A Day in the Life: Student Work

Just on here to share some wonderful photos of my student's work. It's been kind of crazy this past week and weekend with the whirlwind of finding out service selection and then finding out that the woman who worked at the Country Club we're having the reception at no longer works there. And we haven't been contacted by the new person who works there. Trying to figure that out and get everything else done.


Anyway, enjoy some of my student's work!

Let me know if you want to hear the lessons behind these products! Happy Monday & enjoy your week!

Marine Corps Ground!!!

Well the title kind of says it all, doesn't it? Not really, there's a lot more to it than that.

[link]

Here's how it went down:
This is what I know. After lunch today David went back to his company's ward room and they were each given envelopes, one by one. In their envelopes were tiny strips of paper that had their selection typed out on it. Meanwhile while he was waiting to pull the paper out of his envelope, I was getting ready for Kindergarten to come in for class. We were painting again today - aka a mess!

I knew I couldn't talk to him until after school and I told him I wanted to hear his voice tell me rather than read a text message. So I waited and waited. I'm sure my students in the last couple of classes were a little crazy because I was nervous and getting anxious. After my 2nd grade class left and dismissal began I just started to clean paintbrushes. (PS I feel like cleaning paintbrushes is ALL I do anymore!) Then a fellow teacher (she's been a long term sub for a while, is getting married in May & her fiance will be in the Marine Corps) stopped by and gave me this "well, what happened?" look. I told her I didn't know and then paced back and forth, deciding if I should call David even though my student helpers were still in my classroom. I called - no answer. Back to cleaning paintbrushes.

Eventually I got through & David said "well, I have no hair on my head" which meant he got MC GROUND! I actually freaked for a little when he started saying "I have no..." but I wasn't patient enough to wait for the rest of his sentence.


What MC Ground means:
1. I know we will still be living in Virginia for a little while longer while he goes to TBS in Quantico.
2. I will be marrying a man in a black & white uniform instead of an all white uniform.
3. I need to learn the ranks in MC terms because they are different than the ranks in Navy terms. (Not like I knew the Navy ones anyway.)
4. I need to buy some Marine paraphernalia aka hit up the Mid Store.
5. Other states we could eventually end up in would include North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Georgia, Hawaii & there's a Satellite Base in Florida.
6. David should always be ripped (major +)

Semper Fi

Nervous, Anxious & Excited

Those would be the three words I would use to describe how I'm feeling about Service Selection tomorrow. Right after lunch (i think) David is going to go back to his company's ward room and a small 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper will tell him what he will be doing for at least the next five years of his life. And yes, I will be joining him where ever he goes. Duh - I'm marrying him.

I honestly don't know what will happen if he gets one of his bottom choices. I guess nothing can really happen. We just go with it. So tomorrow is a big day for the future Mr & Mrs David Phillips. Keep us in your prayers as you go about your day. I'll surely let you all know what we find out tomorrow!

All that I have to remember is what God promises in Jeremiah 29:11. "¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Isn't life just that more promising when we know that God is looking out for our best interest? It's always hard to see the positives in some instances, but when we look back on events, at least for myself, I can see why God set certain things in place.

Thanks for your support!

Edenton Love

Now this is long overdue, but I absolutely need to share my fabulous adventure to Edenton, North Carolina with you! I was on a journey to visit my best friend. We roomed together our junior and senior years at James Madison and honestly, she has been one of the greatest blessings in my life! Brittany Morgan is a fabulous friend who I had to visit. We kind of made this deal where we would have girls weekends at least every four months so time was up! I went on my big adventure back in October and yes, it has taken me this long to share it with you.

First here is the fabulous Brittany & myself:

Let's be honest, she probably thought I was a total weirdo when I first met her through a good friend. I was on the hunt to collect walnuts to make walnut dye for my Fibers & Weaving project. (I was dying silk.) So we collected walnuts off the Quad & then went back to her room to play Bananagrams!

Okay, back to Edenton, NC. So Brittany lives in Edenton which is probably the most darling town ever. She works at an elementary school in the area through Teach for America (TFA). She is the greatest fifth grade teacher in all of North Carolina - just saying. I had told her I would visit by October, so during the second to last weekend I took the 5 hour trip down there and spent the weekend with her.

We were going to go to the Outer Banks but it was freezing that weekend. We ended up driving around North Carolina in the hunt for bargains and antiques. Unfortunately, all of the antique shops seemed to close at 4pm and we missed out. But we did have a delicious meal at an awesome local restaurant on Saturday night and a cute meal in a little Soda Shoppe Diner on Sunday afternoon. We also got to enjoy bits of a wedding celebration on Saturday night! Enjoy some of the pictures from our adventures!

