Substitute Angst

I have been a substitute teacher. Memories of those days still have me cringing. Doors were closed in my face. Students made fun of me. And bad behavior was always at an all time high. Students dancing on tables required me to get help from the teacher across the hall. I NEVER subbed in middle school after that day.

OH and let's not forget the directions to get the textbooks out of the cabinet, that was LOCKED and there was NO key. OH AND trying to figure out the gizmos to show a movie, back in the '90's. It was a nightmare....... It got to the point where I made sure I had with me a variety of easy lessons that I could do with students.

It is with having had those experiences that I plan lessons for my substitutes. The advantage of being an elementary art teacher who sees students once a week, is that the same sub plans will last for 5 days. So the plans I am writing for Tuesday I can use in October when I am out for the FAEA conference on a Thursday and Friday. AND I will still have a Monday and Wednesday to use those lessons.

For my primary students I like to leave a book for the sub to read which can jump off to an open ended drawing/coloring experience.

The book above is still available on Amazon. Is about a cat trying to find inspiration for his next painting. The illustrations are very bright and beautiful. Many discussions about what the students are looking at, feeling or how they get inspiration can be had during the reading of this book. Afterwards students are given paper and crayons or markers to make some art.

Another book I've used is Sylvie. Sylvie is tired of eating the same thing everyday and decides to try new foods, which turns her into different colors. I put together step by step directions for drawing a flamingo for the students to follow. And then they decide what she has had to eat and color her accordingly.

 

Also, this book where all the neighbors decide to make their house "The home of their dreams". Students can then make their own dream house.

  

I will be out on Tuesday to be trained as the PLC facilitator for the singletons on campus. In other words the liaison/team leader for Music, P.E. and Art. Should be interesting, perhaps a future post?

I decided to leave plans for the sub to read the book Matthew's Dream. It is about a mouse who wants to be an artist. I think it will be perfect for the beginning of the school year because of all the colors and shapes used in the artwork. You know connecting to the Elements of Art.

 

 

Now, while the books work for the k to 2nd grade set. It won't cut it for the older kids. Some of those projects need to be more of a follow the steps type of deal. What's in the Box? (Check out the resource page for a photo of the directions.)  Is fun, students draw things inside and then can decorate the outside (back of the paper) as if it was wrapping paper.

 

 Making up or using a ready made glyph works really well.

I have had these plans for so long that I have no idea where they came from. Or if I made them up? I also like to leave a copy of Shel Silverstein's poem "What's in the Sack?" Students can then draw a sack and fill it up with anything they want. Or fold their paper, book style, draw a sack on the front. Then draw a special item inside. AND to add a writing component have students write clues as to what's inside. They can then partner up and share.

There are many wonderful resources just a few clicks away! Gotta show you all what I found to leave for my older students. A Lego Person! Check out the link to download your copy.

 

Not sure how rolling a die will work with this, I really think students will want to draw the Lego person their own way. However, this will fit in nicely with  the self portraits we are working on.

Being in a new room and doing a few things a little differently then before I have had to write up new directions for the sub as to how to manage the classes. It will include where to find things, who to contact for help, seating charts, schedule and how to use Mona Lisa to get student's attention. Which by the way worked really well last week. With the exception of one class where a student called out "There is NO Mona in this class!" With a little more practice..........

It's really great when I find a person who follows my plans and everyone is happy. It doesn't always work out that way. It was a nightmare last November when I took a week off for my son's surgery. He is fine and when I returned I certainly felt appreciated.

I learned from my subbing experience to make sure my plans are written clearly, I use images if possible. I over plan for students to have options if they finish early. And I try really hard not to worry about it. It's awesome our profession has a sub system in place, so let's try to make sure our sub is successful in our art room!

Tell me about the lessons you leave for your subs!  Thanks for reading!!

Heading to New York City!

I have driven myself crazy trying to figure out which sub plans to leave this week as I attend the NAEA conference in New York City. Here I posted some sub plans I have left in the past when I have been out.

Since we just started learning about abstract art (because of that awesome cubist painting I did for the book If Picasso Went on Vacation) I thought this lesson plan would work for the 2nd-5th grade students. The Unique Drawing Experience, I found it in a sub folder that one of our district art teachers put together. However, after an internet search I believe it may have come from Lesson Planet.

