It's Art Day!: Sticky Note Challenge #2 “I wish I Could Draw...”

Sticky Note Challenge #2 "I wish I could draw..."

Here it's October and I was trying to think of a new engaging prompt for the next "Sticky Note Challenge." You can check out our September Sticky Note Challenge here which was our first for the 2017-18 school year. 

 

It's still the beginning of the year so building those relationships with 450 plus kids is umm...well...quite a task!  So, I thought that maybe I would do a prompt that while benefiting them would also benefit me! So, this helped me get to know them a little better. They got to know each other by sharing and also told me something about themselves.  

 We had a lot of desire to draw animals. At the end of class, I asked who would like to share their sticky note. A great way to discover what student's hopes and dreams were as artists in my classroom. 

A few gave it a shot with a little mini drawing! 

I was able to promise that we would do self portraits!! Always!!

"ME"

"Real Expressions!"  "Cool Animals!" 

 These kiddos were very specific and knew exactly what kind of car they wanted to learn how to draw. This is great! 

POP CULTURE is alive and well y'all! We love EMOJIS! 

Check out another way I use sticky notes to engage my students here as they comment and ask me questions about what I'm wearing. 

Sticky Note Challenge #1: What is Art?

It's Art Day!: Sticky Note Challenge #1 “What is Art?”

Sticky Note Challenge #1 "What is Art?" 

Each month we have a sticky note challenge in our Art Room. For the month of September, the students responded to the question, “What is art?” We are trying to do more writing in art this year. Students can respond by writing or draw what they are thinking on the sticky note. 

They love sticky notes and so do I!! This was a great question to start off the school year and kick start our thinking about art/

They loved to watch the wall grow and read other’s responses. We also take time to share with each other our answers.

My students always blow me away with their thinking and creative conclusions and connections!

The large doors of these two cabinets turned out to be a great space to put up all the stickies.

Check back for the next STICKY NOTE CHALLENGE!
We do one every month!

Art Teacher Life: What I Wore #2 "You don't look like a Ninja!"

 

Me: "Have you ever seen a Ninja coming? 

You may never know when

 Ms. McDonald becomes an Art Teacher Ninja!" 

3rd grade had a lot to say about my "CAREER GOALS" shirt! They did some guessing about my innovative hair bow and also told me a joke.

 

I decided to laminate a poster for a DIY dry erase board I can hang anywhere.  

     

"Art Teacher Ninja" It's a thing y'all! 

They also loved guessing which part of my shirt 

I chopped off to create my bow! We are innovators!

I adore how we quickly move on to the important things! 

JOKES!!!!!

"Hi Jorge!" 

Love, Ms. McDonald

Making connections and building relationships with my students is one of the most important things I can do as an educator to give them the tools they need to succeed!

Art Teacher Life: What I Wore #1 "Art is the new cool"

I will admit that my "Art Teacher Attire" Amazon wish list is a little out of control right now! I've fallen in love with fun art T-shirts! When "FOMO" (Fear Of Missing Out) kicks in, it's hard to resist buying one of each! I have racked up a pretty good collection but I definitely need more! 

What I wore. 

Fridays are the days I often reserve for fun shirts! However the crazy art teacher lady can and does come out on any old Tuesday. Tacky, gaudy or colorful are not requirements for teaching art or being an elementary school teacher. However, if you are looking for an excuse, best job ever! 

Today I tried something new for my "early finishers." I did a new sticky note writing prompt. I wanted to know what was in those little brains of theirs! This is what the white board said and what they had to say;

"I'M DONE!! WHAT DO I DO??"
In a complete sentence, write a comment, question, or exclamation, about Ms. McDonald's T-shirt.

Check out a few of these adorable sticky notes!

Kids LOVE sticky notes y'all! 

These are keepers!
They are all KEEPERS! 

This was the #1 question!

Many notes made me smile or giggle!

Said to me by a 4 year old this week in the hallway,
" Hey! You're looking good!" #artteachergoals

What the art teacher wore was fun to talk about in the art room this week! I can't wait to see what next week's sticky notes say! 

Come back and see! 

It's Art Day!: (VIDEO) Kindergarten Printmaking Time Lapse

When Ms. H dropped off her class and said "It's a full house of 26! Meet our new student!" I thought to myself, "ALL RIGHT! 26 KINDERGARTNERS!" This ya'll, is the controlled chaos I live for! 

I try to always greet my classes at the door and say a quick hello and try to check in with the teacher. I try and I say "try" because teachers are...well...JUGGLING! Always one hand on a ball and a bunch up in the air with one coming down that needs catching!!

After the students and I chatted, we popped on smocks and were ready to print! We are printing with 6 different found objects. Students are up and moving to choose objects and create masterpieces!

In this video: 

• Students put art on drying rack mostly on their own. Making sure they aren't stacking paintings on paintings still has to be checked in on. They have gotten better and are reminding each other! 
• No kindergartner goes to the sink but one because he was REALLY purple! Many still try  but with a quick reminder to wipe hands on smock til towels are out.
• I wet towels (while students are working because I forgot to do it beforehand) and put them on the "island" (table in middle.) 
• Students get a towel to match their table color and wipe hands then table. 

I would love to know how you paint and print with large groups. These Kindergartners had a blast!