February 28, 2011

Helping Out An Amazing Art Teacher



Do you use TeacherTube at all??  If you do...and you have searched art videos...I'm sure you have come across Be Kind To Your Eraser!!  Mrs. Fuglestad is the amazing master mind behind this & many other videos.  She is kind of a Rock Star in the art teacher world(in my opinion).  Anyways...I recently crossed paths with her online, and she asked me if I could help out with a contest that could bless their school with a nice chunk of change. 

Take a moment and vote!!!!!! Here is all the information you will need. 
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!


One of our Fugleflicks (student created art related movies) is a finalist in the National Geographic Find Your Footprint contest.
We're trying to win a $36K prize package for our school and we need votes.

There is no login or email sharing or anything time consuming.

All you do is click vote for "Let's Be Green When its Time to Clean"

You can vote only once per browser per computer or mobile device.

Voting goes until March 16th and we're in LAST place right now:(



If you don't know about Mrs. Fuglestad....here are her links!! 











February 27, 2011

YAM

Y.A.M.
YOUTH ART MONTH!!!!!!!!!

March is just a few days away...and hopefully my bloggie friends know...it is YOUTH ART MONTH!(also Music in the Schools Month..make sure your music teachers know this!!)  So I want to hear what you all are doing to promote YAM?  Any fun special activities? Art Shows? Contests? Special Projects? Parent Nights?  Maybe your state has already sent out a list of ideas for you?  SHARE!!!!!!  Leave me a comment or send me an e-mail over the next week...and I'll post a list of YAM ideas!!!!!  Together we can positively impact our communities with the arts!!!  CAN I GET AN AMEN?!?!?! :) 

February 26, 2011

Art Lessons from Belgium!

Here is another great new blogger!!!!  This blogger is teaching 7th & 8th grade in Belgium(you may have guessed that from the blog title..ha ha).  I admire those that teach middle/junior high...because I know its not my area!  I did my student teaching in Montreal, Quebec & it was in grades 7-11..which is their high school .  I knew from that experience that elementary & college ages were where I had my strength!!  Anyways...back to Art Lessons from Belgium!   I really love the projects I see & am AMAZED at the level of ability from the students!!! I think that also speaks highly of the teacher. Plus I always love to see what is going on in other countries!  Look at this image...how wonderful is that!!!!  You'll have to go to the blog and read more about it.

February 25, 2011

Introducing smARTcookie

I get e-mails all the time from art teachers around the world with questions & such. I recently received an e-mail from Ms. Amer, and she asked me to take a look at her art blog. She's relatively new to the art blogging community. She seems to do a lot of projects based off of artists...but with some fresh takes!
This is one of my fav. things I saw on her blog!


If you have a chance, take a moment and look for yourself!!

February 24, 2011

I'm really getting into this space theme!!!!

Last weekend I had the chance to go to Huntsville,AL & visit the Space & Rocket Museum!!!  I got a ton of great pictures to show my students!!!  This is perfect for our art show theme(or any space nerd like myself!!)If you are ever in the Huntsville area...this is a MUST DO!!!!!  They also have an art museum that I've heard was nice, but it closed at 4pm...and I stayed way longer than I expected at the Space & Rocket Museum!

I'm a Stylish Blogger?

Thank you so much Mrs. Knight's http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/ selecting Art With Mr. E for this Stylish Blogger Award.  I'm not sure how I feel about being a stylish blogger with a big pink circle award on my post...but I'll take it as a complement!! :) hee hee
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Here are the rules for this award:

1) Link back to the one who gave you the award!
2) Share 7 things about yourself.
3) Pick other bloggers that you feel should get the award & post their links with this post.
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7 Things About Mr. E

1)  I did not have art till I was in high school.
2)  I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was in 1st grade(but didn't know what type of teacher..I love music, science, history..etc!!!)
3)  I have sang in front of thousands of people.
4)  I did my student teaching in Montreal, Quebec.
5)  I lived in Istanbul, Turkey for a summer...AND LOVED IT!
6)  I grew up in a town of 70 people in the middle of a forest in Appalachia (2 houses down from the house my dad was born in...and a few streets away form the 1 room school house my dad attended!!)
7)  I auditioned for Biggest Loser..but didn't make it(don't think I was big enough for them).

