Friday, September 5, 2014

Welcome Back and NEW stuff!

It's a few weeks into the school year, so I should probably get back to business on this blog! I took a bit of a break this summer because I had my daughter Xaria on the last day of school, what a blessing! I have learned so much this summer about becoming a parent (obviously) and a bunch about myself. Now that I'm back in the swing of things I wanted to give a quick overview of what I plan on doing with this blog this year.

1) "Ain't nobody got time for that" with a newborn, so lots more Practical Tips
2) Technology Spotlight: I'm getting into some fun techy stuff these days because let's face it I'm on my phone more than ever now and technology makes my life easier-well most of the time if I'm using it productively and not Facebooking :)
3) Projects: I am going to share more of the art projects that my students do in class, not only to share, but to also reflect.
4) Tweet Tweet: I'm considering starting a twitter account with quick tips

Happy Friday and stay tuned for exciting new things this year! Enjoy your weekend :)





Friday, May 16, 2014

Practical Teaching Tip: Organizing Materials into Plastic Storage Boxes

Hello, it has been a long time since I have posted here! The end of the school year is always tough for me between trying to get all of the AP Portfolios submitted, navigating the end of the year to-do's, trying to accommodate mixed classes with the interruption of standardized testing, the list goes on, BUT the good news is I'm back!

So here is a new Practical Teaching Tip that I discovered this semester, plastic storage boxes. Typically I put out the art materials at the students' tables in a white container which is at each table and then change them out for each project. The issue with this is that it took time for me to sort through the materials and put them out each time we started a new project. The *NEW* solution I came up with, is to buy the cheapy plastic pencil boxes and put specific materials in them. For example, I have a box of just markers for each table and another one for just colored pencils. When the kids need to use them, I just put them out. Normally I have a drawer of colored pencils or markers and pulled some out and bundled them for that week, but that takes time and I typically didn't have enough of each color for each table. This makes it easier because the boxes already have all of the colors that they need in them and then I just switch out the boxes for the projects. I think I paid about 88 cents for each box, but for me it has been worth it. I also believe that in the summer as school approaches office supply stores such as Office Depot and Staples have great teacher discounts. Also, I don't let my students sharpen their colored pencils in the electric pencil sharpener (due to the pencil sharpener eating the pencils up and the wax from the colored pencils getting into the pencil sharpener), I normally have a few hand held pencil sharpeners on the white board for students to use, but next year I am going to have a hand held pencil sharpeners in their box with their colored pencils.

Next year I am going to create boxes for each table with clay tools (saw this at another school in our county where the teacher used plastic utensil organizers to store the clay tools) and a system for paint. I bought some plastic soufflĂ© cups from Dick Blick to store glaze in, but never used them. So next year I am going to use these to put some acrylic paint of each color in the cup and then put them in a larger storage box that I can easily place at each table when needed.

Pros to Organizing Materials into Plastic Storage Boxes:
1. The boxes are clear so it is easy for me to see as I check the tables for clean up if all of the materials are there or if there is junk in there (like pencil shavings or paper- high schoolers are notorious for being lazzzyyyy in this aspect).
2. It is easy for me to get the materials out because they are already in the boxes I just need to pop them on the table or have a student do it.
3. I am a BIG fan of having the materials at their table and easily accessible. I typically have anywhere from 25-36 students in a class, and the less they have to move around the less disruptions there are.

Cons:
1. The plastic containers cost money, but I believe they are a good one or two time investment.
2. When you buy el cheapo sometimes they break, which I am noticing I will have to replace a few of them for next year- bummer.
3. Sometimes the boxes become a dumping ground for trash, which I have to kindly remind them to clean up.
4. Sometimes the students trade or borrow colors from another table, and forget to give it back to the original table, so then the colors are mixed up. I haven't come up with a good solution to this one yet, I may just have to let this OCD part go :)

What are some practical ways that you organize materials for your classroom? I would love to hear your ideas!

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Practical Teaching Tip: Another way to label ceramic glazes

Back in January I created a post called "Practical Teaching Tip: Classroom Organization"  in this post I talked about a way that I have been making sample tiles of the glaze and then gluing them to the top of the jar of glaze. One of the issues I faced with this was that the tiles would fall off (and then I am constantly re-gluing them on the top of the jar).

