Summer Art Camp

This summer I'll be teaching at two summer art camps!

I've been teaching at Art al Sol the past few years. This camp is sponsored by Metro Nashville Public Schools. There are two sessions, each a week long from 8:30 till 2:30. We'll(there are two of us teaching)be working with kids from 8 -1o yrs old. It is AMAZING! The kids want to be there, and usually come with some strong art skills. It is amazing how much we are able to accomplish over the week. You can see last years projects scrolling through on the slide show on my page. I'll be sure to add pictures later this month during/after the camp!

In July, I'll be teaching at a kids camp for two weeks in the Donelson area. This camp is in conjunction with a production of Beauty and the Beast(the Disney version). The kids will be learning dance, music, drama, and visual arts. I'll be developing lessons that are based on the movie, which is challenging and fun! I don't want to just say.."Make Mrs. Potts". I'm still working out some of my ideas, but will be sure to post those projects as well in July!!

Stay tuned blog readers....summer does not mean Mr. E is done blogging!!!

End of the Year Art Room Prep

The last week of school is here! I've been taking my time

at prepping for summer & the next school year.

• The kids art work is the first thing that needs to go! I still have a few things left, but for the most part all of that was handed back last week or the week before.

• I also started a few purging activities. I know that most art teachers are natural pack rats, but that can get you in a whole lot of trouble. I tend to purge things throughout the year, but at the end of each year I evaluate what I've been using, and what just doesn't seem to serve a purpose anymore. GET RID OF STUFF PEOPLE!! YOU CAN DO IT!! I'm a bit OCD, and have issue with clutter...so it is a bit easier for me, but I think it is important that we all do this.

• Take an inventory of what supplies you have, and what you will need for the next school year. I usually have an order ready to go for the next school year(even though I'm not able to place it till Sept/Oct). Be ahead of the game so you know what projects you have supplies for to start the year!

• CLEAN! CLEAN! CLEAN!!!! I usually have my last class or two go through all of my supply boxes(I've got a total of 14 boxes per supply) and check for broken, dried up, over sharpened..etc supplies! I give a table or two all my marker boxes and a piece of paper. I have them make a circle about the size of a quarter and color it in to see if the markers are dried out or not. Then we see what colors we are lacking from the box and replace them with new markers I give a couple other tables all my crayon boxes, and have them pull out little nubs and paper. I like to get rid of anything smaller than half, and put some new crayons in their place. With colored pencils, we check for split, too small, and shavings in the box. I also have those students sharpen the remaining pencils and then add new to the box. That way they are clean & prepped for the next school year.

• I go through my classroom and see if anything isn't working ergonomically. What supplies can I put away on the top shelf of my supply closet and what do I need easier access too! Getting these things taken care of now at the end of the year will make a smoother beginning to the next.

• Art for the hall ways! WHAT?? Yep, I have students create some art that I'll hang at the start of the school year. I use a different color theme in my room each year(on a 5 yr rotation). I also love turtles. So the last week of school I have my students make turtles in that color them that will be hung outside my room for the first day of school! It helps set the mood for the year, I feel.

• I'll also start working on my bulletin boards for the following year. I hand make my letters, boarders...pretty much everything. So, anything I can get done now helps me out a ton!!! Plus, this is a great time to laminate things. Usually at the start of the school year, the classroom teachers are so busy laminating EVERYTHING....it is either always busy or empty by the time I reach it! I find that at the end of the school year, there is less demand.

• If time allows, I'll also go through all my example boxes(I have 5 boxes: paintings, weavings, collage, drawings, and odds & ends.) and make sure everything is where it belongs and that I don't have 20 examples of the same project. I try to get my duplicate examples to my student teachers, but there are times that they build up. I have 5 of some grade level...so when I start the project fresh with each class....the examples pile up!

I hope this helps some of you! If you have any tips, please share!!

....more added...

I have been looking on-line to find other amazing

art blogs, and there are some great ones out there!!!!!

I'm slowly adding more to my blog lists on the side. Please take some time and check them out!!!

4th Grade Weavings in Progress

3rd Grade Clay Animals

I wasn't super excited after my 3rd graders had made their clay animals. They seemed to lack personality & had an overall boring appearance. However, after they painted them, I felt they came to life!

A tiger ready to pounce!

Frog relaxin'!

A very cool horse laying down! A crazy kitty standing up!

Lions and tigers and bears..OH MY(well..no bears this time)

Elephant with droopy ears.. One swan a swimming..

A duck going full steam ahead!!

1st Grade Self Portrait Collages

MAD AT WAL-MART!!!

I know that Wal-Mart is equal to evil in most people's eyes, but I have always appreciated the craft & fabric section at our local Super Wal-Mart in Hermitage,TN. I have purchased 100's of yards of fabric over the years from the $1 yard table....have obtained almost all my yarn through them(colors and quality is just as good as going through school catalogs!)....and many other last minute items I might need(they're on my way to school). Well, our location is going to begin renovations, and have decided to cut the craft section down to almost nothing. There will be no more fabric and the yarn is probably going as well. The rest of the craft section will be downsized. We have Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and Jo-Ann's in the area, but they're prices are much higher!!!! I'm mad at Wal-Mart....but writing the company does no good. So I'm just venting here!!!

...end of the school year: teaching & grad school...

It's that time of year again...busy trying to get projects completed, art returned, grades filed, and classroom packed up(we have to pretty much pack up our classroom at the end of each year so they can clean our rooms top to bottom!!). With programs, awards, Fun/Field Day, field trips..etc.......this is not an easy task! I must say that it has been a challenging school year for me. Not so much because of the birth of my daughter, but that has taken some of my attention. Mostly, the challenge to keep my focus has been grad school!! I did not realize how time consuming it was going to be this past semester! Studio classes always take time, but I had no idea exactly how much time my aesthitics class was going to take!!! PRAISE THE LORD THAT'S OVER!!! ha ha The grade is still up in the air, but it's possible I could get an A!! I was praying for at least a C(that's how tough it was!!). I'm not sure about my grad for my studio class. The prof. did not seem as excited about my work this semester, but I liked them. I did the 4 seasons............winter is missing & a version of Fall that I

decided to try differently(my try to add it later)