What the Art Teacher Wore #155 and a Video Sub Plan!

 Monday, You Ain't Right: I have a super hilarious coworker who loves to tell me, "Stephens, you ain't right!". To give her credit, this was after I explained to her that, no, my stockings were not purchased this way but created with a little creative tucking. It's no wonder that I usually get a side-eye and a head-shake from my work budz. crayon hair clip: made by me, DIY here; crazy sweater: vintage; dotted dress and tights: Target; flats: Payless; shoe clips: made by me, DIY here

So a while back, I got a big thick envelope in the mail. The return address looked boring and official so I threw it on the dining room table where it sat for more days than I'm willing to admit. "You better open that letter soon," el hubbo warned, "It looks pretty important." 

Turns out it was. I've been summoned for el jury duty-o. 

Looks like I'll be outta the art room for five days spread across two weeks. Now, I've slapped together I'm-so-sick/night-before/please-don't-vomit-on-these sub plans before but that was when I was in a pinch and knew I'd prolly only be out for a day. However, knowing that I'd be missing this much time with the kids, I really didn't want to deprive them of a fun and art-ucational experience. So, my Friday afternoon looked a lil like this: 

If you follow me on Instagrammerz, you already know that I decided to create a video'ed sub plan! I've been showing my students videos of myself lately which has been super awesome because 1. it allows me time to prep; 2. it allows me not to forget anything that I'm supposed to say; 3. [truth be told] it allows me to kick back and drink my fourth cup of coffee. There. Cat's outs the bag. After sharing this photo, I had a lotta questions about what the lesson entailed, which, fingers crossed, will be a Romero Britto-inspired Pattern-tastic Heart Mural Collaborative! So I thought I'd share it with y'all! PLEASE keep in mind that this is me addressing my first through fourth grade students. I promise I don't talk to adults this way (well, okay. I do. And, for that, I apologize). 

Now. I've never done this before. I do plan to go in every morning of my JD to prep the technology. Thankfully, the courthouse is just a couple blocks away from my school so I have the luxury of popping in and doing a little prep. I also created a two minute video of myself chatting with the sub so he/she knows what our routines are and some housekeeping biz. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted on how it goes. Until then, back to the What the Art Teacher Wore (or shoved in her hair) show! 

 When I shared this DIY with y'all a while back, my sweater got more interest than my hair clips! It was quite the conversation starer with the kids as well. One said, "it's like you have crayon worms crawling all over you!" Yikes, kid. That's the stuff of nightmares. 

 I actually have a wee shoe clip problem. And a love for making stuff outta Sculpey. You can see this DIY here. 

 Thank You for Being a Friend, Tuesday: Thank y'all so much for the very positive feedback on my art teacherin' videos! My goal is to share more videos weekly so if you wanna stay in the loop, you might wanna subscribe to my channel as my videos go up before they appear here. Smooches! sweater: thrifted; eyeball top: Urban Outfitters; scissor skirt: Modcloth; tights: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

 #OnWednesdaysWeWearArt: Y'all check out my awesome "I like to ARTY hard" shirt? It was created by artist My Friend Court (Courtney Pilgrim). Court is a former art teacher turned full time artist. Her work is as happy, bright and colorful as she is (if you don't believe me, just scroll thru this Instagram account, kids). Each Wednesday, Courtney does a lil #OnWednesdaysWeWearArt where we can dress with an artist in mind, snap a photo and use that hashtag on ole Insta. I decided that Court was my muse by wearing her shirt! top: My Friend Court; skirt and belt: PinUp Girl Clothing; dotted tights: Target?; shoes: Sofft

 But What Will You Wear?! Thursday: So, I've been letting my classes know about my upcoming absences. Which led to a nice chat about jury duty and civic duties. I could tell I was making real headway when I was asked, "But what if they find you guilty?!" Once that issue was resolved, ahem, this convo went down: 

Kid: What will you wear?

Me: what do you mean?

Kid: uh. Like. Will you be dressing like how you always do? Like (with a wave of the hand) that?!

Kid 2: She only has crazy clothes, what do you think?!

