Teacher of the Year

Hey everyone! I was elected Teach of the Year for last year! Who gets it on their first year...but I did! Thank you Whitehouse Elementary for my award!

Project Board

In the front of the room on our whiteboard, I post our current projects and my examples. One of my favorite parts about being an art teacher is I get to create the examples and what it is each class is going to do! Some projects our classes are working on are:

• Kindergarten: Watercolor Landscapes
• 1st Grade: Primary Colors = Piet Mondrian Collage, Underwater Fish, Tissue Collage Windsock
• 2nd Grade: Warm and Cool Colors = Abstract Hands, Gyotaku Fish, Warm Sun / Cool Moon, Leaf Printing
• 3rd, 4th, and 5th: We are all creating portfolios to store our work for the year

Art No No's

Now that school is bang in swing, I thought I'd share my new board in my room. This is our art "No No's". I'm sure as art teachers or even if you are a classroom teacher, we have all encountered these. When I first put this up, most of the children did not understand what was wrong with these drawings, but after we went through each one and explained what was right and what was wrong, students now have a better understanding about what to do in art class.

Tour of the Art Room

This week the kids are back at school. Wednesday is our first class of resource. I am so excited to start teaching again. I have many projects, almost all brand new, planned for this 2010 - 2011 school year.

This summer and last week I have been working hard to set up my brand new art room. I was so excited how it was turning out, that I recorded a video tour of the room. This video is mostly up to date with what the room looks like.

Enjoy!

Cultivating a Community of Excellence

Today was my first day back at Chets Creek Elementary. This year's theme is "Cultivating a Community of Excellence". Once again the school looks beautiful. Everywhere you turn, you see a teacher's touch of decorations such as giant butterflies, caterpillars, six feet sunflowers, and cows. I feel that adding a theme to the school year to year not only excites the students, but also motivates the teacher to remain active and enthused year to year. Today, I loaded up my art cart with goodies and also did a bit of decorating. My cart this year fits the farm theme. It is ants at a picnic, but instead of stealing food they are stealing art materials.

Another thing that is different this year is that I will be displaying student artwork. Last year, I would let students take home their artwork as soon as it was complete. This year I will select a few of the best works of art to display on my apple tree in front of the art room. Students will still be able to receive their artwork, but it will be displayed first. Displaying student artwork rewards the students for their hard work and their creativity. It also motivates other students to strive for the best. Here is a look at my apple tree:

Goodbye Summer, Hello Art Room!

This week my husband and I worked to get the art room up and running for the new school year. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but right now it is starting to look beautiful! Makes me wish I was in kindergarten again! Here are the updated pictures:

I can't wait to see the students' faces on August 23rd!

Beginner Art Room

This year Whitehouse Elementary has an art room! This week I have started to re-locate all of our art supplies to our new art room. I still have a lot of work to do. I am very excited to have an art room this year because it allows student to explore new media, work larger, and it provides more safety. Here is your sneak peak at the art room!