Friday Fun: Aurora

Last Friday I was able to get out on the town and see some art installations out at Aurora in Dallas. Here are some snap shots of the free event!  I really enjoyed just being able to see and experience art, it was a nice break from teaching and creating.

How often do you get out and visit art museums or go to art events in your town? What else do you do to relax?

Planner Prizes!

As an art teacher I am always trying to think of ways that I can support the campus as a whole and not just push art all the time, although thats what I'm good at! I'm hoping to support planners with our school wide expectation that each student use them effectively by offering incentives when I have random planner checks.  So when I do a planner check the students name is entered into a drawing for their class and the winner gets to choose a prize! I purchased all these things from Target on clearance so I didn't really break the bank that badly and all of these items can be used in or with their planner.

What do you do to help your campus? Share below!

Thursday Think Tank: Sketchbook Set Up

Last year being my first year in middle school I had no idea how to use a sketchbook effectively in the classroom. I'm still working on keeping it organized. This year my students are responsible for having their sketchbook everyday and keeping up with assignments inside. 

On the front inside cover I created this spread sheet of rules/guidelines that will help keep the sketchbook clean and the students on top of their homework. No excuses because every homework assignment is listed here for the ENTIRE YEAR!

Want to try this out for yourself? Head on over to my smARTteacher page because I just posted the template for this! Next time I'll show you what the homework page and inspiration page looks like in their sketchbook!

What do your class sketchbooks look like? How do you keep them organized? Share below!

Why teach art?

"I teach to expand my students imaginations."

As teachers we have so many different experiences of the classroom and we all have a story. A story of that one moment when we decide that this is it. This is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I want to be a teacher. Check out my blog post over at the ATPE website to read my story. 

By the way, this blog post was sponsored by ATPE, but the words and opinions are 100% mine.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT MY BLOGPOST AT THE ATPE WEBSITE!

Tell me, why do you teach? Share and I'll link your blog!