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Arts a la Mode - May 24th

5/16/2016

I am super excited about next week! It is our 8th year of hosting an Empty Bowls event at our school and this year we are upping our game with a few changes. Instead of soup, we are having ice cream. Instead of a stand-alone event, we are pairing it with our Fine Arts Night celebration.

To enter, bring any donation of food or funds for our local food bank. Once here, enjoy the ice cream music, and art. Stay for even more concerts and STEAM activities throughout the evening. Make sure to leave with a hand-crafted ceramic piece created by a WMS student.

It is going to be a great night! We are looking for parent volunteers. If you would like to help, please sign up here.

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Back to it

1/26/2016

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This week marks a fresh start in Art Teacher world. A new semester means class changes and new groups of students, most of whom have never had me as a teacher before.

Last week, as we finished up the semester, I was so thankful to have volunteers stay after school to help me accomplish a massive labeling task! As a teacher who lets kids loose with materials, I have learned that there is no such thing as being too organized. The response from students have been nothing but smiles when they see the neatly organized areas shown:

This week marks a fresh start in Art Teacher world. A new semester means class changes and new groups of students, most of whom have never had me as a teacher before.

So far this week, we have worked with clay on the first day, signed up on Schoology, and started getting our portfolios in order.

I also started a new class with my Dual Enrollment students this Spring. I have been teaching for KCAD in the Dual Enrollment for about six years. This is the third time I have taught Color because we alternate offerings for our students each year. This is also the first time that all the students enrolled have had be as a teacher in the past - many as a part of my After School Art Class.

It has been a delight to start again with these guys and see how they have grown in their talents. I am especially excited to see them develop their understanding of color through skill based drills into more creative expressions.

After School Art students are also hard at work with their class banner. This year they decided to use Emojis for their #classof2020 sign to hang in the cafeteria.

And finally, I want to thank all of the readers out there who have been stopping by to check out our work. Thanks to those who voted, this blog just got a 3rd place finish in The Art of Education Blog of the Year contest.

I started this blog as a way to reflect and share - it has really become such a fun five years of writing and posting!

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Something New

1/7/2016

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I am not going to sugar-coat it; this first week back from break has been rough. Each morning has been a little harder than the one before to get out of bed and be energized for school. Luckily I have some of the best students out there to help me bear with the transition back to limited bathroom breaks and the rush that occurs as we tie things up before the end of the term.

Because we only have two more weeks before exams, it is important to finish up loose ends and get one last project in there before we say our final goodbyes. Here is what we have been working on this week and some thoughts on the eve before the announcement of West Central Michigan Scholastic Awards:

Empty Bowls

I used Holiday Break as a perfect opportunity to catch up on firing our bowls that were glazed in preparation for our annual Empty Bowls event. This year will mark the 9th year of the event and we are planning to try some new things in hopes to keep it fresh and the community involved. What stays the same is how much students love the fact we use clay on the first day of class to make these pieces and how impressed I am with their ability to see the connection art can have to impacting others in a positive way. Several students already brought in donations so they could claim their bowl!

Here are a few of the finished bowls and thoughts from my students on the experience. You can see the full gallery here.

Clara: Empty Bowls is a very nice project that is helping our community. In empty bowls, people donate canned foods to receive a bowl and the food is later donated. Not only does this give people pieces of art made by students it also gives the hungry food.

Mwansa: his was a good experience making the bowls because it made me think about how some people don't know when their next meal will come, and It makes me want to do something nice for the community. One way we are helping with empty bowls is, by doing this people donate money to the foundation, and they community enjoys a good time with the food and music.

Alexis: In my art piece, I made a bowl that says be happy on the inside, and has a rainbow city on the outside of the bowl. This art piece is more than just a bowl. This bowl will be one of many that will be used for the less fortunate and people who don't know where their next meal will come from. These bowls will help our community by bringing everyone together in a community and to help the needy. This is the reason we make the bowls. Its to help our community.

Porter: This empty bowls brings the community together because the bowls are given away if you bring a thing of canned food. Then after all of the canned food is collected they donate them to a food bank. The bowls that the students created give other kids in need that aren't fortunate. We are helping our community and bringing our society by giving to kids that aren't as fortunate. Empty bowls is a create way to donate goods, and bring our community together

Something Old

Toby started sketching out ideas on how to reimagine his landscape from earlier this year before beginning his final project.

For our final project of the semester, students have been given the theme "Something Old, Something New." This theme challenges them to look through their Artsonia portfolio (some students could go back to works from 1st grade) and select a work to reimagine.

