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 long list of endless things you need to do before the kids arrive? When you are so busy setting up your room that you lose track of all that you want to cover that very first day? 

See? It's not that bad!

My first day with my first through fourth graders is an easy-peasy one. You'll see it in this video, complete with a breakdown of why I introduce what and when. Please pardon the location placed on the video...it's clear that me and iMovie are still getting to know each other after all these years. Anyway! I know it looks like a bunch fun and games BUT there is a method behind my madness...and that's teaching kids my routines: 

* Our Art Class Greeting

* Our Art Class Catchphrase

* Our Open/Closed sign 

* Our Behavior Management System (not that we call it that!)

* Call and Response and how it works

* Learning my name...and me learning theirs

* Becoming comfortable with making our voice heard

* Learning how to become an active and considerate listener

What's not shown is how we get our seats, practice emergency drills and lining up properly. 

I have art class with my students for 30 minutes twice a week. We manage to knock out ALL of that in the first 30 minutes. And, you may notice in the video, the kids already seem to know a lot of the routines. That's because I taught them in kindergarten. And even though my first day with kindergarten looks a lot different...we do eventually cover all of these things. 

AND if you just want more...I wrote a whole book on this topic! I lay it all out for you in my book Art Teacherin' 101. It has ALL that you need for a successful year no matter your teaching situation. You can find it right here. 

I also have a TON of videos on this topic on my YouTube channel. If you subscribe, you can stay posted because with it being 'the season', I'll be adding a lot more video content on back to school soon. 

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First Days of Art Class 2020-21

Wowza, y'all. School began last week for me with days of professional development and just yesterday for my students and all I can say is that in my 22 years of teaching, I've never had a year like this! And...it's only Tuesday.

Just to give you a little info on what my school district is doing for our elementary students: kindergarten thru second grade have the choice of going virtually or returning in the classroom. If they are returning, they are to be wearing masked, spaced 6' apart and washing or sanitizing hands frequently. My older students in third and fourth grade have the option of being remote or virtual. Remote means that, when allowed, they will be back in the building. My district plans to reassess in two weeks. However, we do have some of our third and fourth graders at school as they may be the children of teachers or learners who need to be with teachers. So, what that means is that every 3rd and 4th grade teacher has about 3-4 children in her classroom and is asked to teach them and her remote learners simultaneously via Zoom. Which is...a lot. 

As for me, I've been asked to prep lessons for all the virtual and remote learners as well as teach my in house students. Because of some schedule overlap, I have not been going live with my remote learners. Instead, I've been providing them with prerecorded videos for them to listen and create at their own pace. 

All that to say...it's been a rollercoaster so far and that was BEFORE the kids even got here. I had to much prep to do for those remote and virtual learners that I nearly neglected my in person kiddos. However, on Sunday, I came in, finished setting up my art room (new room tour to come) and recreated my Rules and Routines video. I was able to salvage the first have of the video (originally recorded in 2017) but had to completely redo the second half as we have new routines to follow. 

Here you go!

On our first day, here is what we do:

* I meet them in the hallway. If you know me, you know that I use the acronym WELCOME on the first day. 

Normally, my students would go straight to the floor and be seated...you can see my USUAL first day routine here. However, this year, we had to do two new things: get our hands immediately sanitized as I demonstrate in the video and go stand on a spot that is 6' apart. In future art classes, we'll go straight to our seats but on that first day, we wait a pinch while we all sanitize and enter the art room.

* I got everyone quickly to a seat. The tables are color coded by messy mats (not sure if they will stay but they are working for now). I also have color coded circle stickers on the back of each chair that has the table color and number on it. My friend Andrew @elementaryarts recommended them to me and I found them on Amazon. 

* Once seated, I do my greeting.
* We learn our Art Class Catchphrase.
* I introduce the Word of the Day.
* We talk about the Open/Closed sign.
* We talk about the Happy/Sad board. 

I did it just like you see in this video...except students were at their tables:

* From there, we watch the video I shared at the top of this blog post. 

