We kicked off the school year with my mask project and my emotions lesson and we've now started working on a school wide collaborative piece. This is something we've done most school years...and it seems to be really fitting now that we are all back together. Time to celebrate!
When we do our big collaboratives, my students each make small parts (I share in the video below) that are attached to a large mural. To create the large mural backdrop, my students create these massive painted papers that I collage together. It all makes a whole lot more sense when I share it here...at least I hope it does!
Storing these papers is a bit of a beast, especially when they aren't quite dry. We had them draped EVERYWHERE today! However, now that we have so many painted, I can start to create the background for their completed works of art.
Until those are ready to share, I think if you visit this blog post, you'll get a better picture of what it is we're going for.
My first graders will be doing a mural similar to this one with the flowers they created. In the video, I mentioned that our mural will be based on the Louis Armstrong song What a Wonderful World. Each portion of the song will have it's own mural piece with artwork created attached.
Here's another one we did a couple of years ago.
I'm seriously so tired, I hope I'm making some sort of sense! I will say that my students have loved working on this mural, especially creating these large pattern papers!
Anyone else out there feeling like a first year teacher every single art teacherin' day? ME TOO! Isn't it great?!
(insert yeah-that's-sarcasm face here)
Finally, after nearly two months of the new school year, and my endless changes to how I run my newly formated art room, I feel like I just might have it figured out...knock on wood. Like, all of it.
Today I thought I'd take you on a little room tour and share some of my fave new hacks for the new school year.
Now, I know we all have different teaching environments right now...so you'll have to take all of what I share with a salt lick. Some might work for you, some might not. Hopefully I have something that might help you and your students.
I think now, more than ever, a positive mindset is what our students need and what's going to make these new changes bearable.
Now, let's take a little tour!
And now for a little bit of a closer look:
My mask on a lanyard makes it so I never misplace it again!
This is my art room at the start of the year with my students at their desks. I HATED it. I felt like a Charlie Brown teacher. I desperately needed them to meet me back on the floor for instruction as we've always done. After chatting with my admin, they agreed that I have the space to make it work. Here's a look at my new set up:
Check out the video to see how all tables, chairs, line up spots and floor spots are numbered to coordinate with the order the classroom teachers have established.
After the first day of teaching, I was online shopping for a mic. This one has saved my sanity and my voice.
All my stuff manages to grow legs and walk away because I'm miserable about setting something down and forgetting where I put it. Having a drop spot for all of my stuff has really helped.
After one week of teaching my students, I noticed something. I am having a hard time gauging their emotions. And, right now, I know they are experiencing many feelings. On Tuesday, I had the amazing opportunity to sit down with Dr. Gilboa and I learned so much about how to manage my own stress this new school year. She also touched on how our students may be feeling and letting them know that their feelings are valid and valued. You can listen to part one of our chat in my Cassie Stephens podcast right here.
Her conversation inspired me to create this lesson that I'll be doing with both my virtual and in person first grade students this upcoming week. I'm even thinking that I may do it with my second graders as well.
I think the kids will not only enjoy this lesson but, hopefully, find a way to express themselves. Even if this activity just gets them talking about sharing their feelings, then my job is done. Ultimately, I plan to take photos of my students "wearing" these masks while talking about emotions. For example, "I am happy, when..." But that is still a lesson I'm working on. For now, we are starting here.
My older students will be working on these too. If you haven't seen this lesson, you might want to give it a try.
I share my lessons freely but lately I've noticed that some folks are taking my lessons, recreating them and selling them on TPT. I beg you to stop. If you use my lessons, all I ask is that you just give credit when it's asked. Taking someone's intellectual property and selling it as your own is stealing. So, like, don't.
Have a great week, y'all! Stay tuned for Part 2 of my interview with Dr. G to be out soon!
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 been on my mind since July. As a teacher, I think of July as a month-long version of Sunday night. You teachers know what I'm talking about: Sunday night is the one time of the week that you dread because you literally spend the evening running through all the work that lies ahead. What's first-grade learning? Is second grade finished painting or will I need to prep paint trays in the morning? Fourth grade was on a field trip so half of them are behind while the other half is ahead...so who's doing what tomorrow? Third grade, did I plan a lesson for third grade? And, kindergarten. Lord have mercy on my soul, what will I do with kindergarten tomorrow?! If that's our average Sunday night then y'all know what our month of July feels like. Especially in the midst of this wild world we are living in. Needless to say...I have been having just a tiny bit of trouble relaxing (ahem). But I have found some ways that have been working for me and I thought I'd share them here. Let's start with something I've recently mentioned on Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2 of my podcast: BLISS.
