7

When one door closes... another will open

   I am happy and yet so sad to announce that my time at my school is over.  My husband's career has taken flight and we are moving to greener pastures.  These greener pastures will be in our home town and we are so thrilled to be moving back with family and friends. 


   I'm reflecting on my time at Stone Elementary and remembering how bitter sweet it was.  I knew that I may not always stay at Stone, but I never knew how hard it would be to leave.  I remember a second grade teacher friend telling me how hard it is at the end of the year to say goodbye to her students.  I never had to know that feeling, because I see the same students year after year.  Now I understand what she means.


   It was not easy standing at the front of the class, 6 classes a day for 5 days telling the kids that I was not coming back.  Over the next couple of weeks I received more drawings and paintings then I knew what to do with.  I have put them all together in a notebook for safe keeping. You never know the difference you make until you look at all the love flowing out of 3 notebooks.  I have been at Stone for 4 years and I haven't thrown away one piece of art a student has given me. (With the exception of some with no names....)


   I don't know where I will end up as of yet, but I am excited to begin a new adventure.  
Here students write messages for me on my board. 
 The very last thing I did before locking my door for the last time was erase my board.
The wonderful cake from my faculty and staff. 
The pic doesn't do it justice. This cake was huge!
Toothless the class mascot was loved by all students. He will hopefully have a permanent place in my old room. I made this poster for the students and left it on a board with a note to the new teacher in hopes that she will leave it up. 
 Just doesn't seem real



I hope my next room has a nice view like this.








12

Baby Glue Dots

Glue on your hands, glue on the table, glue on the floor? I hate it when glue gets in places where it just shouldn't be. If students are not taught how to use their glue correctly or in some kind of manner, it will typically end with a razor blade scraping it off the table. Here's how I solved this problem.
My students use these steps for gluing.
1. Open the glue by making the tongue disappear. (We also stick out our tongues and stick em back in)
2. With the top up, squeeze gently to make sure it's breathing. If air comes out we're good to go.
3. If no air comes out then we have to open close, open close and pick out the glue boogers!!! 
4. Then we flip over and gently squeeze one "Baby Dot" onto our finger. 
I have them do this exercise in grades K-2 every time we use glue to make it sink in in the upper grades. 
A "Baby Dot" fits in the center of your finger. If they learn this early with their tiny hands, the dots stay small and it seems to stick with them in the later grades.
We also compare it to a Momma Dot and a Daddy Dot.
"What will happen if we use a Momma or a Daddy Dot?"
"It will go smooosh!"
If a smooosh does happen we leave it to dry clear. If we leave it and kids don't like it they are sure to try not to do it again. 
5. To get the glue off our finger we rub our hands together and "Turn it to DUST!"
Kids love this and it's great because we don't always have time to wash everyone's hands. 

Below are some pictures of the first activity I do with Kinders in the Fall to teach them this technique. 
We are making a mosaic with many pre-cut shapes. The shapes are small which makes it great to teach why we use Baby Dots and not Daddy Dots. This activity is definitely more about the process than the product.

Trays of shapes.
 Great Baby Dots
 It doesn't matter to me whether the students put the dot onto to back of the piece they are gluing down or directly on the paper. I really feel like it depends on the project as to which way is best.
How do you glue?
10

Pinteresting

I apologize to all my loyal followers and web surfers. My absence should not be excused, but PINTEREST has taken over my life. If you would like to check out some lessons I'm thinking of trying and just what is going on in my head at the moment please take a look here. I have broken up my interest "boards" in to grade levels!

 Until next time, when I have loaded batteries into my old camera to take some pictures of the happenings in my classroom, I will talk to you all again soon. 
2

Patterned Shoe Prints

First graders used LINE and PATTERN to create shoe prints.
Students learned the 5 types of LINE by singing our Line song and drawing them in the air. 
Then, we discussed PATTERN by using different materials to make patterns. 
 Each table had different materials to make patterns. It was a great assessment tool.

Next, students worked together to trace their shoes with a black crayon.
Time to draw the LINES. Some students wanted to draw the actual lines that were on their shoes.
Crayons were used to show PATTERN.
 











Finally, students cut out their shoe prints and glued them to colored construction paper. 
 

0

Great Inservice Opportunity in the TN area

You've heard me preach about "The Clay Lady Way" of teaching clay. Now here is your chance to learn from (in my opinion) one of the best. My good friend and fabulous teacher Danielle McDaniel is offering a 
How to Teach Clay the Clay Lady way workshop in Nashville, TN
here are the details:

After 15 years of countless How To Teach Clay...The Clay Lady Way teacher inservices, I can say this with certainty - the information I teach is still current, relevant and useful to art teachers on every level.  I can also share with you that to increase my enjoyment of teaching this same information, I plan to add on different information and shake up the curriculum this year!  So before you say - been there, done that!- look below for the current offerings for 2011!
 
How To Teach Clay...The Clay Lady Way teacher inservice Saturday, October 1st, 8:00-4:30 to be held at The Clay Lady's Studio, Artist Co-op and Galleries ~The Educational Facility at Mid-South Ceramics in Nashville, TN.
Fee is the same as past years - $150  (or $100 for returning teachers).
  • Learn The Clay Lady Way:  make and decorate successful clay projects in one-sitting with a single firing to complete.
  • Tour our manufacturing warehouse and learn about raw materials and how they are mixed to make products. Learn the difference between low-fire, mid-fire and high fire supplies.
  • Enjoy a hands-on clay Clay Lady Workshop to experience The Clay Lady Way as you use our products to make projects.
  • Tour and enjoy visiting with several of my 20 artists in residence and see how making projects can turn into a profession at The Clay Lady's Artist Co-op and Galleries.
  • See a project demo and learn how to design your own projects.
  • Learn my 8 week curriculum, my clay camp curriculum, my K-12 project curriculum that works with your county's curriculum , my teen/adult handbuilding and sculpture lesson, class management techniques and hands-on kids wheel lesson.
  • Learn about kilns:  how to load and to program for no-explosion firings!
  • Enjoy us providing your apron, your lunch, your certification for inservice hours and your enlightening day!
Feel free to forward this email to all your art teacher contacts - I heavily rely on your goodwill and good reviews!
 
Contact me in any way that works best for you and I will get your name on the list for this year's inservice.  I am limiting the amount of registrations to increase personal interaction and provide plenty of time for questions and diversions from the schedule!  It's going to be a good time!
 
 
Be An Artist in Everything You Do!
 
Danielle McDaniel~The Clay Lady
The Clay Lady's Studio, Artist Co-op and Galleries
~The Educational Facility at Mid-South Ceramic Supply
1416 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C
Nashville, TN  37210
 


Clay Lady Documentary


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