The Hands are Done…..

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Mama Cormier

… the grade 5s have finally finished their hands and coloured ribbons

It’s not completely their fault that they’re so far behind. I only see each class one day a week in a 5 day cycle. Their first art period was cancelled because it occurred on a zero day, a large number of them were away at the cross country meet, some of them missed class because of other tournaments, a few were on vacation, and then I was off for my surgery (I left the supply teacher an easier assignment).

The bigger problem is that I have a group of students in that class that have managed to keep up and in fact are so far ahead of everyone else that they’ve finished all their assignments. I planned to make the next class a catch up period but what do I do with the handful of students who have finished everything? I guess I could give them a project that no one else will have an opportunity to start later. What do you think?

grade 5 hand and ribbon

These pieces of art focused on creating secondary and tertiary colours from the three primary colours. The students first created a colour wheel after learning how to mix acrylic paints and then they created a second piece, applying what they learned when they added colour to the ribbon. The second focus was on line and shapes and how to create an interesting design with a variety of lines and filling in areas to create shapes.

The next project involved line and colour as well. Students were asked to create the illusion of depth by changing the value of the colour from dark to light as they filled in the spaces. This idea was a little more difficult for some of them to comprehend but the examples below show that some of them are beginning to grasp the concept.

Here’s a sneak preview of the last lesson I gave to my 4/5 class. The lesson was on positive and negative space and I love using this Japanese technique called Notan. Only three students finished (these are the students that I need to find more work for).

Peace Banners

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. created by students at my school for Remembrance Day

This is the first year I’ve missed the Remembrance Day assembly at school. I was off recovering from my surgery. Before I left I was able to collect most of the banners and a group of us picked some of the best from different grades within the school. We asked 5 students to talk about their banners at the assembly.

I took photos of the banners that were chosen and of the ones we were considering. One of my colleagues, K, agreed to create a slide show that would play while the students and our guests came into the gym. I also requested that someone take pictures of the gym after it was decorated with the banners. I think the children did a great job. Enjoy!

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The Next Best Thing to Children’s Art

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. buying children’s art books

Today I was able to leave school early and go the book vendors’ sale for teacher librarians. When I got there I only had two hours to browse and buy books. I had 2 main objectives: purchase this year’s Forest of Reading books and purchase French books.

Luckily one vendor had most of the Forest of Reading books so that I didn’t have to wander over that large room looking for the various titles. As for the French books, there was one vendor that sold only French books. The first time I went to this book sale this same vendor had already packed up and left by the time I got there. Even though I arrived 2 hours before closing, he was starting to pack up when I arrived at his section.

When they saw that I was interested in buying numerous books from them they were very helpful and over $900.00 later they were glad that they hadn’t left early this time. Normally I take a French Immersion teacher with me to help make decisions about which French books to buy; however today I literally had to judge a book by its cover and trust the suggestions made by the vendor. Hopefully I’ve made some good choices.

I had time to visit a third vendor today. The two women who own this book shop in the east end of Toronto are very knowledgeable about their books and I really enjoy buying books from them because they are so passionate about their books. They sold me several art books for children and I’ve decided to share them with you.

The first books are a series of art books by Irene Luxbacher, titled 1 2 3 I Can Paint, 1 2 3 I Can Print, 1 2 3 I Can Collage, 1 2 3 I Can Builld and 1 2 3 I Can Draw. They are written for children but teachers new to teaching art would find these books very helpful. Most of the examples could be used for art lesson plans.

Each book has a materials page so that you’ll know what you need to complete all the projects. Each activity has step by step instructions with clear techniques and inspirational projects that will leave children with a sense of accomplishment. At the back of the book art words that are used throughout the book are explained and teachers and parents are given tips to “ensure a good art experience every time” for their children.

Tomorrow I will share some more books with you.

Cheers!

In the Pumpkin Patch

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. children’s art always makes me smile

Today we had the dreaded District Review. I knew that we would probably fare well but I couldn’t help but worry about my 15 minute inspection. I stayed up late to make samples for today’s lesson. I got up early and printed some worksheets, left the house without eating breakfast and worked through my lunch hour to set up the classroom for the lesson.

The 15 minute visit was over in a blink of an eye. We had to pretend that the team wasn’t in the room. The teacher wasn’t spoken to but they did ask questions of a few students while they worked. It was a pretty unsatisfying experience.

