Back to school...three weeks late!!!

I'm still here!!! I promise!!!  The start of this year has been extremely hectic and I'm only now getting my feet under me!!  We are in the midst of a building project and I was unable to access either of my classrooms ALL SUMMER!!  We also didn't have power, lights or electricity for our first day back of staff development!!  It was horrible for my organized "OCD" to have to do everything on the first two days of staff development.  Not to mention, I wasn't able to get much lesson planning done at home with an almost two-year-old toddler!

Ironically, at the end of the last school year, I tore EVERYTHING down off of my walls in both rooms.  I guess I anticipated that the construction project would be a bit more organized...I guessed wrong. ;)  None the less, my No-No Board is gone this year and it has been replaced with my rules (in the elementary room).  I kind of stole some of the wording from Mr. E. :-D

My supply bin organization looks a bit differently this year.  I found these cute, mini-supply totes at Target in the dollar section, plus some pencil pails and rainbow pails.  I decided to use smaller bins to hold the supplies so that students don't have everything at their tables all at once.  In particular, I was thinking of those 1st graders and Kindergartners who tend to be distracted by the markers and want to use them, even though they aren't supposed to be.  I also made some simple, laminated place mats and taped them down to the counters, and I included a picture on the window for how the supplies should look like when they are returned.

My go-to bulletin boards for the first two weeks of school are minions.  Yup, straight from the art teacher's Facebook group.  The kids loved it!

For K-2, we traced, colored and cut out our hand prints for the first day of art class and I created this bulletin board.  We, of course, returned to school BEFORE Labor Day this year, so we had school on Thursday and Friday, no school on Monday, and then resumed classes on Tuesday.  Essentially, my first week and a half was just rules and hand prints with the younger students and we have only now really started to dive into our projects.

Last year I shared a bit about using sketchbooks in 6th grade, as well as my high school classes, and this year I'm increasing that usage a lot more.  We are using sketchbooks in grades 3-6, as well as in Art 7, Studio Art, my Printmaking elective and my Ceramics elective.  All is going well so far!

Speaking of my classes, I'd like to give you a glance at my ridiculous schedule this year.  I sort of did this to myself a bit this year by taking on an extra class.  My union contract states we teach for 6 periods, have a prep, a lunch, and a duty.  Well, at the end of the year last year, things got changed around and classes shortened a bit to add a 9th period into the schedule to create a common study hall time in the high school.  

I was beginning to have such high requests for electives that I wanted to offer two.  (Secretly, I'm hoping that they will be willing to hire a part-time, elementary teacher for next year to free me up for more high school classes...we shall see how that pans out!)  My numbers have increased drastically in the high school classes since I started teaching them two years ago, so fingers crossed!!

You'll also notice that I have THREE 12:1:1 classes this year...we added another teacher in our district.  AND, we added a third Kindergarten and third 1st grade teacher...those classes come combined to special, which really stinks for numbers and the amount of space I have in my room.

Needless to say, with the increase in numbers in our district, this is another reason I think hiring a party time teacher will be feasible for next year...hopefully!  Oh, and I'm doing art club this year AND I'm the VP for our teacher's union!!  That's it...I stop the ball there.  I'm not putting myself out there anymore this year.  If I do, remind me to say, "No!"  I'm still working my Jamberry business at home, and I plan on posting here once a week.  I know I won't be able to afford more then that, so one post a week is my goal!!

High School Art Room Rules & Objectives Boards

Yesterday I made a pretty big dent in getting some classroom posters and displays done.  Well, not bulletin board displays, but my objectives boards.  You can see what my objectives board looked like on this previous post.  Previously I used laminated pieces of paper to write the objectives on and change out.  I did it religiously at first, but honestly started slacking as the year drew on.  With the addition of my new dry-erase board, I'm hoping it'll be easier for me to change objectives daily!

