Beautiful Oops!

This was our very first project this year. The kids arrived into the classroom and there were papers with PURPLE SPILLS all over them on their desks! What happened? There was only one explanation. Penelope the snake had gotten loose and dragged her tail in the wet paint and made a mess (at least that the story for the younger kids). Should we throw away all this paper? Of course not! What happens when you make a mistake? You make into something new. That's just what these kids did. They let their imaginations run free and created something new and beautiful out of the purple spills.

This lesson has come in handy time and again as I try to teach the students to navigate through problems that arise in our art work and class. A lot of times you will hear one exclaim "it's a beautiful oops! Keep it!" Mistakes happen, a lot in life, what matters is how we react to them. I am really glad I took the time to do this even thought it wasn't one of those lessons that solved the mysteries of art or taught about a some dead artist, or integrated into every subject area... but it left a lasting impression. Even Penelope the snake (the one who spilled the paint) has become our class mascot for the little ones. I change where Penelope is each week and sometimes Penelope even has a question for them! They love to come into art and say "I found Penelope!" 

How do you teach your kids to cope with mistakes in the art room?

Beautiful Oops. . . cow jumps over the moon!

Beautiful oops. . . a duck in a pond.

Beautiful Oops. . . a swing waiting for a kid!

Transforming Everyday Objects through Animation

So I have a new teaching position! Yay! But I've been super, crazy busy (to be expected) and haven't posted. I want to share with you some fun stuff happening in the "new" art classroom.

Transforming Everyday Objects Into Art through ANIMATION!

I challenged the 5th graders to make an animation with an everyday objects. I hardly had to teach the app which was hilarious because it took me a good 20 minutes to figure it out. Apparently mother's now have iPads in the womb.  I thought I was super tech savy and fast. . . until a ten year old sat at my computer and basically set the keys on fire with the speed at which he typed. So I decided not to waste their time as they were so pumped to work in groups and had already been planning their stories (I guess outside of class) once they heard what the next project was going to be.

This was created in less then an hour by my amazing students. But I guess that isn't entirely true because we spent the class before this creating thaumotropes, learning about the persistence of vision, and experimenting with the iPad stop animation.

I am excited to share these at our annual art show! It is going to be a lot of uploading and QR code making but the work is extremely exciting. If you have any advice on the quickest way to upload about 30 animations and create QR codes let me know in the comments!

I am all about transforming everyday objects into art! I think it is one of the highest forms of creativity to be able to look at things in a new way. I would love to here about ideas you have, art that you've done, or lessons you can share, about TRANSFORMING EVERYDAY OBJECTS INTO ART!

Saying Goodbye

A friend of mine called this an Irish Goodbye, the kind of leaving where you just sneak away (usually to avoid being dragged back in for one more round:) I am saying goodbye to a place that has been life for nearly a decade.

If you are just reading my blog, you may or may not know I worked in an inner-city school for many years. When I graduated from RISD I said if I was going to work in education I was going to go to an urban district. At RISD I had worked with kids after school in South Providence and bribed them off the streets and into my art classes with prizes and candy. Most of my kids used the free stuff as an excuse to come to my classes, but I know they really came for the art. In our little safe classroom, in the public library, they brought in their film rolls and I developed them. They wrote about their life and took pictures. They let me into their homes and lives through these pictures. We studied famous photographers like Robert Frank and Lewis Hines. They took pictures of their mother under hair dryers while their sisters looked on, their rooms messy and unkept and their dogs protecting their yard from behind steel fences. Sometimes they dressed up and pretended they were someone else, somewhere else, kings, queens, ninjas and they wrote in that voice. My best friend would come to translate their stories and teach them English, patiently one kid at a time while I taught them how to develop their film.  Selfishly I thought I was "making a difference." I did this for two years. Every once in a while, a kid would stop coming and I would see them hanging on the streets with a group of kids way too old and it was like someone kicked me in the stomach.

I never really wanted to be a teacher before that, but because of them,  I decided I would only work in an urban district.