At the end of the day the staff was asked to come down to the staffroom for a quick overview of what the teams observed throughout the day. The report was positive and down the road a more detailed report will make it’s way back to the school with suggestions on how to move forward. You could almost hear the sigh of relief that every teacher wanted to release as the superintendent gave her report.

When I went back to the library I started to go through all the artwork that my 110 students have produced in the last 2 months. Their beautiful pictures fill me with a sense of pride. I’ve posted a few of the pumpkin pictures that my grades 2 and 3 students completed.

Enjoy!

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Back to Normal?

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. not quite yet

The library has been weeded of 1300 damaged and outdated books, hundreds of new books have been processed and added to the newly organized shelves, and the cases from the book fair were picked up today.

The book fair was a huge success. Over $6700. worth of merchandise was sold and 60% comes back into the library in the way of new books. I had a crew of student helpers that drove me crazy at times with their enthusiasm but I couldn’t have survived the week without them. Today I rewarded them with some of the merchandise from the fair (pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners and treats).

I thought the day would be somewhat normal but our caretaker kindly started to assemble my new desk in the middle of the library and a group of students helped me put the books back into one the carousels that had to be emptied last week before we could move it in the first place. I still have a little bit of paperwork to do before I find out exactly how much money I have to spend on books.

Tomorrow I have to assemble over a hundred peace banners designed by the students to string and hang in the gym for our Remembrance Day assembly on Friday. I also have to get lessons ready for a supply teacher who is going to cover my classes for three days while I’m away. I have to undergo minor surgery and hopefully there won’t be any complications. I foolishly thought I could go back to work the next day but my doctor said I could be off for as long as a week. I’ve booked 3 days which takes me into the weekend.

I have a few more report cards I have to proofread before I can go to bed so I’m going to sign off. Hopefully my new desk will be assembled tomorrow and I’m hoping to share some of the peace banners that my students designed. Till tomorrow. Cheers!

The Visit is Over, the View from my Room and a Project for a New Week

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. my son is on his way back to the Netherlands

When I woke up this morning I was in awe of the beautiful golden colours from the crabapple tree outside my bedroom window. It was a sharp contrast from the cool fuchsia pink blossoms of the spring.

Despite the beautiful day It was somewhat sad. I had to say good bye to my son. His short visit was over and it was time for him to return to the Netherlands. There is a possibility that he’ll be back at Christmas.

Heading out for the bus station. B had to get back to Montreal to catch his flight back to Europe.

After dropping B at the bus station I did some shopping for school and home. Sunday is my least favourite day of the weekend because I always find I’m getting ready for school or trying to complete chores in the house that I didn’t get done earlier in the week.

Friday night I did work on a sample for one of our next art assignments. We’re working on how dark and light tones of colour add depth and dimension to objects using chalk pastels. I’ve already introduced the concept to one of my grade 3 classes and they’re very excited about drawing pumpkins.

There are many variations of this theme on numerous art blogs. I needed to move away from paint and have the students experiment with a new medium.

The blog that I used for this project belongs to Gail Bartel. She does some amazing projects with her students. Check them out at A Faithful Attempt

It’s going to be a crazy week. The library is going to be shut down for 2 days so that library services can come in and ‘revitalize the space’ (weed outdated and damaged books) and Scholastic Books is dropping off the cases for next week’s Book Fair. We also have to sit down and organize the Remembrance Day assembly, write report cards for the progress reports and get ready for our big district review (all classes will be inspected to see what kind of learning takes place).

Of course that means there will be more stress in my life and we all know how stress affects my weight loss. I’m thankful that I’m at least maintaining my weight loss. I’m contemplating joining a gym again. The one I used to go to has just reopened in a new location, closer to home, and is cheaper and offers more for less. I’m tempted. What do you think?

Despite the difficulties….

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. the children produced beautiful pieces of art

After last Thursday’s disaster with my art cart I spread out the latest finished pieces of art and took joy in the freedom and beauty of my students’ ‘masterpieces’.

My inspiration came from the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. I love the message in this simply but beautifully illustrated picture book. The main character Vashti laments over the fact that she can’t draw and her teacher encourages her to make a mark on her paper and see where it takes her. She jabs the paper with her marker and makes one small dot. Her teacher makes her sign it and when she arrives for the next art class she discovers that her dot has been framed. She is moved to improve on her dot and she begins to experiment with dots of all sizes.