* We stretch!
* We greet each other and I ask a list of silly questions (more on that in an upcoming blog post!). This you can also see in the video from last year. 
* We review the clean up routine with drums, gong and a table caller.
* We learn the lining up routine...and that's it!

And that...was our first day. I LOVE the idea of doing art in art class on the first day but with 30 minutes and so many new things...this was all I could pack in. I'll share with you what we do on the second day...and I'll continue to share with you as I learn new things about this new art teacherin' world we find ourselves in. Sending y'all hugs. We've got this!

 

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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 feature hidden. And that's where the idea of this surprise drawing came from. Here's a video! Feel free to use and share (with credit given, please and thank you):

I simply used paper, permanent marker, coloring markers and crayons. If I happen to teach virtually this fall, this lesson could also be done by my students at home. 

 This video is a short and simple one...when teaching, I plan to share with my students a variety of self-portraits and talk a lot more about lettering, fonts, skin tones, craftsmanship, good character...the list goes on! As you can see, I'd have a hard time fitting it into a video short enough to capture their attention. So, if you use this video, feel free to add on whatever you wish to include!

No one is excited about wearing a mask but...it's for our safety. And the best thing we can do for our kiddos is to put a positive spin on it, right? I hope to do that with this lesson. Enjoy!

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In the Art Room: Second Day of Art 2019

Hey there, friends! Just popping in to share my second day of art class with my students. If you recall, I shared my first day here (with video!) if you are interested. My classes are 30 minutes in length and we have SO MUCH TO COVER. I filmed a video of what I (mostly) cover on the second day and thought I'd share it with you:

Now...here's what's not included in the video...after covering rules, I show my Art Room Etiquette video which is this:

It's just a fun and quick reminder of my routines and procedures. From there, I have the kids file to their seats as a reminder of where they sit. We spend short bit chatting about emergency drills. We line up for  fire, tornado, room clear and an intruder drill. To end art class, we all gather around my drums (yeah, I got a drum set) and we each take a turn playing a fill. This is what the kids will play if chosen to play the clean up drums. 

This insures that each child knows how to play a fill on the drums during clean up time from here on out. 

Before heading out the door, I give a quick demo and chat about the Clean Up Gong which is played right after the drums...and that's it! After all that, the 30 minutes is up and we gotta go. Next art class: we be painting! I'm so ready to get to art makin' with my people. 

And, just in case you missed it, here's my podcast episode all about my first days in art class! 

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In the Art Room: First Day of Art 2019-2020

I have been talking SO MUCH on this blog and on my podcast about the first days of school. You can read all about how I set up my art room (complete with a video room tour), my very favorite (and easiest!) classroom management tool, my favorite first day of art projects, my art room rules, and my art room routines by clicking any of these blog post links!

It's all wonderful to hear about how folks do things but I find it's even better to see it in action. So...today I'm sharing a video of all the things we run through on the very first day in art (keep in mind, my classes are 30 minutes in length.)

Here's what I do:

* I do my greeting, which you'll hear.
* We learn our Art Class Catchphrase.
* I introduce the Word of the Day.
* We talk about the Open/Closed sign.
* We talk about the Happy/Sad board. 
* We watch this video:

* We stretch!
* We greet each other and I ask a list of silly questions (more on that in an upcoming blog post!).
* We get our assigned seats. 
* We learn the lining up routine...and that's it!

My list of things to cover was much longer but time was not on our side. Notice...we didn't make any art! And we didn't on our second day either as we had rules to review, consequences to chat about, another video to watch, emergency drills to cover and drums to play. I will be posting a video of that second day later this week (or next, mama's tired!). 

Speaking of tired...I'm not as bad off as I would be if I hadn't made a handful of these videos a couple of years ago. They kids LOVE my rules and routines videos! If you don't make videos like those, I encourage you to do so, it will save your sanity, voice and energy. 

Stay tuned...I've been slowly sharing my favorite art room hacks on my Instagram (@cassie_stephenz) and I'll be doing a proper post here. I love sharing what works for me...it just might work fo you!