 

The Noisy Paint Box is a perfect book to go with this lesson. It's a story about the artist Kandinsky and how his abstract art is a result of the colors and sounds surrounding him that inspires his paintings.

For kindergarten and first grade I left this lesson. I originally found this lesson here. Thank you Mrs. Haake at Apex Elementary. And if you check out my post on sub plans you will see I have used it before.

   

It's about a flamingo and how what they eat affects what color they are. I have students put a border around the the paper to practice with a ruler and to have a place to draw what Sylvie ate to make her the color she is. Then they follow step by step drawing instructions to create Sylvie.

Gotta get ready for my flight up to Long Island to spend the night with my sister and her family before heading into New York City.

Please introduce yourself to me if you see me at the conference! I love being with other art teachers, after all we have the best conferences ever!!

Thanks for reading!!

Share Your Talent, Get Published!

For me, one of the most exciting events of the NAEA's Conference in New York City last month was meeting up with the people from Davis Publishing. They are the company that publishes School Arts Magazine. And since I have written some articles and Clip Cards for the magazine I was invited to an Author's Reception.

 

I was able to visit with my buddy, Nancy Walkup, Editor-in-Chief for School Arts. I have known Nancy since meeting her at a Teacher's Workshop that School Arts runs over the summer in Santa Fe. Read about it here. Nancy is responsible for getting me involved the NAEA and the FAEA and writing this blog! I will be forever grateful to her for inspiring me to be more involved.

I met the publisher of School Arts, Julian Wade. What a really nice guy! We talked for quite a bit. He is so passionate about his company and how important the Arts are for students.

Here is a photo of all the authors in attendance as well as the crew from Davis Publishing.

Now what does it take to share your talent? Let's start by looking at my two most recent clip cards that were published.
Rainbow Fish was published in the January 2017 issue. And Textured Flowers was published in the April 2017 issue.

 Let's look at each section.
The Title of the Clip Card: I use the title I give the lesson when writing lesson plans.

The Essential Question: Basically it's what relates to your standards and what you are teaching. And most of us are already writing them.

Objectives: What your learning goal is for the students. Pretty much the "I can" statement.

Materials: Back in the day when I started writing lesson plans I always wrote a list of what I would need to do the lesson. Just start doing it in your head and think of the different steps and what you would need. Which leads us to.......

Procedures: Which is where you write down those steps! Keep it simple 5-7 steps. You know you can do this, because you have had to write sub plans with step by step directions.

Assessment: How did you assess your students when they finished? Sum it up in one sentence.

Really Important! As you are going around the room assessing student work, take photos to submit with your soon to be published Clip Card....... Okay, it doesn't happen overnight, but I did find out that Clip Cards are the most popular section of the magazine. Oh, and did I mention you get paid for writing them?

So next time you go through your lesson plans, think about what you can share. Clip Cards are written for the following categories: Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle School and High School.

Click here for the link to guidelines and submission info.

I hope to be reading one of your Clip Cards or Articles in School Arts Magazine real soon!!

I know I've been gathering up photos of student work to write up some Clip Cards this summer. It really is this easy!

Thanks for Reading!!!

Sub Fun with Mondrian

After missing 15 weeks last year to my back surgery I tried really hard to have perfect attendance this year, not counting my attendance at conferences.  However, I've been suffering from some really bad allergies and was just too exhausted one day about 2 weeks ago and I left the following plans. I found this article in Arts and Activities Magazine titled Animals With a Mondrian Twist. Click here for the link to the article by Berniece Patterson.

 

 

I left some info for the substitute teacher to read over and share with my students. The article I left was from Scholastic Arts March 2005 issue. Sorry, I couldn't find a way to link it. I also left a poster.

 

This was such a cool project that I taught it to a class so I could take some action photos!

Years ago I took the book How to Draw 101 Animals apart and photocopied, then laminated the pages and put them in a basket as part of my drawing center.

This really came in handy for my students with this lesson. Click here to find on Amazon.

Check out the beautiful student work that was left for me!

 

 

  

This is a really easy lesson. It reinforces the primary colors as well as horizontal and vertical lines. It gives students some experience with a ruler and some history on the artist Piet Mondrian.

Tomorrow the countdown to the end of school is 4 weeks........ Looking forward to the break!

Thanks for Reading!