The Beginning of the End of room 169

   Okay the beginning of the end sounds really bad. I'm not going anywhere, but my classroom is. You see my school is very old. It was built in 1961 and it currently educates great grand children of past alumni. My mother graduated from CHS in 1974, my bother in 1985, sister in 1990, and finally my husband and myself in 2004. CHS has the typical old worn out building feel. The classrooms and hallways are too small for our 1,300 students. Furniture and wiring is out dated and not up to code and the list goes on. In fact, the two art rooms and art lab aren't even art rooms. They were built as band rooms, so they are way too small and have no windows except for a window in each outside door. Don't get me wrong the two art rooms are big, but not really big enough. We also have an art lab which houses our 5 sinks, storage closet, kiln closet, and AP studio arts class. 
   The new building is currently being built on the existing school site. How can that happen you ask? In phases. They are taking down one hall/gym/everything  else at a time and building in it's place. This time next year, most teachers will be in the new building. YAY!
   I realized last year that I never posted any pictures of my classroom. I think it's because with it being my first year teaching high school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. I've always said that you can't really arrange a room the way you would like until you know what you will utilize the most. So papers piled and things got moved about and displayed on a whim. Beginning this school year was a lot easier. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. 
   I'm pretty proud of these old rooms. They have random furniture because again, these were not built as art rooms. All the mismatch of furniture has its purpose though. Let's take a tore shall we. 

My "main" classroom is 169. It's were I had Art II when I was in High School. This room holds so many memories. 

I am so thankful for this piece. It's a huge bar basically. It has a large counter with two cabinets behind and space to store things below. It even has electricity running to it. I take attendance here, students turn in work behind the counter, and I can set out many materials on it's large surface. Last year I had my Art I students paint some "Abstract" designs on it because it's gonna be thrown away any way this time next year. Currently I have Art II's Frayer Model charts of the Elements of Art hanging. 

 Behind the counter.

Beside my teacher desk (which I don't have a picture of…) I have my student "boxes", germX, tissues, and band aids. Thanks to this pin, instead of having caddies or baskets on the tables, I have boxes. The first person who comes in the room takes the drawer "box" out for the table. 

 Inside each box are supplies we use the most in class. 4 pencils, 4 erasers, index cards, sharpener, 4 sharpies, and post-its. I love these because I check the boxes after every class. Yes, every class. That's how you don't get things stolen. They bring them up, I check, and they put them back in their place. The next class takes them out as they come it. It's perfect!!! I'll get little containers later. One step at a time here people. 

 Then, beside my back door we have this old set of chester-drawers. It houses all my paper needs and my Art III's drying wrack. 

 These little beauties are our 3-D drying racks. They were made by a student's father many years ago. We don't have good 2-D drying racks so I utilize these for that purpose as well. I love how the selves can slide out. These will follow us to the new building… possibly. Currently they are still holding some miscellaneous things from the summer clean up. I'll clean them off when we get to painting. 

 My E's and P's wall. I don't like the ones you buy because I feel like you can't see everything on them. So I made my own at our teacher center. Underneath the black table clothes is a tired looking green chalk board. Ick… Below the board you will notice the paint chipping away because the "stuff" on the walls won't allow the paint to stick… 

 These are my class portfolios. I separate them in tubs and number them with each student's class number. 

 The other art teacher at my school Renee Gary introduced me to using filing organizers to stair step the portfolios to see them better. This also keeps them from falling down. 

 Part of the back wall with the "Student Gallery" and portfolio tubs. We're on a block schedule and have 4 blocks a day. Each teacher teaches 3 blocks a day. If you're lucky like me you get to teach 5 classes with two classes doubled up! Yay! (It's the only way we could have AP Studio Arts)

 These have saved my sanity. Class mail boxes. Students in Art I - III have their own mailbox where they keep their folders, sketchbooks, and various other materials. The cabinet below is from somewhere and is great for organizing materials. You can also see my class schedule. 

 Better look at the mailboxes, class expectations, and checklist.

