It’s a snow day for teachers and students and we are all excited to have a day off!  It looks we have finally gotten our good ‘ol fashioned snowfall this winter in northeast Pennsylvania. It’s time to finally break out the snow pants, boots and sleds. While I am not a snow lover, I can’t remember the last time we had a good snowfall here, so I can’t help but be a tad excited about a real snowstorm!

Well, sometimes being stuck inside on a snow day also means there are lots of us getting bored. Now, I know! Students have all of the video games and apps to keep them entertained for hours. Let’s not forget the ability to text our friends, binge watch Netflix and watch our favorite “You Tube Heroes”, but what about some good old fashioned creative fun?

My smART partner and I subscribe to the amazing art education resource, https://www.theartofed.com/, for fantastic ideas, resources and inspiring lessons. We came across the “Snow Day Challenge” on their website https://www.theartofed.com/2016/12/08/snow-day-challenge/ and have been itching to share it with our students. Unfortunately, this winter hasn’t cooperated much, but alas, we have a snow day to share the “snow day art challenge” with our students!

SPREADING THE WORD…

We are sharing this art challenge in our online Google Classrooms so students can access it from home. What a great idea! Give students bonus points for being creative at home! We have already prepped the students that the completed art challenge is due the following school day, whether is is their “art day” or not. This way it is fair to everyone and doesn’t become an assignment without a deadline. The best work will be selected from all of the submissions and then the winner will be announced on our school’s local morning news broadcast, “Good Morning JTL”.

I’M BORED…

Need some other ideas for how to bust the snow day boredom? Here are a couple of great resources I came across that might be worth checking out…

1. This blog has an enormous amount of ideas, complete with links to directions, so you can do all types of fun activities with kids! http://thehappyhousewife.com/homeschool/101-things-to-do-on-a-snowy-day-with-kids/  P.S. I think the arts and crafts list looks especially fun!

     2. http://www.ibtimes.com/what-do-kids-snow-day-10-fun-         indoor-outdoor-activities-parents-try-1794866

UPCYCLED CHALLENGES…

There are some super fun STEAM challenges that you can do with stuff you gave lying around the house. Ever try balancing a book off of a table using only sheets of paper and tape? Can you use paper to build something that can support the weight of a tennis ball? What about using cardboard to create a miniature golf course? Don’t want the kids swinging clubs in the house? Just roll that ball through a cardboard obstacle course.

MAKE SOME VALENTINE’S…

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. How about having your kids make handmade Valentine’s for family members? Want to spread some kindness? Have the kids make Valentine’s to send to a local Veteran’s Hospital for the nationwide “Valentine’s for Vets” campaign. You could also make Valentine’s for a local senior home.

Of course, Pinterest has some great ideas, as well.

I realize not everyone gets to stay home with their kids, but I know I enjoy getting my kid off technology and instead creating, playing and making memories together.

Happy snow day, friends!

-Mrs. S

This month my 6th grade students are learning about the French artist, Henri Matisse. I love teaching my students about Matisse. Not only did he create such colorful paintings and paper cuts, he always kept art a part of his life. From childhood through the end of his life, Matisse was always adapting his art to what he could do, rather than struggling with what he could not do. What a fantastic message for my students to take away!

While the independent studio project my students will be completing will be a painting that is based on an imaginative “Dream House”, my smART partner and I thought it would be fun for students to try their hand at “paper cuts” first. Our students learned about Matisse’s paper cuts and how he “drew with his scissors”. We showed them many examples of his paper cuts and discussed how Matisse interpreted his ideas using shapes and colors that expressed a theme. His shapes give the impression of an animal, figure, place, etc. in an abstract way. There are no realistic details, yet the viewer can still see what the artwork is about.

In the artwork above, we discussed the simplified trapeze swings and the use of squares to indicate the spaces in the net that hangs below. The angle and placement of his paper cut outs indicate movement and the bright color create a whimsical quality that is reminiscent of a circus. The squiggly figures suggest the trapeze artists swinging from bar to bar. After viewing several examples of Matisse’s paper cut outs, the students were ready to try their hand at the “Paper Cut Out Challenge”.

Students were placed into groups and given a theme for the cut out collage. I used the online tool, Random Name Picker, https://www.classtools.net/random-name-picker/index.php to create a digital, interactive wheel that I could customize with topics of interest. I included topics such as animals, celebrations, fashion, video games, seasons, outer space and more. The kids had a great time crossing their fingers in hopes that the wheel would land on their favorite theme!

Once the students had their topic, it was time to get to work. Students were provided with a large piece of black paper, scissors, glue and assorted colored scrap paper. The instructions were simple: No drawing…only cutting! Everyone must participate and the final product must reflect the theme. The activity took two class periods. At the end of the second class, we voted on which paper cut-out was “the best” and that team won “Pride Points”, which can be redeemed in school for prizes and special privileges.

