The Strength to Perform, Overcome, and Love!

Teachthought 30-day Challenge
Day 15: Name 3 strengths you have as an educator.

I found these graphics to illustrate my strengths. 

I'm the art teacher...what can I say...I like visuals!

www.soarwithfirefly.com

The more pressure I have to perform multiple tasks the better my brain works. The more things on my plate, the more driven I am to complete them. Much of my best work and growth comes from when I am under tons of pressure and looming deadlines. This week is one of those weeks. Come on brain, let's kick it into gear!!

http://intrigue.ie/

I didn't think I'd be able to incorporate Marzano into my 40 minute classes and still have time to teach my art lessons. I thought for sure something would have to take the back seat. But I took the challenge on and worked hard to overcome my time constraint challenges, because I knew I could find a way to make everything work together for the ultimate learning experience for my students.

You may be thinking I chose this picture because Popeye is a symbol of strength. I actually chose this because Joseph, a second grader, loves drawing Popeye. I love my students! I love getting to know them and their likes. I love seeing the potential they have and working together with them to achieve it. I love being a teacher and working with students everyday. It takes a lot of strength to overcome the challenges and pressures of a changing educational world. 

But when I think of my strengths as an educator, my biggest one is my passion for teaching. 

My top 10 EdTech Tools

Day 13 TeachThought Challenge - A day late but I made it!

Drum roll please...

My top ten list of Tech Tools I use in my class.

Let's Start with my #1

1. Class Dojo - Love it! And so do my students. Great for classroom management.

2. Google Translate - I use it ALL the time! From Hungarian to Arabic and everything in between, our school has a lot of ESOL students from around the world. Google Translate is a life saver!

3. Power Point - I love creating interactive multi media presentations for my students that not only stimulate their minds but engage them in active learning that they enjoy.

4. Dropbox - It's the best way to store my lessons for easy access from home, school, or anywhere I happen to be.

5. Twitter - The best source for PD on demand! Love twitter and all my fellow teachers who share wonderful resources that help me become a better teacher every day!

6. Instagram - It's a great place to connect with my students for extra credit opportunities. I feature Instagram Challenges throughout the year. Students frequently post pics of Art seen on vacations or artwork they have created.

7. Edmodo - Is another social media option for students. For the students who don't have Instagram accounts this is a great alternative. I feature challenges on Edmodo as well. There are a lot of nice features on the site as well that allow for more interactive participation.

8. iMovie - Awesome and easy to use to create all kinds of movies. Love it because I can use it on my laptop or iPad.

9. iStopMotion - Great user friendly app to help students learn how to create animations. My students pick this up so easily and make awesome animations.

10. DoInk Green Screen - Love this one too. Once again a user friendly app that allows students to create movies that can mix together a variety of mediums.

In 5 Year's Time! "Noah and the Whale" Teaching Style

Day 12: How do you envision your teaching changing over the next 5 years?

This song instantly came to mind when I read today's prompt!

Noah and the Whale...5 Years Time
I love this song! How appropriate.

Now this song is not about teaching but hey...I'm the Art Teacher! I can make anything work.

"And it was fun fun fun when we were laughing. It was fun fun fun, oh it was fun..."

This is an after school art program I run out of my house. Kids Create Art WooHoo!! 

We incorporate ELA standards into our classes, mix it together with some art and face painting, 

Drama? Yes please!

and throw in some edtech to create a movie that is totally Fun Fun Fun!!

In 5 years time I envision my students in the public school I teach at being able to experience to excitement and FUN that comes from making movies by "hiding the veggies" in my art room!! 

It's Elementary My Dear Watson

Welcome to the Investigative Art Room of Sherlock Holmes!

Inside student's magnify their learning
as we go deeper into the connections between
art and other academic subjects.

They will do this by becoming Sherlock Holmes!

There are no rules in class this year.
But there are many things the students are
allowed and even encouraged to do.

And it is 9:00 p.m. on Friday night
and I am exhausted. 

Good night all!

I LOVE This! Can you guess why?

Day 4 asks us to reflect on what we love most about teaching.

Below my answer is illustrated.

Student A

       Student B           

Now you may be thinking:

 "Of course... The Art Teacher loves her student's ART the most"

But you'd be wrong! 

Student A is Autistic and mentally handicapped. He spends part of the day in a regular classroom, and it is then when he comes to art. For the past few years when I would would give lessons, he would quietly create his own work of art. For example, one time we were making clay snowmen and he made a "camera".

