild Card by Hope and Wade King. You are always welcome to join our chats, even if you are not reading. This summer, I've been going LIVE every Wednesday at about 9:15pm CST. Last week, during our chat, we decided it would be fun to come up with our WHYs, put them in kid-friendly terms and make a work of art featuring our WHYs for our classrooms. I started to paint mine while live last night and, in usual form, it looked like a flaming hot turd. However, now I'm pleased as punch with it! So here is my WHY:
I've had this round canvas forever and I thought it would make a fun surface to paint my WHY on. Once I decided upon my WHY, I came up with the palette idea. I finished that off after our chat:
Here's a lil behind the scenes of the process:
I'm THRILLED to see so many other teachers jump on the paint-your-why train. I think it will be so wonderful to share with out students at the start of the school year. Check out these amazing WHY works of art created by other teachers. Be sure and give them a follow on their social media as they are all amazing and inspiring!
My sweet buddy Ashley created this precious WHY for her art room. In case you don't know, Ashley is INSANELY talented and known for creating teacher caricatures. You'll have to check out her IG to see more. Side note: her husband is a super talented art teacher also who just opened an Etsy shop with posters for the art room!
Kim's rainbow-tastic WHY is the stuff of art teacherin' dreams. I love how simple and colorful and PERFECT this is!! I want one! Be sure and give Kim a follow. She's fabulous!
Another rainbow-lover! Crystal's WHY is another one that is just perfectly simple and kid-relatable. That's what I feel is so important...so the kids can read them and understand just why we are there!
Isn't this quote just the most amazing thing? I LOVE this so much, Phyllis! Sharing what art means to us and why we value it's place in our student's lives is such an important thing to share with our kiddos. Beautifully put, Phyllis!
If you don't follow this Disney-loving art teacher, you are not livin' your best life. Everything Mrs. Cook shares is sprinkled with pixie dust including this quote!
Over on Facebook, during our LIVE session, folks were painting right along! Check out Raquel's reason for teaching art...the kids are like a fountain of youth!
Michele's WHY is perfect for the kiddos to see and understand...but my favorite part is the heart, the palette and the 3D element with the paint brushes. LOVE it!
Jacqui's art makes me so happy. I know my students would LOVE that happy faced, big-eyed Earth and would probably love to replicate it. I think her quote and image are just magical.
YES, Shelby! This is kinda what I was going for too with my quote. You put it into words perfectly...and with a rainbow to boot.
Hilary, this just makes me so happy. The different fonts, the rainbow order and THE MESSAGE. Y'all...you nailed it!
Haha!! I'm BAAAAACK with a lil Art Teacherin' 101 action, y'all. It's been since this summer that I recorded one of these bad boys. Between the podcast, the Wednesday night FB and IG LIVE chats, I kinda thought y'all might be a little bit tired of hearing what I have to say. Unfortunately for you, I STILL GOT LOTS TO SHARE (deal wit it). Since we are in the throes of Back to Schoolin', my social media outlets have been blowin' up with art rooms decorated to the nines. I have gotten SO MUCH inspiration...but I've also gotten the feeling that my art room ain't never, not EVER, gonna be at it's peak and/or prime. And that's okay. I'm taking is slow and steady (some turtle told me that how to win the race). I'm going with what works, throwing out what doesn't (read: all.that.clutter.) and enjoying the process. So that's what this Art Teacherin' 101 is all about this week. At the end of the clip, I'll take you on a wee tour of the parts of my art room that make me happy...and the parts that need some more lovin'. Here you go:
If you are interested in seeing more Art Teacherin' 101's then you can subscribe to my YouTube channel right here. If you'd like me to chat about something in particular during these AT's, you just let me know!
(more looks inside my space...a game/tour from last year)
(and a video tour I created last year for my youngers...this will give you an idea of a "before" my redecorating spree!)... Have a super week and remember: take it easy! Decorate to educate! You can take comfort in knowing that MY ART ROOM IS WAY MESSIER THAN YOURS!
Last week, as I was piling the day's art bins on the floor around my desk, I managed to accidentally kick one of 'em, spilling the contents, and trip over two of them. I muttered WHY ARE THESE ON THE FLOOR ANYWAY?! I literally barricade myself in them daily. That's when I decided, after 19 years, NO MORE! I'm getting a cart to hold these bad boys. And, thus, the Paint Stick Pencil Cabinet was born!