New Solution: This past week I got a few new underglazes and didn't have time to make sample tiles. What I ended up doing was printing off color pictures of the underglaze from the website and then taping them to the top of the jar. WOW how did I not think of that before? The only issue is that the samples listed on the website for underglaze show the tile with a clear coat on top, so unless the students have seen a piece come out of the kiln without the clear coat they wouldn't know that you have to put a clear coat to make the glaze food safe. However, since I have other sample tiles without the clear coat and the students know about underglaze and its properties, this isn't an issue in my class.

In conclusion, this is definitely an easier way to show the students what the glaze should turn out like, rather than making a sample tile that will probably need to be re-glued a couple times. There is a photo below of my *NEW and UPDATED* Practical Teaching Tip on labeling glazes. Enjoy :)

You can see above the underglazes that have my sample tile (not glossy) and the image printed from the website which shows the underglaze with a clear coat



Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Project for a Substitute Teacher: Art Vocabulary Application Worksheet

I find planning for a sub more difficult than when I am just here at school, that's one of the reasons I try not to take off much work! When I do, however, I find myself debating, "How much do I trust the kids? How much do I trust the sub? Am I going to come back to art supplies all around the room? Are they going to finish the assignment in 5 minutes and then have nothing to do?" I have a slue of horror stories about subs, but the great thing is that I will have at least one honest kid who will tell me what really went down while the sub was here :) 
Anyway, I am always on the lookout on activities for my students to do while I am gone (just in case). I am taking some of my kids on a field trip this Friday, so last week I was searching for something for the rest of my kids to do while I'm out. (It is also the day before spring break, so I needed to make sure that there is enough rigor in my plans so that they can focus and not get all crazy.) Luckily, I have found an awesome sub who is an artist, so letting them use limited art supplies hasn't been an issue. While searching the web and Pinterest I had a hard time finding something that I liked, so I just created my own. 

Lesson: Art Vocabulary Application Worksheet for Sub
Materials: worksheet, list of vocabulary words, pencil, colored pencils, hand held pencil sharpeners, scissors, magazines, glue sticks (I keep the art supplies on their tables and assign a table leader to make sure everything gets put away properly)
Each student will get a packet of the same worksheet copied 4 times. The worksheet has 4 different boxes. The first box prompts the students to look up the definition of the word in the art textbooks at their table, the next box has the student draw an example of the word, the following has the student cut an image from a magazine that illustrates the word and the last box requires the student to use this vocabulary word in a sentence. The students will repeat this process on the 3 other pages attached to the packet with different words that they have selected from the list. When I return, I will look through the packets and select the best examples, then I will have that student teach the class that art vocabulary word and the students will take notes. Then, the students will have a quiz on those vocabulary words.

Benefits: 
  • There are a lot of different tasks that the students have to complete in a limited amount of time, leaving less time for them to horse around.
  • The students are going through the basic learning cycle by looking up the definition, applying it and then teaching the class.
  • They still get to use some art supplies. If I have them do a writing assignment inevitably I hear "Why are we doing reading and writing in art class?"
  • It puts the responsibility of learning back onto the students. I'm not giving a 20 minute lecture over essential art vocabulary, but they are teaching themselves and the class about the words. 
Art Vocabulary Application Worksheet
List of Art Vocabulary Words


Friday, March 7, 2014

Practical Teaching Tip: Rolling out Ceramic Slabs

This year I applied for a grant to have a visiting artist come into my class and work with my students to create a community service project. The artist specializes in ceramic tile and murals. The location my students selected to install the mural is a child care center in our community that focuses on students with special needs. After many sketches and visits to the school, we devised a plan. Each student is going to create a ceramic tile to boarder a window. In the community room of their building there are 3 large windows. One is shaped like a triangle, one is the shape of a semi-circle and the other is a square. Each window is going to have a different theme (outer space, our world, and locally our state Florida).

Practical Tip: I don't have a slab roller. Usually my students just roll out their slabs with dowel rods and a rolling pin. The artist brought a little contraption that I would like to share. Her husband used some scrap materials from his wood shop, but of course you could use other wood materials. Basically, there is a bottom piece with slats stapled to the sides. Then she used canvas to cover the wood so that the clay would not stick. She also used foam shelf liner.
The board with slats stapled to the sides

The set up: board, canvas, foam shelf liner, rolling pin and wooden stencils


Students Rolling out their Slabs

Step 1: Get your piece of clay, wedge it and then begin to flatten it out with your hand.
Step 2: Next, put the clay on the canvas inbetween the slate, and roll the slab out with a rolling pin (you should flip the clay to stretch it and change the direction of the particles so that it does not warp).
Step 3: Finally, gently roll the foam shelf liner on the back (you do this so that it creates a texture on the back of the tile. This helps to aid in drying, helps to prevent warping of the tile, and gives it grooves so that when you attach it to a wall it has grip.
Step 4: Use a stencil to cut out your tile. We used  a piece of wood the size of the tile, so that they would be consistent throughout all of their tiles.

