Art Teacher Hints & Tricks

1) My favorite! I have a huge stack of tracing paper sitting on my desk cut into appx. 3x5" sheets. When a student doesn't understand how to draw something I grab one of those tracing papers, plunk it on top of their drawing & show them what to do. I don't touch their artwork but am able to physically show them what needs to be done.

2) Start the day off with some kind of greeting. I like cheesy ones that starts our day off with a smile, but any kind of "happy to see you" greeting is a good one!

3) BINGO!!! I gave my students a list of vocab words at the beginning of the semester and blank BINGO sheets. They took the vocab list and filled out their BINGO sheets in whatever order they wanted, choosing whatever word they wanted. Everyday at the beginning of class they immediately get out their sheets and when I forget to give them a new word they quickly remind me. I can't believe it took me this long to get them excited about learning new words! I have reviews on Spiral to make sure they are paying attention. Fun way to sneak in that extra learning!

4) Start an Instagram and post pictures of the students! If your district frowns on posting student faces then post their artwork. I didn't even promote mine and had 5 followers after posting just 2 pictures. Students love pictures and they love positive attention and this is a super quick, easy way to give them a pat on the back!

4) It's late & I'll add more tips as I think of them!

Staff ID Cards

My district is pretty tiny. In the 23 years I've worked there we have never had ID cards, never really needed them. Everyone knows everyone, we punch in codes to check out books or eat lunch. So the concept of needing Staff ID cards never really came up. Then suddenly businesses everywhere start offering discounts & free stuff for teachers - you just have to show your staff ID card. Well, everyone likes free & cheap stuff, so I took it upon myself to make us some ID cards (I was under a deadline as McDonalds is offering free breakfast to teachers next weeks!) I thought about putting a barcode or something on them to make them "official" looking, but what good is a meaningless barcode? These ought to do the trick! 

My MS/HS Art Room

For those interested, my MS/HS art room is just as colorful as my intermediate room.  Drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, & all kinds of art making go on in here. My graphic classes are in the lab down the hall. That room hasn't gotten a makeover yet - it's brown & boring.

The "Scream" & "Starry Night" shelves are for student storage.

I have a "Mona Wall" full of Mona parodies. The green screen walls are used for all sorts of creative projects

The back corner is my senior bricks, where seniors come paint a brick, marking their passage from high school art into adulthood.

My desk is organized chaos. I have a storeroom behind my desk, which is an incredible blessing.

I teach two other schools via my Polycom. It's super cool & we can see and talk to each other live. As small as my district is, the other two districts are even smaller. The office behind my tv's gets used mainly by students since I no longer use it as an office. Seniors usually take over my office & use it as their own private studio.

3D Printer = Excitement!

Last year my superintendent handed me a grant application for $500 and asked me if I wanted to try for a 3D printer. Of course I said yes! Once I started pricing them I started reconsidering, but then came across the micro printer. As luck would have it the printer & two class packs of ink filament, plus shipping would come to $508. I wrote the grant with the idea of collaborating my Graphic Arts class with one of my intermediate classes to create a game board & pieces based upon what the elementary students were studying in social studies. I was super excited when I got the grant! It came in the mail and despite my best efforts I just could not find the time to get the printer out & figure out how to use it. Then last Friday there was a full moon, it was raining & the students were bouncing off the walls. I went into my classroom, grabbed that 3D printer, handed it to my Graphic Arts students and told them to figure it out. I could not believe how engaged they were! They figured it out & printed a tiny little form. I think we're ready to start working on that game board!

 
 

School Instagram!

I started an Instagram account for my art room, & it is crazy how my students use their crazy mad detective skills to find it and start following it before I even had a chance to advertise it. It doesn't have a lot of artwork on it yet, but the students sure like it when I post their pictures. Since several of them already know about it I guess it's time for me to advertise it. Sooooo, follow me on Instagram & see all the cool stuff my students are doing!
Flinthills Art Room

Fabulous Friday!

I organized our first welcome to school for students at the end of our first full week of school. It was a blast, and something  we plan to repeat throughout the year! Showing students you're happy they are there sure makes teachin more enjoyable!