The picture above is the first time he has tried really hard to create the same project we were working on. I was amazed! You'll notice he watched me drawing so closely that he also wrote in my name.

And that my fellow teachers... is why I LOVE teaching!

Smart Boards? Yes Please!!

Blogging two days in a row! How many days till a habit is formed? This Reflective Teaching 30-day Blogging challenge may be just the thing to get me into the habit of finally keeping up with my blog.

Day 2 asks what piece of technology I would like to try this year and why. Perfect time for this topic.

I REALLY REALLY want a Smart Board!

leegreensmartboardtutorial.pbworks.com

But, I have a REALLY REALLY good reason for wanting it. And it's not just because I teach art.

www.creativeeducation.co.uk

It's because of Marzano!

funny-pictures.picphotos.net

No. Not that Marzano...This Marzano.

www.marzanoresearch.com

This year our school was chosen to be a model school, which means we get trained by the folks at Learning Sciences. It's great! Hands on training with the people who worked to create this new methodology. What could be better?

A Smart Board! A Smart Board could be better! Because with a Smart Board I can implement the new learning goal and scale with all the learning targets and clustering in an interactive, engaging, effective and efficient manner for my 40 minute classes.

www.emlii.com

Smart Boards? Yes Please! 

Learning Science you rock too! But oh the things I could do with what you have taught me if I had a Smart Board. :-)

You will become Sherlocks, NOT Monkeys!

Week one is almost over! Eight classes to teach on this hot and muggy Friday morning and then it's the weekend! Woohoo!! This first week was packed with classes filled with new and old students. I was SO surprised to find out the majority of my students do not know who Sherlock Holmes is. Really?!

Although I have to say most of the students last year did not know who Doctor Who was either and I am pleased to report they are all hooked now. Actually most were a little bummed that my theme had changed from Doctor Who.

Last Year...

This Year...

One of my favorite additions to this year's class is the "You are Allowed TO Board". Inspired by Simon Sinek, I threw the rules out the window. We all know what the right thing to do is anyway. I added this board and the kids love it!

And the best laugh of the week came from this slide in my introductory presentation. You will become Detectives NOT Monkeys! They got a real kick out of that one, and it allowed us to discuss my expectations for class behavior in a fun an relaxed way.

To celebrate the end of the week, this Friday and every Friday, I will give away free lessons from my TPT store. This week I am giving away my 7 week unit: Elements of Art presentations/lessons. Click the link below to get your free lesson. You have till midnight to get it free.

Elementary Art Lesson: Elements of Art for Upper Elementary & Marzano DQ

Elementary Art Lesson: Elements of Art for Lower Elementary & Marzano DQ

I hope you all had a great week! Enjoy your weekend and relax...haha. Like that will happen. ;-p

Investigating in the Art Class

Welcome back to school to all the teachers and students across the world that went back today!! I hope everyone had a wonderfully relaxing summer. If you worked this summer like I did, I hope you were able to find some time to take a break from the action. :-)

My theme this year is so exciting and I can't wait to jump right in. I absolutely love the BBC and Sherlock is one of my favorite shows. As you can see from the snapshots below, my art room address has changed to 221 B Baker Street. We now occupy the "Investigative" Art Room of Sherlock Holmes.

This year's focus is on teaching the students how to not just see the world, but how to truly observe it. We will use Sherlock's Science of Deduction as we solve cases and explore the art world. Hiding the Veggies in the art room continues this year as we magnify our learning of core subjects in a fun and creative way.

I would love to see what you all are doing in your rooms! 

Jingo - Artist's Bingo Fun and Educational!

It's the week before our much anticipated 2 week winter break. My students started their own mental vacation at the beginning of this week, and I must admit my mind has been trying to mentally check out as well. I usually run my lesson plans straight through the school year and celebrate all the hard work with a special art party during the last week of school. This year I thought I'd mix it up a bit. Instead of struggling through the week attempting to keep my "can't wait for break" students focused, I decided we'd play Jingo.

Jingo is a great Art related bingo game I picked up a few years ago. I have two versions. One features famous artists and the other features items related to the artist's studio. It's a fun game for the students because bonus points are given for each game's winners. I sneak some education in there by quizzing the students as we go for double bonus points.

Here's an example: I read the description of either an artist or the item listed on the card. Students raise their hand when they think they know the answer. I remind students they are not to guess...I tell them that if I am reading them the description it must mean that we learned about this in class. It's wonderful when my students are able to access information they learned in previous years and apply it.