Couldn't have said it better. sweater and dress: thrifted and vintage

Gone Cuckoo Friday: Anytime I've procrastinated the daylights outta my life, which always means my Fridays are a mess, I go a lil cuckoo. So what better day to wear this number, eh? sweater and tights: Target; boots: Anthro; belt and crinoline: Amazon; cuckoo dress: made by me, DIY here

In the Art Room: First Grade LOVE Prints!

Thank you so much for the positive feedback on the printmaking videos, y'all! I'm so glad you liked them, found them helpful and, most importantly, had tips and tricks of your own to add. I love our great, big, fat hairy art teacherin' sharing-is-caring community! To keep up with more videos, feel free to subscribe here. Today my first grade students wrapped up their printmaking adventure with these LOVE-ly lil Robert Indiana-inspired printed and collaged pieces.

Y'all. It's January. I cannot even believe that I've gotten a Valentines-esque project knocked out already. I know some folks are all, "I don't do holiday themed projects" and I usually go ahead and nod my head but not cuz I agree (honestly, Ima go all Switzerland on that debate and stay neutral)...but cuz I can NEVER get my act together early enough to have anything ready! I mean, 'member that big We Have Heart mural we made last year? Dudes. We, like, started that on Feb 10th. 

But not this time...

CONFESSION: I had no idea what the kids were going to do with the piles of prints they were making...until seeing this piece again recently. And then I was all, yaaaazzzzz! Which, by the way, is the new Eureka! 

It's gotten around the school that the firsties have been printing maniacs in the art room. We spent two 30 minute art classes making at least 4 printed pieces. One day we worked with blue inks and the following, yellow and red. 

I told the kids "at least" because some of them just enjoyed the printing process so much that they wanted to print again and again. It's so magical! Others were well over it after the fourth print on the second day and they moved on to greener, less print-ier, pastures. 

Now, I will say, I hustled today to get the prints to the point that they could be created into these collages. I have jury duty for the next two weeks (can you hear the excitement in my typed voice? Me neither) and I didn't want any UFO's lingering around for me to return to (UFO: Un-Finished Objects). So today I trimmed all the prints at the paper cutter, organized them by kiddo and prepped the LOVE letters...

Normally I wouldn't do that much work on behalf of the kids (and my sanity...right now is the first time I've sat down all day) but, like I said, I don't like me no UFO's. To prep the letters, I made them in such a way that the kids would have minimal amount of cutting (thirty minutes, people. Thirty. Minutes). I wrote the letters in reverse so the kids could cut along those lines...but put the glue on the back (we did a little ditty: The Lines are in Black and That's the Back!). The reason behind this was I didn't want the black lines to show...but clean, crisp white letters.

The kids also had to hustle. They had to lay out their prints and decide upon a good design, glue those down, cut out their letters and glue that as well. We might have been 3 minutes late to P.E. (sorry, ladies!). 

But, oohhhhhh, the results. I mean, is it just me or are these not the most swoon-worthy thing ever? 

(Shhh, don't tell: this is my personal fave). 

And now I can go off on my jury duty adventure knowing that I don't have any UFO's in first grade floating around! Love to hear about your printmaking adventures, y'all!

In the Art Room: Troubleshooting Printmaking with the Littles

Hey, y'all! It's Printmaking Season in my art room currently and it's been a big fat hairy success. Mostly because, let's face it, printmaking is super mysterious, magical and mega-awesome. The kids are always surprised and thrilled by their result and pulled prints always elicit the biggest oooohhh's and ahhhhh's. 

BUT. There is the Dark Side of printing as well. Y'all know what I'm talking about. Poorly inked plates. Smeary prints. An inked and printed on body part (um, that was today, in fact. See below). However, I think I've got some tipz -n- trickz for y'all that might make life in Printmaking Town a lil easier. So click the sideways triangle below and I'll walk y'all thru some steps!

By the way, since my room tour video, I've seen a nice jump in my youtube channel subscribers. Thanks, y'all! My goal is to share more videos like the one above and the instructional videos I create for the kids. If you are interested, please feel free to subscribe, I'd love to have ya! 

