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heir paper next students unfolded their dry coffee filters and picked which one to use for their project i had students make two so that if they hated one they had another choice and if they made a mistake on their coffee filter that we couldn t solve they had a back up they taped their coffee filters on the back of their paper flipped it over and went to work drawing with a sharpie in silhouette style some students really struggled with the idea of silhouette and others nailed it i think in the future i will try and introduce silhouette more purposefully and see if that helps the simple added detail of a house number the third week we busted out the oil pastels and grew our picture out into the black i encouraged students to take what they had already draw and continue that into the black space we did part of one on the board together they brainstormed a bunch of ideas for me and then i did a think aloud where i said everything i was thinking including mistakes and changing my mind about things i reminded and encouraged students to use their knowledge about perspective things far away appear smaller and things closer appear larger i also showed them how wonderfully oil pastels layer and blend i encouraged them to use more than one color for each part of their picture if you have pumpkins do more than just one color of orange i would show them and they would all ooooh ahhh that looks so real i then turned them loose many remembered about perspective and applied it some still are struggling with the idea that sidewalks should appear larger at one end christmas on the fourth and final day students finished up and we did a whole class review critique i post all finished work on the board i then set a timer for 10 15 minutes depending on how much work is complete i explain to the class that if they need all class to finish they can use all class however in 15 minutes i will clean up everyone who is done and we will do a class review they may join us as soon as they are complete so after fifteen minutes i ask everyone who is done to clean up anyone who is not done should ignore clean up and continue to work i pull everyone to the carpet and i lead them through a series of open ended questions sometimes i ask them to point sometimes to raise their hand sometimes to pair share sometimes share to the whole class my goal is to get them to look more critically at their own work and be inspired by each other some questions i tend to ask find yours on the board when you have found it please point at it so i know you found it and the field goal is good put your hands down and look at your own work find something you feel you did a good job on when you have something raise your hand wait for all hands please share quietly with someone next to you look at the projects and find one that isn t yours that captures your attention for some reason out of all of them you keep coming back to this particular one raise your hand when you have one wait for hands now look at it more closely maybe compare it to others around it what about it captures your attention notice i didn t ask which one you liked i asked which one captured your attention and why when you share please use your artist words to describe what captured your attention for example ava s really captured my attention because the texture of her grass makes it look like its blowing in the wind not i like ava s because it is pretty share with your neighbor about which one captures your attention and why snow angles and the aurora borealis anyone want to share out to the class about which one captures their attention and why as kids do this i do not agree or disagree with their picks simply okay and call on another this review is not about what i think point at one that you feel used color really effectively find another point at one that you feel is very unique point at one that you feel has strong craftsmanship find yours again look for something that you would change or add maybe you were inspired by another student s idea or use of material tell your neighbor does anyone want to share out what they would change those shadows and highlights posted by ms novak at 9 58 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels 4 grade color theory oil pastel perspective positive negative space happy sigh my last post was about how burned out i felt and how i was terrified that i wouldn t love my job anymore well we are seven ish weeks into the school year and it s amazing i really do love my job i am a little weary that we are still in the beginning of things but so far so good i have really enjoyed my students so far this year whenever i get stressed out i try and remember to put it aside and be present at the moment with my kids am i perfect about it heck no but things are way better my students seem happier too they seem more willing to run with ideas and go for things which could totally not be true i have a lot of posts and projects to update about lots of neat ideas i have gathered and then introduced to my kiddos i will try and get some posted today but first i have some bulletin boards i need to finish for more timely updates and pictures of what is going on in my classroom follow organized chaos on facebook posted by ms novak at 9 19 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels passion 8 26 2015 burnout okay let s be honest for a moment the last handful of years have been tough for me in the teaching world there have been lots of changes and shifts in my professional realm that haven t all been easy to understand accept or adapt to during these changes i tried to give the benefit of the doubt i tried to be positive i tried to express my thoughts and ideas but i kept feeling mad disappointed and the worst frustrated i felt like everything was a fight i felt like giving up i felt so burned out i spent a lot of time trying to figure out why i was so emotionally exhausted and fried did i feel frustrated and burned out because of all the changes and shifts or because every year my job has to survive the chopping block in april when the budget has to be balanced or from constantly having to defend and advocate for the arts or perhaps the honeymoon period was finally over after 8 years my conclusion all of it all of it was a contribution to my burnout so when the school year ended last spring and i packed up my classrooms i decided to take the summer off like off off no planning lessons in july no planning the years units in august no workshops no school related books no school email no blog posts no going in early which i did break for a day i decided to take a real break from it all to try and adjust my attitude to let the burn out wash away did it work i don t know teachers report back next week i am anxious as always but also afraid that my burnout hasn t gone away to be honest i am terrified that i won t love my job like i use to i use to be so sure that my vocation or calling was teaching art i am afraid that i may have fallen into that young professional teaching statistic of burnout i hold onto the hope that i am just in a rut that like everything in life there is a fluidity to it and if i hold on long enough it will circle back my plan this year is to let go of everything i don t have control over which i know is way easier said then done i lost a lot of energy and a lot of momentum the last couple of