Special Note: at first I had my students put the foam shelf liner under the clay and then roll their clay out. Since our clay was fresh it was really wet and was getting stuck to the foam shelf liner, so that it why in Step 3 I say to make the texture after.


Friday, February 14, 2014

Practical Teaching Tip: How to make Slip and other Slip Tidbits

Ceramics teachers have many methods to slipping and scoring 2 pieces of clay together. I have heard of teachers just using vinegar as a binder or teachers mixing their own slip. My preference is to mix my own slip. The important aspect of making slip is to make sure that you are using your clay body to create the slip.


Materials to make slip:

  • Bone Dry pieces of clay (make sure it is completely dry and smashed up)
  • Water container
  • Water
  • Vinegar
  • Food Processor or Blender
  • Squeeze bottler
  • Spoon


Step 1: Gather pieces of bone dry clay and smash it into smaller pieces. I used to keep a 5 gallon paint bucket in the front of the classroom for dried out pieces of clay, but then the students started putting pieces of clay that were not bone dry (just dry enough that they didn't want to use it). SO I now keep that bucket hidden from the students and do my own collecting.
Bone Dry Clay before it has been smashed


Step 2: Once you have a pieces of bone dry clay smashed up, put them in some type of container. Fill the container up with water so that it covers the clay completely. Let sit over night

Step 3: Dump out or scoop off the top layer of excess water.
This is how the clay should look, completely soaked and settled to the bottom. The excess water will be on top.


Step 4: Begin scooping the clay into the food processor or blender. I used to use a blender, but it died and the food process works much better at chopping up the clay to a nice consistency. I mix 75% water and 25% watered down clay mixture. At this point I also add a couple cap fulls of vinegar. I don't have a specific amount of vinegar that I use, a little goes a long way. The vinegar acts as a bonding agent/glue for the slip. You do not have to add the vinegar, but I find that it holds the slip together better.

Step 5: Run the blender or food processor until the slip is the consistency of runny yogurt. You may need to add more water along the way.

Storage of the Slip: The slip with vinegar is only good for a couple weeks. After that it can start to grow mold and smell (more than it does already). I don't make a lot at a time for this reason. Take out containers are great to store the slip (i.e. clear wonton soup containers).

Additional Tip: I used to pour out the slip for each table in my classroom to share and cover the containers at the end of the night with saran wrap. The issue I faced with this is the slip drying out after a few days. My new trick is one that I found on Pinterest where you put the slip into squeeze bottle containers- this works great!!!! (I had some left over from tie dying) The squeeze bottles are less messy and all the students have to do is squeeze the slip out to the area that they need to attach. Just make sure if you use squeeze bottles that the opening is cut enough so that the slip can come out easy and make sure that the slip is a little more watered down than yogurt. One other (funny) issue is that if there are air bubble built up in the clay or if there is a chunk of clay that tries to come out, when the student squeezes the bottle the slip kind of flies out and my kids say that it "poops" out- high schoolers for ya!


Hope these tips were helpful!
How do you make your slip? 
Do you even use slip or just vinegar? I love to learn about new ideas in your room!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Practical Teaching Tip: The "I'm Done" Binder

In my classroom my students are usually working on a couple assignments at a time. Finishing up one and starting to glaze another one. There are times though, after they have finished their artwork and sketchbook assignment, that there is some down time. If I just tell the students to do homework from another class or read a book, it usually doesn't happen and extra talking and disruption emerges. By nature I am a busy body, so I don't like there to be any down time. When this instance does occur I have created a solution the "I'm done" Binder.

What is the "I'm Done" Binder?
I'm so glad you asked :) The "I'm Done" Binder is composted of 8 different assignments that the student can complete at their desk independently. They range from coloring pages, to art word searches, to art word finds and even some origami. All I did was search the web, Pinterest and gathered collections from other art teachers and compiled them into one place.
 Easy peasy make life easy :)

Friday, January 31, 2014

Practical Teaching Tip: Formative Assessment A-B-C Exit Slip

If you are like me and teach at a public school, I am sure you have felt the push to include more reading, writing, math and science into our art classrooms. A couple weeks ago we had a meeting with teachers from different content areas and the focus was on different types of formative assessments. I found this one interesting and decided to share it with all of you!

