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 :)

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 soufflé 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!

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

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.

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.

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

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.