Now, I have the objectives that will be down the left side of the board.  I wanted to keep the "Mona Lisa" prompt on the front board because it's easy to point out as a reminder to everyone, and I minimized the art jobs portion.  I minimized the jobs from 6 down to 4...my jobs used to be: Pass out and collect supply bins, pass and collect artwork, wash tables, dry tables, clean paint brushes, and sweep the floor.  The kids never really had to sweep the floors, and I only have one broom, so it seemed pointless to keep that job.  Now each person at a table will be in charge of a job for their own table, instead of the whole classroom (pass out and collect supply bins, pass and collect artwork, wash & dry tables, clean palettes and brushes).

Here is my high school room objectives board.  I used the Hawaiian print duct tape to add a border around the dry-erase board...and then it dawned on me...why don't I use the duct tape for a border on my bulletin boards instead of the staple borders???  I'm CONSTANTLY re-stapling and fixing those borders from the kids rubbing on them...  These boards will each contain the bell ringer, objectives, homework assignment and exit slip question for each class.

I didn't have enough dry-erase paper to do a third board, so I turned this movable white board into the electives objective board.

Finally, the other thing I accomplished yesterday was getting my rules posted in the high school room.  I've had this pin on my Classroom Management board for a while and as I was surfing through to find quick and easy ways to post my rules, I decided to steal from it!  Copying is the highest form of flattery, right?  Well this inspiration came from a 2011 post from Mr. E.  I liked how he used the bright colors and the way he organized the rules so I borrowed!

I don't have my rules all displayed in one space, though.  There are three bulletin boards in this room, of which I plan to devote one to each high school class, depending on what topic we are covering at the time.  There are also two bulletin boards near the door, but they aren't really in clear site, so I didn't want to put all the rules there.  Much like my elementary classroom, I tried to place the rules where they would make sense.

My rules are as follows in my syllabus and on-line for parents to view:

Classroom Rules, Expectations and Procedures – What Mrs. Impey expects from you…

1.     Respect your peers, their artwork and their feelings.

2.    Respect other teachers, school property and supplies in the classroom.

3.    Be on time to class.

4.    Be prepared for class.  Bring a pencil, your sketchbook, your folder and any assignments with you every day.

5.    Ask questions.

6.    You will be evaluated in terms of the effort you put forth, critique participation, art projects, quizzes and homework assignments.

7.    Work until you are asked to clean up.  Clean-up will commence no sooner than five minutes before the end of class.  Clean up your area and check to see that “community areas” are clean as well.

8.    If you are absent it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and to discuss with me how we can work together to catch you up.

9.    Come to class with an open mind, lots of creativity and the willingness to have fun!

 

Consequences

1.     Being tardy to class three times will result in a write-up.

2.    Any student who refuses to work will receive an automatic write-up and a visit to the office.  A call home will also follow.

3.    Any student who does not follow the rules, expectations and procedures will receive a warning.  On the second offense it will be a call home.  The third offense will result in a write-up.

4.    It is your decision on how well you complete your projects, classwork and homework. Your grades are a reflection upon yourself, your attitude and your willingness to try your best.  If you do not complete your work, it will reflect in your grade.

What you can expect from Mrs. Impey…

1.     I promise to offer constructive and positive feedback.

2.    I promise to review and discuss all rubrics before an assignment is begun.

3.    I promise to listen to your ideas and input for art projects during the school year.

4.    I promise to foster a safe and fun environment for you to create art in.

5.    I promise to provide you with the tools you need to achieve success on an artwork, including visual examples, rubrics, supplies and resources.

We are not all artists, nor do we possess the same interests and talents, likes or dislikes.  We do, however, all possess the ability to be positive and to put forth an honest effort, which is all that will ever be expected.  If your attitude is positive, the class and your artwork will be great!  Thank you for your cooperation and the promise to participate to the best of your ability!  I am looking forward to an awesome year of artwork and memories in the high school art room!

And here are the simplified, classroom versions:

 

Clean-up rules near the sink..."Are you prepared?" in the window outside the doorway...

And I added the exit slip sign...

My travel tote for between classrooms...right now it has dry erase markers, eraser and cleaner, highlighters, colored pens, a small box cutter and extra Post-It notes...