A-B-C Activity (not a real official name, but oh well)
How it works.... 

I am going to do a lesson on George Segal and my students are going to create "tape people". I am sure you have heard of this project before, if not I will be sharing photos and such in the following weeks. Generally, when I introduce a project I start off by showing the students a PowerPoint Presentation about the projects where I share artists, student work, professional artist work, etc. After I show the PPT, as and exit slip I am going to have the students complete this activity.

With their table they are going to write down words that can be associated with George Segal. The goal is for them to come up with at least 1 word for each letter of the alphabet. After the students have completed the paper (about 5 minutes or so). I will put my paper up on the projector and I will call on groups at random to tell me what they put for the first letter of the alphabet and then keep doing this until we have gotten through the entire alphabet. Then the tables can add these words to their sheet.

Here is the blank sheet before they begin.
After I introduce this lesson I will post photos and updates :)

I would love to hear your input!

  • How do you include Formative Assessments into your classroom? 
  • How do you tie the 'core' classes into your curriculum?

Friday, January 24, 2014

Practical Teaching Tip: Grading Rubrics

I know there are many schools of thought when it comes to assessment. However, for me I have found that utilizing detailed rubrics have been most productive in a high school setting.

Reasons detailed grading rubrics works:

  • Students have a clear understanding of what I am looking for when I grade their projects
  • Students are able to complete mid-project checks or formative assessments based on what they need to change or work on before they turn the project in
  • Students can use the rubric to grade one another
  • Parents have a clear understanding of how I am accessing their student's artwork
  • My opinion about whether I think the art is "good" does not come into play
  • It is very easy and fast to grade a project when all you have to do is check off boxes
  • When I grade projects I do it during class through a critique so the students know what their grade is right away
Here are some examples of the way I set up different rubrics. The first section to the left is the criteria to which I am grading the project. The columns to the right is the amount of points awarded.

Sample Glaze Rubric
 (my ceramic projects get graded once for the project before it goes into the kiln and then again after it has been glaze fired)


3D: Glaze Rubric                                  
 Project Title:                                                                      
Name:                                                                                                                Class Period:                                            Grade:        /35
1.        Sketch a diagram of your piece on the back, color it with colored pencil and label the names of the glazes.
2.        What color scheme or variation of one did you choose? Circle: Primary, Secondary, Warm, Cool, Neutral, Complimentary, Analogous other:                                                                                
3.        What glazing technique did you use? Circle: Stencils, sgraffito, staining, under glaze, wax resist, layering, glass or mixing

Criteria
Weak (1)
Poor (2)
Average (3)
Good (4)
Excellent (5)
Color Scheme: Choose one of the following above or a variation. Overall the colors go well together.





2+ Coats: Student used 2 coats (or more depending on what the label stated) of glaze on entire piece.





Wax on Bottom: Student sealed bottom signature with wax. Glaze that accidentally got on the wax should be wiped away with a wet sponge.





Technique: Student included one of the techniques listed above





Bisque Ware was Properly Cleaned: Student washed piece before it was glazed, there is no crawl.





All areas are painted neatly: There is no bare clay body showing, all areas are cleanly painted.





Completed Questions Above
1
-
2
-
3

How do you grade art? I would love to hear NEW ideas :)

Happy Friday Art Lovers! Take time this weekend to make some art for yourself even if its just a drawing in a sketchbook.


Friday, January 17, 2014

Practical Teaching Tip: Keeping Expensive or Dangerous Materials Organized

Happy Friday! I found this idea on Pinterest, so I am by no means taking credit for this idea. I've just used it and it has worked, so I thought I would share. When I first began teaching, the thought of letting teenagers use X-acto knives kinda freaked me out, so I wanted to allow them to use X-acto knives, but also be safe and organized with them.




This is what I did:

  1. I found some foam that was in my classroom and taped 2 blocks together. 
  2. Then I used the handle of the knife to push holes into the blocks. 
  3. Next I covered the entire block with masking tape and packing tape.
  4. Finally I cut slits in the tape where my holes in the foam were and labeled each hole with a number.
  5. I correlated this number to the number on the blade and a sign out sheet for the students.
Now, with a quick glace it is easy for me to distribute the knives and check if there are any missing. I also do this with my thin Sharpie markers as well because for some reason they started to grow legs and walk. :)

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Practical Teaching Tip: Classroom Organization

WELCOME back! I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing break!

