What Kids Do After Standardized Testing

It eneviabtle, as an art teacher you are used for small group testing in public schools. However, this is such a great experience for me because I get to have the students explore art when they are done with the test. I find that it motivates the student to go slower on their test, really thinking about their answers. I use art making as a reward when they have completed their test and double (maybe triple) checked each of their answers.

Today I had three students in my testing group. When they finished their test, they were able to explore any of the many stations in my art room. (drawing station, painting, construction, etc) I was thrilled to see that each student chose something unique from the other. And let me tell you, you could hear a pin drop for the hour that they worked. It was a wonderful environment!

Here are some shots of what the students explored!

Simple Tips and Tricks for an Organized Art Room

I love finding new a fun ways to be organized in my art classroom. I often find a lot of ideas on Pinterest and other teacher's blogs. I wanted to share some of my simple ideas on here with you.

1. First and foremost, I color code everything. Everything. From tables, to table bins, to supply buckets to the place where the supply buckets are put away. It helps students understand where to place supplies when they are finished using them as well as take ownership for cleaning up the room at the end of the lesson.

2. I also color code in other ways as well. For instance when we are doing any project that involves fibers or yarn, I like to color code the bins in warm and cool categories. When you ask a student to place the red yarn back in the warm colored bin it helps reinforce art vocabulary. 

3. One word for this trick: labels. 

4. I also like to utilize clip boards for some projects. There is just some kind of magical thing that happens when students are given a clip board to do their work on. Maybe it makes them feel more official, more professional, I don't know. But whatever it is, student engagement is always on point when I have the students work on them.

5. Glue bottles are one of my biggest pet peeves in the art room. I hate how quickly they clog and get gross. So often the nozzles are victim to a child cramming a scissors into the tip because the glue won't come out anymore. Also, my youngest students looooove to pour copious amounts of glue (when the bottle isn't clogged, ha!) on their work, creating white pools of goop! So, my solution is to pour some white glue on a sponge, add a few drops of water, and place it in a reusable sandwich container. Keeps fingers clean, glue usage at a minimum, and eliminates glue bottles. Hooray!

 

Those are only some of the small things I do in my art classroom to make my life (and the students) a litter easier. Please share any other ideas that you might have! 

Learning About Saving Energy with DCSEU in the Classroom!

On Friday we had some exciting visitors to Langley Elementary school! I have partnered with DCSEU to have my students get involved with an energy saving imitative and making Langley a greener school! There is a program going on next month called Sprint to Savings which will help Washington DC schools reduce their utility bills. This not only helps save money for tax payers by reducing the building's utility costs, but it also helps reduce our need for energy, which in the end is wonderful for our environment!

Staff memebers from DCSEU arrived at Langley early in the morning and stayed all day! We began our Friday with the Art Club, creating posters that advertised awareness for "going green". The students intereacted with DCSEU in an open discussion manner about how to save energy and why it is important. The most visual and exciting part of the day was when the students learned about different light blubs and energy costs. DCSEU brought in a special box with two light bulbs on it, one regular and one compact CFL bulb. Attached to the bulbs was a meter which calculated the energy use of each bulb. The students could see when the regular light bulb was switched on that the meter was running much faster (costing more money and energy) than the compact CLF bulb, which moved the meter much slower.

The students also learned about "vampire energy" which occurs when we leave our appliances plugged in when they are not in use. They made the connection right away with their game system chargers and cell phone chargers.  At the end of the day it was safe to say that the students better understood why we need to unplug electronics when they are not in use as well as turn off lights when we are not using them. (FYI-the Langley art room never, almost never, turns on the over head lights because of the wonderful natural light we have!)

Pictured here are my 4 year old students coloring a sticker for a light switch plate. These stickers will also help students remember to turn off lights at home too!

If Langley can reduce their energy costs by 5% from Feb. 10th to the 28th we will win $5,000 for the school! It is an exciting opportunity for the students and staff to become more involved in helping their building as well as better the environment! Students have promised to turn off lights, close windows and doors, turn off computers at the end of the day, and watch out for "vampire energy". I can not wait for the contest to begin!

Check out DCSEU's Twitter and Instagram for great photos of the students art work and moments from the day. They even caught me teaching! 

This is What Student Engagement Looks Like

 

 

This is what student engagement looks like in my classroom! These two students independently observed the "Star Artist" bulletin board to view their peer's artwork. I swung by just to over hear the two students to listen to what they had to say. Both of these boys were not only encouraging each other to do a "better job" on their current project but they were also questioning how the artist made things the way he did! I am so proud of my polite and inquiring students!

Babushka Drawings

 

Before winter break the art club students and I learned the traditional Russian word for Grandmother; Babushka. We had a great discussion about what our Grandmothers mean to us and how they fit into our families. I read to the students about how Russian Grandmothers rule the household more than the male family figures. Some of the kids laughed at that while others said "That's how it is in my family!"

Next, I showed the students images of Russian nesting dolls, or Matryoshka Dolls, which are wooden painted dolls that fit one inside the other. They are also known as Babushka dolls. The students using the patterns from real Russian dolls were inspired to draw their own. When the doll was complete, the students wrote a short passage celebrating something about their Grandmothers. The results were colorful and insightful to my students' families.

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