Holidays

Everything is a lot more busy during the holiday season. Unfortunately I was unable to visit the kids on December 11. They had a lot they needed to get done before winter break, so they didn't have time to finish their sculptures. 

I did get to have a quick visit with them on December 18, so that was nice. They all wished me a merry Christmas and I just about lost it. They were all so adorable. 

The plan is to visit them sometime during the month of January so that we can finish painting our figures. We haven't decided on exact dates yet, but we should know pretty soon. I'm very excited to get to see the students again!

'Tis the Season to be Busy!

Last week on December 4th I got to visit the kids again. The project for the day was to paper mache our tin foil statues! Which was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be, which would explain why I didn't paper mache anything until the fourth grade. But oh well, you learn along the way.

We used paper pulp instead of strips of paper, which was probably easier for the kids to use. But it made the statues a lot more bulkier then before, so it was hard to smooth out. Unfortunately I had to leave before I could see the finished products. So I guess I'll see this week what they have in store for me! Depending on how the figures turned out we will either be reshaping them, or painting them! Either way I am excited to see the kids. They are all so adorable and fun. They all giggled so much when using the paper pulp. It was great.

Work, Work, Work!

Sorry I'm falling behind! Thanksgiving break kind of threw me off and now finals are just around the corner and the whole world is turned upside down. So, I have yet to report on my visit for November 20, 2014, so that is what I will do.

It was a huge success. I talked to the kids about how our bodies can be used to make art. When I asked if they had any examples of this they had a lot of cute ideas, like playing soccer and riding our bikes. So then I played a quick little game with them where they tried to guess my emotions, and they loved it. They had a blast. After that they spread out across the room and acted like statues doing different poses. My favorite statue was "I'm learning and listening to my teacher!" 

When the kids had a good idea of what pose they liked best they went to their seats and we started the project. We handed out strips of tin foil, and from that they rolled them up and sculpted figures in their favorite pose that best expressed themselves. Their creations were amazing. I'm so inspired by how creative they are at such a young age.  

We Did It!

I successfully finished my first lesson with the kids! Last Thursday I went to the school and finished filming the rest of the kids. Now I just have to edit all of the footage. Mrs. Terry gave me all of the kids paintings to take home so that I could make cute borders and plaques for them. My husband and I had an incredible time looking at all of their amazing paintings. We laughed so hard at all the adorable and creative titles.

Tomorrow I will be introducing my next lesson to the kids. We are going to be making our very own figure sculptures! It should be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it. Below you can see the full lesson plan.

Quiet Child

Last week was a blast. I had the opportunity to get some one on one time with the kids. Well, sort of. We set up a backdrop out in the hallway. The kids would come out in groups and sit up against the wall. I then had them one at a time get their paintings, stand in front of the backdrop, and then answer my questions as I filmed them. 

They all seemed so nervous! I would asked them their name, the title of their artwork, and how it made them feel (going off of the Kandinsky book). They all answered with smiles on their faces, but they were all so quiet! I kept asking each of them to speak up and be loud, but they must of just been really shy. 

I went back through my footage and a lot of it is impossible to hear what the kids are saying. I haven't decided if I'll have to redo some of them. Tomorrow the plan is to go and finish up the rest of the filming. Hopefully I can get through all of the kids. And then next week we will start the next lesson. Mrs. Terry and I have been collaborating on what we want to do next. We should know by this weekend!

Technology Hates Me.

I had another successful visit with Mrs. Terry's class, although there were a few bumps along the way. I had created a playlist of music for the kids to listen to as they painted. I had researched what kind of music Kandinsky listened to in his time and tried to find music similar to that. That all went well! It was trying to hook it up to the speakers that was difficult. My phone wasn't connecting properly, and then the speakers weren't connecting to the computer. It took a little bit but we finally got it all figured out and working. 

It was so much fun getting to watch all of the kids paint. They all have such different styles. They seemed to really enjoy themselves too. And a lot of them made some really great pieces! I honestly couldn't tell the difference between de Kooning and the kids. 

I brought my camera so that I could record them painting as I walked around. I would have got away with it too if it wasn't for my meddling camera. Unfortunately it was somehow set to burst mode instead of record. All I captured were some awkward photos of myself, which is a real bummer because I thought I had some really good footage. Luckily I have 6 more weeks to film the kids painting, so its not all bad.

Mrs. Terry and I came up with a really cool idea for the final celebration. So I am excited for that. On Thursday I will be going back to the school to wrap up my first lesson. I'll be filming each of the children and asking them about their artwork. Sort of like they are critiquing their own art, which is something we taught them in the lesson. So this week will be some what of an assessment! 

First Day!

On October 23 I finally got to work with the adorable kids in Mrs. Terry's class. I was absolutely amazed at how smart all of them were! And how exposed they were to the art world at such a young age. It is amazing to see the arts thriving in this classroom and I am so lucky to be able to work with such awesome kids. 

I was a bit nervous at first to teach, especially when I read "The Noisy Paintbox" to them, but it all turned out great. The kids love to learn and really got involved, which not only made my job easier but a lot more fun. It was entertaining to watch them almost falling out of their seats just to answer my questions. I can't wait to see them tomorrow!

For a play by play of how the lesson went you can refer to my lesson template below. You can also see some of the photos from when we read the book and looked at Kandinsky's paintings.Tomorrow I will be visiting them again and we will be painting to music just like Kandinsky did!