My Erin Condren Planner... Again...

Okay, yes. My last post was about my planner. This post is also about my planner. Don't judge me, alright? I really like planners.

So I've already added some stuff to my planner. I customized the field trip page to keep up with my sick days used. I like keeping my own record of how many days I've used just for my own benefit so I don't have to wait for my monthly check to see how many days I used. 

I want to do something with the classroom volunteers section too but I don't know what. Thoughts?

I've just barely started putting some stuff in my June spread. Since the EC planners come with six weeks for each month, I'm going to use the unused days for monthly to do lists and other stuff.

I also started my first week even though I don't really have plans for it yet. Since I'll only be teaching six classes a day, I'm going to use the last column as just a general planning, to do, meeting notes, things to remember, etc. area. I also made some of my own stickers in addition to my The Happy Planner stickers to add to that column (see below).

I've gotten way too much stuff for my planner already.  This was a haul from the Target dollar spot area. 

The gel pens are precious but don't really work. The blue one works fine and the green one is iffy but the pink doesn't work at all. But since it was so cute, I swapped out the ink part with a regular boring pen that writes really nicely and now I have the best of both worlds; a cute pen that still works.

I love this stamp! It was $3 at Target. The ink that came with it isn't very good but.....

I bought some more at Hobby Lobby. $5 for all 12. Not too bad at all. 

I also bought a 1/8" punch to use to make my own inserts in my planner. It works great. The paper I tried it on was way to flimsy but I can tell it will work perfectly once I get some stuff laminated. I'm planning on making some meal plan inserts with five meals and the groceries needed to make them that I can swap out every week. The punch was $3.99, 50% off at Hobby Lobby. 

These adorable washi tapes were also 50% off! I love the skinny washi. It's perfect for dividing off sections without taking up too much room.

These Happy Planner stickers weren't 50% off but I used my 40% off coupon and got them for $3. 

These are all of the sticker sheets included with the pack I got. I love them. They are perfect for what I needed. I love the motivational banner ones that say things like "Get It Done" and "Make It Happen." And I like that there are some fun shapes and arrows thrown in too.

These are some stickers I made myself using Avery repositionable labels. I'm still working on getting them to print just right. You can see that one is a tiny bit too high and one is a tiny bit too low. It's a work in progress. I really love that these are repositionable. The Happy Planner ones aren't and I've already had to peel one up. I made a snowflake for snow days (even though I won't need those for months and months), a hydrate sticker to help me keep up with water intake, a To Do sticker (even though I like my Happy Planner ones better now), one to remind me to post on here, a watercolor one that I'm really loving, and an asterisk because you just never know when you might need one. 

I would love to see what other teachers are doing with their planners. What do you use the extra days on your monthly spread for? How do you use extra columns in your lesson plans? Secondary teachers: what do you use the classroom volunteers and field trips sections for? Does anyone have a good use for the sub page? I know I won't be leaving my precious planner for a sub! I'd love to hear your thoughts on customizing your Erin Condren teacher planner to fit your needs!

Kelsey

My Erin Condren Teacher Planner!!!

With all the stress and excitement of getting a new job and getting ready to teach secondary for the first time, I decided to get an Erin Condren Lesson Planner to (hopefully) keep myself organized next year. All Erin Condren teacher supplies are 25% off to celebrate national teacher month!  And while doing my research, I found lots of elementary teacher blogs posting about EC planners, some secondary teachers, and zero art teachers of any grade level. So I thought I'd post about it here and maybe another art (or music or theatre or really any kind of) teacher somewhere will find it helpful.

First, I decided to get the "Be Kind or Be Quiet" cover. It wasn't my favorite design (although I do love it) but it was my favorite quote. My favorite design was this paisley one but in the end, the quote won out.

I added extra checklist pages; 14 pages total for $5 (it's free for the first 7), and an extra sheet protector; 2 total for $1.50. I haven't decided for sure yet if I'm going to use the checklist pages to keep grades but I wanted to at least have that option if I decide to.

I'm really glad I got the extra sheet protectors. I printed my frameworks in a condensed format and put them in the sheet protectors so I can have them for quick reference. Now that I have it, I wish I had got two more. I have my Art I and Art History I frameworks printed and put in the pockets and I wish I had two more for my 8th Grade Art and Art History II frameworks too.