I wanted to feel like I was making a difference, again selfishly.

When I first got to my first assignment, a middle school, in the worst part of the city, I'm sure teachers put money on how many days I'd last. I walked into this middle school that was "between" principals, was given a key to the room and that was it. Literally. The key did not open the supply closet, so I ran to Walmart and bought supplies the night before (I was hired only a few days before the start of the school year). "This is exactly what I signed up for" I thought. Blonde girl in cowboy boots (before they were cool) who hadn't been to a public school in about 10 years was going to "make a difference." I had an angel step in who took me under her wing and I had the privilege of calling her my mentor (thank you Meg!) and she understood me. She let me figure it out without falling too hard. She sat at my kitchen table while I put together my teacher evaluations and went over it all line by line, lesson by lesson, SHE LET ME WATCH HER TEACH and she was amazing! That is huge! For some reason no one lets you watch them teach as a new teacher. She listened to me cry and told me to pick "one kid",  all I needed to do was make a difference to one. One, naturally turned into two, three, and I am forever grateful for her advice. For a solid two years, I came home hardly able to get the energy up to eat, fell asleep whenever I could and got up to do it all over again. No one told me about that part, the pure exhaustion, I never felt anything like that! As I got better, the job got harder, because I was no longer trying to survive, but truly teach and listen. I had a lot of successes little and big throughout the years, but none of those stories seem to matter too much.

There are so many stories I could tell about my 10 years in urban education but I need something to do when I eventually retire;);) Leaving this city is so anti climatic. I could write a story about how I turned lemons into lemonade very easily, but I don't think that would be authentic. I don't think it is any different now then before I came despite tremendous efforts by many.

This is my daughter in my class on a snow day
 (we couldn't make it to her school so she came to mine since we live in walking distance.)
My students and the teachers I work with have become part of my family.
The students helped me tremendously when I was pregnant, never letting me open a door or lift a thing.
The teachers showered me with gifts for the "new baby".
Her babysitters have always been kids in this neighborhood.
Everyone treats her as one of their own and I treat my students  as my own too!
This class in particular had been with me for many years (our population was transient so this means a lot to me.)
I absolutely loved being their teacher and they always begged me to bring Stella to their class.
Now I'm going to cry!

So as I move onto my new position it is bitter sweet. There won't be a goodbye and it really is better that way. Kids don't remember too much and our students are transient and not used to anyone staying in one place for too long anyways. This will be harder for me then it is for them!

I am so proud to be moving to a place that will value my work, I can feel it already! I am beaming with pride to be joining this special school which is supported in their profession by administration and the community. It is full of smiles, kids who stay their whole elementary career and parents who come in to truly help (and I haven't even met the staff yet!) This week I am going to give myself permission to be excited about this amazing change by going to my new classroom and setting it up. It is with such a heavy heart that I say goodbye to this city, I have no idea what is out there, but I'm brave enough to find out! I will continue to develop lessons on this blog and let you know what ideas inspire my students. Stay tuned, because I feel like the best is yet to come!

Showing Growth in the Art Room

Every time I write a post a song starts playing in my head. . .

It's been a long time, shouldn't have left you. . .
without a dope beat to step to.

So here it is . . . a dope beat to step to aka an art project that works.

Here's an idea to start next year. This year we had huge Kindergarten classes coming to us at all skill levels. The drawings you see on the left are from October. The first month (when I usually do this project) I had to focus on teaching children how to raise their hand and identify their name during attendance, how to find their seat and use supplies. These October self portraits on the left are actually a result of a lot of hard work. Some students learned to write their name or speak it by this time, how to follow directions and use supplies independently. The self portraits on the right are from a week ago, June. If you are an art teacher you can see the progress, especially in the last self portrait.  This was instant (or not so instant!) gratification of growth in the art room at a time when I needed to see this. It was powerful. For next year I will try to have students who come in later do the same self portrait so I can see their progress as well. In one class there was nearly half who didn't have a before picture. Note to self. . . have new students make a self portrait!

