Rick Wormeli: Redos, Retakes, and Do-Overs, Part One

End of Year Reflection

In no particular order, here are some reflections from my first year of teaching:

1. Even when everything seems planned, it's not (It takes more than 3-4 days to get ready for the year and the lesson schedule was changed at least 3-4 times before there was a good balance between instruction and projects).

2. Don't squish students into small spaces - they get VERY loud! (no more than 4-5 at a table).

3. Even when students don't like their projects, they typically love having the same projects hung on the wall or in the hall.

4. I am an AMAZING art teacher! (so says the principal - "deep" art and no more color-by-numbers, yay!)

5. When the teacher knows they are in charge, the children will behave better than when the teacher isn't sure whether they are in charge.

6. It is very difficult to learn 440 students names. By the end of the year, I still didn't know all of them, but did now a lot of them!

7. Teaching helped me gain a lot of self-confidence and I am a lot more outgoing than I used to be.

8. Thirty minutes is too short for art classes, forty-five minutes would be great!

9. Even though I thought that second graders were the craziest grade to teach, they turned into my favorites! (Do you recall the comment, "Miss S is a work of art."? How could that not melt your heart? So cute!)

10. Kindergarten art activities were the most difficult to plan. (Their skill level was so much lower than the first graders that they need completely separate lessons. We had some great projects though! They especially liked having a story to go along with their art.)

11. I loved watching the students become more creative and their willingness to take chances with their art work over the year. (The story Ish by Peter H. Reynolds and consistent reminders that we are simply practicing and that even professionals still make mistakes eventually settled in and the students were willing to try difficult projects without tears or complaints.)

12. Ice cures practically anything! (Even though this drives the secretaries crazy, oops!)

13. Mystery scrap is the best invention ever for getting the room cleaned up! (pick a piece or two of garbage or something out of place - whoever picks it up gets a little treat/sticker/school cash).

14. Prayer solves all problems. (Once I began praying for extra help in teaching and seeing the students and all those around me as He sees them, things got so much easier to manage and guide.*)

I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity; it was the perfect first year experience! All my prayers were answered in regards to obtaining this position (Title 1, close by, max of 25 students/class, part-time, art specialist, etc.). Hopefully I can now get a full-time contract for next year and perhaps even memorize ALL of my students' names - Imagine that!


*Bonus: I've been peeling my fingernails since I was three. (I have grown them out for a few months several times over the years, but have never gotten over the source of the trigger to pick at them.) At the beginning of the year, my fingernails were shredded with the stress of being a first year teacher (I was so nervous every day!). By the end of the year, I had learned to pray more effectively and rely on Him to help me through, which ended up helping me to have normal looking nails by the end of the year! In addition, I have also learned to eat healthier and with no anxiety that there isn't enough food. I have been incredibly blessed this year!

Hope of America!

Wednesday was Hope of America!

In the morning, I had a sub come in while I went with the fifth graders to the HOA practice at the Marriott Center. (When I need a sub again, I will try to make sure that it's someone who can handle some technology, the students, and the projects! After explaining how to use the computer to tab between two pictures and how to use the projector four times, she still didn't get it, ah! So, I had her just show one picture. Oh well!).

Apparently, at least two of my third graders missed me. They came to my room before school and asked if they could clean up. Since the sub had left a mess, I let them straighten up the supply counter. Then one of them asked where I had been the day before and why they had had a sub. After telling them that I'd taken the fifth graders to their HOA practice, he told me that the sub was MEAN, and "I like it better when YOU'RE here!" lol :) Aw, I feel loved!

In the evening, the big production was put on for the parents, friends, and community! The students loved it and the parents seemed very pleased and proud of their students. Following are some images and very short videos:

(click HERE to read the Daily Herald article - too bad you can't see the gold side borders - some of us were sitting right above the blue, the rest were sitting to the left of the blue)

Mexican Celebration Week!

Last week, in art class, I presented Mexican Celebration Week! 99.5% of the students enjoyed the idea. The only complaints I received were from two Hispanic students that said that it was dumb that we were celebrating cinco de Mayo since it's not a big deal in Mexico. I know that it's not a big deal for the majority of Mexican's but we can still celebrate. After all, it's a good reason to add in some Mexican culture to our art class!

The older students (4th, 5th, and 6th) have been begging to make masks ever since they saw the first grader's Korean masks. Therefore, I showed them Juan Horta Castillo masks and discussed his fame throughout Mexico and the US.

