Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 30

Don't forget to join the chat tonight, Wednesday, at 8pm CST over on my official Facebook page. We'll be talking about the Art Teacher in Training badges: how we are using them, how they've been working and the rest. We're also sharing our favorite art supplies. AND, lastly, let's chat about that dreaded thing called CLEAN UP. See you then!

Today I thought I'd share with you how I've been using the Art Teacher in Training badges in my art room and how they've been working for me. I LOVE THEM! Check out this episode of Art Teacherin' 101 to find out more. 

I often times will talk myself out of introducing new things to the kids with the mindset that "I'll do it at the beginning of next year". But now my motto is: Why wait?! I actually think it's the perfect time when the kids are starting to get that spring fever. Anytime I introduce something new and present it in an exciting way, the kids are always game. Here's the video that I've been showing them to explain the badges. Feel free to use it in your art room. 

Be sure and check out these other badges created by art teachers and how they are using them too. See y'all tonight! 

In the Art Room: Art Teachers in Training!

Hey, art teacherin' buds! If you joined last week's Facebook LIVE which is archived in the link, then you know I did a feeble attempt at a Make and Take. Those who joined were gentle and kind enough to almost convince me that it wasn't a bust but I knew the truth. I LOVED the idea of a Make and Take and I really wanna make it work in the future...but that will take some work on my part. But let's focus on what we created: Art Teachers Badges!

 In a previous LIVE chat, which we do right here nearly every Wednesday night at 8pm CST (to join the chat, simply "like" my page and I'll pop up in your feed 8-ish), the idea of creating "art teacher apprentice" badges came up. I loved the idea so much, I invited everyone to join in on the makin' and the takin'. What EXACTLY is an Art Teacher Badge?!

I can only tell you how I plan to use mine: I have four tables in my art room. Each table will have what I've dubbed Art Teacher in Training. These kids are responsible for listening extra carefully to directions and answering the questions of their fellow artists at their table only. If they cannot answer the question, they are to seek out another table's "trainee" and ask them. If all else fails, FINE, you can ask me. My goal is to create an environment where I am free to spend more quality time with my students and not repeat myself 5983 times. Ahem.

How will I pick these kids? I plan to let them know that the moment they walk in my door, they are being "interviewed" based on their actions, behaviors and ability to follow our long-established but sometimes forgotten routines. I also created this video to explain to the kids just EXACTLY what the roll of the "trainee" and the rest of the class is. 

Feel free to share this video in your Land of Art Teacherin'. It's general enough that it could probably work in your setting as well. 

MANY of the fine folks that joined the chat sent me their badges and how they plan to use them. I love the creativity of seeing what everyone created and hearing how they plan to use them. I do plan to laminate mine and have them on a lanyard. 

By the way, be sure to follow these art teachers on Instagram. I've added their link if they have an account. We learn so much from one another! 

Margaret McDonald created these fun badges for her kiddos! She says: I teach Art PreK-6 at Herndon Elementary in Herndon, Virginia. My classes come once a week. I have 6 tables. Each week a different table does art room jobs. I plan to allow each weeks table to be the "art room assistants." I plan to talk them up like VIP/backstage passes since I used gold shiny paper! You can find Margaret here: My instagram @missbrightbluehue and 
My Twitter @msmcdonaldart

Darla Kendrick created these cute and colorful badges. She says: here are my Art Teacher assistant badges. I get tired of repeating my directions non-stop, even when they're written on the board!  My plan is to assign one student per group/row/area of the classroom as the Assistant. S/he will be responsible for helping students nearby until I can make my way to them. Hopefully this will eliminate the repetitive, "I wasn't listening" questions.

My art teacher insta is: @art_at_hart_on_a_cart

I teach in Bakersfield, CA. Grades TK-6, SDC and VE

Carissa Parr shared: my class is 3rd-5th grade, so I'm planning on using the Protégé badge with only the 5th graders. They'll be the go-to kids for the younger ones. The Timekeeper will help keep ME on track! The Encourager will help keep things positive, as there are a few kids that compare their work to others and end up frustrated. I teach in a homeschool co-op and we meet once a week, so most of the lessons take two weeks to finish.  The kids will keep their badges for 2 weeks and change/rotate badges at the start of a new lesson.