I also decided to get some accessories since the planner was 25% off! I got a three pack of the band to hold it closed, the adhesive pen holder, and a (free) teacher t-shirt. The t-shirt was free because I spent more that $75 before I used the coupon code. However, when it came in, there was no t-shirt. I contacted and they got back to me within a few hours to say that they were so sorry and that they had run out of t-shirts before my order shipped and offered to give me a $15 gift card which I happily accepted. It will stack with my $10 coupon code so I have $25 to spend on anything on the website. I really wanted the t-shirt but if that's not an option, I'm totally happy to get store credit instead. They were super nice about it.

If you're already considering an Erin Condren teacher planner, I'm sure you've seen the walk through on a million sites so I'll just give you a quick view with a couple of thoughts with how they'll work for secondary art. 

Lesson planning pages. I'm going to use these to write a quick description of what we're going to accomplish that day as well as the main framework I'll be addressing. Since I only have six classes a day, I'll section off the last column and use it as a to do list/daily tasks, etc. 

Missed you while you were away. Don't know if I'll use this. I may start off the year trying to see if I like them. My gut tells me that with as many classes as I'll teach throughout the year, it will just be a waste of time to try to keep up with absences in my planner and on the computer. I may use it only for keeping up with absences just on test/quiz and critique days but not work days. I'll let you know. 

Year at a glance. I'll definitely be using this page to jot down project ideas that I know I want to accomplish each month as well as major things like Youth Art Month and art contests. 

Graph paper. OMG. Graph paper is a doodlers dream. I love graph paper. I intend to make some seating charts for my classes I have all year (Art I and Art History). For my 8th graders, I may do two seating charts to a page or print them and keep them in my Keep It Together folder and use the graph paper for other purposes. 

Here's the sticker sheets that come with the teacher planner. Geared much more for elementary teacher in my opinion. I'm planning on making or buying some of my own that fit my needs a little more. 

Instagram photo of some of the work I've done on it so far.  

If you're interested in getting an Erin Condren Lesson Planner or any other EC product, you can use my referral link, and we'll both get a coupon for $10 off!

Do you use an Erin Condren planner as an art teacher or secondary teacher? What are your thoughts? What pages have repurposed to be more useful for you?

Kelsey

Disclaimer: I wrote this post because I love my Erin Condren planner. I did not receive anything for posting this. If you follow my referral link above, we will both receive a $10 coupon code via email, the same as any other EC customer would if they shared their referral link. Once you have set up an account, you will have your own referral link that you can share with others.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers are my favorite. They were my flowers at my wedding. They're all over my house. So Vincent Van Gogh's sunflower series is one of my favorite things to teach. This was one of my favorite kindergarten projects last year and since who knows when I'll be teaching kindergarten again, I brought it back this year.

I start by showing the kids this picture and talking about sunflowers. We talk about the parts of the flowers; stems, petals, etc. Then we talk about what else is in the picture; background, vase, table. I also tell my kids that the artist who made this artwork is Vincent Van Gogh and at the end of class, I'm going to see if anyone can remember his name and they might get a prize. 

Once the kids get to the tables, I pick some little helpers to pass out supplies. Each kid gets one of each of the following:

• Scissors
• Glue stick
• 9x12" turquoise paper
• 9x6" Orange paper (last year I had a perfect tan color to make the vase but I guess I forgot to order it this year :( )
• 9x6" yellow paper
• 3x6" green paper
• 3x2" black paper
• 9x2" brown paper

After everything is passed out, we all start together. I don't always love follow-along projects (what I call "Pinterest Projects") but this one ends up with tons of variety even when we all make them together.

First, glue the brown rectangle to the bottom of the turquoise paper. 

Next fold the orange paper in half long ways (hotdog) and cut out a vase. We talk a tiny bit about symmetry here but I don't spend a ton of time on it. 

Then I ask my kids to point to the bottom of their vase and then the middle and then the top. We only put glue on the bottom and middle and then glue it on the brown rectangle. 

This is the part when it starts to get fun/stressful depending on the kid. We put our scissors up. We're done. No more scissors. We use our fingers to tear green stems and glue them behind the vase and then tear yellow circleish shapes and glue them to the top of the stems. And lastly, we tear tiny black circles to glue in the middle of the yellow circles.  

