We Scream for Ice Cream!

As the year winds down it's always hard to know when to STOP production in the art room.  Some classes are done all the work and I don't want to move on risking that those new projects wont get done.  Other classes are scrambling to finish up work.

If you find your self in the same predicament this is a fun one day project that worked really well for me!

I gave each student a large peice of paper.  On the back they had to write 4 ingredents you could buy at the grocery store but that you would not typically find in ice cream.
Examples: eggs, cucumbers, fish, raw meat, cheese, pasta, rice, donuts ect.

 Then we switched papers around.  So now each student had 4 ingredients they had to make into a four scoop ice cream cone.  It produced a really fabulous "EWWW"  "YUK" sound throughout the room. 

(I modeled this with students before hand and talked about how we can add the ingredients chopped up inside the ice cream.  I also brainstormed appropriate ingredients with students prior.) 

Then we got to work making our Ice Cream.

WARNING: this project is not for those with week stomachs

Monsters!!

MORE MONSTERS!










Ok we got two new monsters this week.  These two remind us to be kind and friendly.  I have some younger students who can be really nasty sometimes.  I have heard things like "eww I don't like your tree" or "that looks stupid."  I'm working on changing that so here is our reminder. 

Monsters have taken over my classroom!!!

As I mentioned in a previous post I am currently teaching as a long term sub. My students have some, in my opinion, bad habits. I have let some monsters creep into my classroom the past couple of weeks. These monsters are a great way to remind students of my rules. It also is helpful to just point at a monster instead of repeating the same rule over and over again. Students have also gotten really into it. They come into the class each week searching for the newest monster. It's a fun way to reinforce rules and not be a nag.

New School!

Well for those of you who don't know I had been working at two different schools. Both schools were in Philadelphia both were around 90% free and reduced lunch. Both schools were in tough neighborhoods. While I really value my time working at these schools they had extremely small art programs. I was teaching about 14 hours a week and working another job and teaching on Saturdays in addition. ( I was being paid hourly to teach with out much paid prep time)

A little over a month ago I got the opportunity to become a long term sub in another district. It was a really hard decision to leave my two schools but I ultimately made the decision I felt would better my career. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. I am teaching 1-5th grade art to about 550 students!

I am really enjoying my time at my new school. It's amazing how much more invested my students are. I attribute that to a variety of different things: higher income area, more school investment in the arts, more exposure to art at home, more and better supplies ect.

I actually feel like I am teaching now instead of just managing students. Can't wait to share some of the work we have been doing!