Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 17

So you created this fabulous lesson and it's got it all: vocabulary, a cultural tie-in, skills-learned and an exploration of a variety of media. It's big, it's beautiful and you just can't wait to share your Titanic of an art lesson with the kids. Basically, you are all kinds of Dicaprio.

And then, for whatever reason, your Titanic of an art lesson starts to spin outta control...

hits an iceberg and, well, you know the rest.

What do you do with a lesson when it flops? That's the topic of this week's 101! 

I could paper my art room with all of the lesson plans I've written that have flopped. The key is not to place blame or feel shame but think objectively about what didn't work and fix it. OR forget it. And don't look back if you do.

I decided to flip first grade's flop. In the end, they LOVED making these dream catchers...but the first day of the lesson, I really thought there was gonna be a coup to overthrow the art teacher. Would I do this lesson again? Knee-jerk answer: HECK TO THE NO. Ask me in a couple months and I'll be all about the YESSSSS! 

By the way, because of said floppiness, I probably won't be sharing that lesson here...unless y'all are interested. I pulled the project idea from a couple of blogs that went about doing it in a way that proved to be too tough for my 6 year old set. I flipped it around to work for my kids. Cuz that's what we do with a flop.

In other news, here is my full Shibori ensemble. It was ranked MEH by a fourth grader today. C'est la vie. Y'all know I'm totes addicted to dying now, right?! I cain't stop! 

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In the Art Room: Springtime with van Gogh and Charley Harper

So here, in middle Tennessee, we pretty much decided to do winter for about 10 days and move straight on to spring. It's been a mix of rainy, muggy and/or sunny (sometimes all in one day!) every since! For that reason, the first graders and I decided to create these Vincent van Gogh/Charley Harper mash-ups!

Now, I'm sharing this lesson with you in it's in-between/van Gogh-y stage. We started it right before I was absent for several days and then we promptly entered into Spring Break-ville. For that reason, my firsties are actually finishing their Everybody is a Star project. Once that's complete (fingers crossed that we wrap it up this week!), we'll start the Charley Harper portion of the project. 

Ah, van Gogh. It was fun sharing with the kids that I'd seen his work in Chicago while at NAEA. I left out the part about the exhibit being so crazy busy that all I truly saw were the backs of people's heads. If you are like me, you have a coupla fave van Gogh paintings that aren't The Starry Night. Personally, this Almond Blossom painting is one of mine.

You can see the influence of my good friend and fabulous art teacher Laura Lohmann in this lesson what with the painted paper and textures. She's the best! 

Here's a list of supplies we used:

* 12" X 18" paper. We recycled our messy mats but you can use construction paper for added color.
* Paint. Because I see my kids for 30 minutes, I premixed the tints of blue. 
* Brushes, texture combs.
* Sponges or paint brushes for cloud texture.
* 1" X 2" pieces of cardboard for printing.
* Scrap paper for collage.
* Scissors.
* Glue

I created a video that introduces my students both to van Gogh and Harper as well as walks them thru the process. Feel free to use it! I've been creating weekly lessons here so all y'all should subscribe. Like, now. 

Because I see these kids for 30 minutes, I break stuff down into bite sizes for them. On the first day, we were able to get about this far.

Love all of the colors in this one!

The following day, we learned more about van Gogh and printed tree branches!

We did wait a day before printing out flowers and leaves. I thought they'd smear with the brown paint. 

Now, we totes coulda stopped here. But I have a sweet college student who comes to my room every Monday. She said, "Have you seen the Portlandia skit 'Put a Bird on It?' I think they should!"

We put birds on things!

This idea lead me to the artist Charley Harper. If y'all have not been to the Charley Harper website, you need to check it out. I can't wait to share the animated version of his work as well as the studio tour he gives Todd Oldham. I also plan to play this live bird feed from Animal Planet while the kids work. 

Funny/tragic story about Charley Harper: a frame shop was going out of business about 15 years ago and gave me a TON of stuff. Among that stuff, three Charley Harper prints. At the time, I had no idea who he was but I loved the prints. Because two were duplicates...I GAVE ONE AWAY TO A FRIEND (I knoooooow). Wait, it gets better. Then I CUT THE BORDER OFF ONE TO FIT IT INTO A FRAME (TRUST ME, I KNOOOOOOOOW). His prints are worth big bucks. Pretty sure his chopped into ones aren't worth squat. Now I can't even hang them in my house because every time the hubs walks past them he says, "Aren't these the prints that are worth a lot of money? Which one did you cut up again?" UGH. These are the things that happen when you are an idiot. Moral of story: Don't be an idiot. Now, let's move along, shall we?