Have a wonderful summer and think about starting your year off like this next school year!

Happy Valentine's Day

Today was Valentines day at school! I believe today was a form of payback for not allowing the kids to celebrate Halloween at school. The candy was flowing and the kids were pumped!  Despite being surrounded by 3+ feet of snow at all times and people under 3 feet at all times, I am happy to report all teachers survived! And I'm pretty sure the kids had a great day.

Snow Painting: STEAM PROJECT

If you are looking for a STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, art and math) project for your PreK/Kindergarten artists, look no further then your window sill. Well, if you live in New England!

I am literally teaching in an igloo right now. My windows are completely blocked in by snow. So how do I make lemonade out of lemons? I decided we'd have to use all this snow in an art project with a dash of science. I got the snow directly from my window and put in on their trays which the kids thought was pretty cool. They built with the snow until everyone was "served" (or until they couldn't feel their fingers, whichever came first;) Then we added watercolors in the primary colors. We watched the colors literally melt together. Speaking of melting, we talked about the states of water from solid icy snow, to liquid water and next week to completely evaporated.

So, to make all my friends who aren't snowed in jealous, here is the project (I am totally joking here, if you are in New England I know you can feel my pain.) This one is for you NATALIE 

Kindergarten Creation

Kindergarten Creation

Kindergarteners Color Mixing

Pre-K's painting their SNOW with the Primary Colors

BONUS PROJECT: 1ST Grade Snow Angel Self Portraits (pretty self explanatory)

It's WAR!

I've been waging war this school year on germs and burnout. With a crazy schedule a whole school of germs coming in and out of my room I am treating this like war.

Every time we have a day off I try to get as many vitamins as I can, as all teachers know there is little time for eating during the week. Then I get as many outfits together as I can. After teaching with a half hour break somedays, I can barely take care of myself at the end of the day, let alone my three year old.

THIS IS WHAT WAGING WAR ON THE GERMS AND FATIGUE LOOKS LIKE

GULP! YUCK.

It's been working okay so far. I've been doing this along with a protein shake and some other health food vitamins to supplement my regular diet of caffeine throughout the week (just kidding, sort of.)

Am I the only teacher who has to prepare like a squirrel for just one week of work?

The One Thing That Changed How I Teach

It's no surprise to any one of my friends how much BEING A MOM has changed me. Teaching is no exception. I knew having a kid would change my focus, I had no idea how wonderful and painful all at the same time that could be.

Things I had to do less of

1. Hang out with friends.
Pretty much I don't even get called anymore because my answer is depressingly the same. I can't. I never want to leave my kid at daycare a minute longer then necessary, call it mommy guilt, but somethings have to give.

2. Extra Activities. I had to give up a few extra things I was doing. I stopped writing for an art magazine, doing an after school gardening club, and just slumping and watching TV after work. Why? Because I need to focus on things that replenish me at the end of the day to avoid burnout.

3.  Sleeping. Before kid (I only have one) I religiously needed 8 hours of sleep to feel normal. It's an effort to stay in bed after 6 or 7.

4. Shopping. What three year old likes to shop? From grocery shopping to clothes shopping it's important to keep our trips short and sweet.

Things I did more of

1. Student Accountability. I simply could no longer stay at work until 7 or 8 pm anymore. I decided that I can't do everything for everybody. Now the kids are in charge of clean-up (really not just pretend clean-up and a pat on the back.) The older classes who have a little more "edge" have a student teacher, a student in the class who gives directions, picks people to pass supplies, takes attendance. This takes the pressure off of me to address every behavior. Truth be told if you met me you might think I'm "too nice" to teach effectively in an inner-city school.  I am nice, but that doesn't have anything to do with controlling a classroom. Being "nice" means fear as a form of control does not work for me. Placing the students in charge of monitoring each other in my tougher classes especially, really helps free me up to teach and makes my tough classes accountable to their peers.