 So, those marker prints...where have they been all my life?! They are super fun, easy to do and a great way to introduce kids to the magic of printmaking. I got the idea from one of my fave art ed bloggers, Don Masse (thanks, bruh!). You can find his awesomeness here. 

During the next two thirty minute art classes, the first graders printed with ink. Each student made a minimum of 5 prints which will be used in an upcoming project. By the end of the printing process, they were experts at covering their plates completely and pulling clean-ish prints. I mean, their fingerprints all over the background are prints as well, right?! Just say yes, there's no point in arguing with me. 

Give that paper a back rub, kid. 

Pulling only part of the way up and checking the print was encouraged. This way the kids could lay the paper back down and rub some more if need be. 

I have found that printing on copy paper works the best. I also have the kids use Speedball washable ink. Names are written on the back of the paper before printing is started. 

The kids were allowed to go to another table to use more ink. However, this will result in blended colors...which is cool if you use analogous colors. We had red and yellow out which created these lovely blended prints. 

 Love how it pops on this blue paper!

The kids really enjoyed these prints!

 Printing limbs was not encouraged...but super funny when it happens. This sweet girl leaned onto her plate accidentally and did a lil body printing. It's a new trend. She's totes cutting edge. 

Y'all saw these last week. These were created by my third grade after watching my lil demo video...

This week they'll watch this video. I hope it is as successful at explaining the process as the first one!

I'd love to hear your printing tips and tricks, y'all! Please feel free to share 'em in the comments. Until next time...

What the Art Teacher Wore #154

Totes Tuesday: Well, we actually returned on Monday but that was kinda a rude awakening and I just couldn't seem to pull it together enough to snap a pic. You didn't miss much, lemme tell you. Just sitting-in-meeting 1950's vintage wear. You know, the ushe. But on Tuesday I was feeling a lil more up to form. Getting back into a routine of not staying up til midnight and beyond and rising late in the morn takes some easing into, y'all. sweater: thrifted vintage; skirt and boots: Anthro; scarf: gift from a student; tights: Target; bracelets: street market in Cali

Well, it happened. We went back to school. This year our district provided three glorious days of PD which I totes enjoyed. Not only was our art professional development fabulous (check it out here and here!) but it also helped us all ease back into the routine of things. I was stoked to have a couple of days to prepare my room for my Art Teacherin' Resolutions (part 2 coming next week!). In fact, so many things have changed/updated/whatevered that I decided to create a brand new Art Room Tour for y'all! 

There are still a TON of things I want to do to my magical art teacherin' space (like, A.TON. Is our job ever done?!) but until then, this is as good -n- groovy as it gets. By the way, many of the items you see me pan over in my artsy joint will be spoken about in detail at AOE's winter online conference where I'll be talking about how I attempt to Maximize my Minutes in the Art Room. And until next time, have a great week, kids!

 Wonderful Wednesday: We had the chance to work in our rooms and get caught up on teacherin' life on Wednesday. What a wonderful gift! Not surprisingly, I didn't manage to get everything done but do we ever? I sometimes wonder if/when the day will ever come when I leave my art room and think, "Welp! I got everything checked off my list, all's done!" Instead, I just close my door on the mess, shake my head and walk away super fast. I'm sure that makes me look like a nut on the security cam! sweater: made by me, DIY here; skirt, boots and belt: Anthro

 Bring 'em in, Thursday: The kids came back on Thursday and I was ready to throw all kinds of new things at them. You can read about some of those routines in my Art Teacherin' Resolution post (update this next week!) sweatshirt: Forever21; dress: made by me, DIY here; shoes: Payless with shoe clips made by me

One of my resolutions was to film myself instructing and play that for the kids. This allows me not to forget any details I need to share and frees me up to prepare supplies and drink my coffee (because, priorities). I was worried that the videos wouldn't be as effective and the kids' artwork wouldn't be as awesome as it usually is, but...

