Students finished up their ATCs for the Singapore show in 2013.

The theme of the cards was journey and students used all kinds of materials to depict various aspects dealing with travel, time, and any thoughts associated with the words.


Thanks again to the donors who helped make this happen!

When we return to school on Monday, 8th grade students will begin the process of printmaking.

I have not had a lot of practice in printmaking; in fact, this will be my first time teaching this method. So, to get some practice I went up to the school and created a series of prints. I used complementary and monochromatic color schemes to create my 2 color reduction prints.

In this assignment students will learn about color, contrast, as well as the use of positive and negative space when creating a print. We will look at work by the artist Swoon as well as Kathe Kollwitz.

I am excited to bring printmaking into the art curriculum at BCWMS. The recent grant awarded from Office Depot and Kids in Need will help ensure that students will be able to participate in this assignment by helping provide materials like ink, brayers, and other printmaking tools.

I am thankful for many things this year, but here is a list that narrows it down to my top 11 for 2011:

I am thankful for...

11. All of our supporters on Artsonia. So far this year students have published over 1600 pieces of work, have 165 fan club members, and 637 artist statements about their work. We have also had students nominated for artist of the week (twice) and have raised some additional funds from families and friends purchasing items with student art on it.

10. The grants awarded to our classroom to purchase additional supplies. So far this year, we have been able to purchase over $1300 of additional materials due to the support of organizations like MAEA, DonorsChoose, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as our newest award received from The Kids In Need Foundation and Office Depot. Thank you to all companies and organizations who have helped bring enriched experiences to my students through their generosity.

9. The Byron Center Fine Arts Boosters who continue to support our students in competitions and special classroom projects. With their help, students have been able to see guest artists, go on field trips to important art places, and participate in competitions to shine in recognition. They are a great organization who has done so much for the arts at BCPS.

8. Guest Artists who have taken the time to share their craft with my students, inspiring them with their talent and knowledge. It was so much fun to have local artists like Teri Genovese and Paul Flickinger visit my students this past year and to hear students apply those lessons learned to their own work.

7. Other teachers at BCWMS and beyond. I am very lucky to work with a group of teachers I respect and admire. I am also very fortunate to work with administrators who value and understand the importance of the arts in education. In addition to these local assets, I have also found a great group of fellow art teachers online through professional learning communities. Through our daily interaction, I am able to use their experiences and apply them to my own classroom. This capacity has made me rethink my teaching and focus on student learning in a new and exciting way.

6. Moodle. This online service has completely changed the way I collect work and interact with students. Instead of hoping students are listening as I lecture about a topic, I post various lessons online. This allows students to work at their own pace, even pause or rewind to learn new information about art. Instead of giving me papers, students are learning how to photograph their work, upload it, and reflect on it through typed statements. This has allowed me to spend more time with each student individually and has allowed students to work at their own pace.

5. Contemporary Artists who constantly challenge me to question art and what makes "good" art.

4. Found objects that have inspired students to think "beyond the pencil" as encouraged by my fellow art teacher Ian Sands. From Leigha's use of yarn that she picked up for $3 at a garage sale last summer not knowing what she was going to do with, to Tena who saw some sequins and thought why not - to Tucker and Andrew who both decided cut paper was the way to go, I have NEVER had students choose such interesting and diverse materials to work with than those I have had this year.

3. My students who always amaze me with what they are capable of creating. Whenever I think I know best, I can be proven wrong with the spark of something new from a student. This is why I often respond to students who want a suggestion for their work with, "You are the artist, you have to make the choice." I am usually greeted with a stinky cheese face, but in the end they know and I know that ultimately they are the ones who have to be satisfied with what they make, not me.

2. My cats - if you watch the video, you can see why - they are AWESOME!

1. My family, especially my husband. He always tells me like it is and encourages me when I need it. He knows me better than anyone else and I appreciate all he does for me on a daily basis.

7th grade students are going to be animating their project next week, but I wanted to put some really interesting and creative animations on our blog for you to check out and hopefully get you thinking about animation as well. We are animating using Photoshop (students are going to be taking still images and make them move by creating a series of slides like that of a stop motion animation). Here are some examples of other animated projects using stop motion (and are very surreal, as well)...

8th grade students spent the day at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum to learn more about this Grand Rapids native. They also learned more about Benjamin Franklin and other aspects of U.S. History.

7th grade students worked in groups to create animations based on the concept of Surrealism. We will continue to work on the project throughout next week by adding sound and other effects. This project was featured as an honorable mention project for the Adobe Education Awards this past Fall.

8th grade students are finishing up the final upload of work onto Moodle before our long weekend for Thanksgiving break.

Tomorrow I will be chaperoning the 8th grade field trip to the Ford Presidential Museum downtown, leaving today the last work day before the break.

If students did not get their Artist Trading Cards done today, they are expected to work on them for homework and turn them into Moodle next Monday.

7th grade students worked non-stop today to finish uploading their work from the week onto Moodle. In addition to their hallway drawings, where they used 1-point perspective, they also uploaded their pictures of the clay project featured in past posts.

It is so nice to see the work, all shining and bright, on display in the library for all to admire. I am hoping we will do our second sculpture project when we return from holiday break (but I am still a few panty hose short from making it happen and need some donations).

8th grade students are still working on their hallway drawings and uploading their clay bottles for a grade. They will finish up on Monday and then move onto making Artist Trading Cards for the March international show in Singapore.

Students are using the materials from the DonorsChoose project that was funded through the help of several generous donors!

Images of the cards and more work will be shortly finding a home on our online gallery on Artsonia, so keep a lookout for more!