One fun thing about the end-of-summer-ramp-up-to-the-new-school-year is that you get to enacted ideas because there is time to stew on them and actually do them some justice. When the school year starts, much of what we are doing has been planned and tested and worked on during the summertime. 

This summer, I was inspired by teachers who use the word ARTIST as a way to chart expectations of behavior. As a teacher who leans heavily on choice in the studio, I wanted to also link these behaviors with Studio Habits and think I was able to come up with a compromise of language that both works for my students and will help foster a positive and productive environment in our classroom. I know it doesn't have everything, but hopefully when paired with the DICE design thinking (shared in the previous post) it will ALL be covered. 

Our school also focuses on "I can" statements, so I guess you can say I've got that covered, too! 

My husband and I just celebrated 15 years of marriage this week and when we got married, one of the first major decisions I had to make was whether or not to take his last name. Being a Warhol fan and the opportunity for imagery like these posters wasn't the only factor in my choice... but I would be lying if I said it wasn't - I mean, it is perfect! 

I have had multiple requests to post these for others to use (even some who want to pay me - how flattering!). I do not have a TPT or anything like that because I am ok with sharing resources, for free, with other teachers that are used to help students in the classroom. If you would like to use them as is or modify a blank version, the files are below for you to use.

I just ask that if you use it, you give credit or a shout out when you share/display (tag me so I can see it on Twitter or Instagram) and if you are feeling generous, you can donate to our DonorsChoose.org page - we are currently $168 from completing our current project. 

It is a new school year, and with new year anything comes resolutions and aspirational goals that may or may not be met. One goal I have for this school year is to freshen up this space and reorganize it. Since 2011, I have been blogging here. It has taken a few different forms over the years and we are able to try something new once again. Instead of the weekly posts that have been going on for the last few years, I am going to start posting by assignment. This will mean less posts, but it will also mean more complete thoughts and processes on what we are creating from the BCWMS Visual Art and Design classroom. 

For the first posts in this new endeavor, I am sharing something I tried for the first time during the first week of school: Photoshop! I was nervous going into it because many of my 7th graders have not used this program, let alone a MacBook before, so I knew it was going to be a challenge. I decided to do it anyway, because I have tried things like clay on the first day of school without missing a beat, so I thought this could be like that, right? Well, not exactly. 

It was interesting to see how students were able to try something new, fail, try again, struggle, ask for help from each other, and finally get where they needed to go in the end. I can think of a lot of things I will do differently when I get this chance again next semester - some of which I put into place mid-way through this creation. 

I am very fortunate to have a cart of MacBook Airs with Photoshop on them in my classroom. I assign students a number on the first day of school and that is how they know which computer to check out as well as where to store their Chromebooks when we are painting and their 3D work on a different rack in the room. Giving students a number is a great way to help keep things organized when you may be dealing with a set number of materials or devices to create. 

​Once they got onto the computers, they went to Schoology where I posted the video tutorial for this project as well as the base of their image: the can! Because I believe sharing is caring, here are those resources for you if you would like to use them in your classroom, too: 

Besides the fact that my last name is Campbell and I have a certain fondness towards Andy Warhol's work because of that, it was also important to me that students started the year thinking about what impact art can have in their lives and what it empowers them to do. In addition to using the Warhol imagery of the soup can, we also mimicked his pop-art style portraits by using the stamp filter in Photoshop. 

As you will hear in the video, I talk about class colors. It is another trick I have to help me keep organized. By having things numbered and color coded, it saves students and me time when something goes missing or needs to be put away. 

Reading the goals of my students helped me focus on what they see in the power of art. You can view more on our Artsonia class gallery. 

I hope this was a helpful post and that you will keep coming back to check out the other creations we share as we work through the year. 

Good luck to all of the hard-working, paint-slinging, photoshopping, clay squishing, material dispensing Visual Art and Design teachers out there! This year is going to be amazing because of your work and efforts in sharing your love of art and design with others! Thank you for your work and I look forward to sharing more of ours!