This morning, I was going over all the things I needed to do today and I started to have trouble calming myself down. I've only had a couple of panic attacks before (once during my third year of teaching when I MELTED DOWN A KILN and immediately lost sight in my left eye and was sent home. Good times) but this morning, I noticed that the feeling over being overwhelmed was effecting my breath. Meaning...I couldn't catch it. Not a good feeling at all. Then I remembered my acronym BLISS. The B is for Breathe. It helps when breathing to have a gatha or a phrase that you say mentally as you inhale and exhale. What this will do is help you to focus on your breathe. Just taking a deep breathe and exhaling is great but, if you are like me, your mind will rapidly move to what it is you are currently fixated on. So if I have myself mentally say, 'Breathing in, I am calm; Breathing out, I can relax,' it really helps. Try looking up gathas or writing some for yourself. If, after a couple of breaths you aren't feeling better, keep trying. Breathe deeper. Relax your shoulders. Focus on the present. You'll get there. The L is for List Your Gratitudes. By that I just mean, while you are breathing, stop and take a look around the space you are in. Mentally list off what you are thankful for. Currently, I'm thankful for a comfy chair, a cup of coffee and the sewing room I am sitting in. You don't have to write it down. Just take in the present, The I is for Indulge in Your Feelings. Look, things are not easy right now. It's okay to have all the feelings. I've mostly felt confused (by the tons of emails) and overwhelmed (by knowing that the load on my teacherin' plate is about to get bigger) and upset (because I know I won't be able to do it all). And I think it's okay to get all up in your feelings now and then. As long as we don't live in that space, I think it's fine. The S is for Stop Reading Social Media. When have you EVER hopped off social media and felt like that was time well spent? I mean...I am an epic social media time waster! I spent a couple of days this summer completely off social and not only did I not miss it but I felt so much lighter. I recommend a little social media vacay if you can. And the last S is for Surround Yourself with Joy...whatever that may mean for you. For me...it's creating, sewing and painting. If I don't take my creative vitamins, I swear I go through a withdrawal.
Wanna know what is keeping me up at night and my mind on a constant hamster wheel of thoughts? LESSON PLANNING. I keep thinking "how can I possibly provide my students with the best art education they deserve if I'm on a cart or on a screen or they are spaced so far apart?!" This little phrase right here has been helping me keep a positive mindset. Your only limitation is your imagination.. I was chatting with an art teacher the other day who has been teaching for 31 years. I've been at it for 22. Neither of us have EVER seen anything like this current teaching state. Which means...we are all in this together! It doesn't matter how long you've been teaching, this is a challenge for us all. Her mindset was, "a challenge can be fun." And she's right! Not the kind of 'fun' any of us signed up for...but if we think of it as a challenge and accept it as such, maybe it will push some of us out of our teaching comfort zone. This challenge has the potential of making better teachers of us all. All that to say...I'm still not ready! I'm still not sleeping well! I've been having my BTSN (Back to School Nightmares) like crazy and they seem to be even worse this time around. Y'all, I had a dream that there were WOLVES in the school the other night. My mind is on overdrive! I shared this with my friend Virginia who recommended I start at the beginning of the alphabet and think of all the foods I could. I got to the letter H before I had to get out of bed and hit the kitchen for a snack. All that did was make me hungry! A couple times this month, when sleep has completely illuded me, I've tried Melatonin by Natrol. I had no clue what Melatonin was until recently. It's a natural hormone that your body creates to let you know when to hit the hay and get outta bed. Twice this month, when my mind wouldn't allow me to rest at all, I found this to help. I even woke up without my standard morning headache (do y'all get those?!) which was a nice surprise.
Just know...that if you are feeling a little panicky and overwhelmed, it's okay. Also, just know that yours truly will be teaching children in THIS ROOM next week and what you see right here is the clean and tidy side.
Also know that my face has permanently frozen this way (just as mama said it would) as I've made it so many times when asked "Are you ready for school to start?!" Hahah, yep! Sure am! Doesn't it look like it?! In all seriousness, y'all, we got this. We handled it like champs in March when it came out of nowhere and we suddenly found ourselves as YouTubers, videographers, Zoom-Call champs and more. We can do this new thing and we'll be doin' it together. Love y'all! Mean it!
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!
Until those are ready to share, I think if you visit this blog post, you'll get a better picture of what it is we're going for. 
My first graders will be doing a mural similar to this one with the flowers they created. In the video, I mentioned that our mural will be based on the Louis Armstrong song What a Wonderful World. Each portion of the song will have it's own mural piece with artwork created attached. 
