I'm Still Here, BUT Things are a-changin'

I've been MIA, and that's because I've had a gazillion and ten things going on.  It's common knowledge in teacher world that summer is for relaxing and getting caught up on all those other things that get thrown into the corner, right??! WRONG.  Guys, most days I'm lucky if I leave the house with pants on.  This week I may or may not have worn two different shoes to school (in my defense they were the same, but different colors--I just told everyone it was a new trend, duh.)

Which brings me to school.  This year I am so excited to be taking on a new job description.  That's right folks, I've moved on from the elementary world to the land of the tweens, or more commonly known as middle school. I'm 3 weeks in and I'm still here--I shook my magic eight ball and it responded with "Reply Hazy, Try Again Later,"  I'm not sure whether I should be concerned or not yet.  So with this change my blog name obviously can no longer be: Exploring Art: Elementary Art.  

I now welcome you to the middle school edition of me: Art. Eat. Tie Dye. Repeat.

Now all you elementary folk, please don't scurry away! It'll still be the same ole me here coming at you with my bizarre ideas and thoughts.  I've still got PLENTY of projects I need to catch up on from last school year (grad school is killing me).

My school year is off to an extremely busy start (as I'm sure yours is as well).  Not only do I have a new job, but 9 hours of grad school (I'll be done in May!!!), and coaching volleyball sure have me busy.  No time for sleep, because there is not rest for the rad!

THE GOOD NEWS: I FIT RIGHT IN WITH THOSE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS. YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL US A PART!

Art in Motion: Digital Flipbooks

This year my summer school class (comprised of 5th and 6th graders) tackled the theme of Art in Motion.  Who better to learn about this concept other than Eadward Muybridge??!  Now, I will admit I did have dreams of galloping horses and walking ostriches, but that's besides the point.  This video did a really great job of introducing the artist to the students.  I know there are a few portions in the video with the naked photography, so I just youtube Chopped them out and played the video in segments.  



We discussed the groundbreaking stuff that Muybridge was able to capture through still photography and pretty much invented what we know as the modern day gif (and that ladies and gentlemen is where they were hooked).  Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could dive into the creation of our own gifs; instead, we explored the world of the digital flipbook.  To create the drawings students used the website BennetonPlay!  This is a free website, no log ins required.  With the limited edition students are able to create a 100 frame digital flipbook.  I LOVED these, my students LOVED them--the world was happy.  We only had about thirty minutes slotted to use the computer lab, so most of this digital drawings only took about thirty minutes.  But, the best thing (and you know you've done something right when this happens) the kids would go home after school and create MORE on the website and email me the link to their creations.  Pretty awesome stuff right there.

WARNING: DON'T LOOK AT THESE ALL AT ONCE YOU MIGHT GET MOTION SICKNESS

I hope you continue to enjoy your summer.  I know I certainly have been--I've been pretty unplugged this summer just because you know I got to get out and enjoy that Nebraska sun!  

I will be presenting at the AOE Online Summer Conference.  If you haven't signed up yet, you should-- you still have a couple days to do so!  I'll see you there!

UPDATE: I'm an Empty Nester

Well that day has come, I'm officially an empty nester.  Everybody has flown the nest and have made a new home for themselves somewhere.  I'm yet to find out where, but I certainly hope they come back to visit.

Oh, what did you guys think I was talking about?  If you're confused rightfully so, but check out my previous post and it might make a little more sense.

These guys grew so fast in the mere 10 days that I knew them.  Thank you Rocky and Hermie for letting me be your friend.  You know watch you grow up.  You were pretty ugly at first, actually really ugly at first, but once you sprouted a few feathers you weren't so bad.  I still don't understand why you wouldn't eat the worms I chewed up for you, it did kind of hurt my feelings, but I guess it's okay.

To you Momma Robin: I'm glad to see you go.  You gave me the stink eye as if there was no tomorrow.  If looks could kill, you got me good.  You pooped everywhere and made the front porch a mess.  I only wanted to participate in the growing up of your children so swooping down at me was not very nice. 

      

Fly free Rocky and Hermie.  I'll catch you later.  But I am glad I can open the front door again.  Come back to visit, as long as you bring me back presents. 

(In other news my Summer School class has been learning all about Art in Motion updates on that shortly, you know after I share some of the end of the year projects and get over my bird depression.  Do you think if I'm sad enough I'll inflict Bird Flu on myself?  Just a thought) 

Things that Fly

1st graders last projects of the school year were all about balance and symmetry.  We started off by talking about the asymmetry of kites when it comes to the patterns and designs.  

 The borders around our kites were just a combination of leftover scraps from the year--never let anything go to waste!  You can tell the students who just threw on random colors and those that took the time to sort through all the colors to create a pattern.

Next up we talked about the symmetry of butterflies and created these simple crayon, watercolor & salt, compositions.

Speaking of others things that fly, as of late I've become quite the birdwatcher.  If you follow me on twitter you might have noticed my obsession as of late with ornithology.  Well guys, it's real.  This bird just HAD TO make a nest on the wreath on the door and torment me.  

I almost died taking this picture.  In order to make this picture a reality I 007-ed and Mission Impossibled this like there was no tomorrow.

Check ya, later peeps. Only 9 more days of summer school and REAL summer begins!

What Does A Feeling Look Like?

Believe it or not this lesson creation was inspired by my 3rd grade students.  When we were doing this Georgia O'Keeffe project we watched a Brain Pop video that discussed how she was inspired by colors to express her feelings and moods.  I had some really disappointed 3rd graders when they found out they wouldn't be painting their feelings.  Thus, the creation of this lesson.

To start class we discussed emotions and came up with a long list of different ones, then I went around the room and gave each student an emotion from this list assigned at random.  3rd graders only job was to paint their emotion using only colors, lines, and shapes.  I didn't give the students any restriction of what colors to use, but they had to have at least two and no more than five.  The students loved it, I was so impressed at the thinking involved as students really wanted to portray their emotion.  

The next class we came back and each student picked one color of construction paper that they felt went along with their emotion and did some paper weaving.  The original plan was to have students paint two conflicting emotions and weave those together--but with the end of the school year we simply ran out of time!  Instead, students further embellished their paintings with puffy paint and construction paper.

I absolutely loved this lesson--it was a home run--the 3rd grade crowd went WILD. 

Joy

Excited

Anger

 Calm

Confused

 Depressed

Fear

Gloomy

Happy

 Sad

Surprised

Am I the only one who sees the seahorse on the bottom left?

It's officially summer for me (except for 15 days of summer school--but that's nothing!)  Hang in there as your school year winds down!