I know paper isn't the most riveting thing we could be chatting about as art teachers BUT I feel it's so important. Which is why I currently have a wee series of paper chats currently on my YouTube channel!
Last week I spoke about how to find the best kind of paper for your art room. In case you missed it, here was the video:
Now let's chat about watercolor paper! There's a lot to know there too. Here's more:
If you've ever flipped through an art supply catalog, you may have been confused by all of the paper that end with the word "board": tag board, rail board, matte board, posterboard, foam core board, SO MANY BOARDS! Here's what I feel you need and what you don't in your art room:
I'm not sure if you've been experiencing it in your art teacherin' world but of late I've noticed that my students are on the squirrely side of life. It's hard for them to sit still, focus and contain their level of excitement. I can usually manage to ride that wave in 30 minute art classes as we get up and move round, do a little dance, do a whole lot of call and response and stay very busy. However, recently I decided to try something new (for me) and that was create some art-makin' centers for my students on the Friday before Halloween.
It's hard to do new things, especially if you've been at this art teacherin' thing for closing in on 25 years. However, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is what keeps us fresh and keeps our students excited and intrigued. That's what I noticed when I created this center-formated art day.
Here's a little of what that looked like:
If you cannot view the above video, than try viewing this blog post from a laptop. Or just tap this link.
I've done open centers in my room before, most notably on our Field Day. You can read all about that here. I will say, it's a lot of work on the front end when I set up for Field Day. What I found in this most recent experience is that it doesn't have to be. Kids make the most of each center regardless of what is offered. In fact, limiting the supplies seemed to force them to really stretch their imagination.
Some of my take-aways:
* Limit the centers. Too many seem to overwhelm the kids. Instead, start with just 3-4.
* Introduce "greatest hits" as well as 1-2 new centers. At the start of art class, you will need to run through the centers to let the kids know what's in store. Too many new centers means too much time spent explaining and confusion. So maybe share ones you know the kids are familiar with (for me that was the large pumpkin coloring sheets and blocks) and introduce the new ones.
* Limit the amount of kids per center. I limited mine to 2-4 kids per center, depending on the center. I had a sign on each that let the kids know how many kids could create in one space.
* Dismiss kids to center one at a time. After explaining, I asked each student individually where they wanted to start and dismissed from there. Allowing each student to hop up at once and make a mad dash is not how you want to start your class!
* Allow students to switch centers at a designated time. With 30 minute art class, I set my alarm each 7 minutes. This allowed kids to hear my alarm and know that if they wanted to switch, they could. My rule was they had to tidy their space before leaving it. This prevented kids from center-hopping from one place to the next without digging in.
* Hold kids to your rules and routines. Sometimes when we do something different, the kids think that rules and routines go out the window. Let them know that the routines you've established for clean up, working together and noise levels still apply.
* Pay attention to what they respond to. It might surprise you! And it might give you ideas for future centers.
Bringing back a popular series (and the namesake of my book!) about all things art teacherin'. A question that I get A LOT is about paper...what paper is the best to purchase for an art room? Well before I can share that, I think it's important to know some paper vocabulary. So in this video, I'm going to fill you in and share what I use in my art room. I hope this helps! Remember: if you can't view this clip from my blog, try viewing my blog from your laptop, not your phone. Thanks, friends!
Hey friends! Need a couple of fun and easy videos to get you through the week? I'm not sure if your school or your students celebrate Halloween. However, I'm sharing in case you want to mix it up a bit with a lesson on Frankenstein. Or maybe this is one for you to do with your kids at home! If you can't view the video here (for some reason, videos won't show up on my blog if you are viewing from your phone), you can always check them out on my YouTube channel. Please be sure to subscribe! Working on new content for you all! Looking for a fun and easy what to show your students how to draw and paint (without paint!) a 3-D pumpkin? Here you go:
Hi, my name is Cassie Stephens and I like to start projects and then wait months, sometimes even years, before I finish them.
Please tell me I'm not alone.
Case in point: this project that my students began on field day last spring. You can read all about it here. You can also check out this video unless you are reading my blog from your phone...in which case you'll need to view this post from your laptop in order to check out the vid. Technology is super cool.
After the kids painted it in the spring, it looked a little rough (sorry, I don't have any photos). I was a little disappointed by the look of it until I realized that all it needed was to be outlined again. That REALLY made the colors pop and cleaned it up nicely.
I went in over my fall break and really enjoyed listening to a podcast and outlining this beast. It took no time at all. And I used my fave new hack of drawing with a Q-tip dipped in ink. It works so well, provides a consistent line and holds quite a bit of ink!
I did use a Sharpie to write the name of our school. I also would STRONGLY recommend using bottles of craft store acrylic for this painting. We initially painted it with tempra and it looked so faded, translucent and chalky.
Like many schools, the front of ours is a little boring in that it has a huge parking lot out front. So I took some liberties by adding our country and state flag, our state flower and a banner with our school district logo.
And now I'm totally hooked on the idea of creating more paint by numbers with the kids for our school!
It was really easy by just snapping a photo of the school and tracing in Procreate. I am thinking that we need a giant canvas of our school mascot next!
Pretty sure this beauty will end up in the front lobby of our school. I cannot wait to see it up! Here's what it looked like the day we started painting it. I'll keep you posted on how it looks once up!
