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Youth Art Month

"The Arts are not the frosting on the cake....they are the cake." -CEO VSA Arts-


This was the sight from Indianapolis as students from all over the state were recognized for their artwork as a part of Youth Art Month. Four out of five students from Burris attended the event, which included a guest speaker from VSA Arts. Going to these events always reminds me of the reasons why I want to be an art teacher. At the event, I met part-time art teachers who were able to work magic with their students.

This fact poster was eye-opening to me.

I was so proud of Philip! His artwork is a self-portrait of himself as President of the United States. I wish I could plaster this picture on the office doors of the IDOE. As art programs are being cut, students like Philip are losing their opportunity to express themselves. Picasso once said that all children are born as artists. We grow up and become afraid of making mistakes. Philip taught me a great lesson today--
I should not sacrifice my creativity in fear of failure.

Story Self-Destruction

Inservice Day

I don't get to teach kindergarten art classes, so I thought it would be fun to observe them in action. My goal is to include the kindergarten classes in my Expressionism unit coming up in a few weeks. I am so glad that I made the decision to make the visit, because I could have never guessed how interesting and fun the kindergarten environment at Burris would be!

Students were broken up into three stations:

1. Science - learning about volcanoes
2. Art/Thinking - building patterns
3. Health and Wellness - tasting and describing healthy foods

A timer was set and students would move from one station to the next My favorite station was the volcano station. The college teacher in charge of the activity started with an introduction of volcanoes. She used a large visual and had students point to parts of the volcano. Also, students watched a music video about volcanoes before constructing one of their own using Styrofoam cups, baking soda, and vinegar. This activity got me so excited that I ran back to my classroom and brought back an art supply to show the students. This object, a pumice pad, is created by grinding down solidified foam from the base of volcanoes. I let each student touch the pad, and even the college teachers took an interest!

I left the kindergarten room feeling a sense of awe at the ability of those young learners. I have been given the opportunity to come back and assist in an art activity this Friday, and it will be so exciting to see how the students respond to my instruction.

More than Plein Air

This is my third week co-teaching and we are finally starting a new group of artists! I created a colorful mural that describes the three main artists will will be studying: Edgar Degas, Mary Cassat, and Claude Monet. After my second benchmark meeting, I decided that my goals this week would revolve around planning and supplementing art activities. I have focused a lot of my time on building relationships with my students and the Burris faculty, but it is about time that I start making my mark and putting my curricular knowledge to the test!



As an introduction to Mary Cassat and Impressionism, my classroom teacher and I will be reading this story, told from the point of view of a young student writing a book report. One of the challenges of reading this book is that it is very small. I came up with the idea of scanning the images into Power Point so that all of the students would be able to see the pictures. I will be curious to see how the students respond to this from of presentation.

Week 6

Week 5