New Digital Camera

So our wonderful school PTO gave us each a $50 gift card to Staples.  I usually can find some things there that come in handy...Sharpies, staplers..etc.  This year though...as I was walking around...I saw this Kodak EasyShare for only $49.95!  I had been wanting a new camera that I could keep in the art room.  Ours from home is always full of baby pictures, and the schools camera could be about anywhere at anytime?!?!  Since I am the yearbook team(ha ha)...I knew that something like this would really come in handy.  It only has 3x zoom, but really...when you are taking inside pics...you don't need much more than that.    I LOVE IT!  Best purchase with a PTO gift card EVER!!!!!! 

Art Room Bulletin Boards 2010

Dr. Ed's Annual Art Drive 2010

What a blessing it is to have people that care about you, what you do, and the students you work with.  Dr. Ed & those that go to him...have once again gone over and above!!!!  I'm so thankful for the supplies, money, and giftcards.  They help so much in providing a quality art education to my students here at Tulip Grove.  With my budget being cut last year & being unsure of what will happen this year....I will use these gifts wisely!!!  THANK YOU DR. ED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Art Room Bulletin Boards 2010

Hey everyone!  I'm sorry I have not posted my art room bulletin board displays before now.  It has been a slow start for me this year.  Life with a 17 month old means a rearranging/changing of priorities.  My room has taken a back seat from past years...but it is slowly coming along & I'm ready to share some pictures.  More will be coming soon!!!

mini-Monet

I found this artical very interesting.  This child/artist made more in an hour and a half then I make in 7 or 8 yrs!?!?!?!  ha ha  Good for him.  I loved what he was saying about painting cows & horses.  Too funny! Enjoy the read!

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Eight-year-old-Hailed-Painting-Prodigy/ss/events/lf/081310kwilliamson#photoViewer=/100813/481/urn_publicid_ap_org6ee49a74333a4e49b8078b7104d3eebf

Chihuly Art Unit Blog

I created a blog for our Art Teacher Inservice, which is tomorrow.  I & three other art teachers are leading the sessions for the elementary division.  We'll have over 90 elementary art teachers coming through our classes & going on a field trip to Cheekwood & The Frist Center to see the Chihuly Exhibits.  Our sessions are hands on studio projects, but I wanted to have something that the teachers could revisit once they get back to their classrooms that they could actually use for their lessons.  On the site you will find links, lessons, videos, pictures, and more.  I thought I'd post it on this blog....because some of you might want to try the lessons as well (even if Chihuly's work isn't in your city).  There should be enough information & images for you to provide your students the background knowledge necessary for the unit plan.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions on it. 

http://chihulyelementaryartlessons.weebly.com/

The site is for educational purposes only.

A Comment Concerning My No-No Board

You will have those that do not believe in what you do.  You will have those that question your methods, styles, and teaching.  This is part of being a teacher, and also a part of putting yourself out there for the world to see (be warned bloggers).  I must say, I have only received a few comments like this over the past few years.  When people disagree with you...it allows you to reassess what you do & decided if the practice needs to be changed...or if you are right in what you are doing.  Let me present this to you.

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Comment from Evelyn Concerning My No-No Board:

  This is disgusting!!!!! If my child had this in their class I would pull them out immediately! Why don't you try inspiring your students with what they CAN do instead of shutting them down with what they CAN'T do!!!!! Make a board with good examples that you can encourage them to follow instead of just telling them that they are wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a teacher and I would never use this!!

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How does someone respond to such a comment?  Well, the first reaction is anger.  HOW DARE THEY QUESTION ME!  That passes quickly though.  I remind myself that they have never met me, never been in my classroom, have never seen me teach, have never seen my love for my students & my subject matter, do not know my students, and probably from their comment.....are not an art teacher.  This places the comment into a category that I can now handle/deal with.  They are speaking out of a one sided ignorance.  I'm not saying they are without right to their opinion or that they are ignorant...or that I should just dismiss what they say.  I'm saying that they are speaking from their side of the screen & their experiences. 