I picked up a ton of these paint stirring sticks not long ago as apart of a collaborative the kids are creating (don't ask...I'm still trying to figure that mess out). I had some left over and one night, in a fit of painting all the wooden thingies, I painted them like pencils. And I just couldn't stop! Here's how they were created:
So now I had two things: a need for a bin cabinet and a plethora of pencils. What to do? I'm super lucky in that I'm surrounded by thrift stores where I work. I popped by one and spotted this sad little back T.V. cart on wheels for a mere $2. I had not done any measuring (because math, ew) but I had a feeling it would hold two of my bins side by side. AND it was only 2 bucks so there's that. I took it to school and was super stoked to see that my lack of measuring paid off! A perfect fit! Now to start bedazzling.
This extraordinarily handcrafted (ahem), pressed board piece was in decent shape but dreadfully dull. My P.E. teacher buddy primed it for me and I used whatever latex paint I had around from this episode. After painting it, I was happy with the color...but still bored.
I mean, meh, right?
So the next day, I brought in the sticks I'd been painting and started hot gluing them on...and suddenly I was diggin' it.
In just a couple of minutes, the cabinet was complete!
Here's how it looks when the kids enter the art room. So fun! I'll keep my morning classes in the cabinet and then swap them out at lunch with my afternoon classes. These bins came with my art room and they are so handy. Our large work does not go in here...but our smaller pieces do. And now we have a cabinet to hold the bins...so I won't be tripping all over them anymore.
You can find out more details of all the newly created decor for my art room here.
The top of the cart will come in handy too. Many times, when my students enter, I have them gather supplies right away. This usually means they have to turn the left corner in my art room and go to "the store". Now, I can simply place the supplies on this cabinet and they can grab them there...much faster! When you have 30 minute art classes, every second counts.
I contemplated painting the pencils at different heights or even alternate flipping them, meaning one upside down and one right side up. But in the end, I liked the consistent look the best.
Not gonna like, all my new decor makes me super happy...and excited to have a less cluttered and unorganized space. Now...to tackle the rest of my Hot Mess Express of an art room!
Until then, I have a pretty cabinet to look at, right?
There are pegs for a shelf...but the shelf was missing. Maybe one day I'll get a shelf cut to fit. That way I don't have to stack the boxes. I need a wood shop, y'all!
Thanks for letting me share my latest addition to the art room!
Y'all might recall from previous posts (which I will link the ever-lovin' daylights outta here in a second) that I'm on a bit of a redecorating bender. Of the art room, of course, not my house. My house could really REALLY use some lovin' but, for now, the art room is top priority (let's be honest, it's always top priority...it's where I spend most of my time!). I'm super excited about this latest DIY: my Roy G. Biv Decor! May I get some ooohhhhhs and ahhhhhhhs up in here? Thank you!
I don't know how you get ideas but mine usually come to me slowly...I'll see something inspirational (like these hall passes!) and it's like a song that I can't get outta my head, it stays with me. Then I'll find a purpose or a need for said inspo...like the need for a Roy G. Biv reference in my art room. Suddenly, I'm motivated to crank the project out. Knowing myself, I know that I gotta work fast...before a new inspo/purpose/idea hits and I drop the previous thing like a hot potato.
Such was the reason I hustled this weekend!
Once I had the idea, I picked up the letters and duct tape from Hobby Lobby. I'd already had a ton of these cheapo paint brushes in my stash so I just set to work painting. That didn't take me long at all.
In an effort to keep things looking like the make sense together in my art room, I added the white "cartoon" lines to both the brushes and the letters. If you follow me on IG then you've seen the stories behind this project (and the rest of my messy art room...you're welcome!).
I managed to snap a sad pic before setting to work. My bulletin board frame was falling down and looking pitiful. In fact, just last week, a chain of flags hung in this space...where they'd been hanging for well over 5 years. Dust for days, y'all.
I REFUSED to do any sort of measuring...I just eyeballed the whole thing. I tacked the paint brushes and letters up with Blue Dapp just for placement. I was thrilled that those ding dang cinder blocks actually came in handy: I was able to get mostly straight lines by following the blocks. Once all the tape was in place, I used hot glue to adhere the brushes and letters to the wall.
I know a girl ain't supposed to stand on tables. Don't tell on me, please.
I love that the duct tape looks like wet paint. I think the kids are going to love it. I know I already do. The photos don't really do it justice...it really makes the room look so happy and bright!
Now I only have 75% more of my room to tackle! Not to mention a coupla clutter-tastic storage closets. One day at a time, y'all.
Labels: elementary art, vintage clothing
art class,
art day,
artists,
cassie stephens,
elementary art class,
first day of art,
getting to know you,
getting to know you sculptures,
paper sculptures
