Hey everyone! Last post for today (I think!)- I was recently asked for the pdf for my Blank Artist Statement Form. I posted about this before, but realized that I never put it on my Teachers Pay Teacher site.  I've been using this Artist Statement Form in my art classes since 2016! I designed this Blank Artist Statement Form to help my upper elementary and middle school students write a better artist statement and reflect on their learning. I include it in every sketchbook I make for my students grades 5-8. Younger students can write directly on the form and older students can use it t ..read more

Here's a one-page quick handout/resource to use with students when teaching Suminagashi printmaking. Suminagashi monoprinting can be linked to science and World History and Graphic Arts (STEAM). Find it on my Teacher Pay Teachers store. I teach printmaking to middle school students and I use this as part of a one-day Suminagashi "Lab" I do with them. On printing day, students enter the room and I have all of the tables set up for them to work. I give them this handout, do a demonstration, and the rest of the class time is spent creating and experimenting with the medium. This handout is als ..read more

Another snow day here in New Hampshire, so I'm using my time to post a couple of new resources. First up: this Chinese Seal/Chop and Japanese Hanko/Inkan Printmaking Handout. Find this in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.  Here's a one-page quick handout/resource to use with students when teaching about Chinese Seals/Chops and/or Japanese Hanko/Inkan. Creating your own seal can be linked to Asian Studies and Graphic Arts. I teach printmaking to middle school students and I use this as part of a larger printmaking unit I do with them. We do gyotaku printing (fish printing) and then c ..read more

New product update on my TpT! We have a snow day today, so I thought I'd post my newest offering on Teachers Pay Teachers: it's one page printable to track your reading. Use this as a bullet journal page, fold it and make a wide bookmark, or put it on your corkboard in your office to have a nice piece of art that tracks what you've read. There are no dates written on it, so you can use it for years or for every year, over and over. There are all sorts of cute little details in there that span the seasons, so you can enjoy coloring as you go. This is so cute for book clubs or to gi ..read more

 Hey friends and enemies! Let's Talk About Our Future... As part of my long-term professional plan (that sounds so fancy!), I've been trying to document my teaching more. This means posting videos, blog posts, etc. I'm not gonna lie: it's a lot to actually do and to keep track of. But the more I do it, the easier it gets. The Solution: The "keeping track of" is easy, I use this Content Creation Checklist. It has all of the steps that I use to make a video or other content and the steps I go through to get it done across platforms and APPs like Google Drive, WeVideo, Youtube, PicCollage ..read more

Hey friends and enemies! I'm gonna date myself a little bit here: I grew up before the interwebs. Yep. As I joke with my students: I'm THAT old. Social media doesn't always come easy to me. I have a love/hate relationship (or maybe a hate/hate) with some social media platforms. However, I use social media to connect with others and to document my teaching and learning, so it's necessary for me. But there's so many APPs and platforms. How's a lady to keep 'em straight? Make a chart! This is the form I use to keep track of my social media posts across platforms such as Youtube, Teachers Pa ..read more

Hi friends and enemies! The past couple of days I've spent trying to build some videos for demo purposes. I'm trying to be able to allow my students more independence and autonomy with art room techniques and materials. Well if you've been following my posts recently, you may have seen this video coming. I've posted videos on using a glue stick and how to use Elmer's glue and here's my final offering: How To Use Hot Glue/How To Use a Hot Glue Gun. A necessary skill for a middle schooler and for those who have never used a glue gun before. Yeah, there's people out there that DON'T EVEN OWN A ..read more

Hi friends and enemies! The past couple of days I've spent trying to build some videos for demo purposes. I'm trying to be able to allow my students more independence and autonomy with art room techniques and materials. Guys. Last year was brutal in terms of kids using glue. Many kids hadn't had art class in person for a couple of years and Elmer's glue is not something everyone has at home. I get it. Liquid glue is messy. Flashback to my own kids chanting "Glue! Glue!" as they slowly emptied entire bottles onto their projects. True story.  I had never really used lots of Elmer's with m ..read more

 Hi friends and enemies! The past couple of days I've spent trying to build some videos for demo purposes. I'm trying to be able to allow my students more independence and autonomy with art room techniques and materials. I usually demo how to use a glue stick and even though I teach middle school,  there are still students who struggle with it. I'm not sure I would make a student sit through the entire video without me jumping in to point something out or show in real life, but it's good to know that I have this video as backup. Side note: mine is not the first video on youtube that ..read more

Hey friends and enemies! I've been creating some resources that students can use to learn the basics of art supplies. So many times I do the same demos over and over and it would be nice to be able to quickly refer students to a demo in case they missed it or need additional info.  In a previous post, I explained how my friend Jen pointed me down the road to using the 3-2-1 format for my videos. Once I started thinking of organizing my demos this way, I haven't been able to stop! Oil pastels are near and dear to my heart. I use them in my own scratch art-inspired work and love how eas ..read more