In the words of Jim Morrison, "This is the end, beautiful friend, the end, my only friend the end.
I can’t believe that another school year is almost over. Why is it that when you want the time to speed
up it seems to drag, but when you need more time, you blink your eyes and it’s gone? Don’t get me
wrong, I am looking forward to summer vacation. I have a long list of things that I need to get done,
places that I want to visit, and people that I want to spend time with. I’m ready for a few weeks of down
time. My niece, who loves art is going to spend some time with me this summer. I'm a little nervous,
since she informed me last night that she 'prefers first class' and things at my house are decidedly 'coach'.
That and she pretty much eats nothing but carbs and I haven't let them in my house since sometime in
early 2017. If I can keep another young hooman alive, we'll spend some time painting and being crafty.
I really am looking forward to it. I have a lot of fond memories of spending time with my Aunt Loree in
the summertime and I hope she can look back at our time together in the same way.
Like so many other teachers, I am just exhausted right now and summer vacation promises
some me time and renewal. It just seems that I really over-planned this school year and just didn’t
have time to get things done that I thought I would be able to do. I wanted to try out sewing with my
students and that didn’t work out and I am really disappointed with that. I didn’t feel confident that the
personalities in my classroom could handle working with sharp objects (needles) and there is no way
to get around that when you are sewing. I might try to do it as an extension activity next year where
students that are done with their main projects can try new things if they want to in my make-shift
Maker Space in a little corner of my room.
I can’t believe that another school year is almost over. Why is it that when you want the time to speed
up it seems to drag, but when you need more time, you blink your eyes and it’s gone? Don’t get me
wrong, I am looking forward to summer vacation. I have a long list of things that I need to get done,
places that I want to visit, and people that I want to spend time with. I’m ready for a few weeks of down
time. My niece, who loves art is going to spend some time with me this summer. I'm a little nervous,
since she informed me last night that she 'prefers first class' and things at my house are decidedly 'coach'.
That and she pretty much eats nothing but carbs and I haven't let them in my house since sometime in
early 2017. If I can keep another young hooman alive, we'll spend some time painting and being crafty.
I really am looking forward to it. I have a lot of fond memories of spending time with my Aunt Loree in
the summertime and I hope she can look back at our time together in the same way.
Like so many other teachers, I am just exhausted right now and summer vacation promises
some me time and renewal. It just seems that I really over-planned this school year and just didn’t
have time to get things done that I thought I would be able to do. I wanted to try out sewing with my
students and that didn’t work out and I am really disappointed with that. I didn’t feel confident that the
personalities in my classroom could handle working with sharp objects (needles) and there is no way
to get around that when you are sewing. I might try to do it as an extension activity next year where
students that are done with their main projects can try new things if they want to in my make-shift
Maker Space in a little corner of my room.
I’ve already started thinking about the next school year. I’m not going crazy but I am thinking of themes.
This year, we focused on ‘The Jobs that Artists Do’ and looked at professions beyond what middle
schoolers think about artists. They aren’t just old, dead guys that have paintings hanging in museums,
but that nearly everything that we come in contact with has been designed or somehow touched by an
artist. For next year, I am thinking of focusing on ‘Artists and Social Issues’ where we will focus on the
impact that artists have on certain issues, movements and the world. We’ll look at how artists inform us
about their culture, tell stories and create inspiration. I also want to expand my maker space and offer
more free studio time in my classroom where students can explore and try things on their own terms.
But that is next year.
This year, we focused on ‘The Jobs that Artists Do’ and looked at professions beyond what middle
schoolers think about artists. They aren’t just old, dead guys that have paintings hanging in museums,
but that nearly everything that we come in contact with has been designed or somehow touched by an
artist. For next year, I am thinking of focusing on ‘Artists and Social Issues’ where we will focus on the
impact that artists have on certain issues, movements and the world. We’ll look at how artists inform us
about their culture, tell stories and create inspiration. I also want to expand my maker space and offer
more free studio time in my classroom where students can explore and try things on their own terms.
But that is next year.
In the meantime, here’s a sort of gallery round up of a few things that we have been working on this
semester that I don’t think I’ve shared:
This was one of my favorite projects. We were inspired by my little Bob Ross Funko Pop figurine. I
took some ideas that I had seen on Pinterest and a couple of art teacher groups that I belong to,
changed them around to work for my needs and lo and behold, we had an artist biography project that
was actually fun to do.
semester that I don’t think I’ve shared:
This was one of my favorite projects. We were inspired by my little Bob Ross Funko Pop figurine. I
took some ideas that I had seen on Pinterest and a couple of art teacher groups that I belong to,
changed them around to work for my needs and lo and behold, we had an artist biography project that
was actually fun to do.
