I'm Hosting a FREE Paint Party Night in Camden NJ - TONIGHT 8/19/16

FYI, the quote is Camden's motto and it comes from Walt Witman's  "I Dream'd in a Dream"

This week has been even crazier than usual. I'm teaching a last minute painting class in Camden, NJ tonight from 5:30-7:30PM, which is awesome, but I've been running around the last 48 hours gathering supplies and making a city hall themed painting for the event. It's like those popular painting and wine parties, but without the wine. This is what I came up with. I tried to keep it abstract and simple, and I added a decoupage element to it for added interest (and Jersey pride). 

Between this, my day job, my blogs, and Etsy...it's been an extremely busy week. So instead of my usual quart-sized mason jar of water...I'm drinking a quart of home made cookies & cream iced coffee.

Half way gone already!!

These day I rarely drink coffee, so the caffeine hits me HARD! Look out world! I'm caffeinated and armed with art supplies! If you're in the NJ area and want to come to the painting event (which is FREE) here's a LINK with info. 

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Mother's Day Worksheet Bundle Now Available

A lovely, and simple, coloring, craft, and invitation PDF package I designed for Mother's Day. This print features stacked teacups and the phrase "Mom, you're my cup of Tea!" I might try to make some variations of this file, since an Australian teacher let me know that "Mom" is more of an American term for mothers, and that "Mum" is more common in places like Australia.

Now available in my etsy shop, and my tpt account.

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The 10 things I learned from my college teacher prep program : A Reflection

As of Friday, December 13th, I am now no longer a student teacher. After dozens of semesters, thousands of dollars, and countless stressed out sleepless nights, I can apply for certification and become a professional educator. My last day was wonderful, I'll make a post about it in the next few days, but I wanted to write a little something in the meantime.

The seminar that is tied to student teaching requires a reflection on our time at the college and our journey through teacher certification. At first I was really excited to write about my experience, but then I was given a rubric with various points I had to touch on in order to receive a good grade on the paper. So, in the end, it wasn't a true reflection of my time there and what I learned.

Instead, I decided to share what I learned with the rest of you. Maybe they will help some of you have more realistic expectations than I did, or maybe it can give you a little laugh, but here it is...

The 10 things I learned from my college teacher prep program :

All teacher prep programs are a bit different, so what I say may not specifically apply to you and your journey, but hopefully you can relate...

Student Teaching Signs

Being a teacher you start making signs for everything. Here are some of mine!

Just a sign to show new students where our finished artwork folders are for each period.

A simple sign for no-name papers. The elementary art teacher has a fun saying on her's, "No name, no fame." I love it, but it was a little too immature for high school students. 

After we started painting I tested out this student grade "acrylic." Why is acrylic in quotes? Because I am 99% sure this stuff is tempra. No way is this acrylic! It covers NOTHING. So I though I better let the student know.

This sign is one of my favorites. Now that we are painting we only have primary colors available, and students constantly ask how to make brown. These are just some of the many options. I explained that everything opposite on the color wheel will make a brown, but these were some of my favorites.

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I got 99 problems but setting up paint palletes ain't one!

 How do you set up paint palettes for each class of 25 high school students? Find out how and read more about my painting adventures in student teaching under the cut!

Vincent van Gogh Lecture

This is the last presentation in my Impressionist Unit, but this one is absolutely my favorite. I love Vincent van Gogh and his works, and a lot of kids sum his life up as beautiful paintings and an ear joke. The tortured artist was so much more. Again, this is just a breif look at the presentation. The finished lecture is 18 slides long.

Georges Seurat Lecture

Another one of my powerpoint presentations. This time we have George Seurat, and his unique painting technique. These slides are just a short introduction, the full presentation is actually 21 slides long!

Claude Monet Lecture

Here is most of my presentation on Monet that I will be giving the kids in Art I tomorrow.
These slides are just a short introduction, because I will be lecturing and showing biographical videos.

I’m very happy with how things turned out.

If you want to view the whole lecture, or use it for your own class, you can view my listing HERE on Teachers Pay Teachers.

My Daycare Art Lessons (Cheap art lessons for kids)

I have been teaching art at a daycare for over a year with a budget of $10 a class. I teach two classes once a week (one for kids age 2-3.5 and another for kids age 3.5-5+) which averages out to be 30 kids total. I'm sure you're all aware of this, but $10.00 does not buy a lot of art supplies, especially ones for 30 very small children.

I made this video to share a few of my art projects with you. If you have little ones around the house these might make for some fun weekend art projects, or if you're in a similar daycare/preschool situation with a limited budget this can help you stretch those dollars. 

This isn't all the lessons I have taught, these are just the ones that I still have examples of.

I plan on making another video with even more art ideas, so stay tuned.