In the art room...#10- Painting, Planting, Publicity and Portraits

Ya see that, I've been doing this roundup for 10 weeks. I think it's a habit now! This week was a bit short because we started Spring Break on Friday. We wrapped up our Youth Art Month celebration by having students vote in the Faculty Drawing Contest. Students wrote why they chose the artwork and I am looking forward to reading their responses. We also did our last scavenger hunt and student drawing challenge. Oh, and we did projects too. 

Oh, and we did projects too.

I spent the weekend in Albany. I am a Board of Trustees representative for the New York State Art Teacher Association. It was really productive, lots of ideas and discussions but I didn't feel like I had much of a weekend. Then came Monday. 

In the art room...#9- Glazing, St. Patrick's Day and Arts Fest

March has been insane. There are so many school and art events happening- it's awesome, but super busy! I can't wait for spring break!

So that being said, we had three days of art this week. 

Target Field Trip Grant! Corning Museum of Glass

On top of my weekly happenings in the art room(Check out in the art room #1  #2  #3 #4   #5   #6  #7  #8  )I have been keeping a project a secret for a bit!!

I WON the Target Field Trip Grant!!

I applied back in September and played the waiting game until late December. Shortly after I got a check in the mail. Then I waited for Board of Education approval this month. BAM! We were going on a field trip to the Corning Museum of Glass. This is my first field trip. I am scared, nervous and incredibly excited to take my students on this trip. After discussions with my principal we decided to take 40 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students who completed a persuasive essay on why they would be an excellent representative of our school. Students also have to take photos and videos while there and present to other students a virtual trip upon their return.

At the beginning of classes, I am spending 10 minutes or so getting students pumped to apply for the field trip and answering about a bajillion questions from them. I don't mind, they are thinking of things I haven't thought of yet. Some students don't want to go, some are turned off by the 4+ hour round trip, and others can't wait for the trip. This is by far the longest trip for a field trip they have been on in their time at our school.
You can apply for your own Target Field Trip Grant each year between August 1-September 30.
Have you been on field trips before? Any pointers? Really I could use them!

In the Art Room...#8-Glazing, Youth Art Month & Art Shows

It's been a busy week. I feel like this is the first time I have had a chance to think about it. Students are finishing their clay projects and starting new ones. It's also Youth Art Month. I am hanging a ton of artwork. My Brain hurts.

We are finishing first grade wall hangers, kindergarten pinch pots, second graders slab boxes. I finished a new chip and dip bowl style this week too. 

In the Art Room...#7- Youth Art Month, Glue Sponges & Clay Projects

It's Youth Art Month!

It's March! Which means it's time to celebrate all things art education! 

If you aren't using this month to showcase your art program you should. It's a perfectly good reason to brag about how awesome your art students are and what an amazing program you are running. Seriously. Start bragging. 

So in case you hadn't figured it out. I spent the week encouraging my students to brag about our art program. Here is what down. 

I got to use our new display screens that were made by our BOCES students. A metal frame with a wire screen. I dropped SmartFab behind them to jazz them up. Sorta easier than taping. 

We are very fortunate that we can go into our building on the weekends. I spent several hours transforming the art room this weekend. I brought my trusty sidekick Libby because the school is dark and creepy and we have a phantom that flushes the the toilet periodically. 

The hallways are pretty dark at night.

Besides the hallway decorating, I do several activities for students to participate in. A weekly drawing challenge, a scavenger hunt (where they have to search the hallways and student artwork to find a tiny hidden picture of me) and a YAM Celebration and Art Show Night. All the students get this information and overview when they came to class this week. it takes 10-15 minutes and leaves us a bit of time to do some work. 

It's not to late to start your own celebration!!

 Head over to TeachersPayTeachers and get my Youth Art Month Starter Kit.

It is editable so you can modify it for your art room! 

Not too much art making this week with YAM introductions. Plus I wore skirts a few times and was pocketless/cameraless.

Took a workshop on classroom management. The video we watched had such horrible acting it was hilarious. More on what I actually learned soon. 

I decided to reclaim some clay first thing in the morning and got this dirty...

First graders rolled out slabs last week. They cut rectangles using stencils and fettling knives. They used slip and score for the first time to make their pockets for their wall hangers. Yes. They use knives and I make them roll their own slabs. I give them new clay so I am not being too hard on them. 

We used glue sponges for kindergartners this week. Cut sponges down, get them wet, stick them in a container, pour some glue on top and let it soak for a bit. Pour more glue on if you want. Perfect for sticking tissue paper or making collages. Cover with saran wrap between classes. Or get fancy and buy some gladware. My gladware is being used for slip right now. 

The kindergartners that were done with tissue paper made pinch pots. This is a one day project. We make flower pots out of these for Mother's Day. As long as it can hold water, dirt and a flower I am okay with it. I would rather have the students explore than make perfect matching pots. When done they get a bin of found objects and decorate. I love when they make their own patterns!  

If you didn't see this post week's post on my ThrowBack Thursday, go check it out. 

I have been saving my students portraits for 7 long years and was finally able to pull them outta storage and hang them this week. I paired their kindergarten portrait with their recently completed 6th grade portrait. Their reactions were priceless. 

The reveal. 

My, how they have grown! 

Seriously awesome stuff. 

We finished the week with Talent Show assembly. This is put on by our student council. Students practice their acts and the show is on Friday night. I love seeing how brave these students are getting up on stage in front of the whole school! 

Whew! Week one of Youth Art Month 2015 is in the books! 

Weekend here I come! 

#ThrowbackThursday - Art Teacher Style

I am beyond excited to reveal my #throwbackthursday to my 6th graders today!

I have been somewhat secretly been saving all their portraits since they were in kindergarten. In kindergarten, we made life size self portraits. It was my first year teaching elementary art and I had a grand idea that would take 7 years accomplish. What if we made portraits each year and then during their last year did a retrospective show?

Fabulous Fit Gear Swap #fabulousfitgear

If you follow me on Facebook you may have saw me post this awesome thing my longtime friend and fellow blogger Renee started. 

Basically, you get a fitness gear pen pal for the month and follow the few guidelines below. I had a blast shopping for someone else and in return I got super giddy getting my own package in the mail.