I was amazed at how well the students worked together and some of the impressive projects they created! I think it was a fun, collaborative activity for students. They learned to work together, the challenges of cutting without drawing first and practiced their design skills to reinforce many of the concepts we are learning about in art class.

 

JTL STARTS THEIR “HOUR OF CODE”

It’s another exciting time in the art room at JTL. This past week, (December 5-9), kicked off the “International Hour of Code” through https://studio.code.org. My smART partner, Miss Chris and I, introduced this worldwide introduction to coding last year in the art room as an optional assignment for students in place of their monthly sketchbook check. However, after some reflection and discussion, we felt that having a basic introduction to coding is essential for today’s students. Thus, we decided that every student in art class will complete an “hour of code”. Plus, coding fits right into our STEAM initiative!

6th Grade starts the “Hour of Code” in Art Class.

Students logged into Code.org and linked their account with their school Google account. This way, their progress could be saved and students can continue to explore all of the exciting lessons on the website. One of the great aspects of code.org is that students can work at their own pace and choose from a variety of lessons that interest them. There are lessons that allow students to write lines of code using Minecraft, Flappy Bird, Disney, etc. Students are given step-by-step instructions on what their goal is. The student has a variety of commands to choose from to reach that goal. The student “drags and drops” the commands into the “workspace” and then hits “run” to see if their commands worked. It is really fun to hear their exclamations of “Yes!” and “I did it!” when it works!

The students collaborate and help each other out when they get “stuck” while they are learning to code.

WHY CODE?

Coding has become part of our everyday life. We use computers every day and computers are becoming a part of the greater world around us. I used this You Tube video, “Computer Science is Changing Everything”, to demonstrate to students the many facets of computer science. It is amazing to learn how computers and coding can be used in so many varied career fields. Coding goes way beyond the stereotypical “video-gaming” and “tech-world”. 

LEARNING TO CODE SHOULD BE LIKE “LEARNING TO READ”.

Today’s students have grown up with technology since birth. It starts with a streamed video on a phone or tablet while Mom and Dad do their household chores. As the child gets older, they learn that they can make the phone or tablet do things when they swipe and touch the screen. This evolves into the child playing games and apps. Soon the children are watching You Tube, playing video games and interacting on social media. It all happens so fast and it is hard to stop and think about “how” all of this works. That is why introducing students to coding is so important.

Our goal is to get students to understand that all of the technology they use is based on coding. Someone wrote the code to make an app work, to develop the game they are playing and to make their instagram account work. It all comes back to coding. It is a basic language. If they can start to understand the basics of coding, they might create the next app, website or invention that contributes something positive to the world.

INSPIRING THROUGH STEAM.

Students have already been exploring many of the art apps out there such as Google Drawings, Pixton and Sketchio. By introducing students to another aspect of technology in the art room, I hope to inspire students to continue to keep their minds open to all of the different ways one can create. Perhaps a student isn’t incredibly interested in art or has a career in mind that art doesn’t quite “mesh” with, but by learning to code, they realize they can still problem-solve and develop unique approaches to a problem. That is what we do in art. We develop ideas. We test the idea. We reflect. We remain flexible. We work towards a goal. Coding in the art room just might lead students towards developing something really great in the future. Plus, it’s fun to learn something challenging through “play”.

Happy Coding!

-Mrs. S

Abbey finishes her “Hour of Code” on Chromebook!

 

   My 7 year old son attends a STEM workshop at our local library.  His challenge was to support a book using only paper. My challenge is implementing this concept into my art room.

It’s been a busy month in the art room and I look at how long it has been since my last post. YIKES! It is certainly NOT due to laziness. November has been filled with budget deadlines, professional development, parent/teacher conferences, end of marking period responsibilities such as grades and report cards and of course, we have been working hard on our art projects.

On top of all of these normal “teacher things”, I have been diligently researching ways to implement a STEAM program into our art curriculum.

STEAM. Science. Technology. Engineering. ART. Math. Some prefer “STEM” and leaving out the “Art”, but naturally that doesn’t jive with my teaching philosophy. For the past two years, I have been exploring the concept of putting art into STEM.

To some, STEM/STEAM is just another one of the latest “buzzwords” in education. Some may compare it to “discipline based learning” where you align “specials” with a “core subject”. Some recognize that students need more science, math and technology to keep up with competition in other countries and be able to contribute to future society. Thus, STEM (or STEAM) has evolved into the education world.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

1. RESEARCH.

Education Closet, http://educationcloset.com/steam/what-is-steam/, has an excellent description of STEAM, as well as many resources for teachers. Another great site with STEAM information can also be found at Edutopia, https://www.edutopia.org/stem-to-steam-resources.