 And we're done. This is just one example of how they can turn out. Each kid has really unique flowers, even if the other elements are similar. 

Do you have any projects that you just love to teach that you always bring back year after year? Does anyone else have students that FREAK OUT when they have to tear paper instead of using scissors??

Kelsey

How to get a job. (My résumé and portfolio)

It's been a while since I've posted. I've got some projects going on that I'll be ready to post really soon hopefully, but in the meantime, I've been updating my portfolio and résumé because I need a new job. Everyone has things they don't like about their job, I'm sure. And I wouldn't mind putting up with the things I don't like... if my job wasn't 45 minutes away from my house. That's an hour and a half of driving every day for the past two years and it's wearing me down.

So I've been looking for a new job which means some serious updates to my portfolio and résumé. The last time I was job hunting I was inexperienced, still working on my masters degree, and had all of 30 hours of observation/student teaching under my belt. So my portfolio was composed pretty much of hypotheticals and my résumé listed things like secretarial work. 

Now, I've been teaching for a couple of years, I have projects to show, lesson plans to bring, and experience to add to a résumé (and résumé website). 

However, the job I was applying for was a junior high art job and I've been teaching elementary since I started teaching. So my biggest struggle was choosing projects that could show my strength as an instructor without focusing as much on student skills. How could I show my skills as an art teacher, to guide and instruct my students, when the students I currently teach are so much younger than the students I want to teach?

Well first off, I have a portfolio. Like a real portfolio to carry student work in. The lady who interviewed before me had a three ring binder and I'm sure she could fit way more stuff in there than I could in my portfolio but I just think that a portfolio looks more artistic and professional. Like I take my kids' work seriously. That's just my opinion though. I suppose a binder works fine too. Any way, here's my portfolio. (please enjoy these many photos with my blue rug as the background...)

When you open the portfolio, there's a pocket and that's where I put my lesson plans and copies of my résumé.

But now on to the artwork. First, I started by showing the work of some of my more talented students, showing that I can identify students who need a bigger challenge and provide something appropriate to stretch their skills. These are from fourth graders (right) and a third grader (left) who entered the Arkansas Wildlife Federation "Wildlife of Arkansas" contest last year. On the left is also a picture of me and my third grader who got honorable mention. 

Next I showed my fourth graders' sculptures from this year. On the left I showed four of my favorite sculptures and on the right I showed one student's planning for her animal and then the execution. 

I like this spread because it gives me several talking points. First, the sculptures look really nice for fourth graders. The interview committee seemed impressed. Second, it gave me the chance to bring up that I had worked with an artist-in-residence, showing that I was motivated in looking outside my classroom for resources for my students and that I work well with others in the community. Third, the pictures on the right let me talk about how I like to let my students explore and find the medium that they work best in. This was a brand new student that I got in the middle of the year and up to this point, she never stood out to me as being particularly talented. Her drawing was okay but not one of my best for sure. But her sculpture blew me away as being the best one in the class. 

After the photos, I added a spread of several different projects we'd done this year, just to show a range of teaching assignments. On the left is two reference sheets that my kids did the first semester that they keep in their portfolio. The top left was a fun, spur of the moment project I did with my third graders where they had to pick an adjective and illustrate it, using the letters of the word to show the meaning of the word. Below is a zentangle from one of my fourth graders. 

Close up of my reference sheets in case anyone wants to steal. Go for it. One of them I found on Pinterest and adapted for my kids and the other I made up. 

After showing all of those projects, I said that even though those were fun projects, I could have just pulled projects from my most talented kids and showed them off, whether I had much to do with that talent or not. So these next three spread are what I showed the committee next. These are self portraits from two second graders and one third grader, respectively. Each spread contains a self portrait from the student from the beginning of the year and one from a few weeks ago.

I think these show so much growth from my students! I love them. And I think it really shows a lot about me as an art teacher too. It shows that I can actually teach a student to improve their skills, not just do fun projects with them. 

And I guess the committee thought so too! I will now be teaching junior high art starting in August! Fifteen minutes away from home! I'm so excited! I obviously had to create a whole new Pinterest account for the occasion so you can now follow me @MrsFortuneArt.