 Last year, I also shared a "first days glimpse" series of videos...if you want to check those out, you can see them here. 

AND I have been sharing everything in even more detail on my new podcast, Cassie Stephens! You can download and take a listen anywhere. If you feel so inclined to leave a glowing and glorious review, well....I certainly won't stop you. Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

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In the Art Room: First Day of Art Projects!

BIG NEWS! My podcast is now available on Apple Podcasts! I'm so excited. If you want to keep up with me, be sure and subscribe. Also, a rating and a review would be super duper. Thank you, friends!

I have been talking A LOT here lately, both here and on my podcast, about heading back to school. It's right around the corner for me (next week, ACK!) so it's all I've been thinking (and nightmaring) about. In case you've missed it, I've been sharing about my rules and routines for my art room. Next week, I'll be talking about the three consequences I use in my art room, why students might misbehave in our room and the one classroom management tool I use like crazy. But today...I thought I'd share my very favorite art projects to do on the very first day (follow this link for videos and more)!

FULL DISCLOSURE: I try VERY HARD on those first days to do the SAME project with ALL of my grade level kids. Why? For my sanity, y'all! I gotta work up that stamina again. AND because my focus is rules and routines. Doing the same and simple lesson with my students allows me to focus on the rules and routines...while they are creating. So what I'm sharing with you here today are projects that can be done with 1st-4th (and sometimes kindergarten too but I usually start here for them). The exception to this is when I've done Dot Day projects at the start of the year, where each grade does something different. You can find my fave Dot Day lessons below.

Last year, this lesson I created was a HUGE hit, both with my students and fellow art teachers. I know the link for the sheets has been broken forever but GUESS WHO FIXED IT! That's right...finally. Follow this link for both FREE downloadable PDFs. You and your kids will love this first day activity!

While storage was a little tricky, once these guys were finished and up they made for quite the beautiful display. You can see how we displayed them here. 

Who's to say kids can't paint in art class on the very first day?! I created these Welcome Back banners for my students to paint at the END of last year...so I could hang next week. But you could make them now, let the kids paint them and hang them up for Open House or just to brighten the halls. More details on how these were created here and here (with video!). 

I'm a big fan of having my students create collaborative pieces at the start of the school year. Why? Because they can help establish a culture of community! And they are so pretty. We created this piece a couple of years ago and it was so well received that we have since painted a bunch more for our school library. More details here and here!

Of course, you cannot go wrong starting off your school year with The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. I have done a BAZILLION different Dot Day projects, many complete with instructional video. I put 'em all into one big blog post right here. So, need some Dot Day? I got you covered!

This here is an oldie that I've brought back a couple of times now...three times to be exact! I've created a popular video that you are welcome to share in your art room. You can find the lesson details and video here. 

Having done this lesson a couple of times, I've found different ways to display them. Here's one and then here's one where we took our faces and created a world!

This lesson has been a HUGE hit on my blog with so many folks bringing wings into their school. It's a super way to start the year. I've got a video just for you (that's free!) right here. 

Big ole collaborative murals are my fave thing for my kids to create! This one really sends home a message that I want my kids to receive.

And this big ole beast, inspired by the author Todd Parr, makes me so happy that I've yet to take it down!

There are truly so many ways to start your school year...but I would encourage you to START SIMPLE. I know these projects may not seem to be simple. That's because you are just seeing the final results. On that first day, it should be RULES AND ROUTINE city, okay? With some creating mixed in. If you do the same lesson with everyone, then you are making your life a little easier. And when your life is a little easier, then you can focus on rules, routines and getting to know your kiddos (my favorite part). So find what works, have fun, enjoy those first few days by keeping your life easy. Remember, a happy person makes for a happy art teacher. Go easy on yourself and have a wonderful start to your school year. 

More details on these trees here!

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In the Art Room: ART ROOM RULES!

