RUBRICS?

So I am wanting to use a self assessment rubric with my students next year on most projects.  I need to keep it simple & generic.  I teach so many limited english, resource, and special ed students...I do not want it to stress them(or any other child really).  I just want to get them thinking about their work with a  more critical eye.  You know how hard it would be to design a new rubric for every lesson, every grade level, every week?!?!?!!  So what ya got.  I'm interested to hear/see how you handle such things.  If you want to send me a Word Doc..just e-me at artwithmre@yahoo.com

THE CICADAS ARE HERE!!!!!!!!!! -Kindergarten

Do you have Cicadas where you live?  I don't remember them in Ohio.  We had Locust, but I don't remember Cicadas?  Here is a link to learn more if you so desire ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada ).  I first encountered the cicada my first or second year teaching in TN.  This version of the bug comes out every 13 yrs.  There are annual ones...and I read there was a 17 yr one as well(but I'll have to wait a few more years to see if that is true).  So they come out of the ground after 13 yrs..and transform into this otherworldly looking creature.  They leave their "shells" behind...and the kids love to pick them up and play with them.  I decided to do a lesson on cicadas with my Kindergarten students to get them prepared. I had a powerpoint, MP3 of their mating song(which is very loud and very annoying after awhile!!!), and some of the "shells".  The kids LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Gross is good at this age I guess! ha ha  We then created collage cicada!  I hung them up  in the hall & created a stir!!!  The whole school is now cicada crazy & kids keep bringing me the little buggers!!

Saving the Floors

I'm not sure if I ever shared this before?  Each year I place felt on the bottom of my chairs to prevent them from scratching up the floors.  I match the felt to the color theme of my bulletin boards, but more than that I fine it works better than tennis balls.  You take a square of felt..fold it over...and rubber band it on!  I have only had 2 fall off this year, and my floors still look almost like the first day of school!  Just thought I'd pass that tidbit on to you!

Guess What I'm Doing?!?

So my life is going to be pretty much jammed packed this summer!!!  We're writing the elementary art curriculum for the district, developing an inservice to introduce the new curriculum/standards/pacing guide to the elementary art teachers of Nashville(over 100 of us), I'm on the state text book adoption team for art, I'm teaching at an art camp....OH...AND WE'RE HAVING A BABY THE FIRST PART OF JULY!?!?!?!?!!? (not to mention that my daughter is full out terrible 2's!!!)  I usually go back to school mid/late July and start working on my room. I hand make all my bulletin boards & boarders, and it takes a good bit of time.  So I decided to start now while my 4th graders are away at camp(and I have an extra planning time).  It's odd doing it now while I'm still looking at this years room....but I know I'll appreciate it when I come back to set my room up!!

News About Ai Weiwei

A year or so ago I first encountered the work of Ai Weiwei.  He is a contemporary artist from China.   His work does not always excite the communist leaders of China because it speaks out & honestly...which doesn't always jive with how the communist want the world to see them.  Anyways...I just found this link today.  How can a person just disappear?  Hopefully he will be found soon & in good health, and be able to continue his work!!!!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110511/ap_en_ot/eu_britain_ai_weiwei

AS SEEN ON BLOGSPOT

 It's that time of year when you begin going through your supplies & getting rid of the bad...preparing for the next school year(well..at least for me it is....neat freak/o.c.d.ish).  I actually enjoy going through markers...I find it relaxing.  Anyways..I've seen several people leaching dried out markers to make a liquid watercolor.  I have never heard, seen, or tried this before?!?!  I just had to give it a go!!

(I love the AS SEEN ON TV products too!!!)

As I was checking the markers, I placed the dried out ones in a bowl of water.  Some of which I mixed...yellow & green, black/blue/purple/grey, pink & purple..etc.  I also decided to keep the lids...because I know I can come up with a 3-D project to use them(just haven't thought of one yet).  I did this one Friday, and let them set over the weekend.

I removed the markers(threw them away...didn't want to wash them off and dry them..how ungreen of me I know?!?!).  Kind of looks like Kool-Aid?!?!  Glad I don't have Life Skills students coming in today!!

