Sculptionary Game in the Clay class

I've been working on this FOREVER!  I've been playing this game with my students for years but finally made it available to the public for purchase.  I love playing this game in between projects or as an ice breaker in the classroom. 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sculptionary-Clay-Game-4956279

Pottery Ceramics Coloring Sheets

My daughter has become obsessed with coloring sheets lately!  I thought it might be fun to make some of my own.  I made 4 pottery themed coloring sheets and I love them!  I am excited to share them with you!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pottery-Coloring-Sheet-Pack-of-4-4661206

- Kiln

- Glazes

- Pottery Wheel

- Clay Tools

The Clone Project - Computer Arts and Animation

I love completing the clone project every year.  It is our first project in class, introducing students to Photoshop. This fall students were able to create these in 3-4 class periods.

T.A.G. The best Critque Poster Around!

I found that teaching my beginner classes they often didn't know how to talk about art.  Giving them examples they sometimes still felt lost.  Students knew how to compliment but never critique.  A few years ago I started doing T.A.G. during our critique process.  It isn't the entirety of the critique, but I feel it is the most important part.  I keep the poster at the front of the room and reference it. The student called upon will pick another piece in the classroom to discuss and answer each section of the poster. 

Suggestions for T.A.G.
T- "I love the technique you picked, it works well with the subject." 
A- "What inspired you to create a piece with that subject?" "
G- "I think it would be nice to be a series."  "If you bumped up the contrast I think it would be more dramatic."  "I might suggest if you were to do a piece like this again to make it a bit bigger."

Rule #1: Never say they don't suggest anything.  
Rule #2: Do not ask someone how long it took them to create that piece.  

If you are interested in purchasing the downloadable poster you can find it on my Teachers Pay Teachers Site. 

I'm Back & Resources!

Life has hit me hard recently.  I'm sorry I've let things slip so. From a terrible divorce, custody, and a bad accident, and caring for my parents... I've felt overwhelmed these past couple years.  My plan hopefully is to stick to some schedule for the blog.

I've been prepping like crazy on my Teachers Pay Teachers page. 

• The first day of art class lesson
• Art table labels
• Name/organization/activity labels
• Get to know you Bingo
• Syllabus
• Art room Scavenger Hunt
• Pottery Tool Quiz
• Sub Lesson featuring "The Great Pottery Throw Down"
• Beginner Pottery Quiz 

You can say I've been a little busy on TPT.  

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Art-Creature

Illustration Fridays : The Sketch Assignment that rocks!

Like many art teachers I give a sketchbook homework assignment.  Early on at my time at Apex High Ian Sands told me about an old homework assignment he used to do, Illustration Fridays.  He no longer did them but I was excited to hear about it.  IllustrationFriday.com is a site that every Friday there is a word posted.  Throughout the next week art work is submitted to fit within that theme.  If the students don't like the word it is out of my control, but often they have some rocking words.  I included a question on the exam about Illustration Fridays and here are what they kids had to say: (All are Art 1 students)

Illustration Fridays have been completed almost every week this semester, do you feel this assignment helped you brainstorm for main project or helped you skill levels in any way? Why, or why not?

Yes, I believe that Illustration Friday was a helpful assignment in terms of getting our imagination rolling. The idea of having a set topic and branching off from one word lets our creative side come to life. Also, the various mediums we could have chosen to use helped as well. The word for the illustration Friday below was "people".

illustration Friday's helped me in multiple ways. It made me spend more time on this class at home and it made it easier for me to come up with ideas for pieces with one word or phrase. Because of illustration Friday's I got to use mediums that I didn't use in class such as colored pencils, pens, markers, and crayons.

I do believe that illustration Fridays have helped me over the past semester. Although I don't believe they have really helped my skill as most of the time I didn't put a lot of thought into them, I do think they helped with my brainstorming. I think IF helped me brainstorm because they gave me more opportunities to have to draw and come up with an idea with just one word to help guide me. This came into play when I had the whole art of apex portal website to look at for an idea for an art project. I took one simple how to draw a face video and turned it into a piece with meaning to it.

9) Yes i do believe that illustration fridays have helped me brainstorm for main projects. Having one for each week helped me think about better ideas for each project. When i saw the word for each week i wouldn't just think of the first thing that came to my head i would think outside the box to be able to accomplish a better understanding of the word. Once i am assigned a project its easier for me to be able to decide on what to do. For example one weeks word was villain and i drew a villain from a movie instead of just doing a famous one that most people know about. 

Plinrise Colored Drawing Pen Review

I recently bought a set of Plinrise Colored Drawing Pens to see if I wanted to purchase them for my classroom.

Things I LOVE:

• The case is wonderful!  I love how I can take it anywhere I need.  It would be great to use for students walking around the school to sit down and sketch.
• The colors are great!  I enjoy the range of colors that are available with this set. 
• No smudging

Things I don't love:

• The mark.  The mark itself isn't my favorite.  It is very similar to a Sharpie pen but in color.  Not for sketches but I wouldn't use it for a main piece.
• Layering.  The layers don't blend as nicely as I would have liked.  I'm looking for something more similar to the Prisma brand blending abilities. 

Overall:

4 stars for on the go sketching and packing.