I found some old scratch board in a drawer and I didn't have enough big sheets to go around
so I cut them down and we did a sort of positive-negative space examination of bugs.
This was not as successful as I would have liked. The styluses that we used for scratching the
designs were breaking left and right and we all got frustrated. In the end, I quit asking them for as
much detail as they were originally going to put into their work but these turned our pretty nice.
so I cut them down and we did a sort of positive-negative space examination of bugs.
This was not as successful as I would have liked. The styluses that we used for scratching the
designs were breaking left and right and we all got frustrated. In the end, I quit asking them for as
much detail as they were originally going to put into their work but these turned our pretty nice.
You know how an art teacher knows when a project is successful? The kids start asking if they can
take the project home before they've even finished it. (I usually hang on to their work until the end of
the year) AND they ask if they can do another one. I called this one 'Draw Me a Song' and my
intention was to give them some freedom to pick a song lyric OR a poem (original, or one that they've
studied in their ELA classes) in hopes that the subject matter would keep them interested and
motivated. I gave them a week to bring in a song or poem that they wanted to do.
ART HOMEWORK! OMG! MizzzzzSmiffffff! I told them that it had to be appropriate for school and
if they didn't bring one in, then they would have to do one of MY songs. Which were all Disney lyrics.
We talked about how to alter your everyday handwriting to make into a more interesting font and
how the layout and placement of words can create a more visually appealing art work. We talked
about emphasis and space and even replacing words with symbols. Which came in handy when you
ran out of room because you didn't plan for space very well. I particularly love that one of my students,
who speaks limited English, did a song in Spanish. Thank goodness for Google Translate.
take the project home before they've even finished it. (I usually hang on to their work until the end of
the year) AND they ask if they can do another one. I called this one 'Draw Me a Song' and my
intention was to give them some freedom to pick a song lyric OR a poem (original, or one that they've
studied in their ELA classes) in hopes that the subject matter would keep them interested and
motivated. I gave them a week to bring in a song or poem that they wanted to do.
ART HOMEWORK! OMG! MizzzzzSmiffffff! I told them that it had to be appropriate for school and
if they didn't bring one in, then they would have to do one of MY songs. Which were all Disney lyrics.
We talked about how to alter your everyday handwriting to make into a more interesting font and
how the layout and placement of words can create a more visually appealing art work. We talked
about emphasis and space and even replacing words with symbols. Which came in handy when you
ran out of room because you didn't plan for space very well. I particularly love that one of my students,
who speaks limited English, did a song in Spanish. Thank goodness for Google Translate.
Sometime this year, I really don't remember when, all the art teachers got together and met with the
Sax/School Specialty rep and did some fun projects and learned a lot of new fun things that we can
try out with our kiddos. It's one of those professional development days that I am so grateful to be an
art teacher. What did you do during your PD day? Ummm, we looked at data and blah, blah blah,
ZZZzzzzzzz. What did we do during our PD day? We made stuff and did a paint pour. I've had a
couple of examples of what we did on a shelf in my classroom all year and my kiddos were begging
me to let them do it. So, we did.
Sax/School Specialty rep and did some fun projects and learned a lot of new fun things that we can
try out with our kiddos. It's one of those professional development days that I am so grateful to be an
art teacher. What did you do during your PD day? Ummm, we looked at data and blah, blah blah,
ZZZzzzzzzz. What did we do during our PD day? We made stuff and did a paint pour. I've had a
couple of examples of what we did on a shelf in my classroom all year and my kiddos were begging
me to let them do it. So, we did.
We have just one class day left until testing starts and then the 2017-2018 school year will be over.
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| This was the day that I lost control of my 8th graders. They were trying on all my hats and hula hooping in my classroom. Sigh. I guess they were making memories. |
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| Sydney often draws my portrait but this is one of my favorites. Me and a bulldog. I guess that sums me up pretty well! |
Hopefully after a couple of weeks of rest, I'll look back on this school year fondly. Until then, I hope everyone's end of year goes smoothly and successfully. I wish you all a wonderfully restful summer and I look forward to sharing my classroom with you next year. See you in August!
