Guess what? This year is going to be the best one ever.
As I start my 14th year of teaching middle school students in the Visual Art and Design classroom, I can say this with confidence because every new year is always better than the one before. There are always new goals to tackle and achievements to gain and I know this year we are in store of breaking all kinds of records for awesomeness because of these five fun factors:
As I start my 14th year of teaching middle school students in the Visual Art and Design classroom, I can say this with confidence because every new year is always better than the one before. There are always new goals to tackle and achievements to gain and I know this year we are in store of breaking all kinds of records for awesomeness because of these five fun factors:
1. ArtPrize
Right out of the gate, we have a major opportunity for students to showcase their talents and potentially win our classroom $5000 in funds. I am so proud of our students for creating the collaboration "Painting Under Paper Cuts," that is in the Youth Collaboration Award category for ArtPrize 9. You can view and vote for the work at Monroe Community Church starting September 20th. I am still looking for volunteers to help transport the piece; if any parents are willing, please contact me. I am also very excited to be planning a field trip to ArtPrize again during the 19 day competition. This is the 8th time I have taken students to this event!
2. Robots
I am so thankful to DonorsChoose, 3M, and all of the donors who helped fund two projects in the last month that will bring robotics opportunities to my students. I cannot wait to receive these resources and get students going with them to build and create new methods of communicating visually and connecting their learning in art to other subjects and content areas.
3. Scholastic Art Awards
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is one of my favorite competitions to enter student work in during the school year. This year will mark our 10th year participating! I am hoping to mark this 10 year anniversary with a record number of student entries, placements, and hopefully another chance to celebrate our National winners at Carnegie Hall in NYC. It is such a great opportunity for students to grow as artists when they participate in these programs and push their learning and skill to the next level. Sign up starts on September 13th!
4. Collaborative Projects
I love collaborative projects. I am very excited to try two new ones this year based on some great ideas from other teachers. They are both going to be early on in the school year and I look forward to getting them out into the public spaces of our school so others can enjoy the visual expression of each student coming together to make something as a whole!
5. The Unexpected
I created this work, "Duplicity," earlier this year. It will be a part of a show this month in Grand Rapids called "The Collectors Show."
I am leaving this one as a wild card - an open space for anything to happen. There is always something that sneaks up on me out of nowhere and takes me by surprise each year. Last year it was the collaborative work we created for ArtPrize, the year before was having a student win a National Scholastic Gold Medal for making a gorgeous piece of jewelry out of paper, the year before it was being named National Art Education Association Middle Level Educator of the Year... I am not sure what crazy, exciting, new, scary, lovely surprise is going to show itself to me and my students this year, but that is okay. I know it will be amazing and that we will be excited and ready to greet it with open arms!
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