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Who inspires you and how can you stay inspired so that you can stay passionate in the classroom? On Saturday, the Queen of the art classroom, Cassie Stephens , shared with the Texas Art Teachers her path to creating a successful blog that has inspired so many teachers.  As I spent time with her, almost every teacher that stopped to have a picture taken with her commented how inspirational her blog was during times of need.  Not all of the teachers were women and not all teachers were young.  It was a very diverse group.  This teacher in the background is my favorite.  Laura and Cassie didn't see the art teacher havin a snack until later! Her message was Simply Amazing. Having passionate art making in your life keeps you parallel to your art career.  Both passions feed off of each other. I don't know how she does it, but her humor reached us all in the audience, with a dash of tears too. ...

Why???  Because of these guys and a few more amazing art buddies too!  Laura Grundler from #k12artchat and who happens to be my boss lady too,  buddied up with the most amazing Cassie Stephens .  Laura and her Dallas team spent many long hours preparing for this state event. She told me she wanted everyone to have fun and learn from Cassie about how she found her  Passion as a teacher and artist! Cassie was our keynote speaker and presenter on Saturday at TAEA's conference  here in Dallas this past weekend.   My friend Tracy Evans and I got the job as Handlers! As follower of hers for more than two years, we were all virtual friends.  Anyway...... You see Cassie is kind of Popular. It is really hard to get her from point A to B. I had to use my school teacher voice a few times so that we didn't stop traffic.  But she is so kind to welcomed each teacher with a hug and posed for pictures.  ...

My 5th graders participated in the #ATCswap that  Minimatisse  organized this year. My goal is for my students to learn that art it not just inside the classroom, but everywhere.  I have to say as a teacher, this was very exciting for me and the students were equally excited. Dot Day was a blast! Using the 2.5 x 3.5 canvas we were free to experiment. I used some of Nic's awesome lessons on her her blog and youtube site also. Thanks!! These were some of our Gelli and leaf stamping experimentation cards. Each weeks art lesson had a theme and the student collected their cards in pocket sleeves in a folder. This was a great way to check for understanding and making sure they were on task.   The students also uploaded their cards onto their Creatubbles page.  Look for me on  Creatubbles I documented our progress as a time line on my school  @skaggsart twitter account and my Instagram account.  BT...