An artist talks with pictures!

I'm an artist and I talk with pictures! This is how I display instructions for my kindergarten and first grade classes. I printed the pictures, had them laminated, and put magnets on the back.

Visual Art

I saw this and thought it was great!

https://naea.digication.com/wscottrussell/Color_Family_Portraits 

I Can't Live With Out. . .

My drying rack!

My host teacher while student teaching had one of these. I thought it was a great idea! I love having my drying rack. I do not like to put things up wet, and I'm not going to waste paper towels and time hand drying everything. I know some people leave items out on the counter to dry, but I covet my counter space. Everything fits so nicely and organized in my drying rack. What item do you think you couldn't live without in your art room?

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Science Experiment in the Art Room

I really enjoy subject integration. I feel that it helps the students' learning come full circle. Integration helps them relate particular subjects to life, especially when art is integrated because art is everywhere. My main science integration comes in when we do crayon or oil pastel resists. There are many other lessons that weave in science, but I have to say that this was not in my curriculum.

Molded tempera. What?! I have been working on color and color mixing with my students. I decided that I would just fill old baby food containers with the primary colors and let the students share them. They each get their own paint pallet and learn paint mixing techniques. I had been using the containers for about a week in a half just fine, and then one Monday I walk into this.

I like to mix science and art, but i did not expect to grow spore samples. Now before I go further, I just want to note that my paint is VERY old. It's from 1999. 

This is an image of what I mostly have next to a new bottle. I did get a gracious budget, but I spent the money on things that I didn't have at all like watercolor, oil pastels, construction paper, and a couple of bottles of purple and orange paint. The closet was FULL of all the other colors. I shook them up, tested them and they seemed OK. Very runny but no obnoxious odor or anything so I figured they'll work. Everyone I've talked to says that they would just throw them out, but if I did that we would have no paint. I make it work.

I called Dick Blick to try and trouble shoot the problem. The person I spoke with said that tempera is a great base for growing mold. I did not know this. She also said not to have multiple students dip into the same container. My thing is that my paint is too runny to put on a paper plate or magazine page. I also have multiple classes paint in a day and I don't have the time to clean out pallets in between classes. Lastly, she said that the container the paint was in, or the original bottles may have had mold spores already in them. This is possible especially since the containers were baby food containers.

My solution; I still use the baby food containers, I just don't fill them up. I put a small amount in that usually last a couple of classes. I have to fill them up periodically throughout the day, but that would be no different then if I had to make new pallets for every class. While the paint will not last several weeks, it will last a couple of days. This way I can still put the top on them and use them again.

Have you had any odd or unexpected events happen in the art room? Share in the comments!

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The Art Room Is Finished!

. . . well, almost. I'm not sure if I'll ever truly be finished. I'll always find an image or resource that I will want to hang up. I, as well as most teachers, constantly collect different materials and art related nick nacks. For the most part though, my room is finished!

I love having a word wall. Because I have multiple grades in one day, and limited time, I put up all of my words at once. I would like to put a word up as it's introduced, but that would be a lot of putting up and taking down.

This year I also get to implement my dream bulletin board. The artist of the week board! I have wanted to do this board in the past, but I didn't have the space. Each week I will put up a new image with facts about the artist. I will also try to tie them into the lessons if possible. The first two weeks we will be working on portraiture, so this board will fit in nicely. 

I of course have the class rules posted front and center. They include being safe, respectful, and always do your best with a great attitude. 

To the left of the board is where I display the lesson's essential questions and standards. I hot glued clothesline clips to the wall so that I could easily change out the questions and standards. I write them up and put them in the red folder for easy access. I know a lot of teachers have their own system, and some are a little bit easier to use, but this is what works for me.

Can I just say right now how absolutely excited I am to have cabinets! This is something I have not had in the past. I'm such an organizer and labeler that I have put a list of contents on each cabinet door. I taped sheet protectors to the door and inserted a typed list of contents. I like to keep a running inventory and what's great about this is if I run out of a supply, like glue sticks, I can write in dry erase marker on the sheet that I need more. That way, whenever I get a chance to order supplies I'll know what I need.

View from the door.

My desk. I love my desk! From the MOMA calendar to my Batman pen holder, I love my desk. On pinterest I saw a tutorial on how to make large tissue paper pom poms. I thought they would be a great elements to hang above each table to color code them. It took me 30 minutes to make each one. I had them hanging and got many compliments. I also got an education in fire safety and was told that I couldn't have anything hanging from the ceiling. My fellow teachers will understand when I say this, but if you didn't know, flexibility comes with the job. I thought to myself, "What am I going to do with these now, cause I am so not getting rid of them?" I decided to use them to decorate my desk. I really like it, and I've gotten compliments for this as well.

This is my color board. I hand made all of the elements except for the border. It took a while, but I think it was worth it. I did however run out of border if you didn't notice. Guess who went to the teacher store over the weekend. This girl. 

Now I have to give credit to The Bees Knees Cousin. I got the idea for the style of the art element posters from her blog. I enjoyed how clean and minimal they were. I am a minimalist at heart after all. 

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