Confession time: I am a organizer/clean freak/over achiever/planner! However, with about 36 students in each of my classes being a clean freak doesn't really mesh well!

Solution time: I work very hard to create an organized system for the students to clean the room and do all other tasks. By training the students in these processes early in the year the students are aware of my expectations and everything begins to run smoothly. This helps me keep my sanity and keeps everything organized.

Labeling: I label almost everything in the room! I get tired of the nagging questions like "Where are the scissors?" by having everything labeled I don't have to answer those questions and I can  move onto making art with them.

Cabinets and Tables: Each table is labeled with the name of a 3D artist. This table name correlates with the name on the outside of their cabinet to store their artwork.


Seat Numbers: Each seat a the table is numbered. This number correlates to a number on the board which details their cleaning job for the week. I rotate these jobs every week. If a student is absent, then the table leader picks up the slack. I also use the seat numbers when collecting papers or randomly calling on students to answer questions.
 



Glaze Organization: I teach 3D art so we do a lot of ceramics. To keep that area organized I have the carts organized by the effect of the glaze. I create a sample medallion that is glued to the tops of the lids of the glazes. The only issue with this is that sometimes the medallion comes off, so I just re-glue it. I tried hot glue and that didn't work well enough. I am currently using Tacky Glue (I am open to suggestions of stronger glues to hold these sample medallions on).


Table Binders: Each table has a binder with copies of useful handouts. I also put then in plastic sleeves so that they do not get damaged. I put handouts in there from Elements and Principles, to SAT/ACT Vocabulary, and art techniques.


Practical Teaching Tip: Keep it simple and find a system that works for YOU! I have found it usefully to train and re-train the students throughout the year especially after breaks :)

Do you have any organizational systems to share? I would love to hear new organizational tips!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Advanced Art Class Midterm: Student Art Blogs

In the past I have had my advanced art students create a website to showcase their artwork that they have created this year and previous years (as an online portfolio). This year I decided to do something different. I realized that when the students tried to log into their account second semester to update their website for the final exam, they forgot their passwords and in general didn't do much with the website- making it useless.

I am an avid Pinterest-er and have seen many posts from Apex High School. When I clicked on their actual blog I got inspired. The art teacher at that school has the students create an art blog- what a great idea! My students always ask if they can take pictures of their artwork to post on instagram and other social media outlets, so why not tie into my curriculum what they are actually interested in- social media.

For 3 days we went down to the media center and my students set up their blog. I still wanted to retain the aspect of the online portfolio so those requirements were still embedded in the rubric. By adding the aspect of the "blog" I wanted them to post 5 blog posts. I left it very open-ended; I told them that the idea behind this was to document the process of their art or they could use it as a personal reflection to the projects that they have created
.  
The requirements for their grade included:
  • A page for an artist statement (it could have been about a specific artwork that they created this year or just about their art in general)
  • The blog had to look professional, but still show their personality (you can see some students went a little too casual for my liking, we will be doing some updates when we get back from break).
  • There had to be a short biography
  • The Portfolio or Gallery had to have at least 5 images of their artwork with labels (name, title, size, medium and year)
  • ...and their blog posts
HERE is the link to the page on my blog where you can see my student's blogs!

I am excited to see how this develops throughout the school year. I plan on having the students post a least once a week and also doing online critiques through the comment section of the posts. 

Art Teacher: if you have ever tried anything like this before, share below- links, successes, failures and comments are always appreciated!

On another note, at this time tomorrow I will be officially on Winter Break!!!!!!- oh wait scratch that I have a game tomorrow night too-
 #artteacherbyday #cheercoachbyafternoon #wifeandsoontobemommaattheendofthenight

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Practical Teaching Tip: Differentiated Instruction Study Guide Visual Art

It's that time of the year....midterms. To help my students study for their exam they are working on a study guide. My PGP (professional growth plan) includes a focus on including more differentiated instructional strategies, so for their study guide I created a Tic-Tac-Toe board. Each prompt has a different prompt which they get to select. The beauty of this project is that I get free visuals out of it. This year I started to make big posters with illustrations on the steps to glazing, creating a slab box, etc. BUT, I was getting behind on other tasks by creating these for each project, so by having them to do this now I can select the best ones to laminate and hang around the room next year.

