DIY: New Decor for the New School Year!

We are getting new updates on what our new school year will look like...often. And I get it, who knows what our future may hold. I know my school system is trying their very best and I certainly would not want to be in their shoes! That being said...it looks as though I may be in my art room for some of my grades and teacher virtually for others (with the idea that I could be on a cart at some point too). 

One of my favorite things to do to get excited for the new school year is to create something for my art room. I was a little bummed thinking "why bother?!" for the longest time. That is until I decided to change my outlook and create something that could be used for my art room, a cart or even virtually. Here's how I made my new art room/cart/virtual learning sign:

I know things are tough right now but I will say this: creating this sign changed my attitude. It made me begin to think of this new school year as a challenge. As someone who has taught for over two decades, I had gotten pretty comfortable in the way that I teach. Now I have this new, ever-changing, challenge coming my way. I can't control anything about this situation except my attitude. Here's my attempt at doing that. 

Season 2 of the Cassie Stephens Podcast!

I'm baaaaack!

I took a small hiatus from my podcast back in March when I learned we were not returning to school. Suddenly my focus was on distance learning...and not much else! I had no intention of taking a break but, for me, it was necessary. However, I'm so thrilled to announce that I'm back with two episodes of Season 2! They're titled How to Prepare for the Unknown, Part 1 & 2...kinda appropriate, right? I do hope you enjoy. If you know other teachers who might, please feel free to pass this along. I would also love to read your comments so feel free to leave them wherever you listen to the podcast. Thanks, ya'll!

Behind My Mask: A Super Kid Self-Portrait!

 Hello, friends!

I have created a lesson for my students and any kiddos who wish to create titled Behind My Mask! When my students return in the fall (and, yes, I said 'when' as I am very hopeful and optimistic), they will be asked to mask-up. We always seem to start out school year with a selfie so I was bummed when I thought of the idea of my students drawing themselves with their best facial feature hidden. And that's where the idea of this surprise drawing came from. Here's a video! Feel free to use and share (with credit given, please and thank you):

I simply used paper, permanent marker, coloring markers and crayons. If I happen to teach virtually this fall, this lesson could also be done by my students at home. 

 This video is a short and simple one...when teaching, I plan to share with my students a variety of self-portraits and talk a lot more about lettering, fonts, skin tones, craftsmanship, good character...the list goes on! As you can see, I'd have a hard time fitting it into a video short enough to capture their attention. So, if you use this video, feel free to add on whatever you wish to include!

No one is excited about wearing a mask but...it's for our safety. And the best thing we can do for our kiddos is to put a positive spin on it, right? I hope to do that with this lesson. Enjoy!

Let's Make a Pop-Up Card for Father's Day!

It's time to celebrate dad! All dads: step-dad, grand-dad, uncle who is like a dad...really any dude who makes your life better. It's time to let 'em know how awesome they are! All you'll need is paper, scissors, glue, crayons and markers. Here we go: 

Summer Vacation Week: A Wrap Up!

Summer Vacation Week was so fun! And the perfect way to kick start summer. We wrapped it on Friday with this pop-up hot air balloon. Here is the video:

From there we made this Origami Ocean Collage! This one was a huge hit. Kids love origami!

Our last salt dough clay project (for now) was making this garden. It was so fun and the Art Class with Cassie kids got so creative!

We kicked off the week with this Summertime Selfie. I'm actually thinking of starting our school year with this one!

Have fun!