What's Going on in the Classroom: DIY Hall Passes

So it's not quite the end of summer yet, one week left! However, I think (and I don't want to jinx myself here, but I think...) I'm all ready for heading back. Got a lot of curriculum work done this summer, especially in reference to Photo 1 and I'm ready to get back into the classroom and make sure supplies and decor are ready to go.

Speaking of decor, one of the things that was on my to do list this summer was to create some cool and more durable hall passes. In the past, my hall passes were just laminated pieces of paper featuring an image of the TARDIS, because yes I'm that teacher.

Let me just say, that those hall passes did not last long and I made several new ones throughout the course of the year. So to remedy that, I did some googling and I found a couple of ideas that I really liked and combined into  DIY hall passes that should (fingers crossed) last me this year and beyond. First I found the idea of using paint stirring sticks on this blog. Now this lady uses them for marking where library books go, but I thought, what a great idea for art room hall passes!

But I wanted a little more than that, so I kept looking and found this adorable set up on this Etsy Shop.

Now being as I teach high school, I didn't think I needed all the different types of passes, but I really did like the idea of hanging them up etc. So here's how I went combining these two ideas and making one of my own. 

1. I gathered up all the supplies I would need. Paint colors of choice (I ended up using purple and gold), paint brushes, masking tape, piece of medium thickness wood (found at Hobby Lobby), some paint sticks picked up for free at Lowe's and gold hooks also gotten at Lowe's. I also used Mod Podge and a black paint marker, not pictured here.

2. I knew I wanted to do stripes on the paint sticks that would become the hall passes so I used masking tape to make even stripes.

3. I painted the exposed stripes purple. Let them dry over night so I didn't remove any paint when I pulled off the tape and then painted the other areas gold.

4. Next to do the plaque that would hold the paint stick passes. I used some tape again to make an even border and painted the middle part using purple. Then I found some cool fonts on Google to use for the lettering. I liked this one because it reminded me of Harry Potter. I sketched out the letters LIGHTLY with a pencil and then painted over the pencil with gold paint and a veeeerrrry tiny brush.

5. Now in our schools hall passes have to have the room number and building on it. So I used a black paint marker and white paint to outline the words on the paint sticks. 

 6. Look at all those finished beauties! After that I drilled some holes to put ribbon in to hang the sticks and also the plaque and starter holes for the golden hooks. I also wanted to make sure that the paint didn't chip. Kids are super hard on the hall passes for some reason. So I gave them a couple of coats of Mod Podge for good measure.

And tada! Finished product! I'm super happy with the way it looks and how I was able to combine the ideas I found online to create something unique for our room, and I hope also durable! Here's to a new school year! 7 days and counting!

What's Going on in the Classroom: Last Days in the Art Room

Ah! Only a couple more weeks and there is so much to do! So we finished out practice pieces for our clay unit and they are everywhere. First step to getting them out of the room, wax the bottoms!

Seriously, there were clay pieces on every surface in the room! After they wax the bottom, students used a dipping method to glaze their pieces.

See all the glazed pieces! They're ready for the kiln. We're waiting on putting the last batch through currently. While they were glazing, they were also working on their final, larger clay pieces. Here are a couple of examples, but I will post more when they're glazed and out of the kiln!

For the last project of the year, we are doing wet felting. This is a process where wool roving is combined with hot water and soap causing the to fibers shrink, creating a piece of felt! We did this whole process outside and it was a ton of fun, with the sun shining! Now we are learning three different stitches and embroidering a border and designs on our pieces. My hope is to sew them all together to make one large wall hanging! More pictures to come as we finish!

What's Going On in the Classroom: Clay!

Yay for clay! During 4th quarter, my room is completely transformed into a clay studio! Okay, that's only my wishful thinking. It's still the same old room, just with lots of clay dust and lots of enthusiasm for making things with clay! Students are starting out with a pinch pot and then one other small vessel either built with slabs or coils. Here is where we're at so far:

What's Going on in the Classroom: Computer Graphics Project

As promised, here is the post showing off the computer graphic skills of my students! Since this is an intro course to most of the mediums we teach at higher levels, we did a very simple project, but the kids still had so much fun with it and really used their imagination. Their assignment was to draw or paint an image that they then incorporated into a digital image that the found online (royalty free of course!) They used Adobe Photoshop to complete this assignment. Their goal was to combine their drawing with the found image as inconspicuously as possible. I have to say, even the ones that weren't very inconspicuous were still pretty cool! Check out a sampling of their work:

What's Going on in the Classroom: Social Issues-Group Paintings

Hello all! I know it's been a bit and that's my fault. I have no excuse other than the end of the year causes me to be lazy. Okay, okay I know it's not technically the end of the year, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, especially since our annual art show is over. Everything builds to that show and now that it's over, it feels like we're going down hill!

So in the art room, we just finished a Computer Graphics project, which I will post examples of in  a day or two. However, we are finishing out the quarter strong with a group painting! Students were put into groups of five or six people and given the task of composing an image based on a social issue. Their goal was to bring awareness to something happening in the world today that they felt strongly about. After choosing their topic, they brainstormed ideas and images that they could use. Every student had to be involved in the drawing and painting of the large image. Check out their work so far!

And as a side note, look at the fun little portrait I found while cleaning up. Someone painted it on a palette. So creative!