Amber Click says: I have created my badges, just need to laminate and get lanyards. :) I decided to go with art teacher's sidekick. Kinda like a superhero. :) I teach in Corpus Christi, Texas. Grades Pre-k through 8th grade. I plan to use these badges to cut down on the amount of times I repeat things, like "drying rack." lol I think especially for my younger kids they will love the assistant title and I hope it'll turn out to make them feel special. 

My instagram link is: www.instagram.com/art_teacherlife

Emily Burlingame says: I have 4 tables in my room and each has a rotating (weekly) job to do. One of the jobs was 'Direction Experts' (DE's). This one always seemed to get neglected... until NOW!

We went over all the jobs again and I introduced the new 'DE' badges and a reminder that this job was to be my helpers. They had to know what the directions for the day were, had to know where to get supplies and how to clean up, had to know how to be encouraging and helpful. They basically had to be mini versions of me.

They embraced it with open arms today and knocked it out of the park. Even my 3rd grade 'Bob' rocked it {this is code name for our friends who are sometimes off-task}. Told me he served 6 clients for the day! Ha! Great. And it totally freed me up to wander the room and help where needed.

So each week a different table group of students will have their own chance to help one another out!!! Yessss! Art Teacher win. Think I'll try it with my 1st-5th graders and just put the badges in the table basket that has the DE job for that day.

Emilie Jones says, I used lanyards, painted the paintbrushes with acrylic paint, and used scrapbook paper inside the badge-holder-thingy... they all have the words: TABLE LEADER in sticker letters (former scrapbooker in the house!).

I am NOT an art teacher, I'm just a parent who LOVES art, was upset that the school my son goes to does not offer art (even though the kids have LOTS of free time) so I volunteer and every Wednesday and Thursday.  I go to my son's second grade class and we do art. 

These second graders REALLY need to work on their listening skills and I ❤ed your ideas about going to the art assistant to ask for directions because i was being asked the same question like 15 times (which gets a bit annoying). I have 23 kiddos and 4 tables, so one leader per table. Today I hyped up the table leader's responsibilities and then hit up Hobby Lobby (I currently live in no-where Oklahoma and it was either that or Walmart) got the lanyards, badge holders, and brushes. 

Alexandra McBride says: here are the art expert badges I've been using since before winter break. Kiddos are LOVIN being experts! I usually pick six different kids before I start any explaining and these kids are then who all the other kids go to if they have questions. They are feeling so proud wearing them! The best part?! When I get done with directions and that one kid is like "what do I do!?" Ahhh I just breathe and say "Go find an art expert"! You can find me on Instagram @kidsgetcreative. I work at the elementary level at cherry creek schools in Colorado! 

Carol Sustaire says: I want have one badge for each of my 6 color coded tables. However I probably won't use all 6 every day. Maybe only 3 per class and they wear the badge that corresponds to their tables. 

I teach k-6 in Fort Worth TX. I introduce a lot of new ideas to these kids so I am probably going to let the kids that "catch on" first at each table get picked to be the art teacher apprentice. I may also pick based on who I think needs a boost of pride that day. 

Lindsay Lowery says: I've never done this before but it sounds like fun! I decided to keep them simple using my #artsnacks products I get in the mail each month. I plan to pick someone from each table as soon as I finish giving directions and hopefully it will be something they really enjoy. My instagram is @beakerlinz and I teach in Pflugerville, Texas K-5.

Do y'all use something like this in your art rooms? LOVE to hear how you put it into action! 

DIY: A Pee-Wee Herman Baby Shower!