Students were asked to think about how they might use a different media to interpret the previous work, or switch up the composition, or even use a similar media, but focus on showing new skills and growth in the way it is used.

Before getting to work on their sketches, students also viewed the work by Takashi Murakami. He is influenced by the past and present and discusses this merging of ideas in this video, which students viewed.

Students then worked in their sketchbooks, conferenced with each other, and then presented ideas to me before finally diving into their final works. We will be finishing up this project next week before we move onto Final Exam prep, but here are some snapshots of work in progress so far:

Scholastic Thoughts

Tomorrow Kendall College of Art and Design will post the outcome of this year's West Central Michigan Regional Scholastic Awards. Regardless of what happens, this is the most excited I have been for a result since I started entering student work in 2008. I am super proud of our kids either way and look forward to sharing the news of the results tomorrow. If you are antsy, like me, and do not want to wait for a post, you can always go here at noon tomorrow and see for yourself!

I want to wish all of my Art Teacher friends much luck as they await their students' results, too! If your students are recognized this year, please do share the results!

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Much to be Thankful for...

11/27/2015

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As we finish up the Thanksgiving break, I have a lot to be thankful for this season. I have an awesome group of students this year, with amazing ideas and the guts to give new things a try. I have been given some fantastic opportunities to share ideas with other teachers (with even more on the horizon). And I have a great family who supports me along the way.

This week, before we departed for our long weekend of family and food, students finally glazed their bowls for our 2016 Empty Bowls event. This year we are changing up the event by pushing it later into the Spring and swapping out soup for ice cream. I am excited to get moving on firing these bowls, as students did a nice job of applying glazes and finishing them for the community fundraiser.

Students also worked on their projects before we headed off to enjoy break. This theme, which is "Objects, Artifacts, and Things You Leave Behind." has asked students to consider how we interact with items around us and what we deem as important. Here are some images of the BCWMS artists at work:

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Empty Bowls 2015

3/21/2015

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This past Thursday was our 8th Annual Empty Bowls event. It was so much fun to see our students shine as we gathered food and funds for Buist Community Assistance Center and Byron Ministries. People brought in boxes of food items and we raised $547.76 for the cause! Thank you to everyone who came out to support the cause and to our local Subway for being our partner in this from year one!

We want to offer a special thank you to Jodi Gruner for placing the highest bid on the bowl this year and the Music department for continually offering such great performances and making this event come alive each year!

The WMS orchestra offered several songs for the audience.

Our WMS Jazz Band got the crowd moving and grooving.

The BCHS High School Musical cast performed this year for Empty Bowls.

I had the chance to share this process with teachers from across the State at the annual Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning Conference on Friday. It was great to hear their feedback and I look forward to seeing more teachers engage in these types of service-learning projects with their schools and communities!

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Empty Bowls 2015

3/18/2015

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Tomorrow is the 8th Annual Empty Bowls event at our school. We have been working all year to get ready and I am very excited for this evening that will raise food and funds to those in need in our community. The event takes place from 5-6 p.m. in the BCWMS Cafetorium.

Bring any donation of food or funds to enter and enjoy entertainment from our Music students, soup and bread provided by Subway, and take home a hand-crafted ceramic bowl created by our Visual Art students. You can even bid on the bowl signed by the BCWMS staff! Donations benefit Byron Ministries and the Buist Community Assistance Center.

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Like a Blur

2/27/2015

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So many things have happened this week, it is kind of like the semester is just blurring right past me! First, I am excited to say that Empty Bowls is only three weeks away. We finished the big bowl to be auctioned off at the event to the highest bidder this week with signatures from the BCWMS team.

Students are also finally glazing their bowls, which will be given away at the event as a reminder of those we are helping.

Students also finished their videos and animations this week, in preparation for the Meijer Great Choices Film Festival and Digital ID PSA competitions. This project was funded as a result of a MACUL grant. Here are some of the student pieces:

7th grade students also worked on the computer this week, learning more about how to use Photoshop as they shared their interests and likes in their profile collages (see a full gallery of images here):

Nick: I used more than one brush tool with different colors because I thought that by doing that, I would make it unique. I tried to make my background different from anybody else's. I also used the stroke tool so I could make the outline of my face more prominent and so you could make it out better. I choose the things I did because they represent things that I like. I put some teams that I like, some foods that I like, and some things that I like to do. For example, I put a MSU logo because that's my favorite college and I put Kentucky because I know a kid on their boy's basketball team.

