Gearing up for Another Year

Artists Name: Samantha V.

School: Lakeview HS

In about a month, our classrooms will be filled with kids ready to dive into projects and materials. If you are anything like me, then you have been thinking about that for quite a bit of the summer and maybe have already had a few of those pre-school nightmares (you know the one where you end up with a class full of students revolting against your lesson or you run out of a needed material and no back-up plan).

Here are a few things that ease my stress when thinking about the new year:

1. Seating Charts - It is a simple thing that always does the trick for me when it comes to easing my stress over the start a new year. If you haven't checked out The Art of Education yet, you really should. In a recent post about seating charts, there are a list of great ideas for creating and organizing them. To add to their ideas, I would also include using sticky notes for student names on the charts (as shown here). This allows you to only have to write it once and simply pull it off the paper and re-stick it to a new location when changing seats. I always have my seating charts done before the first day and greet students at my door to introduce myself and tell them where their seats are located. If there is an issue with a seating arrangement, I can quickly pull the sticky note with the student's name and easily place it on a new spot on the chart.

2. Artsonia - I have been using this free online resource since 2007. I always try to get my classes organized before the new year with their rosters function and the fact that they allow kids to "graduate" into the next grade, makes that super simple. In addition to serving as a way for my students to share their work with the world, Artsonia does so much for helping raise funds for my classroom, supply ideas and tools for lesson planning, and documenting student growth. With the expectation of documenting student growth as a link to teacher evaluations, there's a lot of questions about how to do that in an art classroom. With Artsonia, documentation of growth is more manageable through the evidence of student artwork and accompanying artist statements. Artsonia has also added a lot of new features this year, as explained by Suzanne Tiedemann here.

3. Twitter - So, this is a new one that I am adding to my back-to-school regimen this year. I have been using this resource since Tricia Fuglestad urged me into it and I am so glad she did. I have been able to connect to teachers and artists from around the world that have enhanced my growth as a teacher. If you are on the fence about it, just check it out and see for yourself. Here is a post about how twitter is revolutionizing the concept of Professional Development and one specifically about how it works in #artsed.

What are some key things that help you get prepared for school and out of the pre-school jitters? What is a tool or trick that you cannot live without? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.

Membership Matters

Where else can you find a group of passionate teachers on a Saturday morning sharing, collaborating, and awaiting results of their students' work? This scene is happening all around the state of Michigan as Visual Arts teachers meet for their region conferences that will determine which work is in the regional show and those that will move onto State adjudication.

Region 9 Visual Arts teachers share ideas, lessons, and resources as they await results from the judges.

In addition to having time to share with others about what is happening in your district, this annual event also allows a time to receive PD from your peers on topics of great concern to Arts Education and the Common Core. At the Region 9 meeting, Tricia Erickson from Northview Public Schools shared how she uses visual vocabulary to teach students concepts of design while focusing their attention on the meaning of the top 100 words found in the SAT. Using brain-based research, Tricia shared how critical the Visual Arts can be to students not only learning vocabulary, but remembering it beyond the initial teaching and applying it to other content areas.

If you have not become a member of the MAEA yet, please consider the benefits and community gained when joining. Opportunities for your students to shine in regional and state shows, a place to collaborate and communicate with your peers, as well as a place to learn and grow as a professional all await you when you join. Good luck to all members whose students are participating in their regional competitions and I look forward to seeing the top finalists selected from the State meeting next month.

If you have pictures of your region show or conference, please post the links/images below; we love to hear your and your students' successes!