Assignment Sheet
The posters that I made for my room

Students working on their visuals for the study guide


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Practical Teaching Tip: Record a Video of your Studio Demonstrations

I went to the FAEA conference in October (Florida Art Education Association) and there was an AWESOME ceramics teacher who video taped her demonstrations- genius!

Her reasoning was:
  • #1 who has time to get out materials for demos when we art teachers usually have 3+ different preps
  • #2 what happens when a student is absent...redo
  • ...and #3 when you have 35+ kids in the class huddled around a small demo table how many of them actually see the demo?
So I tried it out....it went pretty well. The teacher at the conference used a tripod and an iphone, I just had one of my students record me on a digital camera. The other teacher was able to just record her hands so that when she replayed the video to the class the students would only focus on her hands and there was no audio (she would talk during the video and point out important aspects of the demo).
  • Pros to video taping your demos: it can be replayed when students are absent, the video is only for what you expect the students to get done that day or within the next couple days so they do not forget the process, and all of the students are able to view the video without distractions. 
  • Cons/Things I would do differently: I initially had one of my students record the video on my iphone and then I was going to upload it to Vimeo from there, problem...it took forever to upload (I am not that patient), so what I ended up doing on the second video is using a digital camera and uploading it to my computer. Videos also take up a lot of space and I don't have a ton of memory on my phone to begin with. The video camera worked fine, but what would be really great is a GoPro (the video camera that you strap to your head and you are able to record from your perspective), but I don't have one- future investment :) I think the GoPro would work better because in my video its a little hard to see what I am working on and you see some of my students in the background. 
  • Uploading and showing the video: Here are a few things I learned: 1. I initially tried to transfer the iPhone video to Vimeo, but it took too long, so then I shot the video on a digital camera, plugged that into my computer and uploaded it to Vimeo that way. It worked, but then when I tried to upload a new video a few days later Vimeo said that I did not have enough space for that week, and that I could sign up for a small fee and have more space....no thanks. SO next time I am going to upload to YouTube.- let's see how this works. The big thing is that I want it online so that my students can view it from home if they are absent. Our district uses a program called Edline to post our grades. I tried to upload directly to that, but again there wasn't enough space, so in conclusion its better to upload it to another site such as YouTube so that it is storing out in the clouds.
Here is my video, I'm no pro by any means, just thought I would share.

I would love to hear your feedback! If you have recorded your demonstrations before share your experiences below and share what you learned :)

Until next time, keep it practical art teachers!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Welcome! Hello, my name is Jessica and I am an art teacher at a high school in Central Florida. I have been teaching art at the high school level for 4 years. I received my BFA degree in Art Education with a focus in Two-Dimensional Art and a specialization in Painting. Growing up my parents were traveling artists who created functional pottery and sold it at art festivals around the county. I was infused with the art culture at a young age and developed a passion for creating art. When it came to making a decision about a career I knew that I wanted to do something in the art field, but I wanted a steady income at the same time. That is what got me thinking about being an art teacher, and I am so thankful that I have chosen that career path.

In addition to being a full time art teacher I also have a painting business called Enigma Jessica. I create custom paintings, paint murals, and help with home decor. I also write another blog from the perspective of a practicing artist where I discuss home decor and painting techniques. I LOVE art and have a passion for teaching art. I decided to write this blog as a way to share things that I have done in my classroom and to get connected to other art teachers. I have a pretty extensive Pinterest account that has several different boards of practical art pins. I am an overachiever and a perfectionist, as you will find out :) These are both good and bad characteristics to have. I have found my balance in being PRACTICAL. Yes, I could stay after school 2 hours cleaning my classroom to my liking, but who wants to do that?! Since I began teaching I have devoted time into working smarter, not harder. I love my husband and family and being an art teacher is my passion and all, but I need to have a life out of school. So throughout this blog I will be sharing useful information for other art teachers who want to begin working smarter and not harder.

To give you a background on my school, I teach 3D-1 (Three-Dimensional Design 1), 3D-1 &3, Advanced Placement Studio Art (Drawing, 2D and 3D), and Portfolio. My school has about 2,000 students, so I have about 36 kids in each class. Most of my posts will be applicable to the high school level, but I will also post practical tidbits that can go across the board.