So why do I have a No-No Board?!?  Well, I'm guessing that Evelyn will never agree with me.  I'm ok with that.  I'd say many teachers that come from a Montessori background may not agree with me either.  I'm ok with that as well.  My No-No Board allows the children to know what I'm looking for in their work.  I'm an art teacher...I'm there to teach art.  I teach my students how imagine, how to draw, art history, how to paint, colors, elements of art...etc.   I am not there to give my students paper and let them make whatever/however they want.  That would make me nothing but a baby sitter with supplies.  Saying no to a child does not kill their creativity.  I never say no to anything without saying yes to something else!  Does letting a student know they have misspelled a word, used punctuation wrong kill their creativity in writing (I'm terrible at spelling & still love to write)?  No, because as a teacher you teach them how to spell or punctuate correctly.

Anyways?!?!?!  To each their own.  I have 13 years worth of proof

No-No Board has never killed any one's creativity. 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?? 

There's a Wocket in My Pocket!

I found a wonderful Dr. Seuss book called THERE'S A WOCKET IN MY POCKET!  Each creature's name is associated with and object or place...they just change the first letter or couple letters of the object or place.  So I had my students brainstorm some ideas after I read them the book(had to be different from the book).  We then created these acrylic paintings.  I LOVE THEM!!!!

Green Eggs & Ham...with a twist!

My summer camp kids created a picture of their fav. foods!  We then talked about how we can use mixed media & a variety of greens to create an interesting picture.  I really loved the results.  We used red or orange to pop the image. 

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Responding to Heather...

Heather, thank you so much for your question & for trusting me to help you with it.  I did not have an e-mail for you or a way to contact you...so I hope you find this post!!!  

Curriculum mapping is challenging...and when you're a new teacher & it isn't your actual trained field..WOW!  Blessings to you as you work through this.  I will tell you that there is no one perfect way!  So give yourself grace as you work through it.  Plus..I'm sure your administrator will allow some wiggle room as you are progressing through the year if you deviate from the original plan. 

Take your State or National Standards to reference as you are planning.  You may want to base your projects on themes.  The themes could run for a week or two....or could last a whole nine weeks(or however long your grading period lasts).  The themes could cross over multiple media/concepts/projects.  This type of consistency of theme will build excitement in your students.  Say you want to do farm animals in the lower elementary age....they could do a drawing, a tempera painting, and a clay animal.  In the lessons you can focus on space/landscape, texture, color/color mixing, proportion..etc.  You have covered a grading period & hit a ton of standards.  In this...you can bring in elements of art/principles of design...AND art history.  Breaking these up and teaching elements, principles, history for the sake of teaching them feels too disjointed. Approaching it more fluid will feel more natural to you and the students!  I'm not sure how much this helps...but it was a really big question.  Get back with me and ask more questions...that will help!  Or..if you feel comfortable..it may be easier to talk on the phone.  You can e-mail me if you like at artwithmre@yahoo.com

Here is Heather's comment/post to me...if any of you have other thoughts you'd like to share with her..please post a comment under this post!  Thanks so much for your help.  Together we're stronger!
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Hello Mr. E.

I have just accepted a position as K-8th grade Art teacher in a private christian school. This is my first teaching job and I only have a minor in art. (So I did my student teaching in a regular ed. elementary class.) Currently, I've been instructed to come up with a curriculum map of what I will be teaching and when (for the year.) My question for you, where do I begin? ha ha.. big question I know! I have been given a few art curriculum books but have been told to "run with it."  I'm not sure if I should divide the year up into the elements of art and teach history, periods, and different mediums in with that or if I should section it by; elements, periods, artists, 2d, 3d art...
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One Fish Two Fish....well..actually...A LOT OF FISH!!!

For the Who's....they were my younger group...we focused on One Fish Two Fish!  They did an acrylic painting & a collage.  I'm having trouble with the new upload and arranging of photos...so sorry they are not all together neatly!! 

Seussical the Musical Camp!

This is my second year teaching at the arts summer camp for the Donelson Station Fifty Forward.  They have a theater company and do a kids camp that connects to the production.  Last summer was Beauty and the Beast(you can look back to see those projects here on my blog).  I really enjoyed the projects I did with the students, but the situation was a bit difficult.  I had 2 groups of 30 students each(in a small room with big tables)...in each group were ages 6 to 13 yrs old.  As you know...this is a challenging situation.  I wasn't sure I wanted to return...HOWEVER...when I heard they were going to do Seussical the Musical I just couldn't pass it up.  What fun projects could come from that theme!!!  The best part was they changed the set up...I had 3 groups of around 20 & they were broken up more based on age. 