years fighting and stressing over things i had absolutely no control over and i can t do it again it s not good for me it s not good for my students and it s not good for my program so a new year a new plan it s all about my kids in my classroom it s all about making art and thinking like artists it s about celebrating mistakes and learning to preservere it s about providing kids with a different way to think and succeed i can t control if the district decides to tank the arts or a slew of other things so let s live in the moment we have and not worry about the future i have this year to make a difference in the lives of my students one day one art class at a time a friend of mine who has provided lots of inspiration over the years has coined the everydaymatters and i think i will follow him in this journey i need to reconnect refocus and be present with my kids this year because everyday does matter so here is to a new school year a new vision a new attitude and hopefully a renewing year i typed this post on my phone please forgive any mistakes posted by ms novak at 5 46 pm 8 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels passion 12 19 2014 upper elementary guided sketchbooks so earlier this year i mentioned that i was going to do guided sketchbooks with my upper elementary students 3 5 so far i love it the goal of the sketchbooks was to review skills introduce skills and even have some fun i wanted the sketchbooks to be an activity we did to warm up the creative sides of their brains much like warming up your voice in music warming up your body in dance or p e i am not sure if it actually warms up the creative side of their brain but i have noticed it totally focuses the kids for the first 4 minutes of every art class the students sit at their seats with low lighting a sketchbook page and no talking i decided to have this silent to help their brain switch over but also to help them focus on doing one task for only a few moments when the time is up students attached their newest page to their sketchbook and prepare for instructions while some kids love it and some tolerate it i have found that these simple four minutes do a lot for the kids and for me that i never intended for many students that four minutes helps to reset their day mood on more than one occasion i have had a student come in hot to trot or in tears whether from a rough day or moment those four minutes in low light without talking and doing something creative will often calm them down it also seems to focus the class as a whole when it is time to work on the current project they are still themselves but not quite as revved these small four minutes at the beginning of class also provides me with some time to breathe my classes are back to back no 5 minutes between classes here so when one class leaves another is at my door while i do my best to prep for the day sometimes it just doesn t get done or it can t sit out all day blah blah blah so these few minutes provide me with a second to finish prepping paint switch out the board with class objectives or simply take a deep breath the sketchbooks have also been great on limiting the amount of free draw paper my students consume they may freedraw on the backs of the sketchbook pages or work on old pages oh also having this 4 minutes at the beginning of class is great for kids who never finish their projects instead of having them do a sketchbook page they work on their project for those 4 minutes without talking it is amazing how much they accomplish so how does this all work well i started gathering ideas on pinterest this summer then the tough part how i am going to have time to do all of this i went back and forth on a few ideas that ranged from pre done books to index cards nothing was going to be fast and cheep then from somewhere in the universe the idea came to me use normal paper and cut it in half i wanted to make sure the students had enough room to draw on the same side as the instructions so i cut each paper in half the long way in word i turned my paper landscape copy and pasted images from my sketchbook idea page turned them sideways and put two on each page this way i could easily print them from either school i print what i need for the week use the automatic 3 hole paper puncher in the lounge that way the holes always line up cut in half done i did have to spend a few dollars at each school buying enough one inch binder rings to hold the whole thing together but it seems to work fine posted by ms novak at 2 13 pm 5 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels 3 grade 4 grade 5 grade management you re a fun activity once a week did the title of this post make you cringe it certainly took me off guard when a co worker said this to me i was in her office talking about something venting most likely about something ridiculous that was happening but i can t remember what exactly all i remember was talking to her and saying something about how what i do is important too and she agreed by saying you re a fun activity once a week ouch i am certain she meant it as a compliment i am certain she has no idea how much it felt like a sucker punch i never know how to respond to comments like these especially when i don t see them coming especially when they come from people who i thought understood what i really do i just don t know how to respond over the next few days this comment rolled around in my brain from time to time what really bothered me about this comment did it bother me because it was partly true did it bother me because i feel i am so much more than a fun activity and the answer is yes yes to both art is once a week and it is fun so yes art is a fun activity once a week maybe this isn t such a bad thing after all i mean when you think about things that are fun what do they have in common generally laughter good feelings people communication engagement the confidence to try something new and more i am happy to say that often the art room is all these things i think the part about the comment that bothered me was that while art is fun its not the purpose of art the purpose isn t to be fun fun is a byproduct of doing something creative being creative is naturally fun it s engaging it s interesting it often provides natural problem solving and critical thinking and even natural communication points i never plan a lesson to be fun it just happens when lessons are full of engagement and opportunities to make creative choices so yes while art is a fun activity once a week that is not the purpose of art the purpose is to provide young minds with another way to think a space to take risks and not even know it to grow problem solving and critical thinking skills and to become more themselves in the meantime i will try and come up with a variety of retorts to comments such as these that will help to educate those who think art is just fun while honoring and owning the positives in such comments posted by ms novak at 11 18 am 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels passion 12 12 2014 2nd grade wild things for years i have been doing a project based on where the wild things ar e we talk about texture real and applied some years i have the kids use chalk other times colored pencils and while i always repeated the project i was never really happy with it i always felt that it was more flat than i wanted well problem solved i am not sure how or when the idea ca...