 Check out these cityscape printing plates! The kids and I were both thrilled! I have since created a video to walk them through the printing process which they'll see this week. Here's a peek: 

Feel free to use this lesson and these videos in your art room. And any feedback would be much appreciated. Third grade was my test pilot this week. Because it went over so well, I will be making more videos just like this. If you are interested, y'all can subscribe to my youtube channel to keep up. 

 Friday Already?!: That was fast! Teaching only two days a week will do that to you, I guess! It was a fun week and I'm looking forward to the next. I hope y'all have a super duper upcoming week as well! blouse and sweater: thrifted; palette belt: etsy; palette skirt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; tights: Target; shoes: Clarks

Oh! I have to share this sweet image with you! When my kindergarteners were finished with their paintings on Friday, I threw down this piece of fabric I purchased at IKEA and asked them to color it with my fabric markers. When I told them it was going to be sewn into a dress, they were thrilled! I overheard my sweet little friend in the blue on the right tell the other kids when they came to the floor, "Mrs. Stephens is going to make this into a dress and wear it! We will be famous!" They are so funny! 

In the Art Room: 3-D Letters!

Hey, y'all! I'm back, as promised, with the other awesome project I did during my fab-o art teacherin' PD this week! In case you missed the "I Am" books post, let your fingers do the clicking and check it here. In the afternoon, the leader of our PD, Daryle Grenead, taught us how to make these super fun 3-D letters! 

Full disclosure: a good buddy took Daryle's class a while back and gifted me her half-finished ART sign (thanks, Deb!). So I got to skip several steps and fly straight to the papier-mâché and painting. You know, the fun stuff. But don't you worry, I took several photos of my friend Jennifer's hands while she worked away on creating her letter so I could share them here with y'all. She's a glorious hand model, that Jennifer. You'll see. But first! 

Check out the inspiration that Daryle created and shared with us! He recommended doing this project with middle schoolers. He also mentioned that if they do something like their name, each letter takes about one art class to tape and papier-mâché. For our time's sake, each of us did one letter (well, except for me). 

To start, Daryle recommended using stencils to help the kids cut out their initial. We simply laid the stencils over the cardboard and traced. Two will need to be cut out with box cutters, one for the front and the back. Daryle said he cut the letters out for his younger students to save on instructional time and for safely issues. If you are doing an entire word as I have, you simply lay out the letters of your word on a large sheet of cardboard. Make sure each letter is touching, tape the letters together and trace onto the cardboard. This way, when you cut it out, it is one solid piece of cardboard, not multiple pieces. 

 Once you've cut out your two letters (or your complete word, cut twice), lay a piece of heavy duty poster board beside your letter. The width of the board will determine the depth of your letter. As you lay the board beside the letter, add tick marks as each corner of the letter. This is where you will fold the poster board. 

 As my friend Jennifer's lovely hands are demonstrating. 

 Once that is complete, fold the paper along your tick marks. 

Which is easier to do if you score the board first with a dull pencil and then fold over matte board. 

 Ta-da! You can start to see the shape of the letter! 

Using masking tape, start taping the edge of the letter to the poster board. You'll need to use a couple pieces of poster board to complete the letter so be ready. 

 And have tape ready. 

While Jen was taping away, I started snapping pics of my buddy David working on his R. Notice that when he was done with one side, he fitted the other cut out into place and started taping that down. Also, don't forget to create that super fun inside piece! 

And bring on the snotty papier-mâché! Layer the whole stinkin' thing. Now you see it would take the kids multiple days to do just a letter. A great art club/after school/summer camp kind of project, says moi. 

 I love that some folks skipped the letter idea and did things like this and symbol and we even had a dollar sign!

 Of course, you can see here, I was pretty spoiled by my friend's half finished efforts. I just had a lil work to do and let it dry over night. 

For the more advanced set, Daryle had created these amazing pieces for our TN football team. 

 Before painting, Daryle suggested painting everything with a coat of white acrylic. Then add color and seal with a clear coat. 

 I couldn't wait to get to school the next morning and finish my sign! The best part was splatter painting it. Seriously, y'all. I now know why ole Jackson had a thing for paint slinging, it was a blast!

And now it hangs proudly at my Art Supply Store. The kids loved seeing it today!