I've been chatting alot with y'all lately about routines for the art room...and it seems kinda crazy to address that before talking about rules, doesn't it?! For the longest time...like, I'm talking YEARS, I did not understand the difference between rules and routines. There were times when I would list my rules and they'd be a mile long because they were actually procedures I wanted my kids to follow, not rules. It can all be a little confusing so let me share an analogy with you...

Your art room is the magical masterpiece of a place you wish to create for you and your students. Your RULES are the broad brush stokes of that masterpiece. The solid foundation you wish to create. Your ROUTINES are the small brush strokes, the dabs of color and light that bring your entire work of art together. With rules and routines, your art room are room has the potential to becoming everything you and your students need to create, grow and thrive. 

Now...when those rules and routines are disregarded, which can happen for any number of reasons, then there are consequences. I'll be talking more about that next week. For now, let's focus on rules. Here's mine:

Each one of these is a downloadable PDF which you can find here. In fact, you can read more about my rules by following this link.

For many years, I just came up with rules. I copied rules that other classroom or art teachers used without putting much thought into it. I hate to even admit it, but it's true. In fact, I talk a lot about it in one of this week's podcast episodes. But, incase you missed the prequel, you might wanna listen to the one on routines first. And here's my podcast episode on rules:

Before you even start thinking about your RULES and ROUTINES, shouldn't you know your WHY? I wish I had. For years I was just blindly going thru my rules, the ones I'd robbed from other folks, without giving it much thought. It was the thing I thought I had to do, get outta the way and off my To Do. Sadly, what I didn't know, is that your WHY sheds light on the tone and climate you wish to create for your art room. Starting there allows you to then shape and form your RULES and your ROUTINES. 

If you've not yet created your WHY, don't worry about it. I walk you through the process in this working podcast. I have LOVED seeing your pie charts and your WHYs...thank you so much for sharing them with me here. 

Painting my WHY was so much fun. It now hangs happily in my Command Center, right where all of my students and I can see it everyday. I talk about my WHY with my students on the very first days of art. And I ask them WHY they want to be in art...WHAT do they hope to learn, do and know. Knowing their stake in their education and owning it, gives them power. 

My rules embrace my WHY and help to bring it to life. What are your art room rules? What tone and/or climate do you hope they help your masterpiece of an art room become? 

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In the Art Room: ART ROOM ROUTINES!

Remembering all of the routines I wish to cover on the very first days of art was always tough for me...especially in 30 minutes! So a while back, I created this acronym that makes sure I say it all without forgetting a thing. I created this into a downloadable pdf for you right here! 

In this week's podcast episode, I'll be sharing the story of my very first day teaching art. Spoiler Alert: it was a HUGE epic disaster! I thought rules were the only thing you covered on the very first day and, well, you'll just have to take a listen:

Last week, I got my room (mostly) set up and ready to go. I filmed a tour and will share later this week! But for now, you can sneak art room peaks here or on my Instagram!

 When I give my art room tour, I'll be sharing links to where to scoop up some of these items...but most of what you see here was made by me!

And the tutorials for what I've made can be found right here on my blog. If you just cannot wait for an art room tour, here is a peek at last year's:

But back to my routines...I have chatted about W.E.L.C.O.M.E. here...

In fact, I've got a ton of blog posts all about how I have run my first day(s) of art. I'll be chatting about this a lot more here and on my podcast so be sure to subscribe! Here are a bazillion links to videos and blog posts about my W.E.L.C.O.M.E. and my first days of school!

A Glimpse into My First Day, 2018-19

First Day of Art Class, 2018

Art Smart from the Start!

First Day of Art Class 2016-17

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What the Art Teacher Wore #205

 Lemme just start by saying that I'm feeling so out of sorts lately with this here sharing space of mine. FOR YEARS I've been so good about posting three times a week and lately, like for the past couple of months, I'm lucky if I post here once! I feel badly about it, I have so much I want to share with y'all...but have not been doing my best at making the time. Just know that more posts and videos are in the works so be sure and hang with me...I'm just struggling right now at finding a balance. How 'bout you?

