#NAEA15 Finding Inspiration Down in New Orleans

Wow wow wow!  So inspired.  Between being inspired from the heart to the mind, I am ready to put into motion all I learned!  Here's a recap of my favorite things..

Tim Gunn truly spoke to our hearts.  We are so often left with an island feeling.  Not the blue waters and breezy coconut tree island, but the I’m by myself and have to figure it out on my own kind of island.  Twitter and blogs have definitely helped with some of the loneliness, but there is nothing quite like human to human interaction.  Listening to Tim Gunn fueled my spirit.  He reminded us that a “lesson can be transformational”  and we are responsible for teaching the students with “the least resources or drive” to the “angels” that need inspired within their talent.  To see the passion in someone else for teaching and mentoring, and believing that “qualities of character” are as important as curriculum was exactly what my heart needed.  Thanks Mr. Gunn. 

'Truth telling, Empathy, Asking, Cheerleading, and Hoping for the best.'

Another island I like to swim to is my high school robotics team.  This year in sessions, I was finally able to find the pieces I needed to build a bridge between my elementary art teacher life and high school robotics life. During Peter Nosalik’s Art of Engineering session he said, “Think like engineers and see like artists.” Being immersed in both worlds the past two years, it was so apparent to me how engineering, art and design are interconnected. I have been so inspired by my high school students, I wanted to bring to my elementary students the design concepts and thinking skills I’ve learned. This year I spoke about creating a curriculum that caters to your students, and my students are interested in robotics, engineering and design.  They play Minecraft and with legos in their free time.  Many of my parents are engineers or science majors.  So if I follow my own advice, it’s time to put together a makers program.  I’m thinking I’ll start with a grant for materials and use my Family Art Night set up as the program.  I got great ideas from Steve Ciampaglia and his Art Makers Space he has created with the mantra, “Pop up, drop in, make art.”  Seeing how he made it work was inspiring and gave me the outline for where to start.  I can’t wait to see this project come to life and witness my students become "designer, engineer, and maker of one's own learning experience." 

Art Makers Space session by Steve Ciampaglia.  The Plug-In Studio.

The exhibitor hall is always so much fun!  I’m so excited about these new watercolors!  My students just tear up the watercolors we’ve been using.  I can’t keep up with them and it feels like every class I’m replacing the cakes.  I’m hoping this will be a good alternative.  I got a chance to play with them and the color was fabulous. I also love making palettes for the students, and this new system seems like a breeze to change.  I can even have students do it.  They are more expensive than the ones I currently use, but I’m hoping price per wear, (which is how I buy my bags!) will shake out to be more cost effective for my classroom with quality results.

These frames!  Immediately I knew my families will want them.  They will love not only the ease of changing the artwork, but how these frames really highlight the students work in a simple way, and it will work with all the non-straight edge art we produce, including our weavings.  I’m excited to share them with parents.     

I have so much material and leftover black felt!  The Ymm Art Education display on "Little Fashion Designer Class" is a starting point for inspiration!  AND I REALLY REALLY NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BUILD THESE TABLES!!!  Look at how you can fill the drawers with items, and then see the items through the clear table top!  To me, they fit right into my curriculum of giving kids choices.

OBSESSED WITH THESE TABLES!

Meeting other art teachers is always a bonus, and Stacey, my friend from grad school and I happened to meet Michael and Ashley, two phenomenal teachers from Wisconsin.  Their session on alternatives to drawing was awesome and I’m so excited to have these teachers in my address book.

My grad school friend Stacey.  We came across an artist
market in the French Quarters at MIDNIGHT! 

The city.  I am so happy I extended my trip a couple days after the conference so I could focus on the conference and then the city.  Southern hospitality is a real thing.  Everyone we met was warm and kind and willing to share their pride for their city. 

A Louise Bourgeois sculpture in the NOMA's
sculpture garden. A really great museum! 
Thanks for the free admission! We thoroughly enjoyed it! 

The architecture...beautiful! 

Our "haunted" hotel! 

Form, Fish and Inspiring Mistakes in Kindergarten

This outcome of this project was inspired by running
out of white paper and forgetting to use stickers!

Did you know I take my kindergarten students through the elements of art?  It's really the only place you'll ever see me focus on them in my curriculum.  I just like that I can teach so many procedures and materials by playing and experimenting with the elements and recognizing them in other artworks.  My first through fifth grade curriculum is all big idea based.  It works well having this materials/elements/play foundation and in first grade we are ready to roll with storytelling, heroes, nature, celebration, and all the other big ideas we explore.  At the end of the day though, how do you save an art program based on line and shape and color?  You don't, which is why we create meaning and the elements become what use to create that meaning. 

So when it came time to talk about form we make cubes and cylinders and even try a pyramid all made out of play-dough. Students then make a pinch pot and are introduced to the ceramic process. While the pinch pots are drying I wanted students to see how forms are used in drawings and paintings.  (I'm already thinking I need to add a 3D pen to this lesson and draw!  Have you seen them?  I want one! I'm hoping they'll be at NAEA 2015 convention!)

Copied and in my binder! 

