Your first year of teaching is never "easy".  People have all kinds of stories from their beginnings in education.  Some funny, some embarrassing, and some are just plain cringey.   My first year of teaching ended in disaster.  This is not an exaggeration.  There literally was a natural disaster.  A tornado(s) went right through Nashville.  Growing up in Appalachia in the middle of the forest, I had no idea a tornado could hit a city.  It can. It did.  I had left 15 min. before it hit, and had been in my classroom till six at night the whole w ..read more

 I've been talking about overlapping and showing "space" in your work with my second graders.  We created fish tanks that had a defined corner to create a bottom, side, and back to the tank.  I was not looking for mastery as this is a new concept to them.  I was just introducing the idea. We used watercolor pencils to finish the work.   YOU ARE GOING TO NOTICE IN SOME OF THE PICTURES THE VERTICAL LINE IS VERY CURVED.  THAT IS BECAUSE THE PAPER CURLED WHEN IT DRIED & I DIDN'T FLATTEN IT OUT BEFORE SNAPPING THE PICTURE! ha ha ..read more

The kids seem to LOVE dino nuggies!  Don't know what they are? They make chicken nuggets in the shape of dinosaurs.  Yes...it's a thing!! ha ha  There are shirts, earrings, pushies, pillows...a whole dino nuggie industry!  I've wanted to make my own pushies/pillows, but it took awhile to find a fabric I thought would work(Dollar Tree...imagine that!?!).  I made a pattern to the size of the fabric, cut them out, sewed them together, and stuffed them. It went relatively quick, and I had a lot of fun doing it!  A friend saw my post on facebook, and asked if I could m ..read more

Colors of Kindness has two dups for Dandelion. The center is the original Dandelion. Top is regular Yellow from a "normal" box of 24.  To the right is Banana Mania. At the bottom is Hello Sunshine. Though I would love Dandelion to return, the two from Colors of Kindness are pretty good.  ..read more

This post was originally written Easter of 2016. Narrative art tells a story.  I love challenging students to create interesting original narratives.  They have to truly think through what their story is, and how to best share it with the viewer.  A narrative is at its best when it considers the setting (environment), characters (people that it involves), and plot (what's happening).  I ask students to periodically stop and share their work with their neighbor.  If their neighbor is unable to convey what is going on in the story, then the artist knows they must recons ..read more

 This made my heart so happy!! A few weeks ago I taught a lesson on the artist Romero Britto. A para-pro (someone who works with children that need extra assistance) loved the work I shared from Britto, and ordered a new phone case for herself.  She had to share it with me!!  We are influencing more than the kids!  ..read more

I've looked at a few other areas Dollar Trees and have not found them.  So I don't know if you will be able to find them at your local store or not.    ..read more

 My All School Art Show is sweets themed, and here is one of the lessons I'm doing with my students.  ..read more

OLDY BUT A GOODY If you want another op art style project with shading....try this one out.  I did switch to using pencil this year instead of sharpie to draw it because I had so many students with anxiety.  Was not worth stressing them out!  All you need is pencil, paper, colored pencils, and patience!  ..read more

Op Art is so much fun to study with your students (I'd say 2nd on up!). There are so many interesting works to look through, and so much inspiration to be had.  Think about things you are trying to cover (standards/skills/elements/principles), and focus your lesson in that direction.  It really is so versatile.  If you need to bounce ideas off of someone, leave me a comment here or find me on my other social media.  I'd be happy to help.  ..read more