It's Back to School Time!

It's that time of year again people! School starts for me on Tuesday and all the kids come back on Thursday!  Both my art rooms are unpacked and basically back together... few finishing touches here and there, but seriously I could probably organize from now until the cows come home and still have more I could do so... lets just call them a work in continual progress!

It's been a busy, busy summer! I took an a amazing on-line PD class from The Art of Ed on Assessment in Art. I learned soooo much! Looking forward to implementing some of my new found info on assessment in my art room! Great ways to collect the growth data I am looking for without the "testing". 

Spent a lot of time journalling, and reading. My favorite teacher read from this summer is, Learn Like a Pirate, by Paul Solarz! So many great take aways to implement in your classroom right now! Easy to read, interesting to read, I ended up tabbing the pages so I can find my favorite parts fast and easy! 

I "attended" The Art of Education's Summer on-line conference in July! Check out the pic of all the great swag they sent attendees! It was the first time I signed up but it was well worth it! There was so much information from all the sessions I am still using the "After Pass" to go back and re-watch sessions!

I went to Philadelphia with my mother and daughter to meet up with my sister who I just don't get see enough since she lives in Illinois. We had an amazing time! 

We saw an amazing show at the Philedelphia Art Museum called, Discovering the Impressonists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting. Be still my heart! It was incredible! One whole gallery was just Monet's Poplar paintings! I was in awe! After sitting in the Monet Poplar gallery for what I guess was a while( 'cuz hey, I lost track of time staring at all the Monet beauty... ) my daughter asked me," How long do you plan on sitting here?" Seriously? Basically forever! :)

 

We also went to Storm King Art Center ! If you are anywhere near this amazing place you need to hop in your car and get there! It is huge! Spacious lawns, forests filled with sculptures! The main building on the hill houses beautiful pieces! I loved the Louise Nevelson pieces! I am not a huge Modern Art/sculpture fan but I loved it! The place is so big we are going back this Fall to explore an entire section of fields we never got to! I wish I lived closer, I would go often just to sit and relax there! It's about an hour and 15 min drive from my house. We took the scenic route so it didn't seem that long at all, it was a nice drive up through Greenwood Lake area.

I've been journalling and doodling all summer and playing with photo apps!

 

I also bought a Zutter Bind-It-All so I can make my own journals! So much fun! 

I've been busy the past couple of weeks getting my art rooms unpacked and getting all my teacher paperwork together...

Yesterday was spent typing up all my class lists ( all 36 plus 24 SGO data sheets) while binging on The Walking Dead Season 5  :)   I got it all done! All my documents are digital now so if I need to make any changes to my class lists ( which I know is inevitable ) I can just copy and paste my changes, easy peasy!

Today I am working on seating charts... I want to get at least the first two days of classes done today... we'll see how far I get before my brain starts to feel like it's going to explode...

I found a great PLN on Twitter, #K12ArtChat, #K12ArtChallenge, #Terpart, #Reflect31, #jfjfor15 and have been inspired by all the great educators out there on Twitter! I created a Growth Mindset bulletin board for the hallway of my 3-5 school inspired by other growth mindset articles, posts I have read on Twitter. 

I think this is a keeper! The other teacher I share the bulletin board duty with agreed that this one can stay up for a while! :)

I started this Summer Shawl last month and have not gotten very far but hope to have it done for the start of school! I ordered the book, Puur Haken this summer after debating about it for the past year!

It's written in Dutch but has graphs for all the patterns so I can follow the patterns! Google translate on my IPhone has come in handy also! Hey, I love a good creative challenge! I figure all the translating has made me grow new brain cells! 

And lastly for today I drew out some of the many flowers I have been doodling all summer onto a piece of canvas that I eco-printed with red and yellow onion skins this Spring! 

I sewed it into a great tote bag for school! I really love how it turned out! I'm curious to see how the drawing stands up to my using it everyday... I can always touch it up if I need to... :)

I hope everyone has had a great summer and is looking forward to Fall! I know I am, I love Fall...

Mrs."C"  :)