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.

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?

If you like what you see please join this site, like me on facebook, or follow on google+ !!!

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. 

If you like what you see please join this site, like me on facebook, or follow on google+ !!!

"Why Didn't I Think of That?!"

Have you ever seen a project, craft, or work of art and said "That is so awesome! Why didn't I think of that?!" I personally have had this moment a lot. I usually have this moment when I'm on my favorite "visual bookmark" website Pinterest. Not too long ago I saw this creative idea.

I knew that I had to have these on my Exploring Table. I know many teachers anticipate the words made famous by elementary artist, "I'm done." Most of the time, when I hear these words, the student isn't actually done. They have missed a step, could do a step with better craftsmanship, have a random floating object in space, the sky isn't touching the ground, etc. I address the issues, offer suggestions and corrections. In some cases though the student is really done with the project and there are several minutes left in the period. This is when I direct the students to my Exploring Table. I have different puzzles, tangrams, how to draw books, and a small but growing library. I have already started making the Velcro sticks and I hope that my students will enjoy them.

I made my sticks a little differently than the ones pictured above. The quantity pictured appear to be made for one child. I wanted to make enough for two to three students to work with them at a time. I have forty sticks. That means I would need 160 Velcro dots. The dots came in packages of twelve at $3.99 a pop. After dividing and multiplying, the answer to my math problem was = I'm not paying that much for Velcro. What I did instead was buy 5' a roll of sticky sided velcro for $7, cut individual squares and put four onto a stick.

For me it's a matter of more time than money. I'm not done yet and have about 30 more sticks to go, but I really think my students are going to enjoy them. Here's what mine look like.

Do you have extra activities for students that get done early? Share in the comments. That way others can read about them and have a "Why didn't I think of that" moment.