Some of the resonating elements of STEM/STEAM to me focuses on exploration, experimentation and problem solving. These are all a natural fit to the arts. However, when developing a strong STEAM program, one must align lessons with the standards of science, technology and math.

I recently hosted a professional development day for my K-8 art department that discussed how to develop lessons that align with the STEM curriculum. Collaboration with other teachers would certainly help with this curricular component, however having common planning time is often a challenge. Fortunately, there are different levels of STEAM implementation and for myself, I intend to align a few lessons throughout the school year with science, technology and math standards.

2. PLAY.

One of the great things about STEAM is learning through “play”. The idea that I intend to focus on in the art room is that students can discover and create through play. What they develop might not look “pretty” or fit into a traditional “art project”, but students are testing, experimenting and creating through play. Creating opportunities to invoke a “creative spirit” is important.

The K-8 Art Teachers participated in “challenges” that align with ENGINEERING as part of a professional development on STEAM. The goal was to learn how to implement STEAM into the K-8 art room.

3. ACCEPT FAILURE.

Most students do not want to fail. Adults don’t like to fail. However, accepting failure as part of the learning process allows for growth. In a STEAM environment, students are encouraged to take risks. Students will experiment and see what works and what does not. Perhaps the lego tower will fall over if it doesn’t have a strong base support. Maybe certain folds and creases to paper will support a tennis ball or book better than a tube system. How do you know  what will work until you try and fail? These “failures” really lead to success. Celebrate these moments!

4. “THE FAB LAB” and “STEAM CHALLENGES”.

Aligning my entire art curriculum to a STEAM driven program is overwhelming, so I am creating ways to implement elements into the art program that seem to be a natural fit. For example, as students work on studio projects, they all work at a different pace. To avoid students that have “nothing to do”, I am developing multiple “bonus projects”, “STEAM Challenges” and technology assignments that support my curriculum, as well as aligning with STEAM.

To start with, I am creating a “Makerspace”, which my smART partner and I have decided to refer to as our “Fab Lab”. This will be a space that has materials available to students, with “Challenge Cards”, for students to complete. The challenges are derived from engineering concepts and will use a variety of materials such as legos, K’Nex, cardboard, paper, etc. These materials will rotate on a monthly basis. As students complete a “challenge”, they will get a signature on their “Fab Lab Card”. The number of completed challenges will correspond to levels on a posted “Leaderboard”, which will be in our art hallway. As students complete their challenges, their names will go on the leaderboard. There will then be a monthly drawing from our top “Engineers”.

While many components will change as I learn through my students and get valuable feedback from their own experiences, I am excited to have some STEAM goals to work towards. I intend to document the progress of the “Fab Lab” and STEAM initiative in my blog posts throughout the school year.

I hope you continue to follow my art classes on this exciting journey!

-Mrs. S

 

 

 

Balance. It is an amazing word that we all strive for. Maybe it is finding the balance between work and play. Perhaps it is finding the balance between responsibility and freedom. It could be delegation to some and letting go for others. As educators, we strive to find balance. It could be the balance between paperwork, lesson planning, grading and professional responsibilities while still being an effective teacher. It could be the the balance between doing what is comfortable in the classroom and taking new risks. It could simply be learning to say “no” when you just can’t do one more thing for someone else.

Over the past year, I have been fortunate enough to be across the hall from an amazing art teacher. While I have the experience of teaching middle school art for almost two decades, my colleague comes from a high school background full of not only studio experience, but also a background (and enthusiasm!) for technology. This is fresh and exciting! I love that I can talk about a new idea that integrates technology and my pARTner will help make it happen. More than that, I appreciate how we truly BALANCE each other out.

For every new idea, we are able to make sure it still meets our curricular intent. We debate, we rework. We question and test. We both want OUR art program to be successful and it’s a team effort to the finish line. When my pARTner and I brainstorm new ideas, lessons, and strategies, we are able to quickly prioritize, take charge based on our own individual strengths and make it happen. Sometimes the idea gets put on the shared “to do” list via Google Docs or sometimes we surprise one another with the updated rubric, all typed and ready to go (and shared of course in Google Drive!). Other times we just decide to toss it out the window and re-start. The most rewarding part? We truly are a team. We push each other. We challenge each other. We have big dreams and goals for our middle school art program.

Balance. It’s a powerful word. I have spent many years looking for it. I finally found it in the little art rooms, separated by a shared closet. Sometimes crazy is on one side and we escape to the other just to find a moment of peace. Sometimes we run full force through the closet in our “a-ha” moment. It’s being a cheerleader when we feel beat down. In the end, it all comes back to balance…the “yin to the yang”.

-Mrs. Shemansky