New School Year, New School

The school year starts tomorrow and I am at two new schools this year. I am so excited to meet my new students, and start the new year! Here is a photo of one of my schools.  I am on a cart at my other school.

I can't wait to post my students' wonderful artwork as the year progresses!

Chair

At the end of the school year, I had some of my fourth and fifth graders paint this chair.  This was a fun filler project to help fill time the last two week of school. 

Art Show!

 Here are some photos of our school wide art show.  Every students from PreK- 5th grade had one piece of artwork in the art show.  There were about 720 works of art on display.

This show doubled as a fundraiser. We used a company called Artome to frame the artwork.  It was really simple.  Basically, I sent artwork to Artome, which I labeled by student name, grade, and class.  They framed the artwork, and brought it the night of the show.  Artome even set the entire show up for me.  We sold the frames for $25 dollars a piece, and parents were able to take their child's framed artwork home that night.  After the show was over, Artome dismantled the entire show and mailed the unsold artwork back to the school about two weeks later.  Artome only charged us for the frames that were sold.

The art show turned out great, and we did end up raising a good amount of money for the school!  If you are looking for an simple way to do an art show for a large school, I would definitely recommend Artome.

County Art Show

Every year my county has a big art show and every school has a display. Here is my school's display for this year.

School Weaving

My school has been working on a recycling theme this year.  For the last few months, students have been learning about being Green and doing cross-curricular assignments based on this theme.   To tie into this, I had my art students collect scraps of fabric.  Most of the fabric came from old clothes, blankets, or sheets.  We then weaved it through chicken wire.  Here are the results.  

 In order to involve all students, I had each student weave one strip of fabric.  The idea is to have the entire school involved in the weaving.  The weaving will be displayed in the school when it is finished.

School Play

We are still in full swing at school.  School doesn't end until June 20th this year.  However, we do have the school play coming up next week. The students will be performing Suddenly Cinderella.  I have been working hard on the scenery, and today I finally finished it.

 I am looking forward to seeing the students perform next week!

Art Fundraisers- Advice Please

This post is for all the art teachers who have had experience with fundraisers.

 I have tried several fundraisers, but I have yet to commit to one company.  One year I did an art show through Artome.  This is a company that frames the students' artwork and sets up an artshow.  This made for a great event for the school, but all the artwork had to be done on 9x12 paper, which is smaller than I usually work.  My other complaint was, while the artwork looked beautiful on display, it made the art show all about making money instead of just appreciating the art on display.  Some students also felt bad if their parent couldn't afford to buy the frame.  

This year I tried something different.  I did Art to Remember.  This company takes student artwork and prints them on items such as mugs, shirt, and notebooks, which are sold to the parents upon ordering.  This was an easy fundraiser, but once again I had to work on a specific size paper, 8x10, which is a lot smaller than we usually work.  Also they did not want artwork made of chalk or pastels, which are my go to supplies for small artwork.  On the upside, we made a lot of money

I am considering changing my art fundraiser again next year.  I don't like planning lessons to fit a specific size paper, and I would like to be able to use artwork from the entire year.  I am considering using Artsonia.  This program allows you to take pictures of any project created throughout the school year, and post it on an online gallery. It even allows for sculptures! Then parents can view their student's portfolio and order products online. The downfall is that the responsibility of taking pictures and downloading on the website would fall entirely on me.  With 740 students, Will this be too difficult?  

Who out there has had experience with fundraisers?  Which ones did you like? and Which ones were too time consuming?  I would love to hear opinions.  

First Week Project

Last week was the first week of school, so I needed a simple easy lesson.  I found this wonderful lesson on Pinterest.  Unfortunately, I am unsure what blog or website it originally came from because it was pinned incorrectly. If this is your lesson, please let me know so I can give you proper credit.

For this lesson, I had each student create one 5 inch by 5 inch circle design.  The circles were simply cut out of construction paper, and glued to their square piece.  After the students created their designs, I hung them on the wall in the art room.  It certainly has brightened up my room!

New School Year

The school year begins tomorrow, and my room is ready for the kids.  I am quite excited for the beginning of the school year because I am no longer a traveling art teacher.  Previously, I taught at three schools, and had almost 2,000 students.  This year, my principal decided he wanted a full time art teacher, so he used his school budget to buy out my position.  I am so excited to be stationed in one school and to see my students more regularly.  This year, I will see each class once a week for 35 minutes.  I have 28 classes and about 850 students.

 Looking forward to starting a new school year tomorrow, and hopefully there will be many new posts to come.

Changes

It's been months since I have posted anything.  This is because I recently got married.  Between working a summer job, getting married, and moving, I just haven't had time to post.  However, now that school is only a few weeks away, hopefully things will begin slowing down, and I will be able to focus more on art lessons and keeping my blog updated.

There will be quite a few changes coming for me this school year.  First, I will have to get used to a new name.  Instead of being Ms V, I will now be Mrs. B.  Also, I will be beginning a new job this year.  In the past, I have always traveled between three schools.  However, this year, I am lucky enough to be at just one.  The largest school I taught at last school year decided they wanted a full time art teacher, so they used their own budget to buy out the rest of my position.  I am so excited to be at one school, and to see the students more consistently.  Instead of teaching almost 2,000 students, like I have in the past, I will only have about 850.