The first through third graders made images of Market Day using colored papers and simple shapes to make complex shapes. I got the idea from HERE. Then I added in my own flair by showing the students the Visit Mexico poster and an image of a Mexican market (pg. 40).

Finally, in honor of Mexican Celebration week AND Mother's Day, the Kindergartners made flower bouquets using Dahlias, the official flower of Mexico.  I drew the flowers and stems and had them copied for the Kindergartners. They then cut everything out and colored the flowers (the stems were copied onto green paper). Next time I will have the stems already cut out for them. It took too long for them to cut everything out and color it in within a 30 minute session.

The Stallion Art Show

The student art show was tonight! It went amazingly well, even with the hiccups around our play - one of the students was late, then didn't know the lines at all. It was really quite funny! I just chalked it up to an "ish" play of Ish, lol! Also, we ended up performing twice since our "camera-man" didn't realize that we had started until the middle, when he finally pushed record, oops! We also had some last minute help from two students in different classes to be Marisol's br walls. I'm hoping to burn it to CD tomorrow and will plan to show it to the students next Thursday during class. :)

Originally, the play/show was to be held in the gym, but was then moved to the media center. It looked awesome in the media center (pictures to come soon)! So many people helped put this art show together and I'm ever so grateful for their willingness to help. The whole thing would not have been possible without the students, so I will put them at the top of my list! Then the PE teacher helped immensely! as well as lots of help, especially today, from several of the aides, yeah! I can hardly wait to share all of the pictures with everyone (as soon as I find a camera cord...)!

The parents and students wandered in and out throughout the evening and were all quite positive. The students had fun finding their art and were telling their parents all about their projects. They were so proud of their work! About half-way through, I had a thought that I could write down all of the positive comments, but instead, I decided to simply enjoy them (that's very Ish). At the end, the principal told me that all the parents have loved the art projects that they've seen this year (The principal came in at least four times, always with a big smile :) He loved it!) Go me (and especially all the inspiration from up above and all the extra help from friends, family, and all my awesome co-workers)!

Most students made a tag stating their name and the title of their artwork. Near the class's/grades artwork, a little bit about the art was included in English and Spanish (I only saw one parent look at the info sign, but at least it was there), although having everything by class was perfect! The parents and students were all able to find the projects easily. Each grade had a different color of the rainbow for the teachers' names starting with Kindergarten (I wonder if anyone noticed?).

(overview)

 (Clockwise from top: Korean masks, Jamaican paintings, 6th grade quilt tops, paper circles)

 (Clockwise from top: Jataka Tales printing, adinkra stamps, The Dot, Dale Chihily sculptures)

(Clockwise from top: Claes Oldenburg (pencils, etc), Alexander Calder mobiles, the aftermath in the classroom1 & 2 - what a mess!)

Kindergarten - The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds (These were adorable! Definitely a favorite project-I should do more "book arts" projects! They're fabulous!)

First Grade - Cultural Masks (after my friend M taught class 2 about Korean masks, I decided to have all the first graders work on Korean masks! They turned out really well and I was highly impressed with what they remembered from her presentation! They are sooo smart!)

Class 1 - Mexico
Class 2 - Korea
Class 3 - Native America

Second Grade - Cultures

Class 1 - Jataka Tales (India) - printing (great project! Special thanks to all the donated supplies on this one!)
Class 2 - Southeast Asia - shadow puppets (I realized this was way too difficult after researching a bit more and changed it to Jamaican painting, which turned out fabulously (bright colors, lots of water, fish, tropical fruits, etc)! This was definitely one of my favorite projects too :)  )
Class 3 - Africa - weaving (Kente cloth/Master Weaver of Ghana - way to difficult after trying it out and was switched to adinkra printing techniques instead, which they loved!)

Third Grade - Sculptures

Class 1 - Claes Oldenburg (sculptures of oversized everyday items) - these students were so diligent in working on their projects and most turned out really well!
Class 2 - Dale Chihuly (using balloons) - this one got a lot of jealous comments from other student's wondering why THEY didn't get to do this! This one also got the most pictures by parents :)
Class 3 - Alexander Calder (wire and paper/cardboard mobiles)


Fourth Grade - Papermaking/basketry (tried the basketry, but it was way too difficult! However, they loved the papermaking!)

How paper is made (Egyptians, toilet paper, copy paper) and the artist Jessica Stockholder.
They will also help set up the art show

Fifth Grade - Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

A play complete with backdrops of student art work - turned out sooo hilariously!

Sixth Grade - Fabric Arts (ended up with six quilts that were done enough to display - if i ever do this project again, I will limit the picture options and explain a LOT more!)