Nichole: I used a couple tools while working on this project. One of those tools is the quick select tool. You use this tool to select the background of an object. After you have selected want you need you can either change the background or delete the background. Another tool I used was the fill bucket tool. You use this tool to fill large empty spaces with a color of some sort in stead of taking a long time to use the paint brush tool to color it in. Ok so I put a lot of things in well "myself". First I put a picture of Nik Stauskas because he is my idol. I put a cross in me because I love going to church and learning about god. Then of corse I put a maroon 5 thing because they are my favorite band. Then my last one I put the quote "Teamwork makes the dream work" because this quote always keeps me going and It is so true too.

8th grade students started planning out their first major project on Identity this week by learning about artists who employ this theme, seeing past student work, and sketching out their own ideas. We also worked on some drawing methods that they could use, too.

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First Week, Again

1/30/2015

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7th and 8th grade students worked with clay on the first day to create bowls from soft slabs and paper molds.

Started second semester this week with a new batch of students. It is always fun to get a chance for a fresh start in the middle of the year with kids who are ready to get their hands mixed up in media. Just like every other first day, we made sure to spend it immersed in clay as we created bowls for our annual Empty Bowls event which is held on March 19th.

We also started working in our Sketchbooks this week, planning out our name designs before applying them to portfolios. We went through the basics of Schoology, how to check grades, and other intricacies that will help students keep on top of the fast-moving art making environment that is the art classroom.

Although I am sad that I will no longer see the amazing students I had from first semester, I am super excited about all of the learning that is going to happen this semester with this new group!

Students shared their progress of their portfolio names through a small group critique. They gave each other feedback in the form of "stars and wishes" to help improve their work.

Students used their sketches as reference before applying them to their portfolios. This is a great chance for me to better learn about my students and memorize their names.

Ana may only have three letters in her name, but she came up with many possibilities in her sketchbook before making decisions on what was going to work best for her portfolio.

On a Side Note...

Two exciting announcements were made this week:

First, I have been awarded the 2015 National Art Education Association Western Region Middle Level Art Educator of the Year. I was up against teachers from various states (like illinois, Ohio, Arkansas, etc.) and will get a chance to celebrate the recognition at a ceremony during the National Art Education Association Conference in March. I am also presenting at this conference, so I am very excited to share the success of my students with others during this professional development.

In addition to that, I also found out this week that this classroom blog received recognition in the Art of Education Art Education Blogs of the Year. This was nominated and voted on by other Art teachers from across the country and world. I am very flattered for the recognition and happy that others find the posts I write and the work my students make useful for their own classrooms.

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Various Things

10/4/2014

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Lauren is working on her entry for ArtStart, which is due on Tuesday. She decided to create ArtPrize shoes influences by the work we saw on our field trip September 25th.

This week has offered a lot of things to unfold as students worked on competitions, community projects, individual works, and class projects. Every year is the best year ever and I always wonder how my students are going to out-do the accomplishments and fun already accomplished. Even though we are only a month into this school year, this year is already becoming the best year ever and sure to blow any other experience I have had in my classroom out of the water.

Caiden and the other 7th grade students glazed their bowls for our Empty Bowls Fundraiser that will take place on March 19th. More details to come as we get closer to the date.

Aleena is working on a piece in After School Art class that looks to how we interact with logos. She is using felting materials to create this composition.

Virginia is also working on an individual project in After School Art. It will be fun to see how this mask transforms from now until it is finished.

Olivia finished up her Identity project this week. She used printmaking and paper cutting technique to create this layered image and explore the theme.

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Circles of Many Sizes

9/3/2014

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8th grade students continued to work on our canvas panels today for the STEM and MUSIC hallway. I am really excited about the energetic movement seen in the works as a result of the improvisational and collaborative effort this type of painting involves. Tomorrow, my after school art students will finish up the works and I will post the results before they are displayed.

As I wrote yesterday, this project is partially inspired by the Peter H. Reynolds book, "The Dot." I had the opportunity to share the following video illustration of the story with my students today before we went back to the canvases to make our marks.

I love the message of the story and hope my students take it to heart as they work towards a great school year.

7th grade students continued to work on their clay bowls for Empty Bowls. We will be finishing these up by the end of the week and glazing them once they are bisque-fired.

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Arts a la Mode - May 24th

Back to it

Something New

Empty Bowls

Something Old

Scholastic Thoughts

Much to be Thankful for...

Empty Bowls 2015

Empty Bowls 2015

Like a Blur

First Week, Again

On a Side Note...

Various Things

Circles of Many Sizes

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Janine Campbell

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Empty Bowls

Something Old

​Scholastic Thoughts

On a Side Note...

Archives

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Scholastic Thoughts