The Mobile Painting Unit, yes I watch a lot of crime drama

Ok, I love my students.  I really do.  It's just that in part they are MIDDLE SCHOOLERS and they have not been brought to a place where they are eager for independence.  Sooo, I try to come up with creative ways to stave off insanity (mine), disaster (the room), injury (the students), all while keeping up the appearance of age appropriateness.  There are many things that spell the kiss of death, but none so devastating as treating students like babies.
This brings me to the MOBILE PAINTING UNIT.
This is instead of trying to teach a sequence for clean up/set up and then letting 25 students loose at once for 10 minutes and winding up with: 25 students doing it how and at whatever speed they chose, me frustrated, and a mess... because there are 25 sort-of-cleaning-related things going on at once (often in conflict with one another).
So I wheel the MPU up one aisle and down another, students stay seated until I finish my route.  Then, we hang labelled artwork and wash hands.
***this did not keep one student from painting both hands purple and running around like a maniac.
But one out of 110 isn't bad:0

O'Keefe Organic Shapes

Alright, once again I am blown away at the talent of my own students!! I REALLY wanted to enter these into a big local show but they didn't want anything drawn from published photographs:(
Process= We drew apples from observation using oil pastels on newsprint folded into 6 squares.  Draw, take a bite, draw, take a bite, etc.  We learned different blending techniques and concentrated on squinting to see color/value changes...THEN we made view finders from cardstock (with a little measuring thrown in!) and chose a composition.
So happy to see two students in particular who felt their main talent was basketball, begin to see themselves as artists too!

Self Portraits, I'm a proud mama

Ok, I can't express how impressed I am with how these turned out!!  My 7th graders did an AWESOME job.
Process= We all drew portraits of President Obama and learned about observation, facial proportions, shading, etc.  THEN, I photographed each student (letting each kid preview their pic : / ) and printed from my computer printer in black and white.  The background was supposed to tell the viewer about the artist's family and self.
And the 2nd one started as "Man, I'm finished"  (when it clearly wasn't) refusing my proddings to continue working and blossomed into a work of art during the resulting lunch detention. LOL.  The result? We are both happy!

Shoes created by 8th graders.  What a process! Tennis shoes collected by staff:) wrapped in Saran Wrap, one layer of plaster strips, then pulled out through a slit cut up the heel.  Added two additional layers of plaster strips and painted!!
Main ideas= color scheme, designed according to a specific topic, painting skillz

so far...so good?

SNOW DAY!!  perfect time for blogging as I am wearing my fuzzy slippers...
A little backstory to my current experiementation in classroom management:  Last year (my first) felt like an incredible disaster.  I know you are saying "duh, EVERYONE'S first year is a train wreck." (And WHY that is, is a topic for another day!)  However I can honestly say that I was challenged each day morally, emotionally, mentally and on occasion physically.  But I also felt like I continued to grow, lurchingly, and learned about my environment and my students.  Each new semester, I try new organizational methods, let go of old ones, try new management techniques, talk to older teachers and take it all in.  Assimilating this information led me to last semester, adopting some methods that seemed, at first appearances, to work.  Other teachers told me things like..."YOU are the adult.  It is YOUR classroom.  Students need to know that they are NOT adults.  They don't run this.  They need to know that you can go THERE."  At the end of last semester, I determined that that is not me as a person or an educator.  I do not have the energy to put students in their place over and over again.  I believe the above sentiments were borne from a perceived understanding of the lives many students lead... So many middle school aged students are living the lives of adults at home-raising siblings, cousins, making dinner, doing laundry, etc.  At school it becomes difficult to act like children.  ("What do you mean I can't go to the bathroom now?") 
My feeling has become that trying to force child-like roles and interactions upon such students is like trying to beat my head up against a wall or bury my head in the sand.  Many students DO react positively to strong authority figures but at what cost?  I don't want students that simply obey me...I want to assist students to become free thinking analytical responsive adults.  SOOO...that leads to this semester.  I am taking steps to listen to my instincts as to how I would want to be treated at that age AND to current classroom management methodology beyond anecdote.
This means balancing consistent reasonable discipline with openly caring for students.  This led me to apologize to a class for losing my temper with a student the day before who refused to follow dress code.  I felt a little embarrassed but asked for suggestions for ways I could have handled the situation differently.  I felt rewarded as students left and kindly offered ideas.  It IS my job to run my classroom, but I can do it with love and dignity.

Classroom Rules (summarized from suggestions made by students on post-it notes)
1. Speak Kindly- no matter who says what first
2. Handle with Care- yourself, artwork, others' feelings
3. Take care of You- don't boss others, do your own work, clean up after yourself
4. Listen to others- when teacher/classmates are speaking and when they ask you to stop a negative behavior

nerd alert...planning on my day off!

Each time a new semester begins I collect, reuse and create new tactics to introduce me, my room, my policies and ART:) This semester I had a brainstorm...create an all-in-one Powerpoint!  Already I feel better prepared/organized.  I will be UNABLE to forget fire drill info!  It's IN the powerpoint.  No more rereading my handwritten notes, shuffling overhead transparencies, handouts, etc!  Maybe this is a "Duh!" for some folks but it felt more like an epiphany to me.
Next up, creating a semester long planning matrix to ensure that I hit all standards from the state...and figuring out how to link documents to the blog.
Pictures to come shortly!  Students created some amazing 3D tennis shoes using plaster strips (less mess than I anticipated) and real shoes covered in saran wrap for molds after a visit from Van Monroe.

NEW SEMESTER!

aside from the obvious, this is my favorite time of the school year- a new semester bringing me new students, a chance to hit RESET, correct the error of my ways and try some new things.  AND, I'm starting a blog (as you can see) as part of a new year's resolution.
I teach 7th and 8th grade only, which presents its own challenges...7th graders are a smidgen more malleable but need a lot of reassurance while the 8th grades seem to need more why's answered and motivation to engage.  So I juggle these and other aspects (like the rest of my teacher friends!) in order to reach as many as possible.
My favorite quote from an old art ed text said art can "help students to see with their minds and hearts as well as their eyes."  That is my goal and to help students understand CREATIVITY as a daily concept outside the artroom.
So, this year I am focusing on the Elements of Art (somewhat tired, I know) in order to lay the skills and knowledge groundwork for a follow up series of meaningful art making experiences related to student interests.  I really wanted to incorporate teaching Powerpoint too, but it became nearly impossible without access to the computer lab and I would really be biting off more than I can chew since my students haven't learned Ppt at all yet.  But hopefully another year it will fit!
This semester, I'm going to try allowing students to pick from a list of sketchbook prompts (provided) each day in order to allow them some sense of control over the sketchbook experience.  I feel that a sense of control is lacking in many of my students lives and I'm steadily working to grant them some and let them savor some independence.  "WITH THE FREEDOM SO TOO THE RESPONSIBILITY"  I'll let you know how this works out! 
And based on the Art of Education's/ The Teaching Palette's itty bitty papers I decided to shrink my standard rubric, make a zillion copies and have students glue one to the back of their artwork as a way to self assess their project before turning it in...kinda pumped about that one!