Movement in Art

My K-3 graders made legs in order to understand movement in art, inspired by this artist: http://theartroomplant.blogspot.com/2011/01/clare-h-johnson.html We also looked at a Jackson Pollack painting, which the students loved! Especially one who has the same name :) Too bad I didn't get any pictures during class! The students were so creative with their designs. Two of my second graders measured the legs I gave them; they are 12" long :)

To start with, I asked the students how their bodies move (joints). Then we talked briefly about how we can see movement in art (Jackson Pollock painting - Ocean Greyness) through the brush strokes, how the artist had to move to create the art, etc. I drew an outline of two legs on a regular piece of paper and the copy aide copied it to a large piece of construction paper. 

The students cut out the two legs and created their movement art using fabric, pictures, markers, cotton balls, beans, yarn, colored pencils, crayons, etc. I attached the two legs with a brad at the top. Some students drew the leg/foot bones in, some made socks, some drew fancy shoes on them, some of the boys put "wounds" squirting with blood, some made "hairy" legs by cutting the edge in slivers, some had patterns on them, some used the "fancy" (scrapbook) scissors for a border pattern, etc. I also referenced the book I ain't gonna Paint no More by Karen Beaumont, which has great illustrations! They loved it!

Student Art Overview

The top right image is a nice mixture of our complementary art unit.

The bottom left are part of what's left of the students' ceramics (there are two shelving units). By the end of next week, they should all be on their way home with the students or on display in the library's Art Gallery!

A lot of the ceramic pieces have broken, partly due to students not being gentle with the pieces and partly due to the pieces not being put together well. Next year, I will NOT be using ceramic clay with the K-2 grades! Also, I will be firing the ceramics by grade level instead of as many as I can get to fit. I'd also like to spread out who does what projects so that not everyone is working on a single project at a time.

The students have begun making me more art to keep lately (top left and bottom right) and I've finally had time to display their work on the classroom walls. So cute! I actually "paid the student who made me the top picture on the bottom right (yellow, blue, and green lines titled: "Trees"). He asked if I would buy it from him, so I told him what my specifications are (title, signature, and meaning behind the image). This is his second attempt and the one he felt was good enough to "sell." I gave him a "Stallion buck" to use at the school store. 

Since he created this painting for me, I remembered who he was when his regular teacher called and another student was trying to say that he had been acting inappropriately during art and had thrown something across the room. I don't believe he had and apparently there's only one student trying to get a bunch of students in trouble. They almost succeeded and certain students would not have been allowed to go on their major field trip because of it. This action was way more punishing than even throwing a little speck in my classroom should've warranted! I'm glad that the classroom teacher and I were able to figure some things out and that these students still get to go on their trip!

Above are some of our painting tools. What a messy process painting is! The students do love it though!


Below are some images of the Library Art Gallery. It turned out beautifully! Thanks to everyone who helped out!

There are six autumn still-lifes from the fifth and sixth grade on the top left (boxes, fabric, pie pumpkins, gourds). On the bottom left are five of our "Circle" paintings (2nd & 6th grades), which involves major lessons in color (primary, secondary, tertiary, tints, and shades - where the students must mix their own colors. They both love and hate mixing their own colors, lol!). We are being inspired by Robert Delaunay's Circular Formes (detail)*

The yellow tags on the top of the shelf in the picture directly above and directly below are labels for a few ceramic pieces that the students were willing to let me display. Some of their ceramics came out especially well!


In the picture below, the two images to the left of the "complementary colors" sign on the bottom and the rest of the smaller 2D images in this picture are all based on complementary colors by the first through sixth grades. First through second grade made "cityscapes", second through fourth grade made "wacky weaving" designs, and the fifth and sixth graders created an oil pastel and chalk pastel design using a straight line border and three types of line throughout. These came out especially well!**

Lastly, the second and third grade made landscape drawings/watercolor paintings. The second grade added weather elements to their landscapes. I was pleasantly surprised at the imagination depicting these elements (rain, wind, snow, sun, clouds, etc). The third grade learned about landscapes from nature and made their initial drawings outside! They were taught to observe that the trees in front of them were blocking out a lot of the mountain behind them, and were to be drawn larger than the mountain on their papers (even though we know that the trees are actually smaller than the mountains). Some of them were surprised when this was pointed out! A couple of these images are amazingly well done for the age group. I wonder where these students will end up and what they will do with their artistic abilities.

*by Robert Delaunay's Circular Formes (detail):

 

**This is the project the students worked on during my teaching evaluation. The principal LOVED this project and so did the students!