Shopping for tempera paint can make you feel like a kid in a candy store! How can you resist filling your basket with all those juicy colors?? When you're in the market for paint for your elementary classroom or homeschool, you really only need 3 colors of tempera to provide a great learning experience for your students, and you'll simplify your life at the same … [Read more...]
Celebrate National Arts in Education Week
The week beginning with the second Sunday in September is National Arts in Education Week. This year that's September 9-15, 2018. It's all about arts advocacy and sharing why education in the arts is so important. What will YOU do to celebrate? Here are a few ideas! Sign the petition to U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. Drastic cuts have been proposed to the … [Read more...]
How to Learn Your Students’ Names FAST!
With each new school year, teachers everywhere face the daunting task of learning the names of all their new students. Whether you teach a single grade level class of 20 students or you teach multiple classes of art, music, or PE and see the entire school every week, you’ll want to learn your students' names fast…. and the faster the better! Why is it so important to learn … [Read more...]
Letter to a First Year Art Teacher – Practical Advice from the Trenches
Dear First Year Art Teacher, Congratulations on your new job teaching Art! You are embarking on a wonderful adventure! There will be days ahead when you'll declare to anyone who will listen that you have the BEST job in the world. There is SO much to LOVE about teaching Art! But, as with all things, there will be challenging times, too. I’d like to share some things I’ve … [Read more...]
Why Sharing a Classroom Might Be Better Than You Thought…. and 5 Ways to Make it Work
Let’s face it, given the choice, we’d all prefer to have our own space. But consider this…. maybe sharing a classroom isn't so bad after all. I used to dream of having my own classroom… complete with storage for supplies and a sink for clean up. A place I could call my own and make my own decisions about. A teaching space where I could leave things set up, knowing the room … [Read more...]
Kaleidoscope Lettering – New & Improved!
While I love creating new art projects to keep things fresh and interesting, some of the older projects are just so good, they’re worth repeating year after year…. which also gives me the chance to keep improving them! Kaleidoscope Lettering is one of those projects! It uses the concepts of bilateral (reflective) symmetry, tessellation, and positive/negative space to … [Read more...]
My New Favorite Pencil Sharpener
Usually, I sharpen pencils as needed, a few at a time, and don't think much about it. But this morning I sat staring at 9 dozen brand new pencils I needed for a workshop I'm teaching. I found myself procrastinating this simple task all week, just due to the sheer number of them. But once I got going, I was completely surprised by how quick and easy it actually was, so I had to … [Read more...]