Come on in, and pull yourself up a chair (like Chairry!)
Let the fun begin, it's time to let down your hair!
Pee-Wee's so excited,
'cause all his friends have been invited (that's you!)
To go wacky, at Pee-Wee's Playhouse! *

Hey, kids! Whatcha see here is one of the most bad a## baby showers this side of puppet land: A Pee-Wee Herman Baby Shower! That's right, ya'll. When my best bud (who happens to be a super fantastical art teacher) shared that she was expecting, we -- along with another art teacher buddy -- decided that the theme should be a common bond of ours: Our Love of All-Things Pee-Wee!

Did ya'll watch Pee-Wee's Playhouse ** as a kid? I admit, I wasn't a kid when the show was in it's prime but a teen with a penchant for all-things-kitsch. I spent my Saturday mornings watching it with my kid bro, cracking up at the cast's insane antics. That show has had a huge influence on my crazy-art-teacher style and I strive to be Pee-Wee-esque on a daily basis in my art room ('twas the reason I started the Word of the Week!). So when we settled on a Pee-Wee Herman baby shower theme, I was beyond excited to play hostess!

Because we also have a love for the movie Pee-Wee's Big Adventure *** (just watched it the other day, ya'll. Still as amazingly awesome as ever!) this shower was a combo Playhouse/Big Adventure. My mom, an avid bike-rider and bike-stuff collector, really came through with some bike-themed decor. That's her image hanging on my front door!

I'm pretty sure the whole shebang woulda made Pee-Wee proud. Or at least have him making this face.

Now, this party was not without some work on the part of me and my co-host and fellow art teacher Stephanie. She created these amazing signs that greeted baby-mama and guests as they entered the shower. Aren't they the best things ever?! My favorite part is Randy and his mis-matched nostrils, ha-ha (read in your best Pee-Wee laugh).

While Stephanie and I were plotting and planning, we decided to dress as characters from the show. She settled on Pee-Wee while I decided to dress as my all-time favorite femme fatale, Miss Yvonne. Now, if Ima gonna be totes honest with ya'll, I gotta admit Miss Yvonne is my fashion icon. Seriously. I mean, what's not to love? Big hair, big, um, skirt, big flirty personality, she's got it all! I've always loved her the bestest.

But I just didn't have the right dress. That is until I remembered this 1991 prom number of mine. That's right, kids, I still have my prom dress. Along with photographic evidence of a bad perm and a prom date who thought a stone-washed jeans/tux combo was the sh$$. Now before you go all, "OMG, you can still fit into your prom dress?!", let's take a look at this dress, shall we? It's only fitted through the bodice with a nice open skirt for the girth that has become my hips. I never did manage to fill out that bodice despite sleeping with my training bra under my pillow since age 13. Boobie Fairy, why hast thou forsaken me?! Lil known fact: did ya'll know I went to prom with Abe Lincoln? Just kidding, he opted to go to the theatre that night.

Now a pure white dress just wouldn't do for Miss Yvonne. I mean, did you see that cleavage -- she's  no angel, ya'll. So I gave that dress a make-over with a bath of Procion's robin's egg blue dye. And I'm so excited about the results, I might have to find me another prom date! Anyone know here Lincoln went after that theater production? He's not returning my calls. 

Stephanie (aka Pee-Wee) and I came up with a magnificent munchie menu that went a lil something like this: mac -n- cheez, basil-moz-tomato sammies, crackers made to resemble Pee-Wee's iconic suit -n- tie and Playhouse-themed cuppie-cakes!

This wee arrangement greeted guests when they entered the kitchen. My mom gave me the go-ahead to spray paint her mini-bike red (looks way better, ya'll). I sketched up the cupcake decor, made a buncha copies, colored 'em in and glued a flat wooden stick to the back. I had fun looking up lines from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure...although I can't believe I forgot, "I love that story!". Oh well, next Pee-Wee Party!

Now I've never thrown a baby shower before and I've only attended one (I just don't get asked to these sorts of things. Never been in a wedding either...and for that I count my lucky stars!) so I was kinda just making it up as I went a long. I knew that we should have some sort of craft as most of the guests were art teachers. So in the dining room, I set up a coupla stations (the fact that I just used the word "station" gives away that I'm a teacher, doesn't it?!): a onesie decorating area and a scrapbook decorating activity.