Art Advice Needed

My colleagues and I have been pondering ways to make the school more beautiful.  One suggestion was to paint the ceiling tiles in the school.  (You know, those ugly white ceiling tiles that can be easily taken down).  Well, I thought it was a wonderful idea, but now I am pondering the logistics.  I need some advice.  First, Has anyone done this in their school?  Second, If we did do this, What kind of paint should I use?.  Third, Will this break fire codes, and will the fire marshall make us take it down?  I would love to hear some ideas on this.

Washable tempera

I have gone most of this year with very few art supplies.  There were numerous problems, but basically the art order I had made this year got mixed up and I ended up either getting the wrong supplies, or not getting what I ordered at all.  After calling the company, I found out that it wasn't their fault, it was a mixup in the county's ordering system.  Anyway, to make a long story short, I ran out of drawing paper half way through the year, and am running extremely low on paints, glue, and pastels.  This means I have been begging for art supplies from everyone.  I have asked classroom teachers to send me any art supplies they are not using.  As a result, I have been given an interesting assortment of supplies.

One of the things that was generously donated was several gallons of washable tempera paint. Until recently, I had not used washable tempera in my art class.  I have always used Sax Versa Temp for my classroom.  I had not realized how spoiled I was.  Washable tempera is nothing like Versa Temp.  It is watered down, and sometimes dries transparent.  Students have to paint 2-3 coats to make their painting look nice.  I have been racking my brain for ways to make the washable tempera better.  Does any know of an additive that can be added to tempera paint to make it thicker?  I know that their are many acrylic mediums out there to change the consistency of acrylic paint, but I have never seen anything for tempera.  I would love to hear any suggestions.

Best Gift EVER!

Anyone who is an art teacher knows how wonderful wet wipes are.  Students can clean their hands and tables without ever having to use the sink.  Really, they are the best invention EVER!  Wipes make my life so much easier that I often end up using my own money to purchase them.

Well, Today, I got the best surprise in the mail.  I received three whole boxes of wet wipes in the mail, with my name one it!  At first, I thought they had been delivered to the wrong person, because I hadn't ordered them.  However, when I looked closely at the box, it said, A Gift From Wet Ones Hand Wipes- A Proud Supporter of TeacherLists.com.  It's funny because I signed up for TeacherLists.com several years ago, and had completely forgotten about it.  Anyway, this was a wonderful surprise, and I have to give a HUGE shout out to WET ONES, for being nice enough to send me wipes.

Bulletin Boards

 I am a little late in posting this, but here are my Halloween bulletin boards that I had up in my classroom. 

Bulletin Boards

 I teach at three schools, but only have an art room in one of them.  One of the things I love most about having an art room, is creating bulletin boards.  Here are a few bulletin boards that I created at the beginning of the school year. 

Art on a Cart

This is a picture of my new art cart.  Until recently, I had to work off of a small media cart.  I received a grant this year, and with the money, I purchased this cart and the drying rack on top.  I love the cart, but more than that, I LOVE the drying rack.  I no longer have to spread artwork along the walls and counters of the classrooms.  While the classroom teachers were always very understanding about this, I think they enjoy the fact that our paintings are now consolidated to this drying rack.  My only complaint about this cart is that it is heavy and somewhat hard to push, but even with this small issue, this cart is far superior to my old one.

Kiln Conundrum

 This week I received a phone call from someone who wanted to donate their old kiln.  This was excitting news, because my school really needed one.  Well, today the kiln came, and at first glance it seemed great.  However, now that I have looked at it closer, there seems to be some problems.  First, it has a bunch of wires sticking out of the front.  I believe this is where the Sitter Controls are supposed to be.  Second, there is no power cord.  I talked to the lady who donated this to me, and she said she had no idea where these parts were.  Most likely I would have to buy these parts.   

At this point I am a little worried about purchasing the parts for this kiln.  It looks like it could be quite expensive, and I am not 100% sure if it will work once I have the parts.  Also, I am not an electrician, and have no idea how to put it together once I received the parts.  I would love everyone's thoughts on this.  Is it worth trying to fix this kiln?

Melted Crayons

Friday was Parent Teacher Conference day. This is a day that I enjoy every year, because as the art teacher, I have few conferences and can spend the day working in my room. This year I decided to experiment with old crayons. Recently, I have seen quite a few melted crayon ideas on Pinterest, and I decided it was time for me to try this.
This is really simple to do. Basically, I used a hot glue gun to attach crayons to the top of foam-core. Then I used a heat gun to melt the crayons. I have also heard that a hair dryer can melt the crayons too, it would just take a little longer.

Fall Bulletin Board

I love creating bulletin boards. Here is my fall bulletin board. I put this up about two weeks before Halloween.

My Art Room and Bulletin Boards

The new school year has started and my room is ready. Here are a few photos of my bulletin boards and art room.I LOVE having an art room. I teach at three school, but only one gives me a room. Teaching art is a million times easier when your own space. Plus, it's a lot of fun to decorate. Here is my "rules" bulletin board. Once every quarter I choose a famous artist to say something funny about the rules. This month is Picasso. This is my back wall in the art room. I dedicated this space to mistakes, and how it alright to make them.