This is my test piece.  The colors are not super vibrant.  Maybe I used too much water?  I'm thinking about letting them set out for a few more days & seeing if through evaperation the remaining color becomes more concentrated?  Any suggestions from those of you who have tried this before??  Also...how do you  store it?  

Rulers, Colored Pencils, and A Little Direction -3rd Grade

Great Professional Development Day!

Our district offers professional development here and there, but it is hardly ever art focused.  Teachers that want to participate in PD have to sign up through a system called ERO & usually it is a limited number.  I was co-leading the Google Presentation workshop with Tisch, and had around 20 awesome art teachers from elementary & middle school in attendance.  I've found that if you want PD...sometimes you have to do it yourself(ya just can't wait for it to happen).  We started the day with a getting to know you Google Presentation of 2 Truths & a Lie(too funny & very eye opening!! ha ha).  Then we moved into creating presentations of common lesson ideas.  Some were very specific. Some were artist focused. Some were process focused.  Some where concept focused.  The teachers then "shared" their Google Presentation with me(I created a gmail just for this PD), and I uploaded them to a blogspot.  This blogspot will be a new resource page for the art teachers of Nashville(as well as anyone else who stops by for a visit).  It is a work in progress...and could be updated from now till forever(or whenever I stop teaching/drop dead).  I am hoping we'll continue to add Presentations to the site for a long time so it will become the Art Presentation Library I dream it can be!!!  Oh...and the teachers...had a great time!!  How can ya not when you get a fun group of people together to talk shop & make stuff?!?!?  My goal next year is that we have at least 4 PD days that focus on media.  We can't all be awesome at everything..and some of us did not take classes in college that would help us teach what we're suppose to be teaching(print making...weaving..clay..etc).  Or maybe we're ok at it...but we want to get new ideas from other teachers.  The thing is...we have enough experts in our ranks.....we don't have to go outside of our system to find people to lead our PD!!! 

Wanna take a peek at what we did......

MNPS ART RESOURCE

Google Presentation Instead of Power Point

My dear friend Tisch Nye taught me something new today. She is a technology coach for our district, but use to be an art teacher. In fact, she was the art teacher that I took over for 10 yrs ago at Tulip Grove Elementary. Anyway, she was at Tulip Grove to do internet safety with our second graders. She stopped by to discuss the workshop we're co-leading Thursday. I wanted to do a make & take for art teachers that was technology focused. My thought was to create a library of art focused Power Points that we could have at our disposal. Have 20+ art teachers working all day...we could have a ton of Power Points! However, Tisch suggested using Google Presentations instead. I had not heard of it before, but she gave me a quick lesson & I was ready to go! Here is my first creation. I took the pictures I used from the coil pot post the other day. What do you think?? Have you used Google Presentations before? I think I like it, just takes some getting use to.






***Ok...I know that the words are super close to the frame & it kind of cuts them off. This was my first try. I would move the words & pictures up a bit next go-round. Also, why is it better than power point??? From what I can tell so far...you can access it from any internet site by pulling up your google account. You can share it in doc & have others work on it . Great for group presentations. No need to e-mail huge files or flash drives! Easy to use!! That is what I've seen so far!***

More than just a teacher...

We are so much more than just teachers.  I don't know if anyone knows just how many hats we wear in a days time?  We're teachers, counselors, police, parents, and poop whisperers. What...you aren't a poop whisperer??  Well, in my 14 yrs....today was the first time I had that title.  I was in the midst of teaching my 4th grade class when I heard a blood curdling scream.  I wasn't too alarmed because we do have a few Life Skills students that are screamers.  As it continued, I did not recognize the scream(teacher super power...being able to tell students apart by their scream).  I poked my head out in the hall to see what was up.  The screams were coming from the boy's bathroom across the hall from my room.  I went in to see what was up(going into the 3rd & 4th boys bathroom should come with HazMat training!).  One of our students was having some "bathroom issues".  Lets just say some things were havin' a hard time comin' out.  He was hysterical.  At its worst...he yelled out..."I think its going to make another hole in me!!!"  What do you do in a situation like that?!?!?!  I've been trained in dealing with my wife delivering our child, suicide intervention, and CPR.  Well...CPR wasn't going to help in this situation.  The other two though...came in handy.  I spoke calmly to him, and assured him that he was not going to have another hole at the end of this.  I told him to take short breaths and try to focus on something else.  I let him know that relaxing might help things "move along" a bit easier.  I got him to calm down & finish his business(there is way much more to the discussion the two of us had..but I'll not go into those details!!! ha ha).  He came up to me later and thanked me for helping him.  I am the poop whisperer, but I'd rather not have a hat for that!!!! 