2. Prioritize. Prioritizing DOES NOT mean ranking everything you are already doing in order of importance. I had to ask the question, does this activity/task/person make me feel better, does this feed my soul. Obviously if it was work, I had to do it anyways, but anything that didn't truly contribute to my well being outside of work had to go. That being said all the friends I had to hang out with less, I try to keep up with in different ways (a fb message or a little help here or there to show I really care and will be back at the end of this whirlwind of having a baby.)

3. Follow my Passion. So when you have a kid you eliminate a lot, but sometimes you add. My focus changed. You probably notice I don't post a lot of projects anymore, they just aren't what inspires me! I am more inspired by the little stories from the day, the impact that I see being made, projects are the backbone of the program but not what fuels me (so I simply don't post about them in my down time.) I also picked up a camera for the first time in 4 years after my child was born. After going to school for photography and pursuing filmmaking, I decided to give it all up to be a better teacher. I was exhausted and overwhelmed with teaching. When I starting to photograph my child, it helped me bond with her, and remember my first love for photography. I was inspired to take better pictures and be a better mom.

Do you have to have a child to increase student accountability, prioritize and follow your passion? ABSOLUTELY NOT! For me, I did. It was part of my journey. I was obsessed with my identity as a teacher. Finding a new identity as a mom helped open my mind to the possibility of loving something/someone  more than teaching. Whether you have a kid or not, I hope you do something in your life that throws you for a loop, scares you, takes courage, and makes you look at the world in a different way. I know you will because that to me is the definition of an artist.

SANTA in the Classroom

Tonight is Christmas Eve. So a very Merry Christmas to all of you art teachers out there that are celebrating with your families right now.

Although this is a joyful time of year, I have a very SERIOUS thing to discuss with you. The topic of Santa in the classroom. Each year, one kid (usually a first grader who has been nominated by his/her friends) comes to me with squinty eyes and I know what he/she is about to ask.

IS SANTA REAL? 

They came to me because they know I am going to tell them the truth. I am the art teacher and I know about these things. Art is about trying things that seemed impossible, magical in it's own sort of way (think color mixing, clay, murals etc)  cheesy but true, we are a reliable source when it comes to questions like this. 

So I squint right back at him/her, look at the group of eager friends and I say. . . "YES" and nod my head once. Usually the kid will yell before I can even nod again, "I KNEW IT!" and run back to the group to proclaim their victory. One cynical friend will look at me still glaring. That's all. No more discussion is needed because it is a simple yes or no question. Unlike a mom or a dad, a teacher tells you the truth even when you don't want to hear it. That's why they ask us, and that's why it's important to give a straight answer.

Believing in the "seemingly" impossible is what art teachers do everyday. Whether it is teaching 600 kids a week and knowing what sports teams they're on, who their mother is, who their favorite character is (and then learning to draw said character), where they need to sit in our class to learn, when to back off, who their friends are, who their friends should be, when to laugh, when to be serious, when to sing, when to push for a better answer . . . teacher, you do the impossible everyday. This is what we do best, believe in what others would think is impossible. The obvious answer to that question is YES every time. 

I am sure some child will be bold enough to ask you one day IS SANTA REAL? I hope you answer with a nod of reassurance and a YES. There is plenty of time for eye squinting and analytical thinking later or in other classrooms. For now, I hope you decide to tell kids the truth that YES, it's okay to believe in what your friends think is impossible. . . and Santa is real. 

My daughter brought Santa a bell tonight.
He was so surprised to GET a gift. 

Merry Christmas to the coolest teachers South of the North Pole. 

A Healthy Turkey Treat and Little Editing

A note to you: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I've been writing on this blog a long time (sometimes more frequently then others) but I'm Thankful for all of your blogs and for being able to follow your adventures of family, teaching, making art and life. I enjoy getting to know so many of you a little better through Facebook and at art conferences and email. This has been a really cool outlet. Thanks for reading!

This Thanksgiving was pretty low-key and fabulous. My husband had his first holiday/day off in a long time! He's a chef. Wait. .  . there's more, then he gets the flu or maybe it's just a case of his body telling him to slow down. He works 60 hours a week minimum for the past (well his whole life) so once he has the chance to relax, he gets sick. None of you know how that is right;)?