Grace, the sweet college student, started collaging birds inspired by Harper. This here is a teacher sample. Cuz, if you were paying attention, you'd know my firsties haven't gotten this far yet. 

And here's the one I create in the video. I'll be sure to share with you the kids' creations as y'all know they will come up with so much awesomeness. If you decide to do this lesson as well, I'd love to see! Be sure to tag me here on Twitter or there on Instagram so I can check it out. 

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What the Art Teacher Wore #147

 A Purple-ish Monday: So, thanks to our fab-o kindergarten teachers, we're still dressing in colors! Monday was purple day and, as it turns out, I must not like purple because there is next to nuthin of it in my closet. Which is really saying something because my closet, as you mightah guessed, is jam-packed with clothes. So this lil purplish ensemble was as close as I could get! dress: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; headscarf: vintage, thrifted; shoes: my new favorite! Minnetonka

I hope all y'all are having a wondrous three day weekend! Just so you know, when I become Princess Cassie, Ruler of the Universe and BEYOND, I will make three day weekends the law. No longer will poor ole Monday be that dreaded day of the week. In fact, I'll have it's name changed to Mon-YAY! and change Tuesday to "Tuesday, You Suck!" It's a working name. Don't judge. 

In other news, since this is a What the Art Teacher Wore post, lemme tell you what happened to me on Monday. As I was putting my students on the bus, one fourth grade girl stopped, looked me up and down and said:

"Mrs. Stephens, I have art tomorrow. Can you try and wear something more crazy?" 

Me, stunned: "What's wrong with this?!" with a flourish of my hand going from my purple-bowed head down to my hot pink moccasin-ed toes. 

"Eh. It's just kind of, you know, bor-ing."

Y'all. My critics are not foolin' around. You better believe I did it up right on Tuesday. 

Speaking of doing it up right, my email inbox has been BURSTING with photos of the World's Best Dressed Art Teachers! The What the Art Teacher Wore/Back to Art Teacherin' Contest goes live on the blog this coming Tuesday. That means if you wanna see your sweet face here (and possibly in School Arts Magazine!), email me some snaps at cassieart75@gmail.com. Be sure to check back here on Tuesday and cast your vote for the best dressed! 

 Just a couple of sweet snaps of my first grade friends for y'all this week. I can't wait to share their masterpieces with you! All of my students are currently "in the jungle" and learning about the work of Henri Rousseau. If you follow me here, you've seen quite a few of  their pieces. I'll share the complete lessons here in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned! 

 Lovin' the focus on this sweet boy's face! Now that my firsties have finished their works, they are creating a jungle mural to place their artwork in. My plan is to have that up by open house. Cross those fingers for me, would ya?

 Bust Out the Brown Tuesday: I seriously think I just grabbed anything brown and threw it on that morning. I had that vintage skirt in my etsy shop for a hot minute before I decided I loved it too much to sell off. sweater, belt and blouse: vintage, thrifted; skirt: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; shoes: Minnetonka; sweater clip: etsy

 A Colorful Way to Wear Black Wednesday: I didn't wanna wear head to toe black cuz, ya know, I already did the "alternative" thang in high school so I'm over it. Isn't funny how what we called "alternative" has gone threw so many name changes? There was goth then emo and now, what do they call those all-black-wearin' kids? Hipsters? Goth-Hipsters? Gothsters? Yes! That's it! dress: Modcloth; polymer necklace: Charleston; shoes: Swedish Has-beens, Anthro; Rainbow Brite belt: Buffalo Exchange

 White Day is Not a Good Day in the Art Room: Yeah, so who guessed that wearing this all white number was gonna end badly? I didn't even realize it did until I got home, took it off and noticed I had green paint splotches on the butt of my dress. I'm guessing I sat in something fun-n-funky. Good times. dress: Anthro

 Fave Color Friday: C'mon. I'm the art teacher! I can't pick one FAVE color, I love 'em all! And, let's be real, they all look SO GOOD TOGETHER, right?! You don't have to answer that. top and skirt: thrifted; bow tie and suspenders: gift from my bro; belt and crinoline: Amazon; shoes: Minnetonka

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