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I have been on overload this month and not posted at all. I have been on too many sites! I have a twitter account for my class  Skaggs Art I went to Google Camp and learned about Google Docs and Classroom sites.  I began to learn how to set up my  school class site  Art@ Skaggs plus I belong to the Facebook Art Group and a TAEA group here in Texas.  I wonder if all the sharing is really looked at.... but I try. I also have a student teacher. Thank goodness he is a good one from my home school area!  If you have ever had a student teacher you know what I mean. You have to be on your A game and I didn't really feel I was there.  Yes, it was repetitious to make name tents and sketchbooks this week,  but it works to get our acts together.  As a team leader I feel so stretched at the beginning of the year. We have one new team member but he too seems to be on his A Game. Thank you PE! We don...

From the looks of things in Blogger world, we are all on vacation.  I haven't posted in a while or even scanned Bloglovin. Down time is a good thing. I spent last weekend visiting the Portland area and catching up with my Brother and his family.  It was rewarding to be Aunt Beth for the weekend.  I had to brush up on my songs with this one. I tried to make it up to the top of the falls with these two...... My brother's family planned two day trips  with me to the Falls and Mount Hood.  While I was away it was over 100 each day in Texas. I sure planned this trip well! The view from the top of Mount Hood was picture perfect! I have one more trip planned to the Sun Shine state with my family! I am anxious to feel the sand between my toes!  Google Camp on Monday! Too bad it isn't in CA! 

Did you know that Art teachers have other school jobs besides just teaching art?  One of my responsibilities is the display areas in the main hallway on my campus. I have this huge board outside my classroom door that is usually my first display of the school year.  Last year our District theme was "Be Bold Be Bright"... so I added the Art part.  This summer I added our Statues of Liberty. (but forgot to take a picture of it on the board) Below are some of my favorites from years past.  You might wonder why I would spend this 100 degree Saturday in Texas writing a blog post.  (Yes, it's the first 100 degree day this summer) anyway..... I was motivated when I discovered last night that the I am an Artist board was  listed on BuzzFeed this week! Nothing like a little attention to make my day.  This Kandinsky displayed 1st grade lesson is my most popular post, and displayed on the same wall space that has brough...

4 more days of Summer School. Whoo Hoo!  One of the benefits of teaching in the summer is fun Patriotic art lessons.  Another perk is teaching with fellow art teachers on the same campus.  This summer I am lucky enough to work with one of my best friends, Mari.  This is her super cool firework sculpture lesson that she taught to her  kindergarten student's today.  The directions for this lesson is based on the lesson I do with my students when we make Mother's day flower sculptures which is  here . Instead of using one sheet of 12 x 18 paper,  they used two patriotic colored papers, putting one inside the other after folding and cutting.  (She did the stapling) Mari had a buffet of materials for them to pick from and to bedazzle their firework sculpture.  The little guys twisted, folded, glued and stuck on many sparkling items.  They were super excited to take these home today...

We finished up this monumental lesson today. This lesson took a good three hours to complete. The kids were champions for taking it on and finishing so nicely. We were all happy.  This is another lesson that I grabbed and ran with from  Cassie Stephens . She did this with 1st graders, my student's were a year older.  I did modify the lesson. We used construction paper for the faces and head and neck tracers. We used oil pastels for the face without using pencil first. Yikes. We also did not paint the paper that we wove for the royal tunic. They used  Instant Metallic Playcolor sticks  and Prang Metallic Markers .  These metallic sticks are amazing! I plan to order more for my classroom this fall.  No mess and you can even paint over them with great results too.  I was challenged with my hair color mixing ability, since I am not the hair expert. They loved painting the hair, but I would recommend premixing so...

These super fun statue's were drawn first on 12 x 18 white sulfite paper with sharpie. The student's tissue painted the statue with water and bleeding tissue paper.  The background was 12 x 18 black paper.  The fireworks were drawn with my new favorite tempera sticks. The following day we brushed off the tissue papers and removed the background.  We had a few medical emergencies (her arm or neck got cut off) but just glue it to the background.  We watched this cool video and read a few books too about this wonderful landmark. A wonderful summer lesson! The bulk of my inspiration this summer came from Cassie Stephens.  I am teaching a new class this summer, Art and Artist's Around the World to grade 2/3.  I have the past teacher's  16 lesson plans, but being a creative person, I created a new format.  Thank goodness for Pinterest and the WWW and most of all Cassie Stephens . I discovered many interestin...