Welcome Back to Art, 2021-22

So I just noticed that the last time I posted here was MID-JUNE. Y'all! How did summer vanish so quickly!? A large part of my summer was dedicated to putting together The Art Teacherin' Extravaganza which, if you follow me on Instagram, you got to follow along on that journey (and if you were there in real life, well, you know what a blast it was!) Between the Extravaganza and shipping out copies of Art Teacherin' 101, it was a full summer that went by in a blink!

But now we're heading back and, honestly, I'm not sad about it. In fact, I'm pretty excited about this new school year. I have a lot of new ideas I wanna try; books I've been reading with techniques I want to implement; and some new projects that I know the kids will love. 

But first things first: we gotta dive into our Rules and Routines. Last year, I really dropped the ball on this one. Everything was just a mess last year with the constant uncertainty that I let go of my normal Back to School routines...and it showed for the rest of the year. I was burnt to a crisp at the end of the year and was so ready to hit the reset button. This year, I'm determined to take it slow and try to stay more organized. I'll let you know how that goes ;)

I like to start the first days of art covering rules and routines...but I HATE talking about them, it's so dry! So I always have a short video that touches on them...and allows us to move on to other First Day things before coming back to them in following art classes. Here's my latest video that I'll be showing this week...I decided to include some personal things in this year's video. I find that the kids are always curious about what we were like as children as well as our personal lives so I decided to add that to the video this year. Here it is:

More Back to School stuff will be shared here soon...but I do write about it A LOT in my book, which you can order here! 

Podcast: How to Tackle Your Biggest Goal!

I know most people set goals at the start of the new year but I'm inclined to set my goals at the start of summer. I think many teachers are as we have the long and lovely days to work toward accomplishing them. But how many summers have we set the same goals only to, well, not achieve them? It's so frustrating! Today, I'm talking about that very thing on my podcast. You can take a listen here or wherever you download podcasts. 

I mention both of these books in my podcast so I thought I'd share. I recently finished The Four Agreements and I could read it over again, it's just so good. I did enjoy The 100-Day Goal Journal but definitely not for 100 days. It did help me change my thinking and work toward my goals. 

And in case you need a little background music...here's that song I mentioned in my podcast. I don't often quote the Beebs but when I do...here you go. 

Thanks for listening, friends!

Podcast Episode: Does You have to Suffer to Succeed?

Hey, y'all! This is the topic I'll be talking about at length on my podcast, Cassie Stephens. I mentioned in the podcast that I'd share the movie and books I referenced so here you go!

I do also want to share that my book is no longer available for pre-sale but it's now FOR SALE! You can snag a copy of your new fave summer read right here. 

We also have spots available for the Art Teacherin' Extravaganza! So if you are thinking of signing up, now is the time. Feel free to send me an email at cassiart75@gmail.com if your school is in need of a PO. I can also send along info that just might help you sway your admin to pay for your spot. 

The 2018 movie American Animals was one I really enjoyed...but it's a particular scene that resonated with me and got me thinking. If you've not seen this movie yet, you may want to check it out. It has a strong artist connection so I think you'll dig it.

These two books are the ones I draw quotes from in the podcast. I will say that Man's Search for Meaning was a very emotionally difficult read for the first half...so just beware. I just started The Four Agreements this weekend and I'm nearly finished. It's a fast and amazing read that I cannot recommend enough. 

I have not finished this one yet...I hit the pause button on reading it as the author kept referencing Man's Search for Meaning. I decided to read that first and then I'll return to the 7 Habits. Since I mentioned it in the podcast, I thought I'd share here. 

Thanks, y'all! I hope you enjoy the episode. I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you'd like to chat, feel free to drop me a line at cassieart75@gmail.com. I'm also taking questions to be answered in future episodes so if you have any, don't hesitate to throw them my way!

How to Create a Collaborative Paint-by-Color Painting for Your School!

If you know me...then you know I do my field day duties a little different than the rest of the school. After years of face painting, snow cone-ing and watching kids grow bored of sidewalk chalkin' after five mintues, I decided a couple of things:

1. It's too dang hot outside on field day!

2. It's the PERFECT way to do a collaborative because you see all the kids in the whole school all in one day!

You can read all about the field day activies that I love to do in this post. My fave: BACK TO SCHOOL BANNERS! More details here including a video!

The kids REALLY enjoyed painting on this...and I've been really excited to give this a go for a while. I'll be sure to share the final result soon. Thanks, y'all! 

Let's Make a Symmetrical Butterfly!

Recently, my kindergarten and first graders created guided painting symmetrical butterflies! This is a very old lesson of mine...which you can find here. The video I created then was geared toward art teachers. I decided to update the video and make it so you can share it with the artists in your life. Here you go:

Of course you'll need to pause as they go. 

We used black tempera paint and I told the kids to apply the paint so that it is shiny. This made for a better print. Once they understood how the process worked, they knew what to do. 

Color was added with brown, yellow and orange oil pastels. The kids were told to color in those three colors in stripes and then color OVER those three colors with yellow to create a gradation. Afterward, we drew designs in the background with a white oil pastel and then added color to the background with blue liquid watercolor. Have fun!