I knew that I wanted to share this story with my students to encourage them to take pride in their work and take ownership for it by signing it.

While browsing the web I’ve come across some great art blogs and I found one that gave me the idea for this next project. Pamela Holderman’s blog has a great project where the children paint circles using lots of colour. They can add collage, stamps, and add detail with marker. When each child has finished their piece it is cut into 4 equal squares and they keep one and share the other 3 squares with their classmates. Then they put the 4 pieces together to create a new piece of art and they continue adding more personal touches.

When I wanted to start this project I discovered that I didn’t have enough sheets of large paper for painting but I did have small squares of watercolour paper. I cut them all to 7 x 7 and I had each child make one circle piece of art that they could keep. It was a great way for them to experiment with the paints, markers and stamps. When we’re ready to do the larger piece for our cooperative art piece they will be more confident and less reluctant to share their work (hopefully).

Every piece is different and when put together they make a beautiful wall quilt. I think that’s how I’m going to display them outside the classroom.

These were done by my grade 3 class.

I Got My 25 Year Pin Today

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…..after 31 years of service

The day started out well. I ran 2.1 k with the kids this morning. My friend P, timed me today. It took me 19:29 minutes to run that distance. I know that it’s not fast but I didn’t stop to walk and I passed 3 students who started with me.

At lunch in the staffroom my principal called on me and one other teacher to stand before the staff where she presented us with our 25 year pins of service for the TDSB. The irony is that I’ve actually worked 31 years for this board. The days of honouring teachers with 25 years of service at a special dinner and a gold watch haven’t existed for a long time. In fact getting the dates right doesn’t seem to matter anymore either. Another teacher on staff who’s been with the board for 27 years hasn’t received her pin either.

In art today my first class finished up their colour wheels. The grade 3s created a their wheels using an outline of their hand and painting the 6 primary and secondary colours around their fingers. Then we had a quick lesson on ‘lines’ and the kids filled in the hand shape with a line design. I think they turned out remarkably well.

After school I had a great yoga session. My yoga partner told me that she thought I was wasting away (in a good way) and she couldn’t believe it when I told her that I’ve only lost one extra pound since starting back to school. Maybe the scale in the morning will show otherwise.

Tomorrow the school is having their Terry Fox run and I’m planning to actually run the course this year. I can’t believe how excited I am about running. I used to hate it.

Life is good. I look forward to each new day.

Art on a Cart

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….doing this everyday will help keep my weight down

Loading this up, keeping it stocked and pushing it back and forth from the library to the class I teach is a bit of a challenge, especially when I have to go outside to the portables and lug buckets of water with me. Should be interesting in the winter.

I love teaching art but this year it’s been a bit of a challenge because I don’t have my own space to teach in and I have to transport all my supplies to the students. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to store some of the supplies in teachers’ classrooms so I’ll have less to move around everyday. In the meantime it’s “art on a cart” and because I’m in other people’s classrooms I have no place to sit so I’m on my feet most of the time going back and forth assisting students. I forgot how tiring art can be but it’s a good kind of tired.

The portables are doubly challenging because they have no water so when we’re painting I’m also lugging water buckets to the classroom and using the caretaker’s room to wash out paint buckets and palettes. Luckily I always have a few students who volunteer to help with the clean-up but I work through the entire recess to leave teachers’ classrooms neat and tidy.

The portable classrooms don’t have wall space to hang art work so I have a gallery wall outside the library where I can display work from all five classrooms. Last spring I hung rope from the ceiling for our Forest of Reading display and it’s come in handy for hanging up art work.

Gallery Wall outside the Library

The first project I did with the students this year is one I call “I’m a star because….” or in French, “Je suis une etoile parce que….”. I ask the students to think of one thing that they are especially good at and then pose for a picture doing something that relates to their skill.

Everyone writes why they’re a star in the middle of a star that I’ve provided and then they decorate it with lots of colour. In the second class, after their photos have been printed the students cut out their bodies and glue them and their stars onto a piece of card stock. The final step is to draw a scene behind the photo demonstrating what they’re good at.

The students love this project. Students who don’t have me for art are asking their teachers when they’re going to do the same project. I’ve posted a couple pictures where the student isn’t recognizable or their name is absent.