 Now you can see the door to the AP Studio Arts room, aka the Lab. The little yellow cabinet on wheels is my paint cabinet. Filing cabinets for magazines I get from teachers, student abstract wood sculpture, rack for painting shirts, and random decorative table at the entrance. 

On around in front of my desk is my podium which I demo from. It has many shelves which hold all the materials I need for demos and my lady bug doc camera. 

 Here is the view of my room as you enter. My desk and long bar is to the right and painting cabinet and Lab door to the left. Yes, I do have a white board at the back as well. 

Now let's venture into the Lab where AP Studio Arts calls home. I have AP in conjunction with my Art III and Art II class. Currently I have 18 AP students. I'll be glad when all the tables match in the new building. 

This room is full of so many memories. It was the Advanced Art Lab when I was in school and we called it home. 

As you walk in to the left you will see our announcements board and clean up instructions 

 Student tables with table caddies because I do trust my AP kids a bit more with their materials. If they lose it, I don't replace it. (wink)

 Here you see the entrance to the lab and materials selves.

 These are a life saver as well. A gentleman made these for the art department about 10 years ago after I left. The AP students keep materials in baskets and work in the cubbies. 

 In front of the cubbies is the tall studio tables. I sat at these very tables when I was here. Notice the paintings on the stools made my the class of 2000. 

 The sinks are located behind the AP cubbies. We have 5, but Mrs. Gary and I decided to separate them . They clog about half the time...

 AP easels and computer tables. You will also see the AP posters along the wall. 

 I began the AP Inbox this year. Right inside the door students can keep their portfolio folders and important papers. I will also place rubrics and important notes inside. In front of that is the AP basket where students turn in papers or exit slips. 

That's all for now. I do have more pictures that I forgot to take. So check back for an update. 

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. 

 

Plast'r Craft by Pacon Fish Sculpture

Thanks to the wonderful Pacon company, my 6th graders and I were given the opportunity to try out an awesome product! 

Plast'r Craft! 

Plast'r Craft is a plaster impregnated gauze that you have to wet in order to mold.  The students were so excited to try out this new material that we decided to use the Plast'r Craft to help study sculpture and form by creating a fish out of  recycled materials.

On day one and two of our 50 minute class, the recycled bottles were used for the basic structure of the fish.  Bottle caps, cone cups, recycled cardboard, and masking tape were used to create the fins and eyes. 

Once the body of the fish was built it was time to bring it all together with the Plast'r Craft on day three and four.  The packaging was a great design that allowed us to pull the gauze from an opening on the side of the box and then easily cut with scissors.

 Each table of students placed their gauze on a styrofoam tray along with newspaper and scissors for less mess and easy transport.

Newspaper was laid in front of each student to place their fish on while applying the Plast'r Craft.  The gauze was cut to fit the largest areas of the fish first.  Students dipped the gauze into a bucket of warm water that was sat at each table.  Creating very little mess, each piece of gauze was dipped into the water as students used only their fingers to slide down the gauze to cast off excess water.

Students would then place the wet gauze over a section of their fish and rub it with their fingers to set it in place and cover any tiny holes that were left in the gauze. Once the large areas were covered, they continued to cut, wet, and mold the Plast'r Craft to the other parts of the fish.  The fins and mouths of the fish were the hardest areas to cover, but the Plast'r Craft was easy to cut and mold around small areas.  Students made sure to overlap each new piece of plaster and smooth it out to create a nice sleek fish body. 

Most students were able to complete their fish with one layer of plaster.  Some cut small square pieces of gauze to cover any tiny areas that were left.

Day five began the painting process, which took two days.  Acrylic paints were used to create the vibrant colors.  Students painted their fish with at least two layers of paint for the best coverage.  

    

Overall, I am thrilled that Pacon gave me and my students this wonderful opportunity to try this great product. There was little to no mess, it could be distributed easily, the plaster set in about 15 minutes, and was very easy to paint. The plaster fish sculpture has now become THE favorite project! 
Thank you,  Pacon for letting us try Plast'r Craft!


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