I have been begging him to slow down. In fact, we are in the midst of some big life changes (I can feel it) to help us get back to basics. Basically, we just want to see each other more and spend more of our time doing creative/meaningful things.  Me and my husband have everything right now, we have each other, we have health, a wonderful little girl, wildly creative spirits and we want to enjoy those things. There is so much we do and have that just squelches our creativity and health. . . so like all good artists we are EDITING. Plus, I read somewhere that we have the right to pursue our happiness? So that's something I've been working on for the past couple years, it's hard to change old habits. But when I use the word EDITING I always have no problem with change (whether it's with my lessons or my house or relationships) I wonder if any other artists work this way! Are you doing any life EDITING for the new year? 

Here's a view of Thanksgiving morning at my house (my girl has a cold again, so look past the dried bogeys on her face and Elsa dress with pj's!)

One of the teachers at our school came down the hallway with a parade of these little turkeys held proudly by her class. I knew I just had to try it. So there was some crafting going on Thanksgiving morning! Check out these HEALTHY TURKEY TREATS

You Just Had To Be There! The best conference ever.

This week I went to our state's art education conference. I have to say it was really refreshing to be face to face with so many art educators.

Here's how my day started. I dropped my daughter at PreK and started driving to the conference. I was daydreaming about my lessons for November and missed my exit by 10 minutes! There was no consequence for me being 15 minutes late (which usually would be earth shattering!) that in itself was refreshing. I slipped in the back of the conference hall just in time to hear about a monumental art installation that is happening in my state. 

Artist Ellen Griesediek is on a mission (for the past 15 years) to create the largest piece of interactive indoor artwork in the country to celebrate US! Okay, not exactly "us", but to celebrate working Americans. This piece has been in production all over the US for the past 15 years and children are taking part in every square inch of this mural/installation/sculpture. It is going to be erected in a local factory building (after they raise the roof three stories to the toon of a million dollars.) Although Ellen has created the design of the mural it is ever changing as kids from around the country work on each piece. It is not a "paint by numbers" as each child has lots of freedoms within their section of the mural. You know what I'm thinking??? YES, our school HAS TO BE PART OF THE MURAL. Working in the inner-city and hand to mouth most months I have mixed feelings during her presentation. Every emotion from excitement (this is beyond comprehension) to confusion (we used how much of our tax payer money to create this piece) to disbelief, but the big take away is this, energy is contagious. Her energy for the project was palpable in the room and we were all excited to be a part of the madness. YOU HAD TO THERE to feel momentum her passion created.

Next was a hands on clay workshop. I always learn something new in clay workshops. This was no exception. Want to stop making hundreds of slabs? Cut a piece of paper the size you want the slabs to be. Have students flatten a circle to larger then that size, then use the paper as a template and cut off the excess clay. The best part of this workshop though was how the presenter engaged us with his silly antics. For example, when we were learning the proper way to roll a ball of clay he would say, "NEVER roll the clay in the palm, because (pause for the dramatic effect) there is hot lava in your palm." SEE it just doesn't sound funny online! YOU HAD TO BE THERE.

From our clay workshop.

I need this book! Josefina. . .
The book THE POT THAT JUAN BUILT was
crazy long for me to read aloud.
Did I mention it is a great book to have for a parent volunteer;)

Friends that I met while at the conference, went to the weaving workshop where they learned ideas for weaving with non traditional materials. SO COOL! I wish I was there!

The beginning of a weaving on a plastic fence.
The possibilities are endless! Right?!

Another highlight was the Self-Hypnosis workshop. WHAT??? This is something that YOU HAD TO BE THERE to get. First the energy of everyone in the room was completely open. One of our local shamans, Joyce St. Germaine always goes out on a limb and offers a completely amazing experience for art educators. We learned how to calm our left brain (by giving it analytical work to do) to open our right brain up to self hypnosis.