So here comes the projects I did with the students! 

Kids' Classes at Hobby Lobby

I'll be teaching Kids' Classes at Hobby Lobby in Hermitage,TN during the month of July.

Here are the dates, times, and themes for the classes.  Please e-mail me if you are interested in attending.  Each class will run for 2 hrs & cost $25.  This will include all supplies. 

AGES FOR THE CLASS- 8-12 yrs old

JULY 10th

10am-12pm

NATURE

(This class will be themed on nature.  We'll draw, paint, and collage!)

JULY 13th

2-4pm

BUGS

(This class will be all things buggy!  They can be gross, pretty, funny...whatever!!  We'll do paintings, drawings, and some 3-D bugs.  Bugs are not just a boy thing!)

JULY 15th

2-4pm

WATER

(We'll have fun creating watery pictures in a variety of media.)

JULY 17th

 10am-12pm

Mothers & Daughters

(This class is a mother/daughter class, and we'll need you both!!!  There will be some fun projects which will make fun memories for the both of you.  The projects will be fun & girly!!)

JULY 20th

2-4pm

NATURE

(This class is themed on nature, but we'll be doing different projects than the first nature class.)

Digital Graffiti

I found this on CNN.COM.  I'd love to see this in person!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/06/10/art.festival/index.html

It's over...

Today is the last day of school...and tomorrow is our last day!  This year really did go by fast.  I'm sure selling our house, building a new house(almost finished), finishing my masters, having a 1 yr old made things go a bit quicker!! ha ha  Don't look for me to totally disappear from the blog over the summer though!!!  I am meeting next week to plan our fall inserve for the elementar art teachers of Nashville, I have a summer camp in July I am teaching, and I'm trying to get together some classes to teach at Hobby Lobby over the summer as well.  So look for some post concerning those things in the not too distant future!  I need to get back to packin' up my room for summer!!! 

Line Design w/ Shading- Student Work in Progress

Line Design w/ Shading- The Steps

Another MNPS art teacher showed me this project several years ago, and I really liked it.  I tweeked it a bit here and there, but it is basically as he showed me.  The students LOVE IT!  I do this with 4th grade, but I guess you could try it with other grade levels.  All you need is paper, Sharpie, and colored pencils! 

Start by drawing a curve line across the paper.  Think rolling hill...not roller coaster!

Add 8 dots across the line.  They could be(should be) at different lengths apart.  You need a dot at realtively close to the edges of your paper. 

You will then start connecting the dots.  The dots close to the edge will go off the edge of the paper to an imaginary dot.  You can not cross over any lines.  However, you can share a line as you begin going up and out.  The lines should be taken off the edge of the paper as you extend outwords.  Some sections may be pinched off as other sections grow larger...and that is totally ok. 

This is a students work that's a great example of what it should look like.  The students should pick a group of colors they feel work well together.  The will press harder in the corners...and as they near the center get lighter and lighter.  This is a great way to get them practice with pressure control!!! 

Beginning of the End: Part 2

Reorganize! Now is the time to take stock of what you have & where it is located. Every room is different in regards to storage space...there is no excuse for you not to be organized. I have been in a portable, a regular size classroom, and a room designed as an art room. I've even helped a friend get organized who did art-on-a-cart, and had a small closet for storage. You need to make your space work for you no matter. What do you use most often? What don't you use often, but are not ready to get rid of? What have you held onto for years, and should have been recycled or trashed?

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If you are blessed with a classroom, what do you keep out in view of the kids? Do you have a shelf for everyday supplies? Are there things that could be put up that would declutter your room? Clutter can derail some of your students...not to mention mess with the fung shway of your room!!(ha ha) What kind of storage do you have that you can utilize better?? What products could you buy for your room that could help it to become a more organized place? ***************************************

If you need help processing through your own situation...e-mail me and I'll see what I can do to help! I'd love to have a show on HGTV or TLC where I go into classrooms and organize/decorate them!!!

THE FLOOD-Nashville,TN

Sorry I've not been posting...the kids have been out for a week due to the floods that rocked Nashville this past weekend. Hopefully they'll return next week. Today is the first day for teachers....and tomorrow I'm hoping to have some time that I might be able to takes some pictures and post...we shall see?!?!!? Thank you for all the e-mails & questions about the projects and ideas I've posted on my blog.