My students love art and are very creative. I get met on the playground daily with comments like: "We get art today!" or "I can't wait until Thursday, Art Day!" I push around an shopping cart full of the supplies from class to class. They children astound me with the beautiful artwork they create!
My students range from kindergarten to 8th grade.
I teach at least an hour of art weekly, with each class. It amazes me how much the kids love art!
On a typical day I see four different grade levels. I tailor my lessons to support the unit being studied in class and I like to teach the kids about famous artists and art movements.
We use many different mediums, but the favorite one is paint. Everyone loves to paint! We use watercolors and tempera paint the most, but I also bring in acrylic paints for printmaking and fabric design. All the art work is stored in the classroom in portfolios the students make.
We have art displays in four places around the school campus that change monthly. We also show our artwork at local business around town. Everyone is amazed by the beautiful art our students create, especially me!
Because I see the students year after year, I can really build a relationship with the children and continue to build art skills year after year. I love my job!
My Project
Children love to paint and create art, but where do they store the wet paintings when it is time for math?
Sometimes I feel like a fairy godmother; the children are always so glad to see me! My lessons are organized so that most of the time is spend making art. The children are so creative!
We cover the desks when we paint, but usually the paintings are still wet when my time is up. We have the find a place in the classroom for the artwork to dry. Sometime we put it on the carpet area, sometimes we use counter space available.... but it is always a struggle to move the artwork off the desks so the students can continue with their regular classroom assignments.
Drying racks in each classroom would solve that problem! The students could put the paintings on the rack, clean up the desks and be ready for whatever their teacher has planned.
I work with great teachers, and I want to make it as easy as possible for them to teach when I leave.
Having art drying racks in each classroom will create a more organized, less chaotic environment for the children to learn.
The drying racks will alleviate a lot of mess and stress for classroom teachers too. I'm sure I will be inclined to paint even more and try new and messy art techniques that the kids are bound to love.
Visiting classrooms is great and allows me to link my lessons to what students are learning in class. We just need a place to store the wet work, so it's out of the way!
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