Reminiscing on times when we shared a hot chai together.

At the local soda shoppe. Still reppin' their 13 stars flag!

Gorgeous best friend!

At her future house

I cannot wait to visit again - really just see Brittany again! I told her today that our next girls adventure will be in Italy. Yes, I know that may not happen for a while, but I cannot wait until our best friend adventure in Europe!

A Different Kind of Thanksgiving

Last week was obviously Thanksgiving & it was definitely a different one for me. I didn't eat stuffing or pumpkin pie. No sweet potatoes or green been casserole. Definitely a Thanksgiving to remember. The thing is my family and I were in Michigan for Thanksgiving. My dad grew up in Saginaw so that's where my grandparents live. We weren't exactly there for the feast on Thursday though. Last Saturday, November 19th, my grandfather entered eternal bliss. It just so happened to be my mom's birthday as well. I guess we will never forget that date anymore!

I cried at the thought of not seeing him at the lake in Michigan. I laughed as I thought of the hilarious times with him. The millions of times when he asked me to "pull my (his) finger" and I did so just to find myself stomping on "barking spiders". The time when we went fishing just to come back to the cabin with my bass lure stuck in his head (woops).

There's not much else I can say but when I talked with him on the phone for the last time on the Monday before he passed I knew his stubbornness wasn't leaving anytime soon. He told me on the phone that he would see me in heaven. I just kept telling him that I loved him. It broke my heart to hear him so weak but I knew he was in so much pain. The Lord let him hold on for almost a week longer and then he went on towards the greatest feast of all after 83 years on this earth.

Unfortunately I don't have many photos of him, seeing as though Grandpa was always the one behind the camera. He loved his little film camera. He never liked technology.

At our finest in 2008. Grandpa always rep'ed John Deere.

Grandma & Grandpa's photo op.

I know Grandpa is feasting in heaven & I know there's far greater joy to come. I'll miss him, but I know he has gone on to better things. I am excited for the day when I'll be feasting along side him in my heavenly home.

Gettin' Hitched: Save the Dates

Sorry it's been basically forever since I've been on here. First quarter grades are due this week and I just finished them up today, so I'm all yours. Today is just something quick but something super important (at least to me) when it comes to the wedding day! We ordered Save the Dates through VistaPrint which offered 100 free postcards. All I had to pay for was shipping and a small fee to upload a picture. You can basically order anything from that site.

The front is a picture of David & I that we had taken last Spring by the fabulous Sonya from Sonya Ruth Photography. I'm keeping it a surprise! Here's what the back looks like though:

What are your thoughts on Save the Dates? Necessary or waste of moohla? Should be electronic?

P.S. The Service Selection Date has been moved up a week so November 30th is the big day we're waiting for now to basically see where we are headed for the next 5 years!

A Day in the Life: Classroom Management

Classroom Management is something you cannot live without in! From the time I was in Elementary School I feel like times have changed. As a teacher I feel I have to be extremely careful not to get on a parent's bad side. I am so blessed to be at a school where the parents and teachers work together. The parents know that they can trust what the teacher has to say about their child's work. Unfortunately, I know that's not always the case. I have also been blessed by students who (in most cases) behave extremely well & there are rarely any instances where students need to be sent out of my classroom [knock on wood]. Here are a few ways I've been managing in the classroom. Some work better than others and honestly, its all about your students and how they take to them.

Cute classroom

First thing you absolutely need to have is your classroom rules posted! You should go over these rules the first day you have students in your room, but always leave the rules up on the wall. My rules are pretty simple and the other art teacher in my building has the same five rules, so that when students have a different art teacher the next year, they shouldn't be surprised by new rules.

Some Methods:

I started the "Artist of the Day" pretty much at the beginning of the year. Each student should receive an artist of the day prize by the end of the year. Basically students get selected at the end of their class period for staying on task, working hard, showing a new technique, etc. Inside of my prize box is basically the dollar store. I stay away from candy - you never know with all the allergies these days. Pencils, mini play-dough, temporary tattoos, stickers, bookmarks, erasers, pencil sharpeners. Goodies.

