[Teaching Art] Describing Chi

Yesterday I tried to start an art study on Chinese Calligraphy. As the turkey-butts would say, it was an epic fail. Middle school turkey butts are so very very literal, that they just weren’t getting the… the… zen of the whole thing (maybe because “zen” is Japanese in origin?).  I knew that if I set…

[Tech Tip] The Storybirds Are Flying

Earlier this week I told you about something I was going to try in my classroom–Storybirds. Well my caped friends, the birds they are a-flyin’. As the lovies finish their stories I’ll add them to the Student Story Bird page on this blog. In the meantime, here are two that made me smile or laugh…

[Tech Tip] Storybird

I discovered this link today while on a teacher networking site called Edmodo (more on that later).  I’m still playing around with it, but will absolutely be using it this week.  I’m going to use it in art class though, and sneak the writing in.  Bwahahahaha. From what I can tell so far, the site…

My Darling Clementine

All of my classrooms have a ghost.  Either I have a strong link to the Other Side, or I need a patsy for the odd things that happen in my room… you can guess which one.  In this classroom her name is Clementine. Way back in the olden days of yore, my aforementioned amazing cousin-friend (here and…

Artsy Fartsy 2–Electric Boogaloo

And THEN we played with color!!!!  What fun was that?  First, color wheels.  Spiced up the typical color wheel lessons by using magazine cut-out mosaics to create the colors (Thanks to the awesome classroom staff person with awesome ideas and awesome artistic talent.  Did I mention awesome?).  Then a review of ROY G. BIV, and…

Artsy Fartsy

This year I am teaching art.  For those of you that know me, I am not, technically, artistic.  Certainly, I am what you might call creative.  I am… crafty (homograph intended).  What I am not is an artist.  I know small bits of information, I know what I think is pretty, and I know how…