I am risking half my readers thinking I've lost it by telling you about self hypnotizing, but it was so amazing I think someone out there might benefit from the practice. First I have to tell you I am NOT a skeptic. I believe in the power of the mind. Basically all you are doing is using the power of your thoughts to manifest a focused and relaxed state. It's what new self-help books namely, The Secret try to claim as well. . .  a "secret."

The most amazing part of the workshop was when she asked how long we all thought we were doing the hypnosis for. I truly believed it was a solid 10 minutes. When I looked at my cell phone I realized it had been 49 minutes! I never felt better and every ache in my back disappeared. We learned a way to relax in shorter time periods between classes. I even asked her if to show me a way to help my brain remember all the names I encounter in a day.

The absolute most valuable part of the workshop was meeting people face to face.  I have notebook full of people I want to contact about about collaborations, or just to reconnect. I went to the conference alone and was really happy I did because I got to sit with lots of people and learn about their schools, programs and lives.

What I learned from this workshop was much more then  self-hypnotizing, day dreaming, clay lava loving, fence weaving nonsense, what I learned was that energy can be CONTAGIOUS! In a world of screens and online learning, we need to sometimes remember, to make connections, get to know people, get inspired by the energy in a room, it takes time, energy and sometimes a little money. But it's worth it, because sometimes you just HAVE TO BE THERE.

I hope you all had a great state conference! I am thinking of presenting next year, which scares me to death (and that's a good thing for me!) Does anyone go or present at their state conferences? Tell me something good!

The Best "DATA" You Will Ever Get

Does the word "data" make you throw up a little in your mouth. This gag reflex is common among artists and becoming an epidemic. Data and accountability has become the new "answer" to the perceived problem of kids not achieving. This "problem" was created by the very thing that is trying to solve it, the impersonal nature of our lives. Life, even in my cozy art room, has become about the bottom line. How many kids can fit in a classroom, how many classes can fit in a day, how many minutes of instructional time can fit in a schedule. Most of the data we are asked to collect carries little meaning in the reality of our job, to teach children. This bit of "data" that I'm about to share with you is the most useful tool I've ever received to help me better understand my students, their families, and the values they are raised in.

I gave my students a little worksheet "Parent Homework" in the beginning of the year. It asked one simple question, "Tell me one thing you think I should know about your child."  I wasn't sure if I'd get any of this "homework" back working in the inner-city school where parent involvement is a struggle. I totally didn't expect the stacks and stacks of papers that flooded my mailbox. I received about 300 back (although I will count them more accurately soon to fuel the data train:) This is a huge credit to their teachers as well who helped students follow through with my request. I filed all of the returned "homework" by classroom teacher in a binder.

I read each one, laughed and cried at some of the things I read. Most were happy tears. Parents cheering their kid on "I know you can do this! It's going to be a great year," one mom wrote to her son who obviously struggles with school and ended her note with a smiley face. It was like opening a million lunch boxes and finding those little notes about how much these children are loved. There were others that were a little more negative, some that wrote back in different languages which I still am working on translating, some that did their best to write in English recognizing that I am too dumb to speak their language (after 8 years of working here I still only understand minimal Spanish), and some the very few who didn't return one at all. . . well that definitely said a lot.

So why do I call this data? Is it truly data. Well I had to look up the word myself to make sure.

Data: things known or assumed as facts, making the basis of reasoning or calculation.

Using that definition I think this just might be data. I have already used these "parent homework" sheets a lot while trying to "reason" with some question or concern I've had. Whenever I'm having an issue or a question about a student, I look at this sheet, the few sentences sometimes tell me something that I didn't know about a student that helps me connect with them, or it tells me who takes care of them at home, what that person expects/thinks of them, what language is spoken at home and so much more. I ALWAYS check this sheet before I make a phone call home. This lets tells me who I will be talking to, what their perceptions might be and how they might be able to help. If I shared the actual parent responses from this "homework" it would become really clear to you how these responses can tell me all this. 

I keep all the letters in a binder by class for easy reference.

These are BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLES of how parents help me get to know their children. 

