In The Art Room

Printmaking is a rare art form in many elementary schools, but in our Choice Studio here at Rowe it is as much a part of our creative process as any other. As I explain to the student, printmaking is just like any other form of art, like drawing and painting it has it's own tools and materials for one to use in order to create what they imagine. After learning about printmaking the students viewing some of my own prints: 

We started off with a type of printmaking that everybody is familiar with (and loves!) STAMPS! Stamps are already created MATRIX (a new vocab word) that we add INK to (in this case we used markers) and pushed onto a paper to create a PRINT! We practiced one of the elements of art by trying to incorporate patterns into our prints. Stay tuned for Foam Printing coming soon! 

Every student artist looks forward to the opening of the clay center and the 3rd graders are the first ones to be introduced to the center. This is the first center where the student's have the oppurtunity to create 3-dimentional artwork. Having worked mostly in 2-D, some students have a difficult time adjusting to creating forms and start by making flat objects. But soon the clay starts smooshing between hands and there is no turning back.

Students learn many different ways of building with clay: hand, slab, and coil are our starters. We learn about what clay is, where it comes from, the process of firing, and the very important method of attaching clay. I can't wait to see what these all turn into!

 

In general I try to stear clear of "crafty" projects, especially ones with holiday themes. Don't get me wrong, I am a big crafter myself - but the students often are able to explore these options in their generalist classrooms. Therefor it is important that when they come into Art they are able to create just that: works of art. Every once in a while there seems to be a bit of extra time to put our craft skills to good use and Valentines day was just that. 

In the Adaptive class we have worked quite a bit with printing different materials like sponges, cups, cars, and foam. To continue our exploration we worked with toilet paper rolls cut down to 1" thick and shaped into a heart. Each student picked his/her choice of color to create a Valentines themed painting.

In Kindergarten we started by talking about what Valentines day means. "What is Valentines Day?" I asked the students. Here are some of their responses:
"We get candy"
"We love our friends"
"Cards, I made cards"
"Being nice"
"Hearts"
From there we dove into a conversation about the general idea of Valentines day: to look into our hearts and celebrate who we love. We each got a chance to share one thing or person that was in our hearts. The Kindergarten hearts were filled with friends, parents, and pets. 
We then got the chance to learn how to make hearts out of paper! Excited exclimations filled the room as the hearts were revealed after careful folding, tracing, and cutting. Lastly our paper hearts were filled with drawings of things we hold in our real hearts. 

After a little detour I am excited to be back to blogging and letting readers know 

What's Going On In The Art Room! 

Take a look around the site to get an idea of what happens in our CHOICE based art room. 

Learn about C.H.O.I.C.E. Based Art

Visit the different centers

Read the 6th grade blog written by Rowe's 6th grade artists

Learn about Ms. Blundon

Keep checking back for new information and student work!

I could not have been more excited when my wish for a scrap paper organizer got granted recently! Until we had this our scrap paper was stored in a chaos of boxes which made for finding the right paper nearly impossible. After a couple of hours to assemble and organize the scrap paper was stored in a new, easy to find home and the collage artists could not be happier! 

This was my very first look at my classroom at Guy E. Rowe School. It was very exciting to be able to see the place where I will be spending countless hours in, a place that will be transformed into a second home for me and hopefully my students, and FINALLY a place I can call a classroom of my own!

P.S. Sorry about the abrupt cut off at the end - my camera decided that I was all done filming, but it was right before I got back to where I began anyway. 

Today was a very exciting day, I was able to see one of my classrooms for the first time. I met with the Melanie, the principal of Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris to receive my keys to my classroom and the school. I took this opportunity to grab a few photos of the room set up. Since I only am in the school one day a week my room is also used by the gifted and talented program, the guidance counselor, and possibly the music teacher. I'm thinking it will take a little while to get this room in order with the limited amount of time I have there, but still very excited nonetheless. 

The Industrial Design Society of America is an innovative group of creative problem solvers that are passionate about changing our world through creative thinking. I was inspired when I joined a group of art educators from across New England at the IDSA National Conference in Boston today. The workshop was led by Doris Wells-Papanek, M.Ed. who is a leader in the design learning field. Working closely with the IDSA Wells has spent the past few years advocating for a focus on design learning in our public school system. 

This year Wells developed a challenge for k-12 teachers called the IDSA Design Learning Challenge 2013. I will defiantly be participating this year so stay tuned for updates!

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from today. It is by Dr. Rex Jung, a frontrunner in the science of how the brain works when it is learning and creating. 

"Cultivating the next generation of creative innovators is critical to our culture, economy, and survival as human species."   

Today I signed my contract making it official, I am the newest elementary art teacher in the Oxford Hills school district! I will be teaching at Rowe Elementary School in Norway and one day a week at Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris. I can't wait to get started and to see my classrooms!