David Hockney Inspired Landscapes

First graders explore the landscape paintings of David Hockney. These are their versions! We used the Tru Ray bright colored construction paper and portfolio oil pastels. The results are stunning :) 

Donor's Choose!

I know you would have to be living under a rock to be a teacher and not know about donor's choose! BUT I have to blog about it! Last year was the first time I had posted projects that unfortunately did not get funded. It was the first year that my school was open, so we did not yet have our title 1 high poverty status. This year we do! When I worked at Shwab Elementary, a 99% free and reduced lunch school, my projects were funded right and left. That high poverty status makes the difference. This year Cane Ridge Elementary has their high poverty status and I had a project funded in less than 24 hours! 

This art teacher got a brand new 24" paper cutter in less than a week! I'm really excited that donor's choose has added venders that they are working with, including amazon.com. They shipped me my paper cutter in a day! Amazing :) 

Stacked Mural Project

Nashville is currently in the process of constructing the worlds largest stacked mural! Cane Ridge Elementary took part in this project by painting two sides of 32 stacked boxes. Here are our results...

Here is where you can catch these awesome boxes on display... 

http://fallfestatthehermitage.com/programs/stacked-box-comminity-mural/

Displaying Standards

I recently stole my goals display from my fabulous music teacher neighbor at school, and I thought I'd share! These are written in kid friendly language, and I have also incorporated the magnets from my word wall that I can place right into my "I can statements." I separated the grade levels by using blue painters tape directly on my white board, and die cut letters to label the grades. You can do this too. 

Keep your students on track, keep yourself on track, and impress your administrators! 

Prang Product Review

Another fabulous company that has asked for my review is Dixon Ticonderoga which produces Prang art materials. Today I dived into these materials and the results are obvious... Prang supplies are really awesome!

Prang sent me 2 watercolor sets, a Prang set and a Rose Art set. The Rose Art set as seen on the left, must have started to melt during the shipping because the paper/ cardboard inside the case got stuck to the paint and ripped when I tried to pull it out! Rose Art is not the best quality :(

Below you can see the differences between the brown and the purple watercolors as tested on paper. The Prang is definitely bolder and brighter when tested up against the Rose Art colors.

 

I also tested the Prang purple marker up against my trusted crayola marker. The Prang is much brighter, however honestly, for the price I am sticking with crayola. If I was fortunate to have an unset budget I could order them then, however, Crayola is more economical.

 

The colored pencils that they sent me are pretty amazing. I really love the size of these colored pencils! Twice the size of the crayola, which will last longer, and easier to handle for little ones with their triangular shape! Nice work Prang! You have some very nice products!

Smilemakers incentives

Behavior management is always an issue in the classroom. If a teacher does not have a plan in place, then they can count on the students running the show. One of the tricks that I have picked up on in my nearly 6 years of teaching is that positive behavior reinforcement is the more affective than negative attention. 

This summer, smilemakers approached me about my blog and wanted me to test out one of their products. 

I thought that this was a great opportunity to snag some incentives for this coming school year. I picked the 

Star student sampler bucket that can be found here http://www.smilemakers.com/shop-by-product/education/encouragement/star-student/prizes/TCHS.html

So far the kiddos are loving the little incentives I have been handing out to them. As far as what is in the bucket there are some items that the kids love, and a few that they give me the "what is that?" Look. 

Here is a photo of some things the kids really like. A funny pencil topper, eraser top, pencil sharpener, and a note pad. These are practical and fun. 

The kiddos are not so hot on these, they are little buttons. One says happy birthday, and the other welcome to school. The students do not understand what they are for, nor do I entirely. 

Finally there are these included in the bucket as well... Little plastic rulers with animal heads. 

I'm indifferent on these. Some kiddos think they are cool, others give me the "what is this" look. 

All and all I would recommend buying one of their sample bins for your reward system, treasure box, whatever you have in your classroom. The bucket seems to be bottomless, and the kids are enjoying their prizes!

Summer camp Glazed Pieces!

Have I mentioned how much I loved teaching at Cheekwood's summer camp?! Well I did and my kiddos created some awesome stuff! Here are some of their pieces glazed! 

Japanese pagoda

Bird Houses

Face jug 

Fairy house