Stealin' from a Thief

You know how in this bloggie world..we see a cool project & we just gotta try it ourselves!!!  Well, one of my best friends, Janet Malone (http://msmalonesartroom.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-point-perspective.html) ...stole the lesson from Mrs. Knight's blog ( http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/2011/03/highlights-from-this-week.html )..and I decided to try it out with my students.  Mrs. Knight's were done at the 5th grade level & Janet's were done with 4th grade.  I decided to try it out with 3rd grade.  They didn't do too bad, but the other two teachers' work looks amazing!  Maybe you wanna give this lesson a try.  Everybody's doin' it! :) ha ha

Amazing Birthday Present!

If you have followed my blog for awhile, you may know about my love of turtles!  It started as a child, and has become a running theme in my classroom(the kids always get me turtle things for Christmas or draw turtle pictures at home for me!).  My birthday was yesterday(37..ugh?!?!), and my wife insisted on making the day special for me..even though I was ok with not really celebrating.  One of the amazing birthday presents I received was this little turtle.  He's super cute....but that isn't what's so amazing!

 He's a 4GB flash drive!  My school computer has died 3 times this year...and I did not have my files backed up(LEARN FROM MY STUPIDITY!!!!). So my wife thought this would be a way to get me to back up my files..throw a turtle into the mix!! ha ha  To top it off..she got the tech from our schools to write me a note telling me to back up my files that she placed with the gift.  I'll for sure back up my files now....maybe tomorrow? 



Clay Coil Pots ...Step by Step - 2nd

Several years ago a friend of mine went to a clay workshop & they suggested using flower pots as a form for students to build their coil pots in.  At first I wasn't sure, but after trying it....I was a believer!!  I have almost 100% success rate now with coil pots, and before...there were always a few students in the room that just couldn't do it.  The pots also absorb moisture from the clay which speeds up dry time. 

You need to place some tape in the bottom of the pot if they have a hole...if you don't..they will have an outty on the bottom which will set your pots to rockin'!

Students write their name on tape stuck to the side.  This way I can rewrite their names on the bottom of the pot the next day when I pop them out.

Give each child a lump of clay.  I guesstimate it, and let the students know they can have more clay if needed.  After so many years of doing it...I'm usually spot on.

Have the students take a small chunk of clay and squeeze it in their hands into a cylinder type shape.  I feel this is easier than rolling it into a ball, but you do it the way it works best for you & your students.

I have the students start the coil in their hand, but quickly have them move it to the mat(laminated 12x18 construction paper).  I tell them to roll up and down the clay using a flat hand. 

To begin their pot they must make a coil "cookie" for the bottom of the pot.  I tell them to roll it like a snail shell, and then check to make sure it will fit in the bottom of the pot.

They then need to smooth the one side of their coil cookie, and that will become the inside of the bottom of their pot.

Place the smoothed coil cookie in the bottom of the pot.

Repeat making a coil(some kids like to call them snakes), and place it in the pot going around the edge of the coil cookie & beginning to go up the wall of the pot.

Each time a coil is added, students should smooth the inside of their pot till they see no lines on the inside.  I usually encourage my students to push down when smoothing their pot, because when some students pull up...they begin making the walls too thin & flat to the walls of the pot(which will crack if they do that).

Repeat process till they come to the top of the flower pot(or close to it).

Let clay dry over night.

Pop clay out the next day and carve students name into the bottom of the pot.  They clay is still moist, but the form is set.  Allow to dry for 3 or 4 days(depends on humidity, thickness of pot..etc), and fire.  I usually will let my set for a week, just to be safe.