Other Stylish Blogs:

Ms. Malone's Art Room ( http://msmalonesartroom.blogspot.com/ ) - Ms. Malone is actually one of my best buds. Like the little sister I never wanted(ha ha). We went to undergrad together in Ohio, she moved down to Nashville to teach after I went and spoke to BGSU's art ed department, grad school through U of I's online MAT program together, and we've served on a million teams together for MNPS. 

Art Matters ( http://artchattermatters.blogspot.com/ ) - Mrs. Fritz & I started teaching in 1997...as part of the 80 art teachers MNPS hired to fill every elementary school.  She is part of the original art gang...and is truly like family to me.  She also joined Janet & I on obtaining our masters through U of I.  She has been at the same school since 1997(which is pretty amazing I think).

February 17, 2011

Watercolor Alien Birds- 1st




This group of 1st graders did a great job with their alien birds!!  I realized I had not done a lot of painting with my 1st graders this year.  Some classes have struggled, but this group made me proud!!! We first had a class discussion on what makes a bird a bird.  We decided as a group that their alien bird had to have at least 2 or 3 of those characteristics.  I'll try to post finished results later!!!

My Little Artist

This is me & my sweet baby girl creating in my studio at home!  She's going to be 2 in March.

February 12, 2011

4th of July Projects???




We had two more snow days this past week! I'm over it. I believe we've only had one full week of school since coming back from Christmas break. Not only that...the number of absentees have been crazy! Prior to our snow days, we had over 70 students out two days in a row!(we have a little over 500 kids). Grading, Art Show, Mayors Art Show...all gonna be a little crazy this nine weeks...I just gotta accept it! As of right now...I think we're going the first full week of June (we should have been out May 26th). The snow better be done....cause we're getting dangerously close to my summer camps!

February 10, 2011

Flowers for Space - Kindergarten


I read to my kindergarten class Leo Lionni's book Fredrick.  If you've not seen this book...like most of Lionni's books...it is super cute and totally kindergarten appropriate. It is a story about field mice getting ready for winter, all except for Fredrick it seems.  He says he's storing up sun rays, colors, and words for the long winter days.  I thought this would be a perfect connection with our space theme.  What if you were going to outerspace and couldn't take or grow flowers?  Like a dreamy memory of flowers on a warm summer day...my students created these fun pictures.  Now they are very much like a post I saw on another blog, but I can not remember for the life of me which?!?!  Anyways.  They first drew flowers using a white crayon.  Next they painted blotches of color over the whole paper(I use the biggie cakes watercolor sets that have only 4 colors in them).  Then the following week they used Sharpie to draw over top of that.  I'm thinking of adding on more layer...but not totally sure yet.  Maybe glitter glue or some shiney paper? 






February 03, 2011

Having one of "THOSE" days!!!!!!

I LOVE MY JOB I LOVE MY STUDENTS I LOVE MY JOB I LOVE MY STUDENTS I LOVE MY JOB I LOVE MY STUDENTS I LOVE MY JOB I LOVE MY STUDENTS I LOVE MY JOB

You ever have one of those days where you have to remind yourself that you love your job & love your students?  That is where I am at.  It is a build up of a week or so of frustration.  My students seem to have given up?!?!?!  I've got all these fun projects going on for the art show about aliens, robots, bright colors, paint, printing..etc..etc.  Yet I'm seeing half hearted attempts, little creativity, poor craftsmanship, and a complete lack of direction following.  I know I've heard the other special area & classroom teachers talk about some of the same issues going on and their rooms, but I'm not use to it in the art room.  Maybe the snow days have thrown them off?  I'm just frustrated...and sad.  I want my kids to be successful...but with a lazy "I don't care" attitude...it will not come easy for them!!!

February 01, 2011

Alien School Pictures

All my classes are in full Alien/Space/Futuristic mode at this time!  4th grade looked at Mona Lisa, and discussed all the ins & outs of portrait art.  They then created an alien class photograph/school picture.  We used watercolor pencils to color them.  This was a 2 day project.  I'm really thrilled with how some of them turned out!!!  Interesting though...spelling & cleavage must not be important in alien schools?!?!  Take a look and you'll see what I mean!??! :) ha ha To be fair...we were looking at the Mona Lisa for inspiration & she does have some cleavage showing.