One of the other first methods I tried was to create a pocket chart in which every class had a specific pocket. Inside of those pockets were a yellow "so-so" face, and red frowning face and a green "super" smiley. Each class period my goal was to give them a particular card depending on their behavior. The first class to get to five green smiley's in a row would get the silver paintbrush. For the older grades who didn't really buy the "silver paintbrush" idea I was going to give them free art time. While excellent in theory - it just didn't work out for me. I could never remember to change the smiley at the end of the period because it's sometimes chaos when we are cleaning up. I thought there had to be a better way.

This other method I am attempting to get started has a daily reward. I made three separate letters, that when placed together spell "ART". I just got them laminated and placed magnetic tape on the back. You can also just write the letters on the board and erase them as necessary. Each time the class is misbehaving, just too loud, talking to others instead of listening to directions, etc. I automatically take a letter down. If, at the end of the class period, the class has ART then they receive a golden paintbrush. If students have a RT at the end of class the get a silver paintbrush & if they have just a T then they do not receive any paintbrush. From other teachers who have tried this method, the only problem is getting the paintbrushes back. The teacher should return in to your mailbox at the  end of the day (or else I would have to buy 42 paintbrushes and paint half silver and half gold)! I think I may give that "special" job to one of the kids in the class. They love getting special jobs and usually do a pretty good job!

The last method (which I had to resort to) is about table points. I have a 4th grade class of 33 but I only have 32 seats at the four tables. I ended up placing at child at "Paradise Island" (I can show you a picture of the sign I made for that later). The first few weeks with this class was just insane. We took an eternity forever to get things done just because they were always talking. Anyway, I created four different sheets based on their table colors. Tables could earn a point each class by focusing on work instead of socializing. In my classroom, more than one table can earn a point each class. It's completely up to you if you want to allow that or if you only want to give one point per class. My Paradise Island goer got to select the table they wanted to be included with. Here are my signs:

Do you have any classroom management strategies that work especially well for you? Have you tried strategies similar to the ones I have been using? I'd love to know!

A Day in the Life: Student Work

First off, I have to apologize for being MIA for a little while. I've just been busy busy busy or just so exhausted by the time I get home that I just curl up with a good book and hit the hay even earlier than usual. I'm just going to share a few of our finished products from first, second & third grade. These are some of the best pieces from each class. The ones shown are most likely hanging in the hallways at school right now!

For first grade we looked at Diego Rivera's Delfina Flores and talked about background. [Delfina Flores is a painting of a small child. The child was a daughter of a maid in Diego Rivera's house. The image of the girl uses an indoor background as a "clue" to where she was.] In our class we talked about "clues" we could draw to show where we are in our drawing. Here are few examples (one wasn't completed when I took the photographs, but his drawing was so good; don't worry his coloring was phenomenal!):

I love how she used the texture rubbing technique for her sky!

In second grade our project was "Self-Portrait with a Friend". Student's focus was on accurately drawing two people and showing two examples of overlapping in the image. We looked at Grant Wood's American Gothic which I'm sure everyone has seen. Its the farmer and his wife with the farmer holding his pitchfork. We talked about who is closest to us in the picture and how we know that through overlapping. Students were so enthusiastic in sharing about their friends it was so much fun to hear their stories! Here is just one sensational example:

From his "clues" I know him & his friend love soccer!

Throughout third grade our product focus (what they will create) is all about the human face. Learning how to correctly draw a face in proportion and then taking that further in different directions. So this lesson (one of the firsts) was learning the proportions of the face and drawing their own faces in proportion. Students used mirrors to view specific features (although at times students were making faces in the mirrors instead...). The main focus was the proportionality of the facial features, so the background was simply a design or pattern to make an abstract background. Examples:

I'm so proud of what my students have already accomplished and I'm excited to see where we go! I'll attempt to keep up to date records of my students work and share with you from time to time! Hope you enjoy these fabulous pieces of art!

If you want to see a particular grades' work just let me know! Leave me a little comment or something!

A Day in the Life: 1st & 2nd Grade Weaving!

I was so excited to write this post yesterday, but then time ran away from me because I was working on getting Save the Dates ordered. Also very exciting but the most exciting part will be when I get them in the mail and they are beautiful & gorgeous right before my eyes! Anyway, I'll be sharing two lessons today that I'm using for 1st & 2nd grade. The first graders will be creating an apple weaving connected to Family Traditions and the second graders will be creating a "wacky weaving" based on colors in their Communities.

1st Grade: Apple Weaving

2nd Grade: Wacky [Wavy] Weaving

Above are the final products, but below I'll have step-by-step instructions on how to create these two weavings. Hopefully the images will help as well! The very first thing you need to do is PREP your materials. These weavings, unfortunately require an astronomical amount a lot of prep. You have to cut the strips that students will be using to weave and you have to prep the outline of the apple for first grade as well as the lines they will cut on. Now its up to you to determine the amount your first graders can handle, but to save time for the students I went ahead and prepped the lines as well.