I always loved Jambi and secretly make wishes to him on a daily basis. Why "I wish to live in an ice cream truck" hasn't happened yet, I've no idea. In the basket, I stitched up a buncha little draw string bags (have ya'll ever made those before? I snapped a how-to picks for a future DIY post if ya'll are interested) and placed a wee onesie inside. Stephanie came through with an assortment of fabric markers that were great. So that the drawn image wouldn't go through to the back of the onesie, I cut thick paper to be placed inside the onesie while working. These turned out so amazingly cute, ya'll, but you'll have to take my word for it. We were all so busy crafting, I forgot to snap photos!

Don't you love those sweet flowers from the Playhouse? Stephanie created 'em outta felt and I totally want to make some for my art room. While I was working on this party, I watched an amazing documentary on Wayne White called Beauty is Embarrassing. If you've not seen it, you really should check it out. Wayne was one of the puppeteers from Playhouse and did voices for several characters including one of the flowers. 

For the party, Stephanie had the great idea of a photo booth. We decided to have the photos in an album to give to Mallory (aka Baby Mama) along with some sweet scrapbook'ed notes from us. So after onesie making, we stamped, glued and drew ourselves silly. Speaking of silly...

Holy cow, was that photo booth a ball! I had a buncha props like hats, glasses and scarves while Stephanie had some cute handmade ones. Hubs got me a remote control camera clicker (I'm sure there's a better name but I'm sticking with that one) for Christmas and it was perfect! I just set the thing on "continuous" and snapped over 100 photo booth pics.

My fave photos are the outtakes. This one of my sweet former student teacher ('member her?!) and Mallory is one of my faves. By the way, wish Rebecca luck, she just landed her first art teaching gig in Salt Lake City! She's gonna be fantastical!

For present-opening time, I just knew we'd have to have a Chairry! He came together super fast: just covered an armchair in blue fabric, added the felt mouth and attach the goggly eyes. The funny thing is, Malloy had given me those goggly eyes for my birthday!

Stephanie did an awesome job creating the wallhangings in the background. I spy Mr. Kite, Clocky, Mr. Window and Terry! AND, I dunno if you noticed, but Mallory's shirt is the door to Pee-Wee's Playhouse! She felted it just for the occasion. WHO MAKES A SHIRT FOR THEIR BABY SHOWER?! This awesome lady. That bunting was stitched up by me and was the simplest thing ever: get yerself some quilt binding, cut some triangles, pin 'em inside the binding and stitch. Cake.

Here's one of the prezzies I made for Lil Miss Lydia Dot. Stay tuned for the Pee-Wee bibs I created too! I'll share that with ya'll later this week.

I'm thinkin' Chairry had a good time...although, he looks like he's had a few too many, dontcha think?

It was such a super fun shower for one super awesome friend that I'd do it again tomorrow. And everyday after that. Although I don't know if hubs would agree.

But I bet I know one guy that would!

Thanks for dropping buy this photo-heavy post, ya'll! I hope you enjoyed hearing about it as much as we did putting it together! Stay tuned for one more Pee-Wee post soon! 

Until then, I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I!?

* Pee-Wee's Playhouse Fun Fact: The theme song for Pee-Wee's Playhouse was both written and sung by the one and only Cyndi Lauper! Take a listen here.

** Many a folk got their start on Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Probably the most famous one was Laurence Fishburne who starred as the always-county-always-polite Cowboy Curtis. But did you know that Rob Zombie served as a production assistant? Or that Jimmy Smits played a mechanic (for a hot minute)? Of course, Phil Hartman was Captain Carl and a writer for the show. The list goes on...

*** Pee-Wee's Big Adventure was directed by non-other than Tim Burton! He'd just been fired from Disney (what?! silly mouse!) after creating a lil film known as Frankenweenie. Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee) saw the film and asked Burton to direct his movie...which lead to Beetlejuice that lead to Batman and Tim Burton Fame -n- Fortune. Thanks, Pee-Wee!