Snowy days in Room 231!

 



Although we had two snow days just before Christmas break, I think January set a new snow day record at my school this year! Our return to school in January was delayed by two days due to the combination of snowfall and extremely low temperatures, and this was followed by three additional bad weather days, bringing our total to seven as of February 7. That being said, the weather was a perfect inspiration for my first graders' snow day tissue and paint collage pictures.

 

All that was missing was some hot chocolate with marshmallows!

 

 

So, if you're like me, living in those snowy states, stay warm and think spring!

 

 





 

AOE Conference...Totally Relevant and then some...

I have to give kudos to Jessica Balsley and all the fantastic presenters from Saturday's  Art of Education Online Conference!  I learned so much from the first AOE online conference last June, so signing up to attend another was a no-brainer for me. I already felt like I knew some of the presenters because I read their blogs and Facebook posts, but it's always fun to see them in action and hear the enthusiasm in their voices as they talk about their experiences in the classrooms and studios they manage in so many creative ways.
                                                                   

                                                                             

And it doesn't hurt to be able to attend a conference in sweats or pjs, coffee cup and knitting needles in hand...especially in southwestern Ohio with snow falling, wind blowing, and temperatures in the single digits! After the sun came out and the thermometer registered in the upper teens, I even took a short break to drive up to school to begin selecting student work for an exhibit at a local art gallery, but I was able to continue with the conference on my classroom computer. That's some serious multi-tasking that I wouldn't have been able to do with any other conference format! And I can even go back now to listen in on the conference segments I missed, as well as the ones I want to hear again, something else that can't be done at any other kind of conference either. 

It's easy to feel snowed under (sorry...I couldn't resist!) at the mid-point of a school year, so this conference came at just the right time for me. I'll be heading back to my classroom on Monday with some fresh ideas and a renewed sense of the creative possibilities for the next few months!

                                                                               

Time out for Teacher!

My three day Martin Luther King holiday weekend turned out to be a four day event, thanks to a snowy Tuesday morning!  Which was perfect because it gave me time to actually finish a project that I had started on Saturday. A friend of mine, who is an art quilter, hosted a Quilting pARTy with an unusual twist, kind of like Project Runway for art quilters.

The invitation said to bring our sewing machine and supplies, fabric, buttons, beads, basically anything we thought might come in handy. There was mention of a needle felting demonstration, but other than that, nothing too specific. So....I went, knowing that whatever the day brought, it would be creative fun, something I definitely needed!

                        

My original face

The challenge: create a face on a 14-inch square of quilt batting in about two hours time...then cut it into four equal sections...trade away three...then reassemble and complete the face....

 I had to leave early  for a date night with my husband and some friends, so here is how my quilt piece looked when I brought it home. This was probably a good thing because when I returned to it on Monday, I began to see all the possibilities. By the time Monday evening arrived, with the promise of a snowy Tuesday morning, my little studio space was a blizzard of fabric scraps, thread, buttons, and beads. When I got the early morning wake up call with the "snow day" message, I confess that I went back to bed for an extra hour of sleep, but the rest of the day was mine!

 

 

So here she is...Mother Nature maybe?
Whoever she may be, the weekend was a success!

 

 

Clay catastrophe!

Here is how our fifth grade Face Jars and seventh grade Robert Indiana inspired clay projects looked when we left for Christmas break...

 

 

And here is what a few looked like on January 8, as our frozen pipes began to finally thaw:

 

 

A few slightly damaged "survivors"

The "lucky ones" that were inside the kiln

 

Phoenix rising??

 

The seventh graders who lost their work in this disaster took it well, thank heavens! Most of them took the option to recreate their projects and hopefully the kiln will be back up and running soon and I can get them fired. For now, there are almost 200 unfired clay pieces adorning every available art room shelf.                                                    



 

Is it December already?

It's hard to believe the it's December 7! Thanksgiving came and went in a blur of travel to visit family in upstate New York, which was great fun for me and my husband since we had not seen our two grandsons since midsummer. Aiden, the oldest who is three and a half, presented me with a mini collection of his preschool art projects...so cute! This past Friday we had enough snow to get one of those wonderful snow days, which was great for me, but now I am going to be playing some frantic "catch up" to get my first and second grade projects finished and out the door before Christmas break begins.

Aiden's preschool art

My first graders were first introduced to the paper cut works of Henri Matisse, then used the Art Doodles app on their iPads to create some digital work in the style of this popular French artist. The app is somewhat limited in scope, but it provided the students with a nice introduction to the idea of creating a picture entirely out of shapes. The following class period, the students used colored construction paper to create their own Christmas collages using some precut Accu-Cut shapes, tracing stencils, and their own cut outs. I'm in the process of photographing the students and their work to create an art room Christmas video greeting for our school's digital newsletter next week. Here are a few of my favorites so far:

 

We talked about overlapping shapes...I think she's got it!

The only precut used by this student was the Christmas tree.

Here's another with only one precut, the donkey.

This student took a lot of time coordinating colors.

This one has some pop outs!

After two class sessions, this creative little guy told me he still needs more time.
I can't wait to see what he adds next!

 

This resourceful student taped three sheets of paper together
to create his heavenly choir!

 

 

Two first grade classes finished, two more to work with tomorrow, then on to second grade and clay Christmas ornaments! Although I love those snow days, I'm hoping for smooth sailing until December 20!

                                                                      

                                                                



 

Third Grade Leaf Prints

This year the leaves have been especially lovely in my neighborhood, so I decided to revisit a printmaking project that I hadn't done for several years. For a brief moment, I thought I would ask the students to bring in leaves for us to press and prepare in class, but the insanity of that idea quickly passed and I collected leaves on my evening walks for several nights instead. Much easier since I only see each class once a week and that's more than enough time to forget an assignment!

The week before the printmaking, each student prepared his or her frame using oil pastels and pan tempera.

 The following week, my room set up required coming in a little early in the morning, but the prep was well worth it. The students moved smoothly through the stations, choosing their leaves and ink colors and having a great time creating their leaf prints.

Clean up proved to be a breeze, too. I have the students place the brayers and trays in dish pans, one in each sink, and add liquid dish detergent. We just let them soak until the end of the day, then all I have to do is rinse them off and set them on towels to dry until morning. Paper and leaves are put in the trash and the plastic table cloths are rolled up and put away for another day.

 

And here are some of the colorful results!

 

 

This determined students found the perfect leaves
 to create her little yellow bunny!