Tag: lists

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Art Class

the end of the 7th day, and the beginning for 7 schools…

It is now the evening of the 7th day before work, and I am getting myself prepared for a full day of professional development tomorrow. My school is currently a lighthouse school for a new digital initiative in Baltimore County. It is called S.T.A.T., Students & Teachers Accessing Tomorrow:

“A fundamental shift in teaching and learning to meet Baltimore County Public Schools’ (BCPS) Theory of Action: To equip every student with the critical 21st century skills needed to be globally competitive, BCPS must ensure that every school has an equitable, effective digital learning environment. All students will have access to a digital learning device and personalized, blended, interactive curriculum.”

There are 7 middle schools in the county who have been chosen to join 10 elementary schools in implementing an instructional digital conversion.  Starting in the 2015-2016 school year, 6th graders will each have their own HP Revolve, which will aid in the use of integrating technology to create more diverse learning environments.  Our classrooms and curriculum will also need digital conversions, which we have been preparing since the beginning of last year.  Tomorrow will be our second professional development this summer in order to help in this transition.

Personally I am super excited about this opportunity, and so my list for today will be…
The 7 things that instructional digital conversion has me excited about…

  1. Advocating for and receiving Adobe Creative Cloud in order to have advanced software available for my students to create art, and for my yearbook club to edit photos. (fingers crossed)
  2. Students using their devices to create eportfolios of their work in my class.
  3. Students using their devices to connect their art portfolios cross-curricularly for total arts integration.
  4. Social Media aspects of communication and collaboration with people all over the world!
  5. Having resources at their fingertips (literally). Students used to have to go to the computer lab to find images and ideas for their art…now they can look up what they want and need on their device then turn around and instantly apply it directly to their art.
  6. A new classroom environment!
  7. Learning new things about technology from my students

I really am fortunate to be on this journey with my school… and I am excited to see all that we can do from here on out.

Inspiring creativity, curiosity and caring citizenship…GO STAGS!

<3

Categories
Art Class Existence Wine and Painting Party

9… 8…

Yesterday was 8/8….and if you add 2+0+1+5 you get 8.

What an awesome date!    8/8/8

It was also a busy day as well… I hosted a maryland flag and crab painting party at The Stone Mill.  It was a wonderful evening meeting new people, making new connections and creating new things!

So yesterday I did not have time to post my list of 9 things for my countdown…Which means you’ll get two lists today,

9 things I’ve enjoyed about summer vacation:

  1. Spending time with my family
  2. Teaching adults how to paint
  3. Seeing their faces light up when they finish their painting and realize they CAN do it.
  4. Meeting many new and amazing people who I can call friends
  5. Traveling to Texas and networking with yearbook advisors
  6. Hanging out with my friend Amber in Fort Worth
  7. Traveling to California
  8. Visiting the Getty Villa in Malibu
  9. Exploring life with my family

8 things I want to do in the next 8 days

  1. Finish reading “The Traveler’s Gift”
  2. Go hiking on the Appalachian Trail with my family
  3. Paint more expressively (as opposed to paint night paintings)
  4. Plan a few things for the first week of school
  5. Go camping with my family
  6. Spend time with my new friends
  7. Start a painting for the Teacher as Artist Exhibit
  8. Work on Yearbook spread layouts

I think I can handle doing at least one of those things a day, if not two or more!

Happy Summer!! <3 <3

Categories
Art Class Existence

10 day countdown…

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I never know what to call my job…work or school? It definitely feels weird to call it a job, because it does not feel like a job. It doesn’t feel like work either…even though it is a lot of work. If I say back to school it could imply I’m taking classes.

Being a teacher is my life. Its apart of who I am. Even when it’s summer time, I’m teaching. I teach my two children all the time, I teach adults how to paint at least once a month at paint nights, and I teach myself every day to grow in a new way. Teaching isn’t a job, and it’s definitely deserves a better title than just work.

Its a lifestyle, it’s a way of living, growing and becoming a better person, as well as sharing with others what I know in order to help them on their journeys of becoming better people….and I simply love it.

So 10 more days of summer, until I go back to the “work” of being a teacher. The schedule and routines, professional developments, and lesson planning. Though I’m constantly involved in professional development. This summer I’ve learned new ways to incorporate student centered learning into my yearbook club and I’ve learned new approaches to teaching my students in ways which give them more say and input into what and how they are learning.

I’ve really been working on preparing and planning ahead in order to be ready for things to come. I am so excited to get back to the schedule and routine that the “job” of teaching gives me. I just find I work better when I have those in place!

So in this 10 day countdown I will write lists of things each day in order to prepare for the first day of school.

Today will be the 10 things I’m looking forward to on the first day of school, in order to prepare me with excitement and enthusiasm:

(In no particular order)

  1. Putting in place the new things I’ve learned for yearbook club
  2. Meeting my students
  3. Working with our new principal
  4. Seeing how the faculty and staff work together with our new school environment on this brand new journey
  5. Painting murals on the walls
  6. Creating and organizing a student centered learning environment with my students
  7. Building new relationships with my coworkers
  8. Seeing my students experiment and explore art materials and techniques
  9. Creating new things
  10. Incorporating digital technology into my classroom on a daily basis

After writing this list I am even more excited about the first day of school!!

<3