Do you have any tips for art teachers looking for new jobs? What's your "must have" for a portfolio? Do you prefer a binder or an art portfolio for interviews? My interviewers asked me not to bring my own work but do you like to bring your artwork to a job interview?

Kelsey

Working with an Artist-in-Residence

When my principal first approached me about having an artist-in-residence work with me and my students, I was a little skeptical. I wasn't sure if I would like turning over my classroom to another person.

But I have really enjoyed having her work with me. She's been a great resource for my students and for me too! I went to her studio for several hours one Friday afternoon to help her roll out and cut all of the clay tiles we needed for my students. I felt like an apprentice learning from a master artist! 

My kids have really loved having her teach them. They're learning a lot from her about sculpture, clay, firing ceramics, and glazing. Here are a couple of pics of their pieces in process.

I assigned my students to find an animal the first week we were back in January. It could be a real animal, a mythical animal, or a new animal from their imagination (ps, this is a great resource of you want to teach your kids about silly made up animals). They had to research or make up facts about their animal, sketch it, draw it, and color it. Then, when the artist came to work with them, they had to sculpt it. It was a really cool project and I will definitely be doing something similar again. 

Have you worked with an artist-in-residence before? What did you like or dislike about the experience? Does anyone have an artist in residence come on a regular basis? 

Kelsey 

Impromptu art critique

I have an artist-in-residence currently working with my fourth graders to make clay sculptures (more on that later). While she's here, my third grade class has to clean up early to get out of her way since my third grade class is over at 10:50 and my fourth grade class starts at 10:50 (which is miserable, by the way). 

So while the artist is setting up, I've had to find something to do with twenty something third graders in the hallway. Luckily, I have a lot of third grade artwork hanging up right now from the kids whose artwork didn't make it in the Have a HeART for Art contest that is held in our county.

So I decided at the last minute while walking my third graders down the hallway to have an impromptu art critique.

I started off my asking students to raise their hands and then tell the rest of the class which of the heart artworks was their favorite and, more importantly, why it was their favorite.

Then, I asked questions like "which artist has the best use of shape in their artwork?" or "which artwork shows the best use of color?" And I would have students walk to their answer and point to it without touching. It was really cool to see differing opinions and preferences from all the different students. Overall, one of my favorite things I've ever made up on the spot.

Do you have hallway art critiques? What else do you do when you have a few minutes to burn at the end of a class?

Kelsey

Examples

Oh examples. Kids love them, I hate them. It seems like every time I make an example, I end up with a bunch of copycats and a bunch more meltdowns because their artwork doesn't look just like mine.

It's a struggle for me. On the one hand, I like the kids to have a visual to refer back to so I'm not bombarded with a million questions about what I've already explained. On the other hand, I'm not the kind of art teacher who likes a bunch of carbon copy artworks and the "mine's not perfect" fits are the bane of my existence.

So I decide based on the project. If my fourth graders are making collages about different kind of weather, they don't really need an example for that. But if my kindergarteners are drawing pigs for the first time, they need some sort of visual to rely on beyond just my verbal directions. (ps, here are my kindergartener pig drawings. I think they are freaking adorable.)

My first graders have been learning about Ben Franklin in their classroom. So I've taken advantage of that to teach about another famous inventor, Leonardo da Vinci. We've talked about both inventors and then about the process of inventing; first, you have to have a problem, next, you decide how to solve it, last, you draw the invention. I wanted my kids to include several things in their drawings that are better explained by visuals, rather than me just telling them, like notes and descriptions, the idea of motion, backgrounds, etc. So I made an example.

But instead of drawing a really nice drawing of an invention, I drew something that was just a little bit above most of their skill levels. That way, they still have something to strive for but it's not a constant comparison.

This project also works well for an example because each kid had to come up with his or her problem before I showed my example. And I was very clear from the beginning that no one could do the same invention as I did.

Every year, they blow me away with this project. I've never had kid not like this project. They all have problems they want to solve. This project really brings out their creativity. I'm constantly amazed by their crazy, creative inventions. When we're done with this project, I'm definitely going to post the finished products.

What about you? Do you make examples for your students? Or does it depend on the grade level and project? Do you have something that works better than an example of the finished product?

Kelsey