I will share one with you that is not too personal so you can see what the "parent homework" looks like. I encourage you to do the same and save them. They will tell you more in one week about the students you work with then anyone could hope to learn in months. Data in my arty opinion should be used to change the way we perceive a problem, approach a problem/situation, but never to solve it. There are no problems that all this data collection can solve. I think the sooner the government realizes that data doesn't solve problems, people do, we will finally be on the road to education reform that we desperately need.

Classroom Crashing Continued

Kinder through second grade always start class in circle.
My little stool is just low enough to let me be part of the group.

Part Deux: My Cozy Classroom

If you like it then you should've put a frame on it. oh oh oh oh oh oh

More Frames.
These frames are made of styrofoam and are super light.
Want some?
I have NO IDEA where to buy them.
My mom bid on them at an auction (the person who owned the house was an interior designer and used them for staging)
She paid $20.00 for a huge bag of them! She knew I'd love them. 

This is the work horse of my room.
It is a hand-me-down from my good friend's classroom, you can still see the names. I use it to
store art; each class has their own shelf.
It is perfect, except it is four cubbies to small and every year that number grows!

View from my desk.

Hope you liked the tour of my art room! Hauling my camera to school and finding a minute to snap these pics was an epic feat for me. But, I really wanted to share with you this cozy space that I get to work in. I love seeing your rooms too. 

My Cozy Art Room: CLASSROOM CRASHING

I am going to post a picture a day of my COZY and I'll add creative art room!


Today I'm sharing with you the corner of the room that my students dream of. . . Art Centers. There has been a lot of talk about student choice in the art room, but I find student choice impossible to manage full time for 500 students.  So this is my solution, 10 to 15 minutes every other week we fit in some free-choice in the form of art centers. I'm still working on getting students to follow all of my art center procedures. First we get a tray and choose a spot, then we choose a center, all materials stay on the tray (to make sure no one is tripping over projects on the carpet.) We are not there yet but each time we take out centers they get better and better and since we only do it every other week it will take some time and modeling. In this corner of the room you also see our objectives board (I CAN board), rules, maps, demonstration easel, teacher "perch", smock storage, and a few little things I do to make my room homey, lamps, air purifier and music. Show me your art room in the comments! Link me up:)

Check out this cozy
corner of my room! More classroom crashing to come.

Goodbye summer. Hello School.

First Grade Summer Self Portrait
(a few years old now I think I forgot to share this one. . . or I'm getting old and already shared it!
But it was a fun lesson worth a repeat share)

Tomorrow is back to school for teachers in Connecticut. 

Last year, I gave students a sunglass template as a springboard to creating their summer self-portraits. They drew their face using a mirror, but when it came to the eyes they used these really cool paper glasses I made for each student. Inside their glasses they drew something that reminded them of summer. A reflective self portrait (get it laugh/snort). We have this big tradition on the last day of school/first day of summer to wave to the kids as they drive away on the bus. The bus drivers beep and the teachers line up on the sidewalks waving to our kids. I just love this memory! This student did that scene in her glasses for her summer portrait.

This was one of the best summers ever and I tried not to soak in every minute.
What is it my mother used to tell me when I really didn't want to do something? 
"You always have the best time when you least expect it!" I hope the WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT rule will apply to this year.

In the meantime, try this little parlor trick to start the year of with confident creative kids. Give them a small springboard to create their art work (like sunglasses in a self portrait.) Especially in the beginning of the year when kids are building their confidence this little bit of assistance goes a long way. It's also interesting to point out to students at the end of the lesson, although they all started with the same supplies and glasses each one is completely unique. You will be surprised at how motivated and creative your students will become with a little parlor trick like this:)

and here are some personal pictures from my summer fun:)

I made a new desk:)

Played in our backyard.

Went to the beach! Went shopping (got the N for my family necklace) got our nails did.

Ate way too much ice cream.

Played!

One beach day of many from Connecticut shores to the Jersey shores. Loved it.

Woke up every morning to this girl running to the piano.
Had time to listen to her play.