My first year teaching kindergarten was TOUGH.  I came from a high school and middle school background so I was really lost.  School Arts was my paper blog and it was perfect timing that Darcy M. Swope came out with Matisse + a Math Connection in the February edition, exactly when we’re learning about forms. Inspired by the idea, I’ve been having kindergarten recreate Matisse's Goldfish ever since and this year the lesson evolved from some art teacher mistakes! 

First mistake: I ran out of white paper! Seriously!  I’ve been going into reserves and those dusty packs in the back of the closet.  (It's actually been a very decluttering experience!) I had this gray card stock paper donated and after looking at Matisse’s Goldfish painting I realized the gray actually works well as a background color.  It was a happy mistake I ran out of white because the paints (Crayola Florescent Premier) dried beautifully over the dark paper.  I also had these fish eye stickers that I’ve got for Gyotaku printing, and then forgot to use! Another mistake…but a happy one because it made the kindergarten fish come alive and have these cute personalities, just like my kindergartners who I now love teaching!

I love how some students painted the reflection they saw in Matisse's painting! 

I printed the cylinder on the paper ahead of time.  I just used Publisher to create it. 

The fish eyes stickers really brought personalities to all the fish!
I think I have to buy them now every year for this project!

Displayed with Matisse's Goldfish

The Craft of Quilting in Centers

Over the years of teaching,  I have collected so much information about quilts, Faith Ringgold, and Gee's Bend, but couldn't figure out how to package it all together.  I've done the story in the center of the paper, quilt border on the outside, a Gee Bend inspired quilt, and the pattern crayon drawings. None were really inspiring me this school year and I had so many resources... how to pick?

So I decided not to pick and give it all to my students!  The students often do centers in their classrooms, so I knew the procedure part would not be a problem.  I turned all my resources into centers.  We look at the quilts of Gee Bend and talked about how the artists had limited supplies.  So I gave second grade the same problem.  Limited supplies at different tables with other activities in-between.  The kids were naturals at transitioning from center to center.  We did this for three 40 minute classes and I was able to expose the kids to all the resources I had and ended up with some really amazing second grade quilts!  

CENTER ONE.  Make a Gee Bend inspired quilt from limited supplies. Every year I buy the 10 lb. paper remnants box from School Speciality.  This was a great use of it!  I had many tables dedicated to this center, each with limited and different papers. 

CENTER TWO.  Pattern Play from MindWare.  Best money ever spent!  High quality materials and my students love it!  I use it a lot with students with special needs.  It's something they often work towards.

 

CENTER THREE and FOUR.  Look at and read Faith Ringgold books and quilt books from our school library.  

CENTER FIVE.  Pattern block stamps with markers.

 

CENTER SIX and SEVEN.  Research and Tangrams.  Students found links on my website to Craft in America and Lucy Mingo.  They got to browse the website and begin to see what other artworks fall under the craft umbrella.  A Tangram app was the only free quilt related app I could find, but the kids enjoyed the puzzle.  

As you can see from the pictures, the kids carried their own quilt square with them as they moved through the centers.  Artmaking was in between almost every activity.  I had different papers each art class. I was very happy with the results and I do believe the centers helped contribute to the success of this project! 

Two Pins, One Lesson. Fourth Grade Zentangles.

Part 1 of the inspiration found on Pinterest and from Painted Daisies

Part 2 of Inspiration for Fourth Grade Zentangle Leaves

Sometimes one pin just isn't enough.  Thank goodness we can organize with boards on Pinterest because it was two pins on the same board that sparked an idea for my fourth grade students.  A couple of years ago my student teacher introduced zentangles to our high school classes.  It was so successful that we (and by we I mean WE because this relationship was the most awesome collaboration of lesson planning for the both of us!) decided to try zentangles with our fourth graders.  Mrs. S came up with the idea to have the kids do zentangles inside of a leaf outline. The students were in the middle of a Nature unit, so it fit the curriculum perfectly.

Just after we completed the high school lesson,  I saw the pin with the zentangle on brown craft paper with the white and was instantly taken by it.  The artist is Teri Casper.  I wrote a note to include it in my high school art school lesson the next year.  I never got the chance, as the next year I became full time elementary.  No complaints here though. (Although I love high school students too!)  Next came the leaf pin, and I immediately thought of the 4th grade zentangle leaf lesson.  For the first year, the students had drawn them on white paper and used a sharpie for the zentangles.  These two images really inspired me to take the project to a new level.  I have basically morphed together the two images to form a new lesson for fourth grade students, and they love it.  You know those days when the kids stop talking completely on their own because they're so absorbed with the lesson?  That's what happens here.

I've collected a lot of good materials over the years, which definitely makes a difference.  The kids use the micron pens and that helps them be successful at such little and detailed lines.  I have 10 packs of black and it was an investment, but they have lasted two years and the kids do a great job of taking care of them.  I tell them if they use professional supplies they have to treat them like a professional artist.  For the metallic coloring the kids use Sargent Liquid Metals which have lasted well and are very reasonably priced per wear.  I got a free pack of the Crayola brand, and I'm impressed with those too.  I had to really keep an eye on the kids that they didn't completely cover their zentangles with the markers.  We talked about how artists have to be good editors and make choices, even though the materials are fun to use! 

After mounting the leaf zentangles, students decorated the black background will gel pens, which they also could use on the leafs.  I am super excited about the results, and it's even cooler to look back on my Pinterest board and now see the end result of what started as a pin and idea.