Here's where I'm struggling: TIME.MANAGEMENT. This has always been my biggest struggle as I'm a slacker, procrastinator, time waster and then, when I realize that the proverbial doo-doo has hit the fan, I'm a panic-er. Right now, my biggest struggle is adjusting to my new schedule this year. I start earlier (in the past, I always had a lovely morning plan time which would allow me to get ready for the day). This year, that's shortened and then, on some days, my classes are back to back...I know, we've all been there. But I'm used to having a pinch of time between my classes to prep and that's now more. By the end of my day, I'm left feeling like I have no idea WHAT just happened...and no energy to prep for the rest of the week. 

Also, as soon as I get home, Mitch and I go for about a four mile hike at the local lake. I LOVE this, we've been doing it for months...but it also means that my evening is shortened. By the time I get home, around 8:45, I feel like passing out.

But I don't...because I have a terrible habit of staying up too late. Doing not much of anything. Sometimes painting, sometimes creating...when I really should be sleeping. 

All that to say...I'm planning to get my life together (HAHAHAHA! Life Coach Wanted!) and get on a regular blogging schedule. At least that's the plan. 

Okay! On with my wacky week!

Thankfully, we had Monday off...but I kinda hate shortened weeks. They throw me off my teaching schedule, put some of my classes behind while others pull ahead. Don't get me wrong, I loved me a break but now I'm left with that "who am I? Where am I?" feeling. 

Like many of y'all, my younger kiddos are all about learning LINES right now. You can check out my line unit here. 

I'm also giving Dot Day a go with my first graders. They are painting on HUGE 14" cardboard pizza rounds that I bought in a 100 pack at Gordon Food Service (Amazon also sells them). We're adding color to BOTH sides of these as we'll be hanging them like a mobile. No...they won't be ready by the official Dot Day and that's okay. Here is a blog post filled with my favorite dot day ideas.

 I'm kicking off the school year with all things fibers! Because I'M INSANE. So my third graders painting landscapes on giant oval plates for their tree weaving project. These are a work in progress, still have details to add. 

 I believe I finally remembered to take an outfit photo on Wednesday. See? I can't even keep up with that! Top from Forever 21 (size up if you get one, like everything else in that store, it runs small), skirt from Modcloth, shoes are Converse and my jacket was latch hooked by me (see top photo for the back). 

 I couldn't wait until Friday to do a Feet Up Friday...I was wiped out only after 2 days!

 How do y'all distribute yarn? I always make Yarn Monsters for my kids. Basically, I take every color in my hand, start wrapping it around from my hand to my elbow until I've lost count of how many wraps. Then I cut it all with my scissors and tie a very tight knot in the middle. The kids then just pull one string out at a time...works great! Paint splatter dress made by me. 

When I sew with my younger students, like second grade, we stitch on burlap. I got SUPER lucky at the thrift store and scored a rainbow assortment of fabric. I did have to cut and glue the edges (to prevent fraying) but was stoked to get so many options!

 I see my second graders for 30 minutes at a time. On the first day, they picked their fabric which I'd glue popsicle sticks and yarn to for a tapestry. They chose their stitching fabric and learned how to thread and knot their needle. And that was the end of the first day. By the second day, nearly everyone had mastered a running stitch which they are creating around the border of their tapestry. They are SO EXCITED about this project. More to come, promise!

 My fourth graders are making pillows: emoji pillows, pizza pillows and...donuts! So I had to wear this dress for the occasion. 

 Not sure if I shared with you but I've always had a drum set...but I've not always had it out in my art room. This year, I decided to pull it out again as our Clean Up drums. Last week, each kid learned to play a fill...now, when it's clean up time I pick on kiddo and they go play it as our signal to clean up. The kids have been SUPER respectful of the drums. I'm so glad I busted them out again.

On Friday, we started adding color to our dots! We'll finish these this week and begin painting the back too. I can't wait!

I managed to stay a little late on Friday to prep everything for next week...one thing I wasn't able to tackle:

My desk! There's always next week, right?! I'm sure it will look exactly like this if not much worse. Oh well! Have a great week, y'all!

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