What you need:

1. 12x18in construction paper (this will be your "loom")
2. 12x1in strips of construction paper (to weave with)
3. scissors
4. glue
5. ruler
6. pencil

 Start by folding your 12x18in paper in half (hot-dog style) and trace the template on it. The center of the apple rests on the fold. Once you have used the template, go back and mark every 1 (one) inch in the center block. These are the lines students will cut in order to weave through. Your completed tracing should look like this (I used sharpie to photograph the lines better, but I suggest using pencil so the lines aren't visible in the final product):

Students will receive one of the three colors I created the apples with. I just used red, green and yellow but choose whatever colors you want! Students will then cut the outside line of the apple and the lines on the inside of the apple. You have to make sure you remind them HOLD ON THE FOLD (it rhymes so they usually remember it quickly). Stress that they stop on the line that's perpendicular to the cuts or else the weaving won't work. You can use the analogy that your scissors are a race car and the finish line is that perpendicular line but they have to stop right at the line.

Once students have completely finished cutting they can start to weave! I will be allowing students to get two strips at a time so they take their time and avoid ripping the paper while weaving. I'll be setting up strips of yellow, red, green and brown for fall. Just make sure that students select any color strips besides their main apple color. Then they will have a successful Apple Weaving!

For the second grade Wacky {Wavy} Weaving you follow the same basic steps. There isn't as much prep by far for the second grade weaving though.

What you need:

1. 12x18in color construction paper (your "loom)
2. 12x1in color strips (to weave with)
3. scissors
4. glue
5. pencil
6. ruler 

Students first select a color to make their "loom" with. I'm placing five different fall colors on the back counter and students can select which color they would like. Once students select their color, they fold the construction paper in half, "hamburger style".

Once students have folded their paper in half, they will draw a line across the top of the OPEN part of the paper (farthest from the fold) about two inches from the top. This line is where the "race car" has to stop when students are cutting to make sure the weaving works. Then students will draw FIVE wavy lines from the fold to the line they just drew. When leading students to draw the lines, I will start with line number 3 and work my way out because students seem to pile all the 5 lines on one side of the paper or the other. Students then cut the waves making sure to stop at that top line. Students can write their name above that line as a reminder to not cut there as well. 

Students unfold their paper after making all of the cuts and begin to weave. Again, I'll be allowing students to get two strips at a time to make sure they are woven properly. They can select whichever colors they want but try encourage students to use color from community in their weaving. For students that are finished early they can use the funky scissors to create vertical strips to add to their weaving.

 Have a discussion with your students before the weaving begins, to talk about family traditions in their lives (1st grade). Explain what a tradition is for them and make a list of traditions of their families. For 2nd grade talk about what a community is. How there are different communities other than housing communities such as a school community, second grade community, classroom community, etc. Focus on colors in different communities that each student could include in their weaving.

I'd love to hear if you attempt this project either at home or with students! If you have any questions, throw them my way! Good luck & Happy Weaving!

Gettin' Hitched: It's in the Details

The wedding date is set, the church booked, reception's booked & most of the big things are falling into place. Now that we have a framework for the big day the details are starting to matter. We have to send out Save the Dates like three weeks ago like now and there are other little things that will start to matter really soon. The one detail that I have gotten so much help with so far has been for the name cards that will be at the reception. We're making them ourselves and I'm super pumped for them!

What so many people have been helping us with is collecting wine corks!

 

 

We've gotten quite a few already!

 We're gonna clean the wine corks (boil them in water to get all the funk off) and then cut a section off so the corks don't roll. After they lie flat we'll cut a slit in the top of them and place the name card inside. I'm super excited about this and it may be because of my love of wine (studying in Italy does that do you) or maybe the fact that I'll be creating these myself with a few friends.

One of my fabulous friends, Christiana, just gave me a birdcage full of wonderful corks! How fantastically wonderful is she??! Take a look:

 

The beautiful Christiana!

We're also using the lovely birdcage she gave us to hold cards in. We're kind of going for a relaxed, vintage feel at the wedding, so all these homemade, eclectic pieces will fit together once the big day comes around! I'm so very excited for our wedding day. Well who the heck wouldn't be?

Any DIY projects on your